Did I screw up????

[Borncoog74]

I am following a recipe for apple cider brined pork butt, and have been brinning for 24 hours. I was planning on throwing it on tonight, but changed my mind after I had injected it and rubbed it.
Here is my concern.... The recipe called for the brine to be reserved and used to inject into the pork butt. Did I just contaminate the meat? Does not putting it on the smoker until 6am going to be a problem if it is refrigerated?
To be clear I injected the brine that the pork butt had been sitting in for the past day.

[long haired hippie]

Wow...I've never brined or injected a butt. Just poured on the smoke then some rub as I pull.....Doesn't sound good injecting like that, but what do I know.

[Wolverine]

Your ok just cook it, I've never injected with ACV, it has lots of acid in it, i have used apple cider,A juice, peach, ect, i also see no need to brine the whole butt, to much work for the return, I like my pork to taste like pork, adding moisture is fine but getting your cook temps and time under control is more important.

[Borncoog74]

I have never brined anything, but chicken. I have never injected anything ever.
I was just going to give it a try. I’m about to put it on, but my wheels started turning last night, and I was second guessing the process. I don’t want to make anyone sick.

[Borncoog74]

Also, in regards to the brine, it was....
2 quarts apple cider
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup woshcheshire
1/3 cup kosher salt
2 Tbs Plowboys Yard bird
1 Tbs garlic powder
1 Tbs onion powder
1 Tbs Cayenne

The pork butt sat in that brine sealed in a foodsave bag, and buried under ice in my Yeti.
Last night I removed the butt, and patted it dry. I then injected the butt with the brine I had just remived it from, slathered with mustard, and applied a mixture of Yardbird, and brown sugar. Then, covered into my refrigerator. I put the 8lb butt in the pit at 5:45am.

Does this sound safe?

[IamMadMan]

In general, injecting a used bath brine as an is never a good idea. The bottom line is that you could be putting bacteria from the outside into the center of the meat.


However, I think you are safe; you have an slightly acid brine with a high salt content, and the meat is uncooked. Cooking the meat to an internal temperature above 180° and then holding in an insulated cooler would more than bring the meat past the safe pasteurization point (killing bacteria).


My suggestion for future use would be to inject prior to the bath, or to reserve some of the fresh brine to inject after the bath if that is what the recipe calls for.


In the end it is better to error on the side of caution, and know that there is no possible method of contaminating the internal meat.


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[Borncoog74]

Originally Posted by IamMadMan

In general, injecting a used bath brine as an is never a good idea. The bottom line is that you could be putting bacteria from the outside into the center of the meat.


However, I think you are safe; you have an slightly acid brine with a high salt content, and the meat is uncooked. Cooking the meat to an internal temperature above 180° and then holding in an insulated cooler would more than bring the meat past the safe pasteurization point (killing bacteria).


My suggestion for future use would be to inject prior to the bath, or to reserve some of the fresh brine to inject after the bath if that is what the recipe calls for.


In the end it is better to error on the side of caution, and know that there is no possible method of contaminating the internal meat.


.

Thank you for the reply. We must have posted within seconds of each other. If you hadn’t seen my previous post about the actual brine, and exactly what I did, take a look and let me know if you think your previous assessment thatbis is ok this time still stands.
I agree with you about injecting the used brine. As I was in the middle of injecting it, I was thinking that it didn’t sound very smart.
I rarely post, but read quite a bit. Especially in the days leading up to a cook.

[grantw]

As long as the brine was cold I don’t see any problem doing this at all


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[m-fine]

If it stayed refrigerated and you are going to cook it past 130 for long enough it is perfectly safe. The only issue would be is if you injected and then wanted to eat it rare.

[Cook]

Take it to the pulled stage, it will be pasteurized, and you will be fine.

[jasonjax]

Like others have said.... to get to pulled pork consistency you will be cooking that sucker to 200+ degrees, and it was refrigerated … you're fine.

Food born illness is no joke, but think about what our ancestors had for centuries and centuries in terms of food safety, and somehow the human race persisted.

[Joe Black]

I agree, if has been in the fridge, it should be ok. I don't brine anything but poultry and don't inject anything but brisket. My pork works very well as is. I injected a few butts when I first started, but unless you are competing, it's unnecessary. The comp folks inject to adjust the flavor profile to what the judges want, not your family and friends. That's my $0.02.

[IamMadMan]

Originally Posted by Borncoog74

Thank you for the reply. We must have posted within seconds of each other. If you hadn’t seen my previous post about the actual brine, and exactly what I did, take a look and let me know if you think your previous assessment thatbis is ok this time still stands.
I agree with you about injecting the used brine. As I was in the middle of injecting it, I was thinking that it didn’t sound very smart.
I rarely post, but read quite a bit. Especially in the days leading up to a cook.

