smoke ring

cold meat, lower temps, not too much rub, plus wood smoke

Here are some general tips to improve your smoke ring. Some are ceramic specific. The two easiest ways to improve your ring formation in your Egg would be starting off with cold meat, using a few briquettes within the lump, using a low pit temp for a couple of hours, and making sure you have good airflow. More details are below:

*Smoke rings stop forming at 140°, so start your meat off cold, and run your pit colder for the first couple of hours. (for brisket I try to stay below 200° for a couple of hours, then I ramp up the pit temp to my barbecuing temp)

* Flaming wood produces more nitrogen than a smoldering fire. Use correct vent settings on your cooker, and maintain good airflow in your firebox, charcoal basket etc.

* Moist meat absorbs nitrogen dioxide more easily. Use a water pan in your cooker, use a ceramic cooker (they keep meats moister than many steel pits), marinate, inject baste, or spritz your meat, or use some immature wood. Don't use all green wood, just a piece or two that is not fully cured. Soak a few chips or a chunk or two, don't soak them all or your smoke production will be limited until the wood dries out. Try putting a whole onion or two on the grate, they release moisture curing the cook and are delicious.

* Charcoal briquettes have more nitrogen than lump charcoal. If you are a lump burner, add a couple of briquettes atop your fire early on in the cook. If you are using a box style electric or propane smoker, add a briquette or two to your chip pan.

* Cook larger cuts of meat and/or keep your cooker full.... More meat means more mass, more mass will retain more moisture. Select whole briskets over flats, cook two butts instead of one, don't just cook 3 thighs, buy a big pack and fill up that grate. If you have some spare room on a grate, put a fatty or two on.

* Use some Tenderquick. All you do is sprinkle some on the inside face of a brisket (the side opposite the fat cap) and let it sit for 10 minutes. Rinse it off, then return the brisket to the fridge for 1 hour. Then season and barbecue as usual.

Actually the ring stops forming in the 140°'s... You can pile on the smoky flavor throughout the cook.

i dont know if cherry wood helps but ive always used it as the main smoking wood along with some hickory, pecan, or guava added and always got a good smoke ring. fast cooked brisket was a surprise for me, cooked hot and fast with alot of oak wood and there is a great smoke ring, you really need alot of smoke with the faster cooks and it really is noticeable

That's easy to explain. It was cooked in a microwave. Everyone knows that microwaves cook food from the inside out.

If you are doing brisket, you need to cook it fat side down. I always did it fat side up until I heard about this, and the last brisket I did was the first one with a smoke ring.

Is it the binders, the density or the coal in some of them?

Just curious.