Why Smoked Meat Might Still Be Pink Inside - Chowhound

The secret behind that pink ring in your smoked meat lies in a protein called myoglobin. This molecule is a close cousin to hemoglobin, which you might remember from high school biology class as the protein that carries oxygen in our blood. Both myoglobin and hemoglobin contain a pigment called heme, which gives the meat its distinctive blood-red color. Advertisement Here's where things get interesting: Raw meat…