Injecting

Our method varies between butts and briskets.
Butts, we follow Chris Lilly's advice and move the needle around several times for each squeeze so the injection gets evenly spread around instead of pooling in big spots.

With brisket, since we are slicing vertically, we want the needle to follow the same path our knife will..straight down so we don't get needle holes in our slices. We don't move the needle around once we stick the brisket because the injection will already follow the strands of muscle in brisket.

We have tried both types of needle and found the standard livestock needles tend to plug up and make them harder to work with. The needles with multiple ports on the side of the needle works better for us as the injection flows out in multiple directions.

I am not sure there is necessarily a "supposed" or a "best", as I know different people are injecting both ways and using both needle types. We inject with the grain on briskets and use a sharp needle. Figuring out a "why so" beyond 'that is what we have always done, and that is what works for us', will be difficult, as you will have people on all sides with equally compelling theories of why theirs is the "supposed" or "best". My advice would be to find a method you are comfortable with that is simple. The K.I.S.S. Method of BBQ wins out a majority of the time in my experience. :thumb: