Should I inject my shoulder?

[cheech]

Have you ever or should I inject my pork shoulder with any thing?

If so what?

 

[smokey steve]

Cheech, I am doing a whole picnic shoulder tomorrow and I injected mine with some apple juice, cidar vinegar, and brown sugar mix. I have injected the last couple of butts that I have done and they came out awesome :D

 

[jamesb]

I use my own rub, but I've used the injection in the following recipe with much success...

Chris Lilly's Six-time World Championship Pork Shoulder

Recipe By : Chris Lilly of Big Bob Gibson's
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
For the pork shoulder rub
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/3 cup garlic salt
1/3 cup kosher salt
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon oregano leaves
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon black pepper
-----------
Pork injection
3/4 cup apple juice
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup salt
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
------------
1 whole pork shoulder (approximately 16 pounds)
1 bottle Big Bob Gibson Championship Red Sauce (or substitute your favorite BBQ sauce)

Inject pork shoulder evenly with injection solution. Apply a generous amount of rub onto meat. Pat so the rub will adhere. Place in a smoker and cook with indirect heat for 16 hours on 225°F. Serve with sauce on the side or paint shoulder with sauce the last 20 minutes of cooking. When done, the pork should pull off the bones easily. The internal temperature of the pork should reach 195°F.

 

[cheech]

Thanks James I will have to give that a try.

Smokey Steve I got your reply soon enough to try it out this past weekend.

It was late so I did not get to test it out yet however that is going to happen when I get home today

 

[jaynik]

I thought this post would have gotten more activity. I've injected with apple juice, but honestly didn't notice it much. Maybe I didn't inject enough??? I saw on a barbecue show that these ladies injected theirs with apple juice and to the judges, it made a noticeable difference.

In the past, I've just rubbed my butt :-) and added the soflaquer finishing sauce at the end.

Also, I tried one of the vinegar based sauces (starnes) in the recipe section and everyone loves it on the sandwiches. It's really good stuff! I wonder if it'd be safe to inject with that???

 

[smokey steve]

Jaynik, In my experience with pork shoulders the apple juice is just for moisture and not really for the taste.

 

[cajunsmoker]

"Also, I tried one of the vinegar based sauces (starnes) in the recipe section and everyone loves it on the sandwiches. It's really good stuff! I wonder if it'd be safe to inject with that???"


Absolutely :>)

 

[Dutch]

I wonder . . . What would the outcome be IF we injected a pork butt with SoFlaQuer's Finishing Sauce, applied our rub and then smoked it??? :P

 

[cheech]

Dutch wonder no more,

I have tried it and other than having an issue with Red Pepper Flakes and the needle it worked great.

I have a different needle coming so that they can pass through the needle but for now it is just with out the flakes

 

[ultramag]

I like the sounds of this definately trying it on my next butt.


Cheech, did you still use the finishing sauce after you pulled the butt? I know you don't want to use to much finishing sauce, but I wonder how much you would lose during cook. I will probably inject and still use some after pulling.

 

[cheech]

ultramag I did use a bit of the sauce once I pulled it out but keep in mind I love that sauce so much I almost drink it straight.

 

[Dutch]

Cheech, Thanks for being the guina pig for the rest of us and trying this out. As for the issue with the red pepper flakes, I thought about putting everything in a sauce pan and bringing it up to a simmer, letting things cool and straining the pepper flakes out, then using the sauce for injecting.

 

[vman]

a friend of mine injected a beef roast with a tenderizer and he said he will never do it again. it seemed that every area the tenderizer was in destroyed the meat to the extent of a rotted-out-hole acoording to my buddy. i guess the tenderizer over-worked itself during the extended hours of smoking.

 

[pyre]

My mother bought we a meat injection kit for a birthday present, so I was thinking of trying it out on a pork butt this weekend. Sounds like its not a bad thing to try.

This thing is marketed as "injectable marinade" and comes with 5-6 different pre-made marinades, and what looks like a syringe for giving shots to livestock. (it's a big ol needle)

 

[cajunsmoker]

I would taste the sauce that you are going to inject to make sure I liked it before I committed a butt or roast to that taste. Some of the injection sauces are extremely salty or overseasoned. :x