Injecting Butts?

[Larry Wolfe]

Has anyone ever tried injecting butts? I was gonna try this with Stubbs Pork Marinade after straining of course then rub and cook as usual. Sounds to me like it would work, just wanted to know if anyone has tried it and how it turned out? Thanks in advance for the input.

 

[Mark Etheridge]

I have read on this site of people injecting butts with Italian Dressing. You inject until the butt just can't hold anymore. From what I remember, it makes for a very juicy butt but I can't remember what it does to the flavor.

A friend also gave me a fried turkey marinade that he injects into butts. I haven't tried that yet though.
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Mark WAR EAGLE!!

 

[Kevin Taylor]

Larry....

VERY common! If you were to attend an MIM contest you will find that almost every team injects their shoulders.

Insert needle and while pumping, slowly withdraw the needle. Do this many times throughout the butt. It will puff up like a basketball.

 

[Joe McManus]

Novice question here. What does injecting butt really get you? Moistness? Flavor? Both? What do you inject with? Oil based (i.e. salad dressing), water based (i.e. apple or pineapple juice/vinegar solution). Does injetion increase or decrease cooking time? Is injection better suited for dry environments (i.e. offsets or sand-in-the-pan techniques)? I've been pretty satisfied with my butts so far in terms of moistness and flavor (always looking to improve though). I do add extra rub during pulling to improve flavor. Does injection eliminate that need?

Haven't done a search here, there's probably already tons of answers to these questions already posted. Sorry for my laziness.

 

[Kevin Taylor]

Joe...

I would say flavor is the main objective. You can do a heavy flavor by injecting a jerk marinade but many on the MIM circuit use it to add a bit of sweetness to the pork. If using a heavy flavor, be careful so you don't overdo it.

No impact on the cooking time and you will get a very juicy product.

Here is thread that has some ideas for you.....

Pork Injections

 

[Larry Wolfe]

Stogie,
Thanks for the info. I will let you guys know how it turns out after this weekend. The real reason I wanted to do this is, I am doing Picnic's vs. butts and I wanted to leave the skin on the picnics during the cook to keep the meat moist. I feel if I leave the skin on, the rub wouldn't penetrate the skin enough. So injecting seems like the way to go for the picnics. Thanks again.

 

[Jim Minion]

I know Chris Lily (Big Bob Gibson BBQ team) injects and we do when we cook MIM, part of the reason is because of the way MIM judges.
I can tell you it works we had a 2nd place finish with Big Bob Gibson taking first a couple of years ago.
Stogie is right it is for flavor, the temp we pull the butts off the cooker is closer to 195? rather than 200 or higher. You want the butts to pull in chuncks the size of your thumb and make sure you have bark on every piece if you can.
Jim

 

[Larry Wolfe]

Jim,
Thanks for the feedback. I guess if it works for the Judges in MIM then it will work for the "Hungry Vultures" in my backyard! I will let you know how it turns out.