Brining vs. Injecting

[tjus77]

OK, I thought I was ALL ready to brine my first pork butt (i had been using pre-brined... too salty). I tried an unbrined butt without injecting or brining myself and although my wife liked it, I wasn't satisfied. I was talking to someone today and he said forget brining, just inject it.

Soooooo, now that I am confused again.... does anyone out there Inject only.... if so, does the solution contain salt, or what is a good recipe? Thanks guys... looks like I am going to have to make a test cook before Thanksgiving.

[MilitantSquatter]

I inject it, but brining will get the job done too.. Think of the injection as just a brine that has been able to reach the inner parts of the butt.

The injection would contain salt as well.. A marinade, brine, injection etc. should be somewhat balanced though so one ingredient does not overwhelm it... If you do a basic water, sugar, salt brine with misc. ingredients.. always be sure to give a quick rinse after sitting in the brine for several hours.

I think it would serve you well to experiment both ways and see what you prefer from a taste as well as ease of preparation standpoint..

[The_Kapn]

Personally, never tried a brine on butts.

We inject heavily and the salt is low, by default.
Let her set overnight.

Lots of fruit juice like apple and FAB P (personal choice).
I actually leave the FAB out for recreational use due to expense.

Sometimes, some rub in there for flavor if we can get it strained out properly.

You can add whorsey, heat, or whatever to taste.
Avoid Soy and dark stuff to stop staining.

Works fine for us.

TIM

[Plowboy]

Personally, never tried a brine on butts.

We inject heavily and the salt is low, by default.
Let her set overnight.

Lots of fruit juice like apple and FAB P (personal choice).
I actually leave the FAB out for recreational use due to expense.

Sometimes, some rub in there for flavor if we can get it strained out properly.

You can add whorsey, heat, or whatever to taste.
Avoid Soy and dark stuff to stop staining.

Works fine for us.

TIM

I concur. We try to stick wtih things that are water soluable like sugar, salt, butter (though I can't say I've ever put butter in a pork butt), etc. We stay away from herbs, pepper, etc. Just like the staining from soy, chili powder, and other dark materials, I don't want to see a bunch of chit "floating" in the meat. Many times it will be veined which looks even more weird.

[Ron_L]

I do put herbs and stuff in my pork injection, but I strain it out very well before injecting. Garlic and rosemwry are favorites. I keep my injection low on salt, too since it's going to stay in the meat as it cooks. With a brine you can rinse the salt off of the outside and the meat doesn't absorb that much of the salt during the brine process that it will get overly salty.

[Dustaway]

I use apple juice and brown sugar with a wac of worcestershire

[Plowboy]

I do put herbs and stuff in my pork injection, but I strain it out very well before injecting. Garlic and rosemwry are favorites. I keep my injection low on salt, too since it's going to stay in the meat as it cooks. With a brine you can rinse the salt off of the outside and the meat doesn't absorb that much of the salt during the brine process that it will get overly salty.

So do you cook your brine before straining to extract the oils from the herbs before straining?

[Bigfoot]

I use apple juice and brown sugar with a wac of worcestershire

I use the same think and it is GREAT but I use White Wine worcestershire instead of the dark stuff

[Steppenwolf]

I've never tried injecting, always though it bad to poke holes in any kind of meat :eek: . But I've seen it done enough times in all of those contests shows I realize that there must be some great benefits. I bought a simple injector a couple months back but haven't tried it yet. This is good info here thanks to tjuss' question. Are there times or instances where you wouldn't consider brine?

[Wine & Swine]

Also something I was wondering does anyone play with temps on their brines/injections. I usually try to do them at room temp but was wondering if anyone went warm/hot with them.

[Smoker]

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/brining.html

[Ron_L]

So do you cook your brine before straining to extract the oils from the herbs before straining?

I don't cook it per se... I heat it to dissolve the salt and sugar, and to release the flavors from any herbs and spices. It doesn't get to boiling, just until it starts steaming. I generally do this with only about half of the water and then add ice cubes for the rest of the water and to cool it faster.

[Wine & Swine]

I do the same (like making tea) except I cool it in an ice bath so it doesn't get watered down. Also regarding water for brines/marinades does evertyone pretty much use it. I try to stay away from adding anything to my cooking that doesn't add flavor. I rarely use water except for boiling etc. I will usually use stock or juice, etc, instead as it adds more than just moisture.

[brian j]

i inject my butts and have never tried brining. it seems to me that you'd have to brine that sucker for a long LONG time to get the flavors to penetrate a big butt.

for the injection i follow chris lilly's recipe. in competetions i use the whole recipe in 2 butts and for recreational cooking i half it.

[Pig Headed]

I use cups of spiced apple cider, a dash of Worchester and 1 tsp of molassas. I heat it to dissolve the molasses and combine the flavors, then cool it before injecting.

I can vouch for Brian J's butts. (OK waiting for the chit to flow now.) I tasted his pulled pork in a comp and nit was very good.

[brian j]

I use cups of spiced apple cider, a dash of Worchester and 1 tsp of molassas. I heat it to dissolve the molasses and combine the flavors, then cool it before injecting.

I can vouch for Brian J's butts. (OK waiting for the chit to flow now.) I tasted his pulled pork in a comp and nit was very good.
lol... you must bring me good luck or something ron. i got 3rd in pork in stevensville and 9th in new holland. what's your schedule looking like next year? :lol:

[Bigmista]

Brining is fun the first coupla times but you realize injection is quicker and you can get flavor down to the bone. Even with injection, I still add alittle rub, some cider vinegar and a little sauce to the meat when I pull it so I don't know how necessary it is.