GlasgowSmoke Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Morning, Doing a few pork shoulders this weekend and brining then injecting them. After the brine I will be taking them out in the evening and not going into the smoker until early next morning. I've never injected meat before. How early can this be done before smoking. Can I do it as soon as I take them out of the brine or will the injection leak out if they are sitting in the fridge overnight. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Are you injecting just for flavour or are you adding a cure too? If just for flavour then you can brine a couple of hour or so before you smoke them or even the day before. You are wanting to give the flavours in the brine time to diffuse evenly through the meat before you cook and "fix" them in place. Once you have injected then some of the brine will always leak out. Don't worry about this as plenty will remain inside. Also don't be tempted to make the brine flavours too strong or they will overpower the meat. Strong brines can even lead to an ammonia aftertaste, depending on the ingredients. If you are injection brining with cure then you have to be much more careful. You need to weight the meat and inject 1/10th of the weight of the meat with brine that is 10x the required final concentration. Here it does matter if some drains out, and any that does needs to be retained and placed in the plastic bag surrounding the meat as it is curing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 4 hours ago, GlasgowSmoke said: Doing a few pork shoulders this weekend and brining then injecting them. I am just curios as to why you are immersion brining AND injecting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlasgowSmoke Posted July 5, 2018 Author Share Posted July 5, 2018 2 minutes ago, Wade said: Are you injecting just for flavour or are you adding a cure too? If just for flavour then you can brine a couple of hour or so before you smoke them or even the day before. You are wanting to give the flavours in the brine time to diffuse evenly through the meat before you cook and "fix" them in place. Once you have injected then some of the brine will always leak out. Don't worry about this as plenty will remain inside. Also don't be tempted to make the brine flavours too strong or they will overpower the meat. Strong brines can even lead to an ammonia aftertaste, depending on the ingredients. If you are injection brining with cure then you have to be much more careful. You need to weight the meat and inject 1/10th of the weight of the meat with brine that is 10x the required final concentration. Here it does matter if some drains out, and any that does needs to be retained and placed in the plastic bag surrounding the meat as it is curing. Thanks. This is the brine/ injection I am using but substituting cider for apple juice as i cant get proper cider here. Im going to add a bit extra as this is for 2 butts and Im doing 3. Cider Brine 6 cups apple cider 4 cups water 2 cups apple cider vinegar 1/2 cup salt 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce 2 tbsp garlic powder 2 tbsp onion powder 1/3 cup Hey Grill Hey’s Sweet BBQ Rub link in recipe notes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 When you inject, you insert the brine at different depths throughout the lump of meat - some near the surface and some deep inside. If you are using the same Cider brine to both brine and inject you can save yourself time by injecting it first, say the night before, and then leave it immersed in the brine overnight. This means that the brine can diffuse and equilibrate inside at the same time as it is diffusing inwards. No point in making the process take longer than it needs to 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlasgowSmoke Posted July 5, 2018 Author Share Posted July 5, 2018 10 minutes ago, Wade said: When you inject, you insert the brine at different depths throughout the lump of meat - some near the surface and some deep inside. If you are using the same Cider brine to both brine and inject you can save yourself time by injecting it first, say the night before, and then leave it immersed in the brine overnight. This means that the brine can diffuse and equilibrate inside at the same time as it is diffusing inwards. No point in making the process take longer than it needs to be Excellent. Cheers thanks for the advice. I'll give it a go and see how it goes this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlasgowSmoke Posted July 6, 2018 Author Share Posted July 6, 2018 18 hours ago, Wade said: I am just curios as to why you are immersion brining AND injecting. This is the method i was going to use. I usually just Salt the night before then rub then smoke and wrap at stall. Thought i would try something different see if its any better. https://heygrillhey.com/cider-brined-pulled-pork/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 This sounds like a method he has tried and is just sticking to it without really thinking about what is actually happening... Quote Saturday morning (7 AM): Pull the pork butts out of the brine, pat down with a paper towel, and inject with some of the brine liquid. Cover liberally with spice rub. Place the butts on the smoker at 225 degrees. Bring about 6 cups of the brine to a boil (to protect against cross contamination) and and then refrigerate. Continue my morning as usual, heading outside about once an hour to check my fire and mop my butts with some of the reserved brine. Brining a butt overnight will actually have very little effect on the meat as it would take a lot longer for it to diffuse more than a few millimetres into the meat. For example, in order to immersion cure a bacon joint you are looking at 7-10 DAYS to ensure that it reaches the centre of the meat. It is his injecting stage is actually what is causing the flavour to penetrate the meat. Sometimes it is difficult to take a step back and critically evaluate processes that you are doing. Also it would be safer to actually put the 6 cups of brine to one side BEFORE using it for the brine rather than boiling it afterwards. I would suggest that you... Make the brine and reserve and refrigerate the 6 cups. Probably less is actually required as 6 cups is a lot of brine. Inject the meat with the brine to get the brine to penetrate throughout the meat mass Place the meat in a plastic bag and then pour in the remainder of the brine. Close the bag to expel as much of the air as possible and then tie it closed. This will ensure that the entire surface of the meat is covered with the brine. Leave overnight in the fridge Pat dry and cover with the rub It is always worth critically examining any recipe that you are following to understand what the purpose is of each step. Sometime a process becomes rote and the author simply gets stuck with their process. