If you are familiar with Montreal smoked meat you must have seen the mysterious smoke ring that forms around the smoked meat. If you are not that familiar, the for you to understand, a smoke ring is a pink coloured region formed and seen at the outermost 10 millimetres of the smoked meat in the process of smoking the meat. In fact, a pink or red colour in the meat indicates that there is myoglobin in the meat. Normally, when the meat is cooked or fried the myoglobin in the meat is lost and as a result, the meat looks brown. If you have tasted the Montreal smoked meat you must have seen the pink ring and if you have not yet seen the pink ring experience the same from Jarry Smoked Meat and taste the delicious Montreal smoked meat.
You must have seen that the centre of the smoked meat still red indicating the presence of myoglobin still in the centre. It happened probably because the heat never reached with sufficient temperature to denature and eliminate the myoglobin in the centre part of the meat. On the other hand, since the high temperature at the outskirt of the smoked meat keeps the meat cooking, the cool temperature can not be the reason for the pink colour in the smoked meat. Now it seems a puzzle that what caused the smoked meat to retain myoglobin in the smoked meat?
Whether is it something in contact with the surface because that is where the pink colour appears. If it is so, then it is either the dry rub seasoning or the smoke itself has contributed to the pink colour. On the other hand, it can not be the dry rub seasoning because in the cases of dry rub while cooking in an oven or slow cooker the pink ring does not appear. Eventually, it is certain that the smoke is causing the pink ring in the smoked meat. But how?
The organic fuels like wood, gas or charcoals while burning produce numerous chemical including nitrogen dioxide or NO2 gas. As the NO2 gas comes in contact with the surface it dissolves into the meat and then picks up a molecule of hydrogen and becomes nitrous acid or HN02 eventually getting converted to nitric oxide or NO. The nitric oxide or NO in the process reacts with myoglobin and they together form the pink molecule which can withstand heat. Therefore, the thickness of the pink ring depends upon how deep the NO penetrates in the process of reacting with myoglobin. It happens specifically in the process of smoke meat because the temperature in the process is slow providing opportunity for the NO to penetrate with the myoglobin before the myoglobin is lost with high temperature.