When I became aware of the injectors was when the deep-fried turkey rage swept the US. Injector 'kits' came on the market with an assortment of different flavored marinades for turkey. Tony Chachere's is the brand most readily & widely available.

Also, I think injectors are pretty much a tool kit standard with the smoking/ pit BBQ crowd.

I don't get the idea of injecting meat.

Meat does not absorb flavor that much. Even with marinating meat it takes a very long time for the flavor to enter superficially, and marinating has a very large area of contact between meat and flavor liquid.

When you inject meat, most of the liquid comes out and very little stays in the meat, and the surface area of meat created by the thin needle is very small to make contact with the liquid.

I don't use my meat injector.

dcarch

>>>"Also, I think injectors are pretty much a tool kit standard with the smoking/ pit BBQ crowd.<<<"

Yup, but there are different kinds of injectors with different uses. Not knowing which kind Islay found in the UK, I'll comment on the two most commonly seen varieties.

One kind looks like an oversized disposable plastic syringe with a thickish hypodermic needle. That's what I recall Tony Chachere company selling with their buttery turkey/poultry marinade. Rather than, say, soaking a turkey in a bucket of brine for a couple days, you can quickly make a lot of rather shallow injections to quickly spread the brine or flavoring marinade. (Shallow because poultry meat usually is not very thick.) You can inject oily flavorings which might not penetrate past the surface of your meat or poultry. (Sound like "Butterball" turkeys?) Also, you can get much better marinade penetration without the odd textures that are sometimes the result of a long external soak in a marinade that is acidic.

The other kind of injector is a larger cylinder of nickel-plated steel or stainless steel which comes with a much thicker nozzle more like the thickness of a knitting needle than a hypodermic needle. Here in the states, the most common brand names seem to be "Weston" and "Morton Salt." Not familiar with what they sell in England these days. These models are used for deeper injections in thicker cuts of meat such as hams.

These metal models come with two different kinds of nozzles/needles. One has has the outlet hole in the tip and looks like an embalming tool. These are optimized for injecting the cure/marinade through an artery to flood the meat through the vascular net. This gives very good penetration and absorption, particularly (IME) when curing hams, large pork shoulders and beef tongue.

The other kind of nozzle has outlets along the shaft. Kind of like a sprinkler which is why they are called "spray injectors." These are used when the arterial injections won't work.

The "pumps" are also made in larger and more elaborate models for pros
by the likes of F. Dick Company, but I'm guessing Islay didn't buy one
of those.

>>>"When you inject meat, most of the liquid comes out and very little stays
in the meat, and the surface area of meat created by the thin needle is
very small to make contact with the liquid. . . . I don't use my meat injector."<<<

My experience is somewhat different.

The larger "pump" types of injectors are meant to inject the cure or brine deep into into thick, dense meat. I use mine mainly for curing hams and beef tongues. I've found that when used with a bit of care, even the spray injectors can pump brine/marinades for pretty good distribution. When not used carefully, and particularly with the "spray" injectors, they result in more of a flush than an injection. Much marinade/brine may just get pumped back out precisely as dcarch describes.

Also, these pump injectors are not desirable for use on poultry because the big nozzles leave a pretty big hole which can be a bit of drain during cooking as well as when injecting. The idea is to speed up the process of curing/flavoring thick cuts while also avoiding the possibility of interior meat starting to spoil before a surface brine or cure can penetrate to that depth.

Interesting! Mine is like a hypodermic syringe. I was looking for some ideas of what to try injecting. It was very cheap so if it's a waste of time, it doesn't really matter. I won't be able to buy anything ready made to inject, I'm looking for some ideas of what you use.....if you were to use anything.....

Did a quick Google...Here's a link to an injection recipe that has good reviews....Apple Injected Pork

(A recipe for the dry rub can be found down in the review section.)

I actually printed a couple of copies of the recipe. One for my son who is getting into smoking meats. Good buys on pork these days and the weather is getting right for firing up the smoker.