<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Alot of proteins dissociate in the 120s so it could well be lower than 140. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>It could. My statement reflects the opinion of others whom I trust and mere anecdotal evidence. It is not something I've studied directly.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> So the moisture from the meat isn't going to make the sugar dissolve or paprika form a thick paste? A rub with a high Paprika content which is a very fine powder when wet turns into a paste like flour will not hinder a smokering from forming? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>I thought you were originally making a point about sugar only. My obsevations suggest that the quantity of sugar doesn't seem to have a lot to do with the lack of smokering formation. What I should have said--and here I agree with your comments--is that it seems more like the quantity (i.e., thickness) of the rub that has an impact. My rubs don't contain a lot of sugar but on butts I apply generously to get major bark to work into the pork when pulling. I do not get as much of a ring on these 'standard' butts as I do on butt pieces that I do not rub heavily. Extrapolating mentally from your suggestion, it would at least appear likely that if I used an even higher ratio of more dissolvable ingredients the ring would be lessened further. Of course the moisture on the meat's surface is evaporating (however slowly) and as it does, and the little penetrable nooks and crannies become available for the necessary smoke-protein interaction to occur, one would expect at least a bit of smokering formation, and that's pretty much what it looks like when I think about it.
So, yes, perhaps the lack of much of a ring on meat is due to lots of rub (my guess is with lots of dissolvable ingredients) blocking its formation, your original supposition. I'll have to pay greater attention and maybe experiment here and there.