The Smoke Ring

One of the most frequent comments I hear from “newbies” to real slow smoked BBQ is:  “Ohhhh noooo…..this is RAW!! Look how pink it is inside!    Oh, wait….it is cooked in the middle — but not on the outside…”  I  confidently assure people that this is due to the smoke penetrating the meat, causing the pink ring or “smoke ring” to appear around the outside layer of the meat.  This is not raw, this is FLAVOR!!