Question about injecting meat

[tlg4942]

  June, Don't be afraid to experiment ,
 Rarely will you mess up a chicken no matter what you do.  Keep in mind if you think it will taste good injected it probably will.
I have and many on this forum have injected beer, wine , apple juice,  butter , Cajun seasoning, broth , both vegetable and meat broths.   
  With that said brineing is a excellent practice for poultry no matter how its cooked.   
Don't be afraid of the size of the chicken either. 2lbs, 5 lbs or 12 lbs...  Cook by temp and it will work. Even Cornish game hens are fine.

Its going to be dark in color (the skin) when its done most likely. More so if you put oil on the skin.   Use your thermometer more than anything else.   And remember the temp will continue to rise when you remove it so pull it a couple degrees lower than the target temp. 

[teesquare]

Good advice. I think I could probably use a herb, spice, garlic, lemon juice infused butter on the exterior, then use chicken broth with the butter mix as the injection marinade. I do like food experimenting. Now I just have to figure when I'll be able to try this!

And...as much as I hate to offer this advise as a healthy alternative... I have used chicken broth with seasoning that have been steeped or simmered in it.

And - if you can - allow some time to let the seasoning method of choice some time to permeate the meat and spread itself around a in the muscle tissues. Bear in mind - it is best to chill any injection material to 40F or lower  - and keep the chicken cold as you can too. Food safety announcement over now....

Just one gentle caution here....acids break down muscle tissue pretty efficiently...So - use a small amount and - do not let the chicken sit long before cooking it in order to minimize the risk of "mush meat"

[Tailgating is my game]

TG..just put 1 finger under the skin and start going across chicken skin sideways..it will separate easily for ya to do what ya gotta do..good luck..it's easier than you think.. .☆´¯`•.¸¸. ི♥ྀ.

As always....Thanks Pam I will try it next time...sounds great

[junep]

  June, Don't be afraid to experiment ,
 Rarely will you mess up a chicken no matter what you do.  Keep in mind if you think it will taste good injected it probably will.
I have and many on this forum have injected beer, wine , apple juice,  butter , Cajun seasoning, broth , both vegetable and meat broths.   
  With that said brineing is a excellent practice for poultry no matter how its cooked.   
Don't be afraid of the size of the chicken either. 2lbs, 5 lbs or 12 lbs...  Cook by temp and it will work. Even Cornish game hens are fine.

Its going to be dark in color (the skin) when its done most likely. More so if you put oil on the skin.   Use your thermometer more than anything else.   And remember the temp will continue to rise when you remove it so pull it a couple degrees lower than the target temp.

Thanks for the reassurance! Normally, since I'm only cooking for myself now (been a widow since last November), I'll be cooking 3 lb fryers if I can find them. My shopping trip yesterday turned up one 4 lb and one 5 lb. So I'll see if friends want to come for dinner this weekend and be my guinea pigs for the first time using this Big Easy SRG. If not, that big one will go in the freezer and I'll do the smaller one for myself. If I have room in one of fridges (they're pretty maxed out now, since one is pretty well filled with my soap making oils), I'll try brining it as well.

[junep]

Thanks Pam. I do that with a rock cornish hen recipe I have - lift the breast skin gently and insert about 4 fresh sage leaves. It's a great recipe and I've never tried it with chicken since I'm very happy with my regular roast chicken recipe, so it will be interesting to see how I like a chicken roasted in this Big Easy SRG with brining (if there's room in the fridge), and injecting some marinade. Thanks for all the help and suggestions!