How To Use A Meat Injector The Easy Way

how to use  meat injector

In my opinion, there are too many people who make injecting or marinating meat too complicated.
I have read articles on how to use a meat injector, that rocket scientists would have trouble understanding.

As you know, I don’t like complicated and write things in as easy English as possible.

Why Injecting Or Marinading Meat

The whole idea is that we like to add some liquids to the meat to keep it from drying out while cooking and in addition, we can add some flavor.

Remember that larger cuts of meat already have solutions added during processing most of the time.

Most time they mention it is to conserve the meat better, but in my opinion, it also adds weight to it.

What Can You Use To Inject Meat?

I like the taste of meat. Meat that is over-seasoned does not taste good to me.
Injecting can be done with many injectors.

I have tried the cheap plastic ones but that is just a waste of money except when you use it on a thin piece of meat it might work.

I strongly believe in buying the best quality you can afford that is why I go for the stainless steel marinade injectors. I did Marinade Injector Reviews and if you click on that link you can read them.

They are all pretty good and it is a personal preference what I would like to use.

What To Inject The Meat With

As I mentioned most thicker cuts already have a solution injected during the processing and this is usually a salt solution.

This means in my opinion that we should stay away from too much salt in our solutions.

I prefer to use some kind of stock or melted butter in combination with some oil.
Any oil is good, but olive oil sometimes is a little strong flavored so I don’t use it most of the time.

The Meat Injection Technique

I know there are people who tell you to use the needle with the holes on the side and not the one with the open tip end.

I have tried both and to be honest, could not taste a difference.

I do admit that if you inject at the last moment the needle with the holes on the side is better. It will spread the solution better in that short time.

But if you inject and then let the meat sit overnight or even 24 hours I have not tasted any difference.

Steps To Use A Meat Injector

  • Prep your marinade by mixing al your ingredients in a bowl of pan
  • Place the needle and submerge it completely in your marinade.
  • Pull up the plunger and fill the injector with marinade
  • Insert the needle in the meat all the way and press the plunger a little
  • Pull up the needle a bit and repeat pressing the plunger a little.
  • Try to marinade the whole piece of meat as even as you can.

In summary I do just pull the needle out slowly while injecting and inject every 1.5 inches and you are good to go. Try to prevent pockets of solution.

Now let your meat rest overnight if you can.

How To Use A Meat Injector – Tips

  • Do not use too coarse seasonings or too big-cut ingredients. This will clog up the holes.
  • If you feel that you have to put too much pressure on the plunger something is wrong and you should stop and find out what is wrong.
  • When you use melted butter use it fast before it gets thick again. I like to keep it in the pan and keep it warm.
  • Try to keep the natural flavor of the meat by not over-seasoning. Remember that you probably still use a rub. Use the same flavors in the injectors as you do in the rub.
  • When you use it as a turkey injector remember that the dark meat is juicy already and only injects the white meat of the turkey.splitjack injector
  • When you are starting to use a meat injector more than once in a while you could look at the spitjack injector review we did. I have never used one but have seen them in action and it looks like a great product to me.
    The second one we read great things about is the Premiala meat injector we reviewed here.
  • When you are a big-time griller it might pay to invest in a meat injector pump. I will maybe review them later.
    injected meat

Have fun and leave a comment or share your experience with me.

Eddie van Aken

Eddie van Aken has run his own full-service restaurant for many years. Before that, he worked as a grill and buffet cook in some of the mainstream restaurants. With his experience using professional kitchen equipment, he is able to write expert reviews. You can read more about Eddie van Aken here.

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