Injecting A Turkey Breast For The First Time

[duffman]

I am going to do a creole butter injection on my thanksgiving turkey breast later this week. I have never done an injection before. Any tips? How long ahead of time should I inject. Should I rub before or after injecting? Thanks for any pointers.

 

[TNJAKE]

I inject and rub the night before

 

[SmokinAl]

I usually rub the night before & inject just before I put it in the smoker. The reason I do it that way is because the injection fluid tends to leak out of the bird the longer it stays in there. If you inject it a day ahead of time most of the fluid will have drained out, at least that has been my experience. Maybe I put too many holes in it, but I have found that if you inject it right before you smoke it, it seems to be more juicy.
Al

 

[HalfSmoked]

You asked and there go you do 2 points. Which are you going to do. I think Al has a good point.

Warren

 

[thirdeye]

Any of the bottled injections I've used that were "butter injections" were mostly for deep fried turkeys, so they were injected a few hours before frying. The instructions from each manufacturer were slightly different as far as amounts went.

I use an injectable honey brine, and it's injected 4 hours before smoking. I'm sure I've gone longer, but never like 24 hours ahead because injecting puts the brine or marinade right where you want it.

One word of caution about the bottled injections, if they are darker in color you run the risk of staining (or having streaks) the breast meat. There is no affect on the flavor, it just looks a little weird when you slice it.

 

[CFLJOHN512]

I inject the breasts from the inside, less holes in the skin. If you have small hands you might be able to get the thighs as well. I’ve always done it right before cooking.

 

[jmusser]

I am trying my first one as well. I injected a breast this morn with cajun seasoning and melted butter. I think that the butter will congeal and stay in since cold turkey. I tried to only do a few holes with redirected needle.

Will be smoking tomorrow morning. I also brined with cajun and some other stuff. Rubbed in cajun. Obviously a cajun theme here! My first try and have other backup things ready too.

 

[duffman]

Thanks for all the tips. Hopefully things go great come Thursday morning.

I will follow with some pics in a few days.

 

[duffman]

Well she is injected and on the smoker. She is just a little 6.5# breast so she should be ready for lunch.

 

[chopsaw]

Looks good .
I always inject and hold over night for phosphate type injection . I think the meat naturally holds 10 % of it's weight . Any more than that pumped in will leak back out .
Gonna be good either way . Be watching .

 

[duffman]

The injection was a success! No plated pictures because we were running behind for our zooms giving meeting. It was super juicy and delicious.