red ring on burgers, sausages and pinkish chicken

[sli-woody]

Hi noobie here

Hopefully someone can help me.
I am using an Oklahoma Joe BBQ/Smoker and have been using it for the last few month.

I been reading websites, books, watching videos and all sorts in the hope I can cook a half decent meal on me BBQ after years of murdering everything directly over white spirit & charcoal with a brolly.

My problem is this, i buy the best burgers i can, the best sausages, the finest chicken thighs etc etc
i use a rub taken from the grill-stock book and only apply to the chicken.
I cook them how i feel is best (approx 2hrs at 120f, lumpwood in the ofset chamber and the temp remains constant) and i try not to mess around with them.Only turning them once. I don't use any smoking wood chips and try to keep the smoke to a minimum due to close neighbours.(in fact i would say no smoke at all)
Once done i confirm the chicken thigh internal temp with a digital temp gauge and always get between 75-80f.
but this is my problem, the chicken is pinkish inside from the skin, but perfectly white at the bone.
the burgers if cut you can see a pinkish ring all around the inside.
and the same with the sausages.

The food tastes good and i am sure everything is cooked but people are concerned about the pink especially inside the chicken.
I have tried leaving the chicken on for longer (2.5 hrs) but all that does is raise the internal temp to 90f and makes the chicken rubbery and still the pink remains.

what is happening? and how can I avoid this?


thanks for any help in advance,

woody

[Pompey Dinlo]

The red ring is what is known as the smoke ring. Here is a comprehensive explanation of it:

http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_techniq ... _ring.html

Nothing to worry about, perfectly normal and much sought after by BBQ enthusiasts. If you're worried about whether your meat is thoroughly cooked then I'd recommend you invest in a Thermapen. As long as the meat at the thickest part (avoid contact with bone) is at the correct temperature (different temps for different meat/fish etc) then you can be confident that all bacteria has been killed.

[Lord Grim]

I hope that when you say 75-80F, you mean C.
75F is about 23C, or just slightly above room temperature. If you're fond of living, or at least not hugging the toilet whilst trying to vomit into the bog brush holder, you need to aim for a lot higher core temperature, from memory for example, a temperature deemed safe by the EHO for food service is 72C for a minimum of 3 mins.

[sli-woody]

yeah i mean C- doh

[Lord Grim]

Phew, you had me worried for a minute!
In that case, what Pompey Dinlo said.

[essexsmoker]

As above. The red ring is good unless you did cook at 75f. That kind of red ring isn't so good. Lol.

It's bascially nitric oxides. My lot had a flap about it the first time they tucked in too.