Yes you must inject. Using only the canister and vacuum (Food Saver one??) will not allow the brine to penetrate properly. They also so this with all hames. My pump is 4 ounce capacity and has a long needle with several side holes punched into it. I push the needle all the way in, and start to pump in the brine while slowly taking out the needle. The pumping makes the meat swell up. I weigh before and after to ensure the proper amount of brine. These people have a brass one at $12.50 - http://www.alliedkenco.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/1003 The site below has a stainless one from Morton, for $30. Both are decnet quailty. I also added a regular needle that looks like a giant needle on a syringe, with the end tapered at an angle. This is used in thinner meat poultry brining as its got no side holes. At best the vacuum pump on a FS machine will only give you about 15-20 in. Whereas a regular vacuum pump would bring down the vacuum to 30 in. BE CAREFUL!! don't get ANY liqiid ito the vacuum hose or pump!! My more powerful vacuum pump also has a moisture trap to collect any liquids that might enter the hose. Here is a link that might be useful: Brine Pump

Wow! Thanks for all the help. Of course, I knew I could rely on my Gardenweb friends. David52, I do use Penzey's spices and am a fan of theirs. At first I could only shop there in person when I went to Madison, WI with DH once a year for his heart check-ups. Then I found there was one about an hour north of here and I will try to get there whenever possible. Carol, I'd never heard of The Spice House. Thank you for letting me know about them. I will definitely check them out, too. Dave, nothing wrong with Montreal Steak Seasoning. Heck, I want to try out as many things as I can. Ristau5741, thank you for sharing your rub/injection recipe that you like so much. It's a must try so I've copied, pasted and printed it. I'll be seasoning the Brinkman this weekend. Right now I'll be using a tarp to protect it, after its cooled down, but I am planning on getting the cover they make specifically for it. John, thank you for sharing the link to BBQ'rs Delight and your advice. Right now I have a bag of apple wood chips and a bag of cherry wood chips and I know you have to wet them down, then squeeze any excess water out before using them. I've been debating on whether I should buy chunks in the future. Also, the young man across the road was over last night and said he'd give me a log of persimmon wood that I could try in the future. I wonder if it would be worth it. I was fired up over this before, but now I'm even more excited about it. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Well I suppose it (grill) does mess things up a bit. To me though it doesn't seem worse than doing any other cooking or prep in the kitchen, it all makes some sort of mess. I am partial to the grill. It's results cannot be replicated in the kitchen as easily as the griddle. Buy this I mean You can easily place a griddle pan over a burner or two but how do you replicate the grill? A good broiler can be quite effective as a substitute for a grill though. While the results are different, they may be an acceptable substitution. Many on this site have posted great results, steaks in particular, with a broiler. Think about how and what you cook. A grill is high on the want list but for us it was quite low on the need list. We got the grill 'cause I really really wanted it :o) Pay attention to your vent hood if you get a grill. You want some decent air flow here. Check the FAQ on hoods.

We went to a couple of barbeque places today and ending up buying the extra large Big Green Egg, and I think we will be very happy with it. Kevin thinks it will be great for parties, and now it will be even easier for us to cook for a crowd. Since we now have three charcoal grills, we can use separate grills for separate dishes which will make it easier for us to make multiple dishes at once, even if they require different temperatures. We also have the electric smoker, and I have to say that we get a more intense smoke flavor from that than we do from the charcoal - or at least it permeates the meat more. For smoking chilies, only the charcoal will do the job the way I want it. The BGE that we bought also has a pizza stone and can be used for grilling pizza - something that I've been wanting to do since first visiting the pizza making forum. We bought some outdoor lights for our pergola, and I think they will provide way more light than we required, but at least we can lower the wattage when we want to. I haven't bought anything for lighting the fountain yet because I want to have that installed by an electrician on an exterior wall of the house. I'm hoping to light much of the back yard that way and have it on a dimmer. I don't really want underwater lights in my fountain at this point but will talk with the electrician about that. I'm thinking that I will get my yard lit in stages and start off with getting some outdoor outlets installed at strategic points so that lights could be hooked up later. We went out for dinner this evening because I wanted sushi! We haven't assembled the Big Green Egg yet. Lars