Smoke Ring?

Sit at a table of KCBS judges at a competition and chances are that 3 of them will comment on smoke ring appearance, or lack thereof. It's not a criterion for appearance judging but chances are, someone will dock points if the smoke ring isn't pronounced.

OK, so electric smokers aren't sanctioned for comps but the arguments carry on, such as in your case. Yeah, it looks good but does it affect flavor? Nope. It's all about perception. I would simply explain why your product doesn't present a SM and leave it at that.

Charcoal - I tried adding a couple of briquettes when I had my CS Smokette. It added a slight SM. Big deal

I seem to recall that KCBS judges are instructed to NOT consider smoke ring appearence in their decisions.

This is true. Thing is, they do...just won't say they do.

I reckon I must be in the minority of the judges that DO NOT judge the smoke ring, in fact, I would say half of the briskets that I see in contests don't have a smoke ring. I can only guess these are high heat briskets, oh well!

I would let the taste of your brisket speak for itself rather then the old wise tell of having to have a smoke ring for good brisket.

Cal, you're not in the minority as I don't judge on a smoke ring either....or crispness on chicken skin. Taste yes, crisp no.

quote:

Originally posted by Uncle Sam:
I seem to recall that KCBS judges are instructed to NOT consider smoke ring appearence in their decisions.

I became a KCBS Certified BBQ Judge at the end of January and we were instructed NOT to consider a smoke ring or the lack of smoke ring when judging for appearance. Now what happens in actual practice I dunno as I have not had the opportunity to judge a competition yet.

quote:

Originally posted by DownEast Dan:
... but stopped when I found out how bad it was for my customer. ...

How's it bad for you? It's used all the time in smoke itself to cure the meat (that's what causes the pink) It's used in sausage, hotdogs and tons of other things.

To GET a Smoke Ring you have to have Nitrates/Nitrites. Period.

You are curing and turning the outer edge pink just like you cure raw pork to make it a pink ham.

I have not problem with using TQ.

I've recommended for over 11 years using charcoal. Because of how it burns and it's impurities, it creates nitrates/nitrites that then cure the meat. You'll have to determine in 1,2,3 chunks or more are needed.

But again, TQ isn't bad for you certainly in the minimal amounts we're talking.

Don't get the wrong idea about why the smoke ring isn't judged, it's not because it's harmful, it's because of the fact that the smoke ring is easily manipulated thereby rendering it meaningless. That's my take anyway.