Brine injection technique ?

[mosparky]

I guess this is as good a place as any to put this. What is the technique for injecting brine, be it a curing brine or seasoning brine ?
Do you place the needle and inject like you are trying to create a puddle or extract the needle as you inject to create a trail ?
I've only tried it once, years ago with a Tony's Cajun Butter seasoning on a turkey. Needle was very hard to push and I think the sauce just trickled out around the needle. It was along time ago, so my memory may be off. I do know I gave up, but kept the needle/syringe just in case.
Now that I have found this place (and the needle), I might have a use for it. So many great cooks here with injected Hams, Canadian Bacon, poultry ect. I am considering a Bayou Classic or similar needle with the 3 rings to make for easier injecting. There is one brand on Amazon That comes with 2 6-inch needles. Might be helpful on larger meats i.e. picnics.

 

[KrisUpInSmoke]

I guess this is as good a place as any to put this. What is the technique for injecting brine, be it a curing brine or seasoning brine ?
Do you place the needle and inject like you are trying to create a puddle or extract the needle as you inject to create a trail ?
I've only tried it once, years ago with a Tony's Cajun Butter seasoning on a turkey. Needle was very hard to push and I think the sauce just trickled out around the needle. It was along time ago, so my memory may be off. I do know I gave up, but kept the needle/syringe just in case.
Now that I have found this place (and the needle), I might have a use for it. So many great cooks here with injected Hams, Canadian Bacon, poultry ect. I am considering a Baoyu Classic or similar needle with the 3 rings to make for easier injecting. There is one brand on Amazon That comes with 2 6-inch needles. Might be helpful on larger meats i.e. picnics.

I just got an injector from Amazon. "Stainless steel injector" (Amazon's recommendation) supposed to come with two needles but is packaged with 3 despite the box and instructions. One for bits of garlic and herbs in the marinade and one for just liquid. The one for liquid alone is thinner. I'm not sure what the third one is for.
I injected two 5 pd. chickens yesterday with the smallest needle, liquid only. Went under the skin the whole time, not through it, from both sides moving the needle to different places. Probably used two needles worth per breast and half per drum. Went under the skin at the bone on the drumstick. Kept the skin in tact to help keep in the moisture. I put some in each place without leaving a trail because I hit so many point. That needle had two holes, one on each side and a solid point.

I saw this injector with several points on a round head for use on flatter, thinner cuts. Looked interesting.

That was the first thing I've injected. Learned from a video on YouTube. I'm curious to hear what seasoned members say (pun intended:p).

 

[pc farmer]

I inject slow and pull the needle as I inject. Need to try to inject evenly. A pocket of injection brine does no good.

 

[chef jimmyj]

The better injectors come with a single hole needle for thick liquids or marinades with tiny chunks of herbs and such. Needle 2 has just two holes at the tip for injecting in thin or small cut, bacon, wings and the like. Anything thicker and you need to draw it out as you go.The third needle has 10-12 small holes to evenly distribute liquid in thicker cuts. If the meat is the same thickness as this needle is long, you just stick and inject, the holes evenlydistribute the liquid. For very thick meats, whole hams, you may have withdrawl as you go...JJ

 

[bdskelly]

Look at the meat and imagine a checkerboard across it. For seasoning I just inject a small squirt in every corner. I use a large single hole needle like chef Jimmy. One large enough that soften butter will pass through.
By the way. (And with all due respect to Tony because I use his seasoning.) There is no butter in Tony’s Cajun Butter Injection. :) b

 

[mosparky]

Thanks guys. I think I got the jist of it now. I tried a search first and found much discussion about doing this on larger cuts, but technique doesn't seem to ever have been discussed. So this question was as much for other newbs as it was for me.

 

[gmc2003]

The posts above have you covered with the how-to's. I'll give you a how-not-to. Be careful when injecting while pulling the needle out. The first time I was using a multi-holed needle and pulled it out to far. Well long story short it shot the brine all over me, the counter and our backsplash. It was a mess.

Chris