Just so you know, if you inject it, you will have to abide by the ground meat safety rule.
You will have to make sure the meat goes from 40˚ internal temp to 135˚ internal temp, in no more than 4 hours.
This made me laugh. I'm new to this forum. I actually signed up to comment. Not something I ever do. This is my first post and I know this is an old thread. BUT....... Ground meat safety rule???? I've been in the restaurant business for 30 years. I actually own two restaurants now and I've never heard of such a thing. 40-135 in 4 hours?? Where did this come from? The USDA food safety danger zone is 40-140. So at 135 you're still in the danger zone. I also believe this "rule" has been confused with cooling and reheating guidelines, which do state food should not remain in this danger zone of 40-140 during COOLING and REHEATING for extended times. And I believe this time varies by state from 2-4 hours. I think reheating is from 40 up to 165 in two hours and maintained at 140. However, GROUND BEEF, as in hamburger, must be cooked to an internal temperature of 155 to kill the E.coli bacteria, which is the main reason for ground meat concerns to begin with.
Therefore, it is recommended by the USDA that ground beef be cooked to 160 degrees. As a matter of fact, all ground meat should be cooked to 160 and ground poultry to 165 according to USDA food safety standards. There are no time restrictions placed on that. I'm not sure injecting a piece of meat equates to grinding it up. If it did ALL injected meat would have that safety regulation stamped on the label. Meaning any hunk of meat injected by the processing plant would have to go from 40-135 in four hours. ANY INJECTED MEAT!!! Butts, ribs, roast beef etc. Not just what you inject yourself. And that definitely isn't the case that I've ever seen.. If sticking an injector needle or temperature probe in a raw piece of meat is equivalent to grinding it up then would using a tenderizing cleaver or Jaccard be the same? It sticking a temperature probe in is equivalent to grinding then trimming fat or slicing any piece of meat with a knife would be the same as grinding it up. So if this rule is true then ALL meat must adhere to the rule. No more medium rare steaks boys!!. Sounds a bit extreme to me there guys. I'm pretty sure this isn't a correct interpretation of any guidelines or regulations. Sorry if I offend anyone. Sounds like food safety gone overboard. Not that that's a bad thing. Just not accurate. My two cents. So inject away and cook low and slow. Don't inject and spray with apple juice and rum. Spray the apple juice and drink the rum. Don't open the pit at all and let it do its thing. Wrap it in foil. Don't wrap it in foil. Do it your way. Whatever works for you. My way might not be your way and neither might be the best way. Who cares!!! Just have a damn good time making BBQ and enjoy life.
