Brisket Injection?

[MrBlue02]

Never injected a brisket but I have heard lots of folks talk about it. Gonna put one on Sat and thought that I would see if there were any suggestions for an injection. I have heard beef broth (the real kind) with your rub mixed in. But how much volume? I talked to a guy recently and I think he said he shoots 4 cups of injection into a brisket. That seems like a lot, like that sucker would explode if you drop it!

Let me know what works...I'll try something new and post some pics of the cook.

[BluDawg]

Mr blue I inject my briskets Mainly cause I'm a"real tight wad" and buy select grade Packers. This is what I use;
1 PKG Mc McCormick Aus Jus Powder
3 cups black Coffee
1 tbl Worcestershire sauce
1 tbl Brisket rub
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup Veg oil

Mix the coffee and the aus jus powder,in a small bowl whisk together the mustard and oil add the rub and continue to Whisk adding the wooster.Pour everything into the blender and blend it well 2-3 min. inject brisket at 1" intervals. Rub with K-salt and table grind black pepper and Mexican Oregano. I do mine and go strait to the smoker with mesquite for flavor. After 4 hrs place in a foil pan so you don't waste the Best BBq Sauce.

[Gomeat]

I tried all sorts of receipes for brisket injection and didn't like any of them, preferred my brisket without. Then I tried Butcher BBQ. Ordered some online, mixed it only using water and injected according to the instructions. I cooked a comp practice brisket for the Super Bowl and my friends are still raving about the flavor, tenderness, and moistness. I'll never bother to try to concoct my own again.

[wayne]

I have injected a few, with different results. So, I stopped injecting. Last Saturday, I wanted to do something different. I mixed up my coffee rub as usual. However, instead of using muster as my slather, I used Land-O-Lakes butter. I squeezed some butter in my hands, grabbed a hand full of coffee rub, mixed them together in my hand and rubbed on the brisket, repeating this until the brisket was completely rubbed on both sides. Wrapped in cling wrap and placed in the fridge over night. Next morning, brushed off the coffee rub some, and placed on the smoker grill. Then, as a mop sauce, I mixed up, per instruction one packet of Au Ju sauce, but melted one whole stick of Land-O-Lakes butter in the Au Ju sauce and mopped my brisket every 45 minutes. I keep the Au Ju sauce with the butter melted down in it on the stove on a very low heat keeping the butter from becoming hard. Have to say, that, had to be one of the tenderest, juicy, tasting brisket I have done. Now I did cook it in the oven after about 5 hours of smoking. Wrapped it up in foil, but what was left over from my mop sauce, I poured it in my foil, with just about a 1/2 of glass of water to help with the steam made the brisket very tender, but the mop sauce, I believe, helped with the flavor and tenderness of it. Just my opinion.

[MrBlue02]

Thanks, guys, ya'll have given me some great ideas. Now I am actually thinking about doing a couple briskets just so I can try some different methods. BluDawg, I'm really interested in that injection and I think I am going to go with it, since I don't think I am going to have the time to track down the Butcher BBQ by Sat. I have never mopped a brisket, just butts and birds, but Wrangler, everything you use sounds like it should add up to one bad brisket. Wish I was cooking right now...

Thanks again and I will keep all posted on how everything turns out...

[Kenny 13]

The only advice I'd offer on injecting brisket is to make sure you like the flavor of the injection before you use it. I injected a brisket once on the advice of a friend. He said that he used this particular commercially available marinade as an injection and his briskets turned out great. I tried it and the brisket was nice and moist, but I didn't care for the flavor at all so I took the bottle of marinade and tasted a little of what was leftover and threw the bottle in the trash. Lesson learned - I should have tasted it before injecting the brisket.

[WBBQ]

I tried all sorts of receipes for brisket injection and didn't like any of them, preferred my brisket without. Then I tried Butcher BBQ. Ordered some online, mixed it only using water and injected according to the instructions. I cooked a comp practice brisket for the Super Bowl and my friends are still raving about the flavor, tenderness, and moistness. I'll never bother to try to concoct my own again.

I second that!!!

Butcher BBQ is good stuff. The first time, try it per instruction. If it's not strong enough, add another 1/8 to 1/4 cup of powder to the two cups. I personally like 1/2 cup powder per 1 cup of water....straight. You can add junk to the mixture, but you may risk the chance of making your brisket taste like something...well.... besides brisket. A cup of water and 1/2 cup of powder does 1 brisket. It does not seem like a lot, but it goes farther than you think. I inject every inch or so a little at a time. Also, I only inject the flat...but that's just me.

Weldon

[WBBQ]

Thanks, guys, ya'll have given me some great ideas. Now I am actually thinking about doing a couple briskets just so I can try some different methods. BluDawg, I'm really interested in that injection and I think I am going to go with it, since I don't think I am going to have the time to track down the Butcher BBQ by Sat. I have never mopped a brisket, just butts and birds, but Wrangler, everything you use sounds like it should add up to one bad brisket. Wish I was cooking right now...

