How to Inject Marinade Into Chicken

Injecting chicken with marinade before cooking it will give it extra juiciness and flavor.

While the flavor of chicken is delicious on its own, using spices and/or marinade can enhance the flavor tremendously. One way to use marinade is to inject it. Marinade injectors come in various sizes and can be found in cooking supply stores and online. When injecting chicken, the 4 oz. capacity injectors are best as the higher capacity injectors are made for things like roasts and can result in over injecting marinade into the chicken. Injecting the marinade into the chicken is pretty simple and doesn't require extensive cooking experience.

Things You'll Need

• Paper towels
• Chicken marinade of choice
• 4 oz. capacity marinade injector

Instructions

1. Pat the chicken down with paper towels to prepare the flesh.

2. Remove the back of the marinade injector and pour the chicken marinade of choice into the opening. If your marinade has large pieces such as green onion slices or garlic cloves, strain them out before pouring into the injector.

3. Press the needle into the meat of the chicken and slowly inject the marinade for a few seconds. Make sure to go slowly and take your time to allow the marinade to sweep thoroughly through the chicken meat.

4. Repeat the injections until all the chicken has been marinated. If you are preparing a whole chicken, do about 20 injections spaced evenly over the breasts, thighs, wings, and legs. For individual breasts, use four injections.

5. Roast or grill the chicken as usual. Allow the chicken to rest for five minutes after cooking to allow the juices to flow through the meat.

Tips & Warnings

• Cover the outside of your chicken with the seasoning blend of your choice to give it even more flavor.

References

• Flavor Express: How To Marinate Chicken
• The Ingredient Store: BBQ Marinade Injector How To