Injecting marinade into smoked meats is the best way to bring rich flavors into foods. Find out how to inject meat for smoking today.
Spraying meat with marinade before smoking it on the grill isn’t always necessary, but there can be a fine line between meat being dry and tender or juicy and juicy. There’s a reason why competition-level grill masters use this technique. It improves the flavor and texture of meat, separating professionals from home cooks.
Marinating gives chicken, turkey, pork and brisket a nice layer of intense flavor. Ever since I started smoking meat I haven’t looked back.
If you’ve also never tried injecting barbecue smoked marinade, I urge you to give it a try. Find out how and when to die with our injection marinade guide.
Why spritz the meat before roasting?
Meat injection provides better coverage during meat preparation than traditional soaking.
While the traditional marinade coats your ingredients well in flavor, it only breaks down the outer layers of the meat, offering just a few millimeters of flavor. No matter how long you let the marinade soak, it can only soak so far.
The same goes for barbecue seasoning and glazes, which are more limited as they can’t penetrate the outer layer of meat as well.
Then there is the brine. Wet and dry brine are fantastic cooking methods to ensure moisture retention in smoked grilled meats. However, no method can deliver the amount of flavor that marinade can inject. They also take a lot longer to cook, typically 1 hour per pound of meat. This means you have to leave your food in brine overnight for it to take effect.
Injecting marinade gives us complete coverage and penetrates the innermost layers of our meat while only taking a few minutes. And all while maintaining the same levels of moisture and flavor as any other method.
What are the best meats to inject?
The best smoked grilled meats to spritz with marinade are:
- Truthfulness
- Beefsteak
- Boston butt
- Wild boar
- Pig man
- Pork tenderloin
- Lamb shoulder
- Lamb shank
- Chicken
- Buttocks
I’ve already covered many of these in my guide to the best meats to smoke, so check it out for a more detailed guide. The guide also provides important information on the times and temperatures that will be used for smoking and woods to be smoked.
Possibly & you experiment a little and find many personal preferences. Marinades are best squirted into large cuts of meat that naturally tend to dry out. Therefore, fattier meats like beef or pork don’t need it, although they can still improve their flavor. The best job is done when we carry moisture and flavor to lean cuts of chicken, turkey and pork like tenderloin.
What was the meat sprinkled with before roasting
Everyone has their own recipes, and many people keep secrets about the marinades they use. However, the best marinades are often the simplest. Despite what you may hear, many barbecue smokers are simple, and marinades are no different.
For example, many of the best marinade recipes to squirt in turkey or chicken include salt, water, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and a blend of herbs.
Sure, different recipes will vary, but the base of many of them won’t deviate too much from these basic ingredients.
For an inspiring list of some of the best to try, check out my guide to the best turkey and chicken shots recipes .
Whatever you choose, just pay attention to the proportions and measurements. If you overdo it with anything, especially salt or herbs, you risk overwhelming the meat. Don’t forget that your meat is the star of the show. Leave is not left.
If using herbs, be sure to grind them before mixing them into the marinade. Increase to achieve a finely powdered or pasty consistency.
Always check that your hypodermic needle is suitable for the consistency of the marinade you are using. If your marinade is coarse or coarse in size, you will need an injection hole that can accommodate this.
I have a Premiala injector that IS used with three different needle sizes for all types of marinades. Recommend something similar if you don’t already have one.
How to inject meat with marinade.
This whole process is pretty straightforward and easy, but to make sure you have everything figured out before you start, here’s my step-by-step guide on exactly how to inject meat. Follow this and you’ll be a master in no time.
Choose the right needle
Marinades vary in thickness due to the ingredients selected within, so it is important that YOU select the correct needle. If you choose one that’s too narrow, you won’t be able to squeeze out the marinade, while if you choose one that’s too wide, you won’t be able to apply enough pressure to drive it deeper into the meat.
Not only do you need to consider the size of the hole at the end of your hypodermic needle, but also the holes on the side of the needle. Needles with holes are perfect for larger cuts of meat as YOU can easily apply the marinade to different layers of meat. You don’t need this for leaner cuts of meat.
If your solution is thick, whenever YOU choose the single hole with a large opening, as needles with holes on them are not wide enough to accommodate thicker solutions.
In most cases, needles are easily replaced without unscrewing them at their base.
