Pork butt injection night before cook ?

Lynn Dollar

is Blowin Smoke!
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Jan 19, 2018
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Oklahoma...
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A man named Lynn
I do the Chris Lilly Champ pork injection. I'm smoking two pork butt Saturday, gonna trim them Friday evening, then get up at 4 am to get them on the smoker.

What are the pros and cons of injecting them Friday evening when I trim ?

Sure would save time Saturday morning.

The Lilly injection uses apple juice, water, salt, sugar, worcestershire
 
My policy is that if I'm going to inject, I do it the night before to give it time to work its magic. My unscientific theory is that if you inject right before you put it in the cooker, the meat will contract as it heats and cooks and force most of it out before it has a chance to do much good.
 
I've done it both ways; can't say I could tell much difference. But I usually do it just before putting the meat on. I'm paranoid about it turning out mushy like "enhanced" pork does.

I also use a version of the Chris Lilly recipe, but I only use a fraction of the salt, sugar, and worcestershire sauce that his recipe calls for. The amount of salt and sugar in the original recipe is just nuts.
 
Depends on the meat.If it is not enhanced,as in already injected with a solution,you could use your injection the night before.If it has already been treated with a solution,I would wait and inject your flavor medley right before you cook it.Sometimes injecting turns the butt into a ham.Just my experience.
 
Go for it. We do it all of the time in competition (12 hours ahead of putting on the cooker) and we've picked up a few wins and perfect scores over the years. Best experiment, if you have the time and the wherewithal, is to inject one butt the night before and the other one just before putting on the cooker like you always do and see if you can find any noticeable differences between the two. I can tell you we have injected just before putting on the smoker and won as well so there's that for what it's worth.


Good luck and have fun. If you take my suggestions come back and tell us your impressions.


Thanks,



Robert
 
I inject mine early afternoon and put them on around midnight- use Butchers A friend injects about 1/2 hour before smoking but he puts vinegar in his injection- does not want the pork to be mushy
 
Too late for usable input on your cook, but for future reference:


I typically always inject pork butt if time permits. I prefer to inject about 8 hours before cooking, but sometimes I have had only 4 hours prior to cooking.


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

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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.

I find the Brine keeps the pork exceptionally tender, moist, flavorful, and it pulls in very long strands which is great for sandwiches. 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.

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In the end you should choose the method that works best for you, not what works for someone else. After all you are cooking it, and only you, your family, and your friends will enjoy the results of the cook.
 
I’m probably in the minority. I don’t inject pork butts at all.
 
I’m probably in the minority. I don’t inject pork butts at all.

No, not at all. A lot of people don't inject. And a lot of people use a finishing sauce when they pull. Which probably would add the same flavor. I'm just stuck in my ways and I like what I'm doing and don't want to change.
 
I have never injected a Pork Butt, but I do Marinate in OJ, 2 hours each side before I cook. Usually pull from the Marinade about an hour before the cook and I apply the rub I am going to use.
Someday I will try an injection just to see if there is any difference in taste, moisture, texture.
 
Well, I really can't provide any info on whether injecting the night before had any effect on the outcome. There were other variables I could not control like the weather, I was suppose to get 65* and sunny. I got 40*, heavy cloud cover, drizzling rain, and strong winds. The cook did not go well.

So maybe next time.
 
I would think that by injecting the butt could lead to a mushy texture.

If ya want to argue about whether to inject or not inject, you got the wrong guy. My question is about " when " , not " whether " to inject.

The Chris Lilly injection has been around for a lot of years. Lots of people have used it successfully for a long time, including Chris Lilly. I've used it since 2015 when I bought Chris's book.

But I found this thread on it from 2005

https://tvwbb.com/threads/chris-lil...onship-pork-shoulder-injection-and-rub.25926/
 
Late to the party but, I haven't injected in years but, that is just laziness :-D I still haven't used my fancy injection gun :-o Anyway I am going to soon and going to steal from Robby Royal. I really liked his idea of injecting the night before. He would just puncture right through the cryo and inject. Then let them rest in a cooler (or whatever) over night. So if it's good enough for him and Myron it can't be all bad :thumb:
 
Chris Lilly injection is really a brine with apple juice and a little worcestershire. The basic brine for any meat is salt and sugar in water. I guess injecting a brine would work a little differently than soaking in a brine ??
 
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