Injecting


 
Michael G. (Canada Mike)

Michael G. (Canada Mike)

TVWBB All-Star
So, I've been watching BBQ Pitmasters (and enjoying it a lot). One thing I've noticed is that they all seem to inject their pork and brisket. I have never done that. I'm wondering how many Q'ers out there do, what you inject, and what feelings are about it.

Cheers,
Canada Mike
 
I personally don't as a rule. I have in the past though. Usually with a fruit juice based injection for pork and a stock based injection for beef. I prefer to add sauce to the meat once it is cooked instead.

Clark
 
for some reason i do not like my meat altered. i tried it once and didn't really like it. i like to add whatever afterwards if anything at all. i try stuff and then go back to simple. the fun of cooking is that you can and should try differant stuff and then decide yerself.
 
I started injecting my bone in butts, and picnic shoulders a while back, and havent stopped. Really gets flavor into the meat.

Ill inject at the most 12 hours before putting the meat on the smoker.

Basic injection is apple juice, oj, my rub, hot sauce, brown sugar, etc.
 
Here's a quick and dirty rundown on my research

there's a couple ways that are fairly common:

1) broth based
2) juice based
3) brine based
4) off the shelf (FAB, Butcher's, etc)

I tried shooting pork with apple juice mixed with a few things and felt it did nothing for changing the moistness or flavor and it seemed to leave green stains between the muscles. Heat tends to dull flavors, and since pork is typically pulled or sliced, it makes more sense to drizzle fresh, uncooked flavors afterwords.

I tried Chris Lilly's inject recipe and thought it had some potential. It certainly doesn't hurt your product, so its worth trying.

I also tried shooting a brine solution. I felt it improved my moistness, but doesn't do much in terms of flavor. FAB and Butcher's are essentially a brine (with phosphates and thickeners) with a bunch of flavor enhancers (yeast extract, msg). My brine was pretty similar (minus the msg and thickeners) and it seemed to work for improving moistness. I got a trial of Butcher's that I'm going to use on a brisket soon so I'll let you know how it goes.

People who use Butcher's swear by it. Its being used by most of the top performing brisket cookers. They say it makes a big difference. Then again, I know a fellow cook who used it and said he didn't like it and most people he poled preferred his control, un-injected brisket over the Butcher's brisket.

When watching pitmaster's, you'll notice that most of the inject people are using is very thick, unlike anything you could concoct at home. I know Butcher's has xanthan gum in it, and I know Mixon uses Butcher's. Tuffy's inject looked gooey too. What's my point? You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what these guys are using. So if you want to inject like the big boys, unfortunately, you're going to have to get out the credit card.
 
Thanks, all. I'm actually not familiar with Butcher's up here in the north, but will have a look. My feeling is I'll likely keep going as I have been without injecting, but with spraying - 2/3 apple juice and 1/3 Jack Daniels. But maybe sometime I'll do some experimenting.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">But maybe sometime I'll do some experimenting. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

sometime try the Chris Lilly recipe...its an easy place to start.
 
Lately I've been injecting my briskets with a beef broth based injection. I believe that it helps give the enhance the "Beef" flavor and helps keep the flat moister than if I didn't inject.

Most competition cooks probably inject more because of the lack of time than anything else. They cannot do any flavor things with the meat until a judge inspects their meat to insure it meets the sanctioning body rules about preparation. I'd bet some would rather brine or marinate but they just don't get the time to do that at a competition so injecting a flavor directly in the meat is the way to go. Then it becomes "well 'So and So' won and they inject so it must be the way to go, I'll do it too."
 
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