So I've got this nice prime brisket all trimmed and dry-brining. Inject or not? In the tested recipes section Meathead injects, but the recipe in his book does not. What are the opinions on best results? Also, I think the sound of a rub with some coffee in it sounds nice. Any thoughts or recipes? Thanks!
-
-
My limited experience on CHOICE briskets... inject the flat
Like you, I've been pondering about injecting the sweet 2.99 prime.
I think I've decided not to inject the prime (flat or point), and see what happens.
For now on, I'm going to inject the flats of my Choice. (No need to inject points, in my opinion).
Interested to see what others think! -
i haven't injected mine and they turn out wonderful, but i have only done prime.Comment
-
I can't tell the difference between injecting or not injecting so finally stopped injecting.Comment
-
I've not yet found a prime locally but when I do I'll not inject the first one so I can see how it turns out and to compare to one if/when I do inject. I'm a big fan of Big Bad Beef Rub on brisket and chuck roasts.Comment
-
I do not inject prime briskets. They come out great without injecting. My method is a combination of Meathead's and Aaron Franklin's. I trim and dry brine the day before. But the day of, no injections, no fancy rubs ... just the meat, some pepper and garlic powder and then onto the smoker it goes.Comment
-
I'd rather inject myself with Ebola than bother with injecting a brisket.
Pork shoulder still in the cryovac, now that is clean fun injecting.Comment
-
I gave up injecting. Too much of a mess, not enough benefit. I have tried the various types of injections from apple juice to phosphate laden commercial injections. I don't notice a difference. The meat is still tender and juicy.
If your buying Prime, you certainly don't need to inject. Just my 2 cents.Comment
-
I injected my last choice packer, just to see what it would do. Previously I had injected a pork shoulder with a highly rated commercial preparation and really did not care for the taste at all (maybe it was the pork???) Anyway, lots of good reviews on injecting briskets so I decided to try it. Injected mostly the flat using a well known commercial product (same company, different product) and it seemed to work fine. It was a very long cook, perhaps because the brisket was big enough it wouldn't fit well in my BGE so I did it in my COS, and even heavily modified, it was still a COS & a chilly evening. Had my Auber set at 275, it cooked at a steady 240 F all night long. Wrapped in paper at about 12 hours (178 F). Don't know if the injection fluid added to the duration of the stall or not but total cook time was 18 hours. End result was an awesome brisket that disappeared very quickly at a church function and got rave reviews. For me, I'll try injecting briskets again, pork butts, maybe not.Comment
-
I do choice from restraunt depot and prime from cotco on a pretty regular basis I've never even considered injecting.
I generally wrap(foil) around 180 and pretty much like the results.
I am my own worst critic,when I'm bitch'n everyone else is eating.Comment
-
The only thing I have ever injected was turkeys, through the ribcage into the breast meat. Never saw the need to do it for anything else.
Comment
-
Thanks for all the replies! Gonna crank it up in the AM and stayin' with the BBBR.Comment
-
smokinsteve BBBR is great, you won't be upset about that. Biggest piece of advice I can give you is "stick with your plan and be patient"Comment
-
Inject or not inject. Great question! As I have shared here before, I find it difficult to really distinguish subtle differences unless I do a side-by-side test. If it's week to week, other factors come in and make it harder to distinguish with confidence.
I've done two inject vs. non-inject side-by-side brisket tests on choice briskets (I know one round was with regular grocery store choice, and the 2nd may have been with our 1855 upper-choice), then invited people over to do blind tests.
Wanna guess on the results?
Yep, the injected briskets were preferred, having better moisture in the flat as the most noticed difference. It was not a huge difference, but it was noticeable and preferred. The cheaper briskets needed the help even more (and maybe it helped when I overcooked them, to keep some more moisture in there).
For the last 18 months plus I've found a way to get the 1855 Upper choice, and in the past 6 months Prime CAB briskets, and, well, it's been a while, 9 months??, since I've injected a brisket. It's more work and I've just run low on time to get these cooks done, and brisket takes a lot of time on the pit to tend a great fire, wrap when the bark is dark, render the fat to perfection and pull them at the right time. So I've let injection just stay in the, now, large injection supplies box.
It's on my list to do a 36+ hour dry-brine vs. injection side-by-side test. I'll get there!
Do a side-by-side, smokinsteve ! And have fun!Comment
Comment