Injecting marinade into the breast is one of the best ways to improve the moisture, texture, and flavor of roast beef. Find out everything you need to know to make the best brisket injection marinade with our tutorial and recipe.
Beef brisket is the best meat to smoke.
Everything beautiful about grilling is represented. Cook a large slab of meat at a lower temperature for hours, slowly bringing up to temperature, slowly dissolving fat and connective tissue and filling the meat with flavor.
It perfectly embodies everything we love about grilling.
With any meat prep recipe, you’ll often see tips about marinades and brine.
And with that, you may see tips on how to inject your smoky brisket.
A closely guarded secret among many pit masters and competition experts is their meat injection recipes.
Many of these guys have perfected their recipes over the years, so it’s no wonder they often keep quiet about what their treat-injection method involves.
Why Squirt Rock?
Injecting the meat before smoking is a great way to add more flavor and ensure it retains its moisture as much as possible.
While many people turn to a good grilled breast marinade to add flavor, this only improves the appearance of the meat. Marinade injection helps us work from the inside out.
Good moisture retention is key for smoked meats. When YOU are in hot temperatures hour after hour, you can be prone to dehydration.
This is especially true for the brisket. When grilling, the flat part of the breast loses moisture. Marinating helps us balance this out.
Injecting a good marinade will give the flavor and texture of your BBQ brisket the level it needs.
Why not marinate the brisket quite conventionally?
Injecting brisket is much easier, cleaner and time-saving. It allows you to quickly penetrate deep into the flesh of beef and quickly spread throughout the meat.
With just a few ingredients and a meat injector, you can take your home smoked chest to the next level.
So, let’s get into that.
Brisket Shot Recipe
Injection recipes vary widely between thin water-like mixtures and thicker sauces. This applies to brisket, but also to injection recipes for turkey and chicken.
My recipe below is my tried and tested blend that has always served me well.
keeps things simple We don’t want to overwhelm the brisket’s natural flavors, just emphasize it. Oh, and we don’t want to clog our injector!
I use these simple ingredients:
- 1 heaping teaspoon of beef base
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire willow
- 1 tablespoon soy pasture
- 2 cups of water
Just heat the water in a small saucepan. Don’t let them boil or even simmer. Just let it heat so that the other ingredients dissolve.
Add the meat base and mix. Follow with the rest.
Store bought brisket shots
Alternatively, if you don’t want to do it yourself, here are a few store-bought options.
In most cases, they are available in powder form and just need to be mixed with hot water before being placed in your meat injector.
What do you need
Meat injector
The key to all of this. Meat injectors can easily work their way into the deepest part of the meat to apply the marinade.
There are a few varieties out there, but I urge you to get one made of stainless steel. They are easy to care for, robust and do not age as quickly as plastic models.
Look for injectors that come with a choice of needles. You’ll need at least one needle with a single hole on the end, and then another needle with holes on the sides. This allows for better distribution of your marinade throughout the breast meat and ensures it retains its moisture evenly throughout the cut of meat.
Needles come with a choice of hole widths. The narrow holes are suitable for thin marinades and the wide ones for thick ones. It might sound obvious, but you’d be surprised people confuse you.
I’ve given a full review of meat injectors here , but if you want a quick recommendation, check out Premiala on Amazon.
Skillet or skillet
It should come as no surprise that the clash of meat processing and injection causes chaos.
Placing the breast in a deep pan or hotplate allows you to catch excess juice or marinade as you work.
Small Ruhr bowl
A small scratch allows for easy transfer of your marinade to your injector. You can only fill your injector a little at a time, so a container will help store the mixture while you apply it.
Should you spritz marinade the night before?
Traditional marinades often require YOU to soak the meat in the fridge overnight, so it stands to reason that people have the same question about injecting brisket.
The good news, however, is that you don’t have to.
Traditional marinades are sometimes left overnight to allow them to soak through the meat and into the meat fibers.
When Injecting, We Have Already Done The Heavy Work By Directly Cutting.
So it’s not important to do it that far in advance.
I like to do half an hour before grilling just to give the marinade a little time to do a little extra work.
Rock squirt
Follow this short step-by-step beef injecting guide and you’ll be on your way to competitive beef in no time.
Cut the meat
Slice the brisket as usual. Cut fat from all sides to desired thickness.
When you have done this, break up the rest of the cut meat into the deep pan or stovetop.
Prepare your marinade
Mix your injection liquid in hot water and let all the ingredients dissolve. As a rough guide, about 1 fluid ounce per pound of meat. Transfer the mixture to a small pain for mixing.
Carefully fill your meat injector with marinade. If the needle has holes on the sides, make sure to dip the entire needle in your mixture.
Feed meat
Identify the direction of the grain in your meat. I like to squirt with the stroke(rather than against it) as I find it distributes better throughout the chest.
Insert the needle into the meat, making sure all the needle holes are in the meat.
Very, begin to withdraw the needle while slowly simultaneously depressing the plunger to release the liquid.
Repeat this process on the meat every two inches in a grid pattern.
Pour plenty of marinade over the brisket before placing in your smoker.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I squirt brisket at night?
no The breast must be injected immediately before smoking. If you marinate in the fridge overnight, the drop in temperature will force the marinade solution out of the meat.
Should men cum in the chest?
Brisket is a big, ugly cut of meat, so it’s a good idea to use an injector to get more flavor and moisture into the deeper parts of the meat.
Writer & content creator. BBQ fanatic!
