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paulheels
Starting Member
USA
11 Posts |
 Posted - 07/11/2007 : 14:03:10
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I was chewing the fat with a bunch of other old f**ts the other day and my cooking partner told us he had eaten some good smoked chicken at a catered "Employee Appreciation" supper a few days ago and when he dropped his plate in the trash can he noticed a bunch of partially eaten chicken quarters had been thrown away.
He said he mentioned it to some of his fellow employees and a few of them said they had thrown theirs away too because it was pink on the inside, not bloody around the bone, just a pinkish tint to the meat and that meant it was completely cooked.
He said he told them smoked chicken is supposed to look pinkish when its properly cooked. After they argued back and forth for a while and one of them eggheads said if thats so, what causes it to look thataway? He told him he thought it had something to do with cooking at low temperatures and smoke blowing up over the meat but he couldn't recall where he read it. One of them said since he didn't have proof it sounded like he was the one blowing smoke.
Well, its been almost a week and neither of us has been able to invent a story we think egghead and company will swallow, much less find any information to support his theory, and he's done got tired of being prodded about it everyday. They have pushed him into a corner, he's getting desperate, and backing down ain't an option.
Do any of y'all know why smoked chicken meat is pink? If not, how bout a convincing story?
Richard
Laurens County, Georgia
250 Gal. LP Gas Tank
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Posted - 07/11/2007 : 14:09:40
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ME AND "THE BOYS" WILL BE RIGHT OVER TO HELP YA OUT ./. CHICKEN MEAT IS PINK BECAUSE ITS EMBARRASSED TO BE TAKEN SO LIGHTLY AS SERIOUS FOOD. PROBABLY SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE DEXTROSE IN THE RUB (SUGAR) OR COULD BE "POISON" AND NEVER FIX IT THAT WAY AGAIN ...  
love ya ...billy |
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Posted - 07/11/2007 : 14:23:41
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I found this on line... Don't begin to understand it but here ya go! You asked..
Smoke Ring in Barbeque Meats
How to Get That Coveted Pink Ring With Your Cooking
by Joe Cordray
Slow cooked barbecue meats often exhibit a pink ring around the outside edge of the product. This pink ring may range from 1/8 inch to 1/2 inch thick. In beef the ring is a reddish-pink and in pork, chicken and turkey it is bright pink. This pink ring is often referred to as a "smoke ring" and is considered a prized attribute in many barbecue meats, especially barbecue beef briskets. Barbecue connoiseurs feel the presence of a smoke ring indicates the item was slow smoked for a long period of time. Occasionally consumers have mistakenly felt that the pink color of the smoke ring meant the meat was undercooked. To understand smoke ring formation you must first understand muscle pigment.
Myoglobin is the pigment that gives muscle its color. Beef muscle has more pigment than pork muscle thus beef has a darker color than pork. Chicken thighs have a darker color than chicken breast thus chicken thigh muscle has more muscle pigment (myoglobin) than chicken breast tissue. A greater myoglobin concentration yields a more intense color. When you first cut into a muscle you expose the muscle pigment in its native state, myoglobin. In the case of beef, myoglobin has a purplish-red color. After the myoglobin has been exposed to oxygen for a short time, it becomes oxygenated and oxymyoglobin is formed. Oxymyoglobin is the color we associate with fresh meat. The optimum fresh meat color in beef is bright cherry red and in pork bright grayish pink. If a cut of meat is held under refrigeration for several days, the myoglobin on the surface becomes oxidized. When oxymyoglobin is oxidized it becomes metmyoglobin. Metmyoglobin has a brown color and is associated with a piece of meat that has been cut for several days. When we produce cured products we also alter the state of the pigment myoglobin. Cured products are defined as products to which we add sodium nitrate and/or sodium nitrite during processing. Examples of cured products are ham, bacon, bologna and hotdogs. All of these products have a pink color, which is typical of cured products. When sodium nitrite is combined with meat the pigment myoglobin is converted to nitric oxide myoglobin which is a very dark red color. This state of the pigment myoglobin is not very stable. Upon heating, nitric oxide myoglobin is converted to nitrosylhemochrome, which is the typical pink color of cured meats.
When a smoke ring develops in barbecue meats it is not because smoke has penetrated and colored the muscle, but rather because gases in the smoke interact with the pigment myoglobin. Two phenomenon provide evidence that it is not the smoke itself that causes the smoke ring. First, it is possible to have a smoke ring develop in a product that has not been smoked and second, it is also possible to heavily smoke a product without smoke ring development.
Most barbecuers use either wood chips or logs to generate smoke when cooking. Wood contains large amounts of nitrogen (N). During burning the nitrogen in the logs combines with oxygen (O) in the air to form nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Nitrogen dioxide is highly water-soluble. The pink ring is created when NO2 is absorbed into the moist meat surface and reacts to form nitrous acid. The nitrous acid then diffuses inward creating a pink ring via the classic meat curing reaction of sodium nitrite. The end result is a "smoke ring" that has the pink color of cured meat. Smoke ring also frequently develops in smokehouses and cookers that are gas-fired because NO2 is a combustion by-product when natural gas or propane is burned.
Let’s review the conditions that would help to contribute to the development of a smoke ring. Slow cooking and smoking over several hours. This allows time for the NO2 to be absorbed into and interact with the meat pigment.
