Inject Your Meat for a Juicier Result!

Most people believe the secret to juicier meat is using a brine. This technique, which involves simply submerging meat in a saltwater solution, helps add moisture by changing the meat's protein structure. For this reason, some people say you should always brine lean meats before grilling.

Yes, brining works wonderfully, but it's not the technique favored by Melissa Cookston - seven-time world barbecue champion and judge of Netflix's "Barbecue Showdown". If you've watched the series, you know she's qualified to speak on such matters considering she's never served dry chicken to anybody!

During an exclusive interview with Tasting Table, Cookston revealed that instead of brine, she injects meats with flavorful liquids and coats the outside of each cut with a dry rub to prepare it for the smoker. With the injections, she's adding liquid directly into the meat rather than relying on salt to do all the work to make the meat juicier. Melissa Cookston also avoids another common method for adding moisture to barbecue: basting or spritzing during cooking. She relies solely on her injections and rubs for moisture and flavor.

Melissa Cookston's Injection Technique

Netflix's world barbecue champion tailors her injections to the type of meat she's cooking. She mentions "You can inject a pork stock when you're cooking pork. I make a beef stock when I'm cooking beef and a chicken stock when I'm cooking chicken." Although the injections do add moisture, the importance of proper cooking is key. No amount of injection can save you from overcooking your meat or smoking too high a temperature.

Unlike using a brine, injecting gives you an almost instant boost of flavor. Injections also have an advantage over basting because they're done ahead of time and don't require you to open the lid of the grill or smoker during cooking. Once you open that door, you lose all the heat.