Published May 1, 2005.
Do you really need this?
One test cook, perhaps a tad too well versed in late-night infomercials, mused aloud on the promises of syringe-type food injectors to simplify the process of stuffing multiple pork chops (see our Stuffed Pork Chop recipe in the May/June 2005 issue). A round of snickering—and a few easy payments—later, we had a sampling of these gadgets in the test kitchen.
Most of these tools are designed for injecting brine into large items (think roasted pig). We were surprised that we managed to squeeze 5 ounces of marinade into a 2-pound roast—and not so surprised to find that roast swimming in a puddle of the marinade after spending an hour in the oven. (Something that never occurs with the traditional soak in brine or marinade, which allows for a more natural, even uptake of moisture and flavor.)
But we were more interested in the solid-food injectors. The wide needle of one of the products choked on the spinach stuffing we developed for the pork chops. The opening of the other injector was ample enough to deliver items as large as olives. Unfortunately, packing the stuffing into the injector was more difficult than filling the chop itself, the blunt expanding tip is not easy to jab into a slab of meat, and who wants olive-size items injected in a roast, anyway? We recommend saving your money, skipping the middleman, and simply stuffing the pork chops by hand.
