Anyone inject a pork butt?

[Seth Boardman]

I have done several pork butts and never had a problem with them not being juicy. I was just wondering if anyone actually injects theirs and if so with what? I kinda want to try injecting with apple juice or something similar just to see if it's any better or not.

 

[Chris Allingham]

Yes! Both very good.

Pork Butt - Chris Lilly Big Bob Gibson Championship Injection - The Virtual Weber Bullet

Pork butts seasoned using Chris Lilly's Six-Time World Championship pork shoulder recipe then barbecued on the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker. Award winning!

www.virtualweberbullet.com

Pork Butt - Harry Soo Slap Yo' Daddy Injection - The Virtual Weber Bullet

Pork butts seasoned using Harry Soo's Slap Yo' Daddy injection and rub then barbecued on the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker. Makes great pulled pork sammies!

www.virtualweberbullet.com

 

[Lynn Dollar]

Yes, I do. Pork butt is a big hunk of meat, and pork as a rule is a bland meat. If ya gonna put flavor inside the butt, ya gotta inject.

I use the Chris Lilly Champ injection, from the " cooking topics " page.

 

[Lynn Dollar]

And if ya gonna inject, this Butcher BBQ pistol grip injector is great !

Its sooooo much easier than the syringe type, and thus it allows far better control. This is one tool that's worth whatever more it costs. Link is to the Butcher BBQ site, but I think Alll Things BBQ has a little better price.

https://www.butcherbbq.com/product-page/gourmet-pistol-grip-injector

 

[Lew Newby]

Just like Lynn I inject with Bob Lily inject for the flavor boost.

 

[Chris Allingham]

But if you don't want to inject, you can doctor the meat after you pull it. Some of the whole hog guys chop all the muscles and skin, mix the meat together so you get a little bit of everything, and finally sprinkle it with a thin vinegar sauce and mix that all together to flavor and moisten the meat.

I don't inject often, so I'm more likely to pull the pork butt and mix in a little thinned sauce to add moisture and flavor.

 

[John K BBQ]

My methods for PB are similar to what Chris describes. If you're going for over the top flavor, injecting is probably recommended but I never inject and friends and fam are always happy. Sometimes I apply rub, put in a roaster bag and let it sit in the fridge for a while... those PB's seem to be a little more flavorful than when I don't plan ahead and go into my no-huddle/hurry up offense.

 

[Kelly C]

I use the Chris Lilly injection recipe mentioned above by Chris and others.

 

[Rick P]

I've never injected a pork butt, or saw the need.

I dry brine with kosher salt the day before, then a generous helping of Memphis Dust, then let 'er rip! I pull it off the smoker when it's probe tender, (typically around 198 degrees in my experience), wrap, rest and serve. They're always tender, moist and flavorful.

Note that I rarely smoke a butt that exceeds 5lbs. When I'm feeding a crowd, I'll buy larger roasts, and have the butcher cut them into 4-5lb pieces. It results in a slightly faster cook, and twice as much delicious bark.

 

[timothy]

I used to inject before I became a member here. After reading the board for awhile I went with the finishing/ pulling sauce, like Chris A mentioned above^ Or this thread.
One thing I didn't like when injecting was the weird colored streaks of meat when pulling.

 

[Harrison Patrick]

Kosmo’s Q Competition pork butt injection mixed with whatever beer is in the fridge at the moment is always on deck when smoking pork butts.

 

[BrianCal]

I always inject. I strain a bottle of wishbone italian dressing to separate the solids from the oil.
Then I inject the oil (which has a nice flavor from the solids) and use the solids as the base for my rub.
Have been getting rave reviews since I switched to doing it this way.