Inject Brisket: Yes or No?

One of each, report your findings here

DoubleEgger said:

I'm squarely in the "no" category. No mustard either IMO

I'm with brother Double.

I inject my brisket and love the flavor and effect. I inject every brisket I cook and probably always will. For comp I use Butcher BBQ Prime injection. For home I use my rub + better than bouillon beef base.

Yes to injections, no to mustard. IMO

WWAAFD?  

[What would AyAyron Franklin do?]

NO.

Injecting brisket. This is akin to should you or shouldn't you wrap and the foil vs paper debate. Some of the eternal and undying questions that have no clear or concise answer. Only speculation and compound answers to attempt to merit ones own preferred methods and tastes.
 With that said, there are certainly times that injecting can be real beneficial contrary to what some of the Gods may say. Examples- Real low quality select and choice. If you start with lean, semi-dry meat, the result will be dry meat no matter how astute you are with your pit. You must do something to compensate for poor quality be it marinate, braise, inject, etc, etc. You simply can not cook quality into meat. It has to already be there.
 Of course one way around this is to use quality meat. However that is not always a option. It's in this arena that injecting really shines and opens up a whole new ball game. Me personally, for home cooking I prefer not to inject high grades of quality meat. However in the comp arena I would highly recommend it. The ole salt & pepper and clean smoke crap just won't cut it in comps. On that same note I don't want to sit down and try to fill up on comp brisket. So to inject or not just depends on the end goal and the upfront quality of the meat in hand. Also personal tastes and results figure highly into this. 
As a general rule (for me) prime and higher I do not inject for home cooking. There is no real need unless you are inexperienced and are worried about over cooking. A slightly over cooked brisket that has been injected will be more moist than a slightly over cooked brisket that was not injected. 
At the end of the day, injecting is just another means to help reach a particular end. Is it necessary across the board? Certainly not. Can it be a very useful tool when cooking lean meat or when you slightly overcooked your meat? You bet your boots it can. I have breathed new life into over cooked meat by injecting after the meat was cooked.
Again and for clarity, in general I prefer not to inject with quality meat. However injecting certainly has its place in the patheon of the Q arena. Make no mistake about it. As with most things, you can chose any road that you want as long as it gets you there. 
All of the above is just one simple mans thoughts and opinions. As such, take it with a grain of salt. However it has produced good results and proved true for me over the years time and time again.
As always, in your quest for better Q, I wish you good luck and may the Thunder Gods keep you ever in their good grace and favor my friend. Good luck and keep on smoking. 

i inject low and slow turkeys for pull and pork butt alot, i would do the brisket as well. i like to inject half way through the cook, more stays in and theres no mess to clean up if done in the egg, if you do this i would water down your injection with beef broth as it wont mellow enough with the shorter cook time making the flavor  more vibrant. i would probably just use beef broth and a little worcestershire, this will taste more beefy i think

SciAggie said:

This has nothing to do with the OP's question - I'm just rambling.

I enjoy rambling. I'm actually pretty good at it too. 

I had a choice brisket and injected it, and it came out fine.

I had a SRF Kobe Gold brisket, and I didn't inject it, and it came out fine.

This means nothing, I know. But it addresses this: @HendersonTRKing wrote, "WWAAFD?" and AyAy would say, "There are many paths to great brisket and every cut is different." (Quote from the book.) Add in that you can do a brisket in a smoker, on a pellet grill, on a gasser, on a kamado, in your oven, etc, and all of a sudden the brisket is asking the cook to take a gamble.

Me, I'd inject it, see what happens. But injecting changes a lot of other things, like stall point, stall time, wrap, etc. AyAy also says to pay attention to what you are doing, and learn from what you've done.

Have fun, it will come out great. Brisket isn't nearly as hard as all that is written about it and fretted about it makes it seem.

fishindoc said:

Pretty good....I think my final thoughts are I want the simple taste of the beef . I think the cook technique was very good. .

Looks like you nailed bro!  Looks most excellent!

MaC122 said:

no...he did not nail it. I'm sorry. Dude, Ive spent $100's on meat. You know when its right

I don't inject as stated above.  And I've seen moister.  He has a nice bark. Be specific in your criticism independent of any $ spent.

C'mon @MaC122. 

MaC122 said:

@bgebrentok..there is no bark. You can look at meat and know its right. next time, just like most of my briskets. Looks like pork

I will brother, thank you for the education!  Please tag me on your next brisket post.  I have a lot to learn and would appreciate your tutelage.  Don't ever stroke a newbie tho, elitism is better.  Please shower on us all your amazingness!