A comparison of Pork Butt Injections


 
S

Scotty T

New member
So i did 4 butts over the weekend with 4 injections, injected 10oz into each

1-Strained, Kraft Zesty Italian dressing, solids mixed with yellow mustard and applied before rub

2-Pepsi(made with sugar) and chicken stock

3-My Pork Mop (oil, vinegar, water, soy, worsch, apple juice, bbq rub)

4-Tony Cacheres butter injection

Butt 1, had mustard/Italian dressing solids slather, then butt rub
other 3 butts, used a bit of veggie oil as glue.

WSM 225, cooked at 250

Smoked with apple wood until 170 (8 hours), foiled w/apple juice and rub, cooked 195, rested, pulled.

Liquids from foil reserved, meat pulled, fat removed....then we had a tasting.

they all tasted like smoked, pulled pork...moist, porky, salty, sweet. IMO, the injections were not prevalent in the pulled products. the Italian and pork mop butts were maybe a bit 'brighter' probably due to the vinegar.

after we sampled the meats, i added 4 tbsp butt rub, 4 tbsp white vinegar, 2 tbsp au jus (cooled, fat on top removed) , and mix thoroughly to each.

the rub makes contact with more meat and reiterates the sweetness from brown sugar, the vinegar brightens the meat and balances the sweet, the au jus adds a nice glisten to the meat and provides silky mouth feel and maybe adds back a bit of injection flavor.

I (like most of us here) have smoked many a pork butt. Its a straight forward cut of pork that is very difficult to overcook....just don't over-smoke anything.

i've done numerous injections and am now in the school of thought that it is not necessary. i feel the best way to get flavor on the 'inside' is to re-apply rub/vinegar/injection or mop.....sparingly.....after its pulled. not to much as to take away from the 'pork' flavor, but just enough to brighten/season each bite.

just my 2 cents.......whats your take?

I'm getting 3 racks of spare ribs for Friday, going to trim STL style and maybe test some hot n' fast grilling with trimmed rib tips.....
I like cooking 321 at 250, foil with margarine, sugar, pork mop, raspberry/habanero bbq finishing sauce.

looking like some good weather in my neck of the woods.
 
Super experiment !

As you noted, for pulled, injection may not be the best method.
Other consideration would be for those slicing, such as with the money muscle, when injections may play an important role.
What also might be interesting is a further comparison using commercial injections such as Butchers or Kosmos to see if they bring anything to the table.
 
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Scotty - after several attempts at injecting I just don't find it that effective or more effective than simply applying whatever treatment I come up with after pulling to taste. Now that doesn't mean I don't appreciate or use the injector - just not on butts for a long long time. I do much as you do - play with different flavors, etc. Always like to foil a little to save some juice but not for long.

For smoke wood - I kind of like all the typical one. But pecan and peach along with apple are favorites.

Rib - I like to do the 321 but not always. Just depends on how I feel and who I'm cooking for. "Falling off the bone" is not a typical target or preference for me personally, and 321 can get away while in the foil if you don't watch and not leave the "pull or tug" in the finish that I prefer.

I like to cook ribs and butt any where from 250-275 unless I am pushing time. I have found that running hotter, say up to 325 doesn't matter much as long as you are watching and know
what "done" is.
 
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I've been happy with injecting briskets with a pretty darn strong commercial product I found called "brisket sauce" (it's mostly soy and worcestershire with some other spices), but I think that's more because it has a pretty strong umami flavor that adds to the beefy taste of brisket.

I've never had much luck with flavoring pork the same way. Probably the only thing I haven't tried that could make a big difference is injecting with a brine, to get a little more salt into the meat. You'd need to inject then let it sit overnight, or at least for several hours. But apple juice and all that, I agree it does very little for you, and you're better off adding those flavors as a final saucing step.
 
I inject pork loin but pork butt not so much. I find the butt with a rub is enough as most people will add a sauce on their BBQ.
 
r benash said:
Scotty - after several attempts at injecting I just don't find it that effective or more effective than simply applying whatever treatment I come up with after pulling to taste. Now that doesn't mean I don't appreciate or use the injector - just not on butts for a long long time. I do much as you do - play with different flavors, etc. Always like to foil a little to save some juice but not for long.

For smoke wood - I kind of like all the typical one. But pecan and peach along with apple are favorites.

Rib - I like to do the 321 but not always. Just depends on how I feel and who I'm cooking for. "Falling off the bone" is not a typical target or preference for me personally, and 321 can get away while in the foil if you don't watch and not leave the "pull or tug" in the finish that I prefer.

I like to cook ribs and butt any where from 250-275 unless I am pushing time. I have found that running hotter, say up to 325 doesn't matter much as long as you are watching and know
what "done" is.
Click to expand...

yea....sometimes i find that cooking ribs is more like......2.25 - 1.5 - .75 -.15 ha.....

i check the least meatiest rack after 1 hour in foil, if its looking good and tender...maybe pulling back from the bone a bit, ill keep the foil open and just leave them in the 'foil boats'.....maybe drain out some of the liquid too.
 
Dave Alvarado said:
I've been happy with injecting briskets with a pretty darn strong commercial product I found called "brisket sauce" (it's mostly soy and worcestershire with some other spices), but I think that's more because it has a pretty strong umami flavor that adds to the beefy taste of brisket.

I've never had much luck with flavoring pork the same way. Probably the only thing I haven't tried that could make a big difference is injecting with a brine, to get a little more salt into the meat. You'd need to inject then let it sit overnight, or at least for several hours. But apple juice and all that, I agree it does very little for you, and you're better off adding those flavors as a final saucing step.
Click to expand...

I always inject brisket too. i use beef base/water, with some soy, worsh, apple juice.....ive experimented with adding garlic pwd, onion pwd, cayenne to the injection...but now tend to just have a touch of that in the beef rub.
 
I've gone the full cycle like many have. I started with the most complicated injection I could come up with because I was sure it made a difference. Over time I worked it down to just some stock and now I only do it if I have some stock. I think it tends to help with moisture but that could be the old habit in me. I completely agree with sprinkling with rub once it is pulled. We work so hard on finding or making the right rub and then only put it on the outside. I think it is vital to add after pulling.

And I dont mop or spritz or anything like that. I think it has the potential to add a flavor I dont want to the bark, wash off some of my spices, or more importantly, I think it dries the outer layer of the meat when it evaporates. I read something somewhere one time (due to age, I have no idea where or exactly what it said) that said apple juice was a terrible thing to use. Cant remember if it was the evaporation thing or just the sugar thing. Either way, I think injecting will do far more for keeping the inside moist than mopping.
 
Like some are saying, I used to get totally crazy with the list of ingredients to put into a butt injection. I would throw everything in there to get to nirvana. Never found it. Now I just use AJ with very finely ground (to get it through the injector) pork rub mixed in. The same rub that I'm going to put on the exterior. That's it. I'll make it up about a week before injecting to let it 'steep' some but I'm just about convinced that even a week doesn't make any difference.

My mentor used to say that a butt really needed to be pumped up like a basketball with injection. I'm not so cinvinced of that anymore. The vast majority of it just ends up in the pan and doesn't actually help with the moisture level or flavor.

My latest venture involves some butter in the injection and that is showing a lot of promise so far. Gotta think outside the box!

Russ
 
Sorry 'bout hijack the thread...

Russ Sylvester said:
... My mentor used to say that a butt really needed to be pumped up like a basketball with injection.

My latest venture involves some butter in the injection and that is showing a lot of promise so far. Gotta think outside the box!

Russ
Click to expand...

Interesting analogy ;) Curious, real butter or the blue squeeze container ?
 
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