Reviews, Chews & How-Tos: Cave Tools Marinade Meat Injector Kit (Review)

The first time I ever saw anyone inject a large cut of meat prior to cooking was at a summer cookout, where they were injecting, of all things, a giant turkey with barbecue sauce before letting it roast outside. When I ate it, the experience was amazing - smoked meat with veins of barbecue sauce running through the meat, it was fall off the bone tender and flavorful in a way I'd never have thought possible for turkey.

Now, I've never done that - but it remains one of those shining food memories I still think about 25 years later.

I recently received the Cave Tools Marinade Meat Injector for review, and immediately thought about that turkey, so I knew what a difference injecting meats with flavor and fat can be. I wasn't ready to try this on a turkey (although I definitely plan to with a turkey breast fairly soon), but I did have a nice beef tritips I wanted to do something interesting with.

Before I get to that, I want to tell you a bit about the Cave Tools Meat Injector.

First of all, it is stainless steel. I have seen and rejected buying injectors due to plastic parts that I was pretty sure would break when faced with the task of injecting into meat.
The area where your liquid goes is clear, sturdy plastic providing a window so that you can see how much marinade you have left. Really important!
It comes with three needle tips, so it handles a multitude of needs, from a small one, to one that has multiple holes (for more liquidy insertions), and a wide mouthed ones for thicker sauces - or even for dessert making when you want to fill a doughnut or eclair!
The injector comes in a box with padded spaces for each part so that it stores neatly and safely until its next use.
It breaks down completely into individual parts that are dishwasher-safe, and comes with extra o-rings in case of loss.

The directions ask that you oil (with food grade oil) the relevant parts prior to use, and I found that to be vital to using it easily - it creates a tight seal and suction that doesn't leak at all, but that did mean I had to work at it to get my marinade to inject into the meat.

That was the only problem I had with it, and it had everything to do with my own inexperience with the process. The second time I used it I had no issues at all.

I wouldn't change a thing about this tool, and I now find myself actively seeking out ways to incorporate it into my meal preparation.

Just know that you might have a short learning curve while you get a feel for it, and maybe experiment a bit with which needle best does what you're trying to do.

While I didn't want to risk my holiday turkey (which we didn't make until New Year's) trying to inject a marinade, I found the Cave Tools Marinade Meat Injector to be perfect for slipping some butter under the skin without needing to handle the bird too much, and I plan to do the same for skin on chicken and other smaller cuts as well.

Here's a recipe to get you started using the Cave Tools Marinade Meat Injector. When you purchase, you'll also get a link to an ebook filled with more recipes that use Cave Tools products.

The bourbon provided an interesting and different flavor note to the meat that was a little earthy, a little spicy - however this is very versatile. Feel free to swap it for wine, beer, brewed coffee or broth. Each of these would provide interesting flavor notes to the meat!

Bourbon Butter Injected Tritip Beef

Serves 4

1 3 lb tritips beef roast

Injected Marinade:

2 Tblsp bourbon

2 Tblsp melted butter

1 Tblsp ground black pepper

1 tsp. 5 Spice Powder

1 clove garlic, slivered (optional)

Rub:

1 Tblsp sea salt

1 Tblsp coarsely ground pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

Olive oil

Remove meat from refrigerator a half hour before preparing and let rest.

Melt butter in a glass measuring cup in the microwave. While warm, combine remaining marinade ingredients and whisk to combine.

Using large Cave Tools Meat Injector needle, draw marinade up into the injector,and inject in multiple places into your meat. If desired, plug the holes left by the needle with slivered garlic.

Pat the meat generously on all sides with the rub and let rest while the oven preheats to 425F.

Using an oven safe large skillet (I like cast iron), sear the meat in olive oil on all sides.

Once browned, move skillet to the oven and roast 10-15 minutes per pound (at medium rare, an instant read thermometer will show 135F). Remove from heat, tent with foil, and let rest 10-15 minutes before slicing.

We had this the first night sliced with a large salad. The next night, I combined sliced leftover meat with a can of diced fire roasted tomatoes and green chiles to make a sort of swiss steak dish I served with noodles and roasted broccoli.

The Cave Tools Marinade Meat Injector Kit can be purchased on Amazon or directly from the Cave Tools website for $21.99. If you use the code Injector15 you'll get 15% off that price.

If you'd like, check out our previous Cave Tools reviews!