Maintain the surface of the meat moist during smoking. NO2 is water-soluble so it absorbs more readily into a piece of meat that has a moist surface than one which has a dry surface. Meats that have been marinated tend to have a moister surface than non-marinated meats. There are also a couple of ways that you can help to maintain a higher humidity level in your cooker; 1. Do not open and close the cooker frequently. Each time you open it you allow moisture inside to escape. 2. Put a pan of water on your grill. Evaporation from the water will help increase humidity inside the cooker.
Generate smoke from the burning of wood chips or wood logs. Since NO2 is a by-product of incomplete combustion, green wood or wetted wood seems to enhance smoke ring development. Burning green wood or wetted wood also helps to increase the humidity level inside the cooker.
A high temperature flame is needed to create NO2 from nitrogen and oxygen. A smoldering fire without a flame does not produce as much NO2. Consequently, a cooker that uses indirect heat generated from the burning of wood typically will develop a pronounced smoke ring. Have fun cooking. A nice smoke ring can sure make a piece of barbecued meat look attractive.
About the Author:
Joe Cordray is the Meat Extension Specia***t at Iowa State University’s nationally renowned Meat Lab, located in Ames, IA. He has been writing for The BBQer since Fall of 2001
http://www.geocities.com/senortoad/SmokeRinginBarbequeMeats.htm
"Complaint Department"
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georgina12
Starting Member
4 Posts |
Posted - 07/11/2007 : 14:38:00
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I like that article Sandy. I am going to keep that one.
KCBS Certified Judge #21812
Sweetwood Smokers BBQ Team
http://www.bbqsaucereport.com (43 sauces and counting!)
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Posted - 07/11/2007 : 14:39:16
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I'm happy someone can understand it.  
"Complaint Department"
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Posted - 07/11/2007 : 15:05:36
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From the USDA Website:
15. Why is some cooked poultry pink?
Chemical changes occur during cooking. Oven gases in a heated gas or electric oven react chemically with hemoglobin in the meat tissues to give it a pink tinge. Often meat of younger birds shows the most pink because their thinner skins permit oven gases to reach the flesh. Older animals have a fat layer under their skin, giving the flesh added protection from the gases. Older poultry may be pink in spots where fat is absent from the skin. Also, nitrates and nitrites, which are often used as preservatives or may occur naturally in the feed or water supply used, can cause a pink color.
16. If fully cooked smoked poultry is pink, is it safe?
Poultry grilled or smoked outdoors can be pink, even when all parts have attained temperatures well above 165 °F. There may be a pink-colored rim about one-half inch wide around the outside of the cooked product. Commercially prepared, smoked poultry is usually pink because it is prepared with natural smoke and liquid smoke flavor.
Kent
"Hogs dat feed on the ole kudzu, make good eatin at the ba be cue."-Bo Thibodeux
"You know your a redneck if you've ever lost a relative to kudzu."-Jeff Foxworthy |
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paulheels
Starting Member
USA
11 Posts |
Posted - 07/11/2007 : 15:39:41
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Thanks y'all, I knew someone here would know where to find it! I'll print the information off for my pit partner.
I ain't sure if he can remember all them big words. He's the kind of guy that will probably turn it around on the eggheads tell them he knew they won't believe it if they didn't see it in writing, and its too complicated to discuss with someone as ignorant as they are but if they really want to know they can just look it up fer their selves on the USDA website. And that will give him the opportunity to tell them what USDA stands for.
Richard
Laurens County, Georgia
250 Gal. LP Gas Tank
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Posted - 07/11/2007 : 16:36:12
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I fight this problem all the time in our restaurant. I tell them it is a chemical reaction caused by the hard wood smoke and the meat. I tell them if the juices run clear it is done. This has worked in most cases. Also our meat falls off the bone and that also tells them it is done.
babybear alias dwilliams |
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Posted - 07/11/2007 : 21:20:55
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Just let 'em know that if it bothers them they can always give it to you.
Orrin Dean
Thank you very Kindly! |
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biffleg
Starting Member
0 Posts |
Posted - 07/11/2007 : 21:29:31
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You asked about pink.
Excellent answers above.
Why is done chicken red?
http://www.hi-tm.com/Documents/Bloody-chik.html
Interesting, I think.
BOB
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Raw meat should NOT have an ingredients list
Stump's GF 222 CM
A fleet of (4) Kamados
Mini BGE
WSM
Smokey Joe
(any or all may or may not be Stoker controlled) |
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Posted - 07/12/2007 : 00:37:46
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Bob
As a CBJ Instructor for KCBS that article does cover the information that we teach in the class, it is bone marrow, can be a tough sale sometimes with some people.
Jim
Ole Hickory El-ED/X
Klose mobile
Traeger mobile
WSM
Primos
Ranch Kettles |
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biffleg
Starting Member
0 Posts |
Posted - 07/12/2007 : 17:02:13
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Jim,
I've only seen chicken that bad/red once. I smoked about 16 thighs, Thermopened several, all OK. I bit into one and it looked just like those pictures. Checked the temperature again. Did the napkin test, no red on the napkin. So just to prove to myself that the article was correct, I put that piece and another that I'd cut into (also bloody-looking) in the microwave, on high, for 10 minutes. It was as hard, dry and tough as shoe leather, but still bright red. I had to eat most of the rest in the dark.
It's hard to bite a piece of chicken that looks that bad.
BOB
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Raw meat should NOT have an ingredients list
Stump's GF 222 CM
A fleet of (4) Kamados
Mini BGE
WSM
Smokey Joe
(any or all may or may not be Stoker controlled) |
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