How Early to Inject Butt

Hi All,

I'm doing a 9lb butt tonight and wanted to know how early you inject it, if you are injecting?

Also, do you inject and rub at the same time or some variation on this?

Thanks,

James

James,I've only injected once,so I might not be the best to answer. IIRC,injecting will penetrate some flavor,but it might change the texture of the butt if done too early. I don't think the pro's inject too early. Letting it sit for a half hour or so shouldn't change the texture too much.
And go ahead and rub right away. The injection that seeps out will help the rub adhere. Give it a try and let us know how it turns out.

I always do both a rub and an injection. I try to rub several hours before the cook. Not more than 12 but always more than 4 hours before. I then wrap it up in plastic wrap and let it sit in the freezer. The injection, however, is usually done just before I prep my WSM. This means that I'm injecting it not more than 30 minutes before it goes in. Right before it goes in I lightly rub it down once more.

For comps we like to inject 4 - 6 hours before they go on.

Thanks All. I've decided to inject & rub at the same time 4 hours before, wrap in plastic and refrigerate (mostly because patience is not my virtue and I really want to do it now). I expect to put the butt on at 10pm EST so I'm going to prep it in a few minutes. I also expect the injection will wash away some rub so I'm going to add a little sprinkle just before adding to the WSM. I'm not ready for the freezer yet

Just as a nasty aside, I'm now doing an 8lb bone in butt as the 9lb boneless I picked up vac packed from Loblaws was smelly rotten. Expiry date was May 1st but I should have known better. Returned it and picked up a bone in from Metro cut while I waited. Looks like I have a new supplier.

Gone and back in 30 minutes but mad as heck when I cut the first package open.

I'm doing an overnighter (my first overnight butt) so I may live post until I fall asleep in another thread.

Thanks,

James

James, I usually inject and rub 1-4 hrs in advance. Tried the night before and like others said: it changed the texture.

Bone in is better, IMO. Are you using briqs or lump, water or clay or dry foiled?

Love doing overnighters!

Thanks Glenn. I'm using K briquettes for this one with a water pan full of hot water. My first overnighter was a brisket using RO lump and hot water in the pan but I lost fuel too early (while I was sleeping) and was only using a cheapie therm that didn't have a low temp alarm. My temp dropped to 100F (started at 9pm, strong 240 at 1am when I went to bed and a lowly 100F by 6am when I woke up) and I was out of lump so I panicked, foiled the meat and put it in a 225 oven to finish (I had 9 hrs in the WSM by then and the meat was 140F). Finished a little overdone at 3pm (11.5lb full brisket).

This time I have a brand new ET-73 that I was just setting up for the first time when I read your post I'm also PACKING the ring with fuel and 6 pieces of Smokinlicious Cherry (but I have Sugar Maple if you think that's a better fit)this time. I don't think I got a full pack with the lump last time and, as a rookie, figured I could get to my corner store for more lump in the morning if needed but I ran out too early.

As noted earlier, I injected this butt and I'm not sure if this will affect cooking times but I'll see how the Maverick handles the temps (and waking me up).

I plan on starting a running post of this overnighter once everything gets going well.

Quick question to all, can I overstuff the ring and choke the fuel (assuming I adjust the vents properly to get a consistent temp)? I will probably watch it from 10pm to 3am and sleep for 4 hrs, nap and check back in.

Sorry for the long post. I'm just hoping for a great butt as I have friends and family over tomorrow.

James

I think I was helping/hindering you on your 1st overnight brisket . I don't think you can choke the fire by filling the ring full.

Since your using water I would be careful not to set bottom below 25% until your target temp is reached and stable!

What is your temp in Toronto tonight?

Thanks Glenn. It's almost 1am EST now (3hrs in) and the outside temp is 57F. It is supposed to warm up overnight to 63F in the morning and 73F by noon. I don't think ambient temp will be an issue and we have no wind.

I closed one vent all the way and have 2 open around 30%. I'm holding strong at 240F lid and 259F grate with the ET-73 (good, thin blue smoke and aroma now). Still don't get why the grate reads high but they both move in the same direction so I'm not worried.

I have to say, I was like Van Gogh loading the ring. I got a full 9lb bag of K with 6 pieces of wood in and 40 lit briquettes from bag #2 to start. I have another chimney of 40 ready for the morning just in case along with a 3rd bag. I'm up for another few hours and hope to grab 4-6 hrs of nap time. We'll see what the morning brings.

I'll keep the communication open.

James