Where’s the smoke ring?

[Pete6737]

Hello all
I’ve had my RT 1250 for a little over a year. I like the convenience of the pellet grill and the smoked meat usually comes out great. Lately I’ve noticed that my long cooks don’t have that great smoke ring. My last brisket cook last weekend had a very little ring. I used a smoke tube as well. The food tasted fine but you know, the male guests form around the kitchen island for the slicing reveal And well it’s a tad underwhelming. I see pics on this forum of serious smoke rings. How do you get that? Thanks, Pete

 

[BigDan]

What temps are you smoking at? My Briskets I go at 180 for 3-4 hours then 225 until completion on my 1250 with anything… no smoke tube either.

 

[Pete6737]

I tried something new based on a suggestion and went to 200 until time to wrap. Then bumped up from there. I think it was too low and too slow. Lol.

Normally I’m a 250* guy all the way through. I injected and it wasn’t dry, but it wasn’t as juicy as previous briskets. I think I cooked the juice out!

 

[BradBQ]

Are you cooking fat cap up or down? Ive found cooking fat cap down results in a better smoke ring. Im not trying to start the fat cap up vs fat cap down discussion as it is old as time, but I have found in several briskets fat cap down produces a more pronounced smoke ring.

 

[Pete6737]

Funny you mentioned that but this was also the first time I cooked fat side down. I thought in last cooks that the bottom got too hard from the heat. So I was fat side down to protect from the heat source. . I think that may be the way to go. I got a great bark on the top. There was a bit of smoke ring like you said but I just don’t get those bright red all around smoke rings. I used a smoke tube. When it burned out I put a second on.

Maybe I should use two tubes at once at the beginning. That’ll be my next experiment.

 

[SmokeOCD]

Got a before pic? What did you coat with and how much? It can affect the smoke getting to the meat.

 

[Pacman]

I've found that if I'm too heavy handed with rub, it tends to affect the smoke ring. I also stopped using a binder like yellow mustard in favor of the natural tackiness of the meat itself or even a light spritz of virtually anything, even water, before applying the rub. I've also noticed that putting the meat on cold seems to help get the smoke ring depth.

 

[Motodad1776]

Even Aaron Franklin says that smoke rings are overhyped and overrated......hows it taste?

 

[Pete6737]

Sorry no before pic. I heard oil blocks some smoke so I’ve used just water on the meat to get the rub to stick but this last time I used Frank’s red hot. Salt pepper granulated garlic and a light dusting of the last remnants of recteq espresso rub.

 

[Pete6737]

I never have an issue with flavor! Maybe I’m overthinking the smoke ring but it just doesn’t look as appealing without one. Like I said, I seen bright pronounced rings. I can’t seem to get them like I see here on the forum. I get all the variables that can affect the smoke. I usually trim,rub and place in the grill cold. No room temp , I tried different temps of the cook, and different ways to bind the rub. Always get a great tasty bark. I guess smoke rings may or not be super important but I’m always looking to improve my cooking lol

 

[Motodad1776]

Meat does interesting things as well, hence the stall times/temps and smoke rings.

 

[SmokeOCD]

I used Frank’s red hot. Salt pepper granulated garlic and a light dusting of the last remnants of recteq espresso rub.

Vinegar (and lemon) negatively affects smoke ring formation; so I've read.

 

[Gonefishin]

If it’s just the last few long cooks, what are you doing different? Different pellets, meat source, rub, binder, temp, time to wrap?

 

[Jim6820]

What @padlin00 said! Pellets came immediately to mind for me.

 

[Pete6737]

Well, I did switch to Costco pellets , fromRecteq. But my recollection is that the in the last year I had the pellet smoker, it’s been much different than my old Weber Smokey mountain.

I could switch pellets as another prong to the experiment

 

[Jim6820]

My suggestion is to cook a few more briskets before making any significant change. If it is just this most recent brisket that didn’t have the smoke ring you wanted, it might have just been that particular brisket. Sometimes, a given piece of meat just doesn’t take smoke well.

 

[Pete6737]

That makes sense. I appreciate all the input here! Thank you.

 

[Waterboy]

Here is an interesting article from Texas Monthly regarding smoke rings if you are interested.

 

[Jim6820]

Here is an interesting article from Texas Monthly regarding smoke rings if you are interested.

Thanks for posting that link, @Waterboy; it contains some very interesting information. And, while I’m no scientist, much of the information agrees with what I have observed over the years; especially the cold meat and low temperature stuff.

 

[Wslayer]

Agree with @Jim6820 in post #16