Smoked some pork chops and they came out pink

[Aces67]

I smoked some center cut chops in my pit boss on 250 degrees.

The meat thermometer showed they were at 165 when I took them off the grill. They are very tender but very pink looking.


Why are they so pink?

[Rambo]

[woodenvisions]

I've had Pork chops pink at 145 before.
It's always going to be a debate weather to cook by color or temp.
I personally feel better not seeing any pink, but my good butcher friend said as long as ur doing a solid 145 you will be ok. Apparently it varies with different cuts and how they are wrapped??
He cautioned me tho that you should STILL go to 160/165 to be safe on any " ground pork "...

In the end, I still like to see no Pink but that may just be my over cautious stance.

Good luck

[Aces67]

Since the thermometer read 165, we ate them. Crossing my fingers now. Lol

Hopefully they were okay. I always use a meat thermometer no matter how I cook my meat. I'm very cautious about undercooked meat and food poisoning.

[txsmkmstr]

Deep smoke ring???

[bsooner75]

Internal temp is more important than appearance. As long as you trust your thermometer you should be good.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Papa Tom]

You just learned a lesson in nitrates in smoke cooking yes they are there and yes they cause the smoke ring and pink color in red meat (BTW pork IS a red meat)...

Enjoy, cook by temp not color.

[spacetrucker]

^^^^^^^exactly what he said^^^^^^^