Jim,
Curiosity has gotten the best of me and I have to ask about your statement regarding smoke-ring taste. You said it has a sweet taste, but how did you come to that conclusion?
A wood fire couldn�t be used to create the ring since the smoke would flavor the meat, resulting in skewed results. A cure containing sodium nitrite couldn�t be used since it contains salt and possibly sugar, resulting in skewed results. It seems the only way to determine the taste of the smoke-ring would be to place a chunk of meat in a sealed container full of nitric oxide gas. After allowing enough time for the gas to do its thing, the meat would be cooked in an electric oven. This should produce a smoke-ring without the addition of any taste/flavor altering ingredients. There is one more possibility; you have scientific data that states smoke-ring has a sweet taste.
Please, don�t take this as an attack or read it with harsh eyes. I�m just very curious about smoke-ring taste, since I never really gave it much thought.