I bought some of these at the supermarket. When I bit into them
they seemed to be pink. I am not sure if this means they are not
"done" or that is they way they should look. COncerned about the health
aspect

> wrote in message
ups.com...
>I bought some of these at the supermarket. When I bit into them
> they seemed to be pink. I am not sure if this means they are not
> "done" or that is they way they should look. COncerned about the health
> aspect

Yes, they are done. Ever notice the color of ham? Same process that makes
ham pink also makes smoked poultry pink. It is a reaction to the myoglobin
in the meat to the nitrites in the smoke.

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
>
> Yes, they are done. Ever notice the color of ham? Same process that
> makes ham pink also makes smoked poultry pink. It is a reaction to the
> myoglobin in the meat to the nitrites in the smoke.

The nitrates or nitrites are usually applied
as a liquid solution, not in the smoke.
You could apply nitrate as a gas, but I've
never heard of that being done. It would
be incredibly dangerous, and the equipment
would have to be extremely corrosion-resistant.
I can't think of any advantage over application
as a liquid solution.

Smoke flavoring may be applied simultaneously
in a liquid solution, if that's what you meant.

wrote:

> I bought some of these at the supermarket. When I bit into them
> they seemed to be pink. I am not sure if this means they are not
> "done" or that is they way they should look. COncerned about the health
> aspect

No problem. They are quite edible, and very tasty. Every smoked turkey wing
I have had has been a little pink.

"Mark Thorson" > wrote in message
>
> The nitrates or nitrites are usually applied
> as a liquid solution, not in the smoke.
> You could apply nitrate as a gas, but I've
> never heard of that being done. It would
> be incredibly dangerous, and the equipment
> would have to be extremely corrosion-resistant.
> I can't think of any advantage over application
> as a liquid solution.
>
> Smoke flavoring may be applied simultaneously
> in a liquid solution, if that's what you meant.

No, I said what I meant and I meant what is said. Nitrite appears naturally
as one of the components of smoke a by-products of combustion of wood. See,
you learned something new today. Glad I could help.


Why is my BBQ chicken pink? Is it still raw?



No, the smoke has a reaction with the chemicals in the bone. The meat turns
a pink color even though it is thoroughly cooked. Ash is loaded with
potassium and sodium nitrates. This reacts with oxymethyglobin to form
nitrosaminoglobulins and gives us the pink color of hams, lunch meats, hot
dogs, and smoke rings.



Man has known this for a long time and has been using salt to preserve meat.
It was found that nitrates are a natural impurity in salt. This was isolated
and used to chemically cure meat. (Salt peter)