# When do you inject and rub your meat?



## tatts4life (Jul 21, 2013)

The last few times I've made pulled pork I've injected it up to 24 hours before if not longer. I've only put the rub on about an hour or two before cooking since I wanted it to stay on. So when do you inject your meat and and rub? Does having the injection in the meat longer make things better?


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## daveomak (Jul 21, 2013)

Any way you want is fine.....  use mayo or mustard or oil or bacon grease.....  rub it on the meat, add spices and herbs....  set it in the refer for a day or 3.....    It's a whole new ballgame when it come to what you like....    If you do inject, be sure to smoke at 225 ish to get the internal temp of the meat (IT) up to 140 within 4 hours of removing from the refer....   Food Safety is primary here.... 

Dave


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## millerk0486 (Jul 21, 2013)

In my experience, it is best to inject your meat after you remove it from the fridge and before you put it on the smoker. Reason being that when you put the meat in the fridge, the meat's pores constrict and cause the fluids from your injection to be pushed out. 

I normally rub the night before and inject right before I prep the smoker. Depending on the meat, I will spritz a fruit juice or cider, which will help in making a bark and sealing the juices in.


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## up in smoke (Jul 21, 2013)

If I do inject I do so the night before along with a generous coating of rub, and then wrap with saran wrap to seal in all the fluids, and the next day before I put in the smoker I reapply my rub...


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## foamheart (Jul 21, 2013)

I just rub mine, wrap and in the fridge for two days. Unwrap and rerub before the smoker. If it doesn't have a full skin on it, I don't inject it. But all these things are my way, everyone has there way, now you've gotta fine your way. But remember no way is wrong.

Don't forget to write down what you do.


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## tatts4life (Jul 22, 2013)

millerk0486 said:


> In my experience, it is best to inject your meat after you remove it from the fridge and before you put it on the smoker. Reason being that when you put the meat in the fridge, the meat's pores constrict and cause the fluids from your injection to be pushed out.
> 
> I normally rub the night before and inject right before I prep the smoker. Depending on the meat, I will spritz a fruit juice or cider, which will help in making a bark and sealing the juices in.



I never thought about the pores constricting. I'll keep that in mind for this weekend. This cider spritz is a nice tip too. The injection I use uses apple juice so I might try that out too.


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## spiketus54 (Jul 22, 2013)

Interesting thoughts by miller on the injection... However, I would keep your rub process the same. I find that if I rub it too far in advance it will suck too much juice out of the meat itself rather that just that outer layer we want to become bark. Now my rub is fairly salty... so if your rub has a low salt content it makes sense to rub it farther in advance.


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## tatts4life (Jul 29, 2013)

So I tried rubbing the meat and wrapping it about 36 hours before I smoked it this weekend. OMG this had to be one of the best batches I've done yet. When I took out the meat it was literally falling apart in my hand. I smoked two 8 pound pork butts one was extremely juicy and eat bite I sampled while pulling was awesome all the way through. The second butt while tasty and juicy I found that it was tougher to pull. It's kind of funny because when I put it in the smoker I noticed it was a firmer meat. I'll post some pictures later of how things turned out.


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