Yes, my previous comment still stands.


But on another note.....

There has always been a discussion about whether or not to Brine/Inject pork butts or shoulders for the backyard cook.

Many will tell you that pork has enough internal fat to keep the meat plenty moist when cooked. I do not disagree with this, but sometimes we brine/inject for flavors, not for moisture or tenderness.

The pork butt or shoulder is a large piece of meat, the most flavorful part of it is the bark, because that's where the bulk of the seasoning is. Others will sprinkle more rub into the pork after it's been pulled and this works fine as well. But flavors change during cooking as the aromatics meld together in the heat forming concentrated flavors.


Brining pork can be a long task and can take up a lot of space in the refrigerators. With large amounts of pork to brine, it could soon become a large cumbersome task. I used to brine pork and had really good results. Then I started just injecting, which made the task easier and less of a task for clean up.

Injecting also uses much less product, takes up less space, and takes much less time to get the same results. With injecting there is no need to let the large cuts of pork sit for long periods of time. I find from experience that just letting them sit for about an hour or two while you ready your smoker is often ample time. Then I apply the rub right before putting the pork into the smoker.

Again this isn't about brining/injecting for tenderness or moisture, but moreso about adding flavor into the meat. I also feel that injecting the meat also helps to improve texture, allowing it to pull in very long strands. In my experience, the long strands are more pleasing to the eye of the patron/guest as the meat looks more substantial. You'll notice that not only does the pork pull in long strands, but it also keeps it's warm color with plenty of pink from the smoke ring, and it never turns dull gray in color.

Lastly, yes added tenderness and moisture will be present, that is not why I inject my pork, but it is an added benefit.

My rule of thumb is to inject 1 fluid ounce of brine for each pound of meat.

Injection recipes vary widely, but the most commonly used is Chris Lilly's Injection (See Below) but I found it to be salty to my tastes, I cut back to almost half the amount of salt and it was much better. Note that the recipe I was given called for table salt, I prefer to use Kosher Salt or Large Crystal Sea Salt. But the choice is yours, if you decide to use table salt make sure it is not iodized.....

Chris Lilly's Six-Time World Championship Pork Shoulder Injection (enough for 2 shoulder butts)
2/3 cup apple juice
1/3 cup peach nectar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup white sugar
1/8 cup kosher salt
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

Combine all ingredients and stir until sugar and salt are dissolved and inject.


Several Years ago I switched to OakRidge Game Changer Brine as my Injection and have had nothing less than great results and flavor with it. I also add some rub with this injection as well for added flavors.

I now, always use OakRidge Game Changer Brine as an injection. I Use fruit juice/nectar (Peach, Pear, Apple, or White Grape) for added flavors. For every 8 ounces of juice add 1 Tablespoon of OakRidge Game Changer Brine and then inject into the pork. I usually inject right through the cyro-packaging to save with cleanup, using different angles through the same hole to prevent leaking.

I add 1 Tablespoon of Game Changer Brine per cup of fruit juice and inject roughly 1 ounce of mixture per pound of meat. So roughly one cup per eight pound pork butt.

I used to rub and let the pork sit overnight, but now I'll rub an hour or so before smoking, depending upon my time constraints.

When cooking injected pork butts I find the bone begins to wiggle at about 187° (internal temperature has no bearing on being done).

I always calculate a 3 to 4 hour hold time in an insulated cooler after the cook. This gives me a cooking buffer if the meat takes longer, and pork butt/pork shoulder is one of the meats that benefit from holding in a cooler because as it stays at temperature the connective tissues continue to breakdown into collagen making the meat moist and very tender. The rest period also allows you to get other things ready, or even a rest before your guests arrive.


See - http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=254690


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[SMOKE FREAK]

Originally Posted by Borncoog74

Also, in regards to the brine, it was....
2 quarts apple cider
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup woshcheshire
1/3 cup kosher salt
2 Tbs Plowboys Yard bird
1 Tbs garlic powder
1 Tbs onion powder
1 Tbs Cayenne

What you have here is a marinade...not a brine...There's not nearly enough salt to cause osmosis which is how a brine draws the moisture into the meat...And that's why you needed to inject...My biggest concern isn't will you make people sick but will you be serving mushy pork...A 24 hour soak and then injecting with an acidic marinade can have some negative effects...

[m-fine]

The advantage of kosher salt is you can see the large flakes better when coating the meat. For a liquid, the finer crystals of table salt will desolve faster, but other than that and possible added iodine, if you add the same weight you will get the same result.