Best Time To Inject a Turkey

[mrad]

Whats the consensus on when to inject a turkey? I will be injecting Tony C's creole butter into my 15 lb birds. Both birds are butterballs that have the 8% solution added to them.

 

[browneyesvictim]

You can inject just right before cooking it. But, if you pull the turkey out of the package now and prepare it, you will have a couple of days refrigerator time to season it and help dry the skin some. If you were brining you would inject after the brine period. The only time I inject before and during the brine is if I am using cure as my brine.

 

[tallbm]

At first thought I would imagine inject right before cooking. It's what I do and I have no issues.

I don't think you will get anymore spread of flavor if you inject thoroughly so i'm not sure what waiting would buy you in the flavor department. If anything waiting just gives the bird more time to loose the injected flavor as it drips/drains from the bird.

When a bird is brined it is washed, patted try, and then smoked. Again, I think there is no more work to be done to get the flavor in the bird so right on to the smoker unless drying up the skin some beforehand.

I hope this info helps :)

 

[mrad]

Thanks for the replies. Last year I injected just before cooking. This year I was planning on throwing it on the smoker around 6:00 AM. I was thinking if I injected the night before I could save some time in the morning.

 

[tallbm]

Thanks for the replies. Last year I injected just before cooking. This year I was planning on throwing it on the smoker around 6:00 AM. I was thinking if I injected the night before I could save some time in the morning.

I don't think that would hurt, especially if it saves time. I would put the turkey in a pan and keep the injector handy in case a ton of marinade leaks out and needs to be re-injected the next morning.