To inject or not to inject

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bigpuddin43

Fire Starter
Original poster
Apr 26, 2012
30
14
Central Kentucky
thats the question.  I am having about 15 people over for derby tom.  I will be putting the 9 lb pork butt on the smoker when I get home.  Just trying to decide after my first amazing pork butt earlier this week if I should do an injection.  I did not do one earlier this week and it came out awesome but I have an itch to do a apple juice, bourbon, brown sugar injection in this one.  Should I try it out or just go with what I know works? 
 
Yeah I was thinking that but then again I rarely do a boston butt unless I am cooking for a few people.  Just kinda wondering if anyone had done it and how it turned out.
 
I just injected two using apple juice orange juice hot sauce and brown sugar. They are smoking now. Anyhow I personally like the injected meat better. I think it give it more flavor and help keeps it moist.
 
I'm wary of injection, simply because it compromises the core of the meat with surface bacteria.

That said, if you can get your butt out of the danger zone inside of four hours after injection them it won't matter.

I also second Alelover's idea, save the experiments for when your lab rats aren't guests!

Been there, done that, had to order pizza.
 
Just like getting a shot in the arm - start with cold product, wash the butt surface with cold water, dry, then clean the injection point with an alcohol wipe first, then inject, and clean the injection needle too.  You can buy them at WallyWorld, 50 to a box:

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Or, in most stores that have diabetic supplies you can buy boxes of alcohol wipes for needle sticks for blood samples, those are fine also.  I also would accumulate a lot of alcohol wipes from sticker applications too (like mounting cell phones to pods with heavy duty double-sided tape).
 
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I have to agree on not experimenting on Guests. There are potential hazards with injecting and frankly I prefer the taste of Meat over a lot of injected liquids and spices. There is nothing that you can inject that can't be added as a Finishing Sauce and with a lot less risk. But if you insist on Injecting...

Safe injection is all about proper sanitation and minimizing risk. A long with clean equipment and starting with cold meat and injection liquid, a good wash of the meat under cold water is a good start. Applying a Salty Rub, Acidic liquid or Grain Based Alcohol like Bourbon, to the surface of the meat is next. It is best if the injection has some salt and/or acid in it. Alcohol is good in an injection. If you wish to let the meat absorb the liquid do so in the Refer. Forget this " Let it warm to room temp so it cooks more even. " You go from refer to smoker without delay. Your minimum Smoker temp should be 225*F or higher. You only inject that which will be cooked to 165*F or higher. This combined effort of Cleanliness, Antibacterial ingredients and Temperature control to limit time in the Danger Zone will yield a Safe product...JJ
 
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