Be careful what’s in your marinade. If it has a thick consistency or if it contains large chunks of garlic or herbs, use a thick needle to do it. If much more watery, then WILL be thinner.
Prepare your injector
Cheaper injectors have disadvantages, including faster wear on plastic parts and difficulty in losing bacteria or moisture.
High-end models tend to be made entirely, or at least entirely, of stainless steel. While this makes them feel sturdier, their main advantage is that stainless steel is extremely durable and easy to clean. This makes them much cleaner and safer to use.
Thoroughly clean your food injector before use. This includes making sure your liquid chamber is free of selected sea or marinade solutions and that your needle is free of food debris.
Have a container ready to pour the marinade into, as the injector is easier to extract than a bag.
Prepare your injectable marinade
Whatever marinade you choose, prepare it and store it in a plastic container.
For large meats, you need at least 2-3 cups of marinade. However, you must create at least twice as many to be able to fill your injector.
Be sure to stir or shake it before pulling it out with the needle to make sure the ingredients are well mixed and haven’t sunk to the bottom or floated to the top of the mixture.
Fill the injector with marinade
Dip the needle end of the injector into the marinade and pull the plunger all the way back to remove. If your syringe is clear or has a window, you should be able to see the chamber filling.
If your needle has holes, you’ll need to adjust the angle at which you pull the marinade accordingly. This can be a little tricky and may require you to make more solution so you can dip the needle far enough to pick up the right amount of liquid.
To inject target areas
To ensure the best coverage, whenever you squirt the marinade evenly into the meat, making sure you do the same in depth too.
I try to inject a small amount every half inch along the surface of the meat, both near the surface and an inch deep.
Don’t just do this on the top of the meat, but on the bottom and sides. This ensures that we also get between the muscle layers of the meat, which allows the marinade to work better through the meat.
Start to squirt
It can be easy to get too harsh and unpredictable here, so do your best to apply the marinade evenly.
When depressing the injector plunger, be sure to push down evenly, injecting only a small amount of flesh with each push.
Be careful not to dispense the liquid too close to the surface of the meat, otherwise the liquid will simply run off and be wasted.
Here’s a video of the perfect procedure:
If your needle has holes on the side, make sure they all go into the meat. If only the top hole is uncovered, most if not all of the marinade will escape through that hole.
Ensure even coverage
Poke the needle in each hole you made up and through the meat, remembering to do the same on all sides of the meat, including the underside.
If so. It’s a really simple step in preparing the meat and it will leave you amazed. However, this first step can be daunting, but after one run you will surely have mastered it in no time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here’s a quick FAQ to help with other burning questions you may have.
What is the best meat injector?
I’ve already written about what I think is the best meat injector and in this review I’ve found that many of the best ones are made out of stainless steel for not only durability but also good hygiene and food safety. They are easy to clean and bacteria do not develop as easily as plastic models.
Check out my Full Premiala Meat Injector Review
The best injectors are also easy to disassemble so you can wash thoroughly, but also so you can change needles depending on the solution you use.
My favorite has been the Premiala for a few months. It’s pretty intimate in the aesthetic department, but it’s so reliable that I’m not sure I’d return to anything else unexpectedly. It comes with three sets of detachable needles that allow you to use a variety of marinades.
How are the meat injectors cleaned?
As with any type of stove or kitchen appliance, you should clean your injector after each use( source ).
Not all injectors are dishwasher safe, so I’ll present a more manual approach here that should work for most if not all injectors.
Fill a sink with hot, soapy water. With the injector still fully intact, fill its chamber so you extract soapy water from it as if you were marinating.
Push the plunger to eject the soapy water. Repeat three or four times.
Disassemble the injector by unscrewing the needle and removing the plunger. Carefully remove any rubber rings from the mechanism and set them aside(this can break very easily, so be careful!). Flush the inside and outside of the injector.
Check the inside of the chamber and needle to make sure there are no bits of food or marinade left behind. If stains remain, I recommend soaking the affected stains in hot, soapy water and scrubbing them off with a brush. Then rinse and let dry.
Once completely dry, apply a thin coat of cooking oil to the inside of the chamber before assembling the rest of the injector(including the rubber rings). This film of oil helps lubricate the interior of the chamber, causing the piston to slide down. some injectors are incredibly stubborn so this only helps with ease of use.
Writer & content creator. BBQ fanatic!