Thanks again and I will keep all posted on how everything turns out...

Bludawgs injection does sound good, when I make my own, I do something similar but with beef broth rather than coffee and no oil or rub. Good luck and let us know...and take pictures if you are able, we love pics around here

Weldon

[BluDawg]

[/quote]

Bludawgs injection does sound good, when I make my own, I do something similar but with beef broth rather than coffee and no oil or rub. Good luck and let us know...and take pictures if you are able, we love pics around here

Weldon[/quote]I use a little oil because I buy "Select" packers. And the Dijon Is only there as an emulsifier. If buy chance I get a choice or prime cut I eliminate that part as it is not needed.

[WBBQ]

I use a little oil because I buy "Select" packers. And the Dijon Is only there as an emulsifier. If buy chance I get a choice or prime cut I eliminate that part as it is not needed.

Gotcha

[MrBlue02]

Sorry it has taken so long to get back to you guys with some pics...

I tried the coffee injection and the flavor was great! Did have a problem though...the brisket was so tender that you couldn't even cut it into slices. To me that screams overcooked. I cooked it how I normally do, straight on the rack, 250-260, in the smoke for about 5 hours, till it hits 160, wrap it and take it to about 200 and then into the cooler to rest for at least one hour. I don't know what happened. I have been reading other posts about brisket done-ness and I am getting the impression that it isnt so much the temp as the feel, like the probe or thermometer is going into warm butter. It definitely felt like that, but maybe it was at that stage for too long. I plan to try the injection again, maybe with a packer (this was a smaller super trimmed) and see if I can't get it right.

On a brighter note, the spares were as good as I think ribs can get and still be legal.

[WBBQ]

Wow, that's some nice looking grub. As far as the brisket being too tender...it depends on who you ask If you like it that way then you cooked it perfect. Just keep practicing, it looks very moist...that's usually the biggest problem when over cooking. Going by feel takes a little practice, or at least it did me.

Lookin great man, got my mouth watering now!!!!

Weldon

[PatioDaddio]

Kosmo's beef injection is some seriously good stuff. Here is a review I posted on my blog back in December:

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When it comes to competition BBQ, I have always been somewhat of a purist.
I say, "somewhat" because I do inject my pork butts and brisket, and I am a
firm believer in leveraging "the Texas crutch" (foil). We competitors are
constantly striving to achieve that perfect bite (or maybe two) that will wow
the judges, and you have to use chemistry to your advantage.

In my mind there are two kinds of chemistry -- natural and enhanced. The
natural uses preparation and cooking techniques that make use of what is
already in the meat to help it the be best it can be. The enhanced end of the
spectrum adds a concoction of additives (typically containing sodium
tripolyphosphate and calcium lactate) that help enhance the natural flavor and
retain moisture. Many of the top competition teams use these types of
commercial injections to gain an advantage.

Until now, I had never tried any of the commercial injections, but I've been
admittedly curious to see what all the hullabaloo is about. I've heard about the
great beef flavor and juices pouring out of an otherwise monotonous brisket.
All this, combined with the results of the aforementioned top teams, certainly
made me wonder if I was missing something.

I decided that it was time to see what all this buzz is about, so I contacted
Kosmo of Kosmo's Q and he kindly sent samples of his beef and pork injections
for me to try.

I started with an 11.3 pound select-grade brisket. I wanted to keep the
playing field level, so I trimmed it like I normally do, and I injected it
per the instructions, using beef consomme as the mixing liquid. The powder
mixed very easily without clumping, and I injected all but about 1/4 cup of the
mixture.

Aside from the new injection formula, this was a standard brisket prep for me.
I then cooked the brisket using my standard hot & fast technique.
Again, I wanted to keep the injection as the only variable in my standard
procedure.



I must say that I was impressed with the results. While I didn't see much
difference in the moisture content, the beefy flavor was definitely enhanced,
but not unnaturally so. There were no off flavors or other noticeable changes in
the overall flavor profile, as compared to my standard competition brisket. It
was just a "kicked-up" version of what I normally cook. Kosmo's is a serious
winner in beefy flavor enhancement.

Now that I know what all this phosphate injection madness is all about, I don't
know that I would use it in competition. Why? Well, it contains MSG and, while I
don't necessarily have a problem with it, I am very leery about using MSG in
situations where I don't know who will be eating it. I prefer to keep things
natural in these situations.

In conclusion, Kosmo's Q is a great product for those that are looking to take
their brisket to a new level. It offers outstanding flavor enhancement without
compromising your flavor profile.

-----

John

[simon]

excellent cook !