Chicken Injection....

[bruno994]

I'm a brine guy, but lately I have also been injecting my birds with the brine about an hour before the birds hit the pit. My question is for those that inject their birds, how far in advance of cooking do you inject? Hour, 6 hours, over night? I am having success with this method, but like most of us, I'm always in search of the magic bullet...never completely happy I guess.

[3 star redneck]

I inject th nite before 6-8 hours before cooking

[atcNick]

I do what ^^^ taught me

[B&K Smokers]

straight brine guy myself. about 15 hours. Dont pull out of brine until 30 minutes before pit time.

[Okie Sawbones]

I only brine, 2 hours for parts, 4 hours for a spatchcocked bird.

[RWBTEX]

Either you dont have enough salt in your brine or you have some very salty chickens, 2 to 3 hour before for me and not with the brine.

[B&K Smokers]

Ever since i started extending my brine times i have been 1st place 3 times and top 5 the other two times. I cup of kosher to the gallon plus my other stuff. No complaints so far.

[bruno994]

I prefer a salty bird, 12+ hour brine for 4 chicken halves in 2 quarts of water with 1 cup of kosher to 1/2 cup sugar along with some other ingredients.

[Okie Sawbones]

Fine Cooking has a pretty good article on brining by a food scientist, http://www.finecooking.com/articles/why-brining-keeps-meat-moist.aspx. The chart on brine times has worked well for me.

[B&K Smokers]

I prefer a salty bird, 12+ hour brine for 4 chicken halves in 2 quarts of water with 1 cup of kosher to 1/2 cup sugar along with some other ingredients.

+1 Judges only get one bite so it has to pop. Injecting chicken leaves pockets of flavor in my opinion. I want my flavor even and to the bone.

[ChingoBlingo]

I also do at least minimum 12 hrs in the brine, just started 6 months ago but has gotten me a first and second in the 2 cook offs I have done recently. Ready for # 3 in a couple weeks....fingers crossed

[NPayne1]

Brine over night is a super salty/sugary concoction. No injection. Pull and pat dry an hr before u put on pit. This method got me 4th overall chicken in the W3 series and I only did 2 out of the 3 events.

[jtilk]

I would state what I do, but I think you guys have divulged plenty.
I'll just say I have tried both at some point or another and there is no wrong answer.
If you can get a moist bird that taste like chicken you should have no problem getting a call. To me it's the easiest category to do well in if you can just accomplish this simply because so many are so horrible at keeping a bird moist.

[BigDave]

Well I think yardbird is the most difficult to cook for competition because you have a 10 minute window from perfect bird to breast startin to dry out bird. But I cook hot & fast. Ribs and brisket are much more forgiving on time.

I inject 4 hours before it hits the cooker. There are no flavorless pockets if the correct injection tool and technique are used properly. Many brine their birds. Both techiques produce some good eats! Find one that works for you and Git R Done

[jtilk]

Well I think yardbird is the most difficult to cook for competition because you have a 10 minute window from perfect bird to breast startin to dry out bird. But I cook hot & fast. Ribs and brisket are much more forgiving on time.

I inject 4 hours before it hits the cooker. There are no flavorless pockets if the correct injection tool and technique are used properly. Many brine their birds. Both techiques produce some good eats! Find one that works for you and Git R Done

... Notice I did make it a conditional statement saying "IF" you could keep it moist ... just wanted to cover my backside
For the record I cook mine @ about 325 myself