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlasgowSmoke Posted July 6, 2018 Author Share Posted July 6, 2018 31 minutes ago, Wade said: This sounds like a method he has tried and is just sticking to it without really thinking about what is actually happening... Brining a butt overnight will actually have very little effect on the meat as it would take a lot longer for it to diffuse more than a few millimetres into the meat. For example, in order to immersion cure a bacon joint you are looking at 7-10 DAYS to ensure that it reaches the centre of the meat. It is his injecting stage is actually what is causing the flavour to penetrate the meat. Sometimes it is difficult to take a step back and critically evaluate processes that you are doing. Also it would be safer to actually put the 6 cups of brine to one side BEFORE using it for the brine rather than boiling it afterwards. I would suggest that you... Make the brine and reserve and refrigerate the 6 cups. Probably less is actually required as 6 cups is a lot of brine. Inject the meat with the brine to get the brine to penetrate throughout the meat mass Place the meat in a plastic bag and then pour in the remainder of the brine. Close the bag to expel as much of the air as possible and then tie it closed. This will ensure that the entire surface of the meat is covered with the brine. Leave overnight in the fridge Pat dry and cover with the rub It is always worth critically examining any recipe that you are following to understand what the purpose is of each step. Sometime a process becomes rote and the author simply gets stuck with their process. Thanks. Should have stuck to my original method LOL but brine is already made up for using later. I'll give it a go and see if it turns out better than what i usually do. As long as i get some good pulled pork out of it it will be OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icefever Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 How did this turn out?? Ice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 I have done this. It makes the meat nicer I think. Another step of preparation though. It is a question of how much effort for reward. Diminishing returns 12th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlasgowSmoke Posted July 14, 2018 Author Share Posted July 14, 2018 2 hours ago, Icefever said: How did this turn out?? Ice. Was really good but only got a pic of them in smoker. I put them in the brine for about 10hrs but did not use this for injection. Instead I used a pork injection from how to BBQ right website which has no vinegar in it. Injected them before I put them in brine. I took them out of brine and rubbed and left overnight and then put in smoker in the morning. Every 45 mins or so I sprayed them with apple juice until just before the stall. Wrapped after liberal spray with juice and then left until internal temp reached. Pulled them from smoker and wrapped again and in towels and put in cooler box as was taking to a party and they stayed hot until serving. Loads of juice in them when unwrapped and pulled easily but not mushy. Went down a treat was much better than my usual pulled pork will definitely do it again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icefever Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 (edited) Well done...I think I may have a go and follow in your footsteps, as we have a big family do on the 4th Aug. I've watched a few of his videos....have you a link to the pork injection that you used?? just had a look and can't see it. Ice. Edited July 14, 2018 by Icefever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlasgowSmoke Posted July 14, 2018 Author Share Posted July 14, 2018 7 minutes ago, Icefever said: Well done...I think I may have a go and follow in your footsteps, as we have a big family do on the 4th Aug. Ice. Definitely worth a go. I done 3 x 1.7kg approx boneless shoulders and only used 2 and that was for about 20 but other food there too and my pit beans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 Interesting. I am doing 4kg shoulder at weekend but might need help because I have the small wsm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlasgowSmoke Posted July 15, 2018 Author Share Posted July 15, 2018 1 hour ago, Justin said: Interesting. I am doing 4kg shoulder at weekend but might need help because I have the small wsm Should still be the same principle. Just need to keep temp in smoker steady. I would put it in early morning though as it while take all day to get to temp. I had mine on at 4am as was going to party at 4pm. Smoked for about 10 hours for the 3 shoulders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 It is a question of it fitting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 (edited) But time yes 8 to 10 hours. Like brisket though i leave that smoking overnight for a late lunch meal. Edited July 15, 2018 by Justin Typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 Cut it in half and use both shelves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 I was thinking same but it is bone in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotv Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 On 7/14/2018 at 9:50 PM, GlasgowSmoke said: Was really good but only got a pic of them in smoker. I put them in the brine for about 10hrs but did not use this for injection. Instead I used a pork injection from how to BBQ right website which has no vinegar in it. Injected them before I put them in brine. I took them out of brine and rubbed and left overnight and then put in smoker in the morning. Every 45 mins or so I sprayed them with apple juice until just before the stall. Wrapped after liberal spray with juice and then left until internal temp reached. Pulled them from smoker and wrapped again and in towels and put in cooler box as was taking to a party and they stayed hot until serving. Loads of juice in them when unwrapped and pulled easily but not mushy. Went down a treat was much better than my usual pulled pork will definitely do it again. Do you have a link for the injection mix you used. Going to try it for the first time this weekend. Smoked one the weekend for the first time in a while and although it was ok and cooked through, it was a little dry. So would like to try an injection one this weekend, for the first time, to see if there is any noticeable difference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlasgowSmoke Posted June 25, 2019 Author Share Posted June 25, 2019 (edited) 10 minutes ago, sotv said: Do you have a link for the injection mix you used. Going to try it for the first time this weekend. Smoked one the weekend for the first time in a while and although it was ok and cooked through, it was a little dry. So would like to try an injection one this weekend, for the first time, to see if there is any noticeable difference Pork injection I used was 1 cup apple juice 1 cup water 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup salt 1 TBS soy sauce 1 TBS Worcestershire sauce Link to his method below http://howtobbqright.com/pulledporkrecipe.html Edited June 25, 2019 by GlasgowSmoke Link insert 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotv Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 2 minutes ago, GlasgowSmoke said: Pork injection I used was 1 cup apple juice 1 cup water 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup salt 1 TBS soy sauce 1 TBS Worcestershire sauce Link to his method below http://howtobbqright.com/pulledporkrecipe.html Thanks, will give it ago 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.