Frequently Asked Questions

Everybody has their own preferences, but here are some of my techniques for using Make it Meaty to get you started.

While I offer specific suggestions for methods on our Make it Meaty Directions page, I'd like to talk a bit about Make it Meaty, and how it differs from other things that you've seen on the market. This is not "just another injection" or "just phosphates". It's new! You haven't seen this before. It seems that everybody I talk to wants to make it more complicated than it is, because there is so much misinformation floating around on account of the other products on the market. It's not something you need to over-think.

If you want a "quick start", visit the Directions page... but judging from the number of emails and phone calls I get, though, I need to talk a little about the product, first.  It's dense reading, I know, and I hate getting bogged down in the details, but we need to get the word out...there are a lot of myths and urban legends to dispel! I'm going to do some frank talking to help spread the word, and hopefully, answer some frequently asked questions 

-- Bill Ames

What does Make it Meaty do?

Triple-action Make it Meaty does three things:

1. It enhances flavor with industrial-strength flavor enhancers.

2. It adds flavor...but not anything you can put your finger on. Think of it as "umami".

3. It increases yield by bonding water to the meat--as much as 10% by weight.

This last one is the one that gets people talking, but in my opinion, it's the least important of the three things. I think it's because it's the most obvious thing. "Retains moisture" is what I hear a lot, but I hate the sound of that. It's water, specifically, H20, which is bound to the muscle cells. This is accomplished by replacing degraded adenosine triphosphate with a more stable blend of sodium hexametaphosphate and sodium tripolyphosphate, but I digress...ask "the other guys" to explain the chemistry to you, and see if their answers make you "trust" them with food technology ;-)

The flavor boost of Make it Meaty is really what sets it apart. The trouble is, it's not as obvious. You need to do a side-by-side comparison with a control to really see the difference. Try it. Take a brisket and cut it in half, or get two racks of ribs from the same pig. Add Make it Meaty to one, but not the other. Cook it. See which one you like better. That's what the judges will think, too.

Bill's take on how to use Make it Meaty and how much to inject...

I am often asked, "How much do I need to use?" or "How do I use Make it Meaty?" or worse yet, "I use a cup of XYZ...is this the same?"

While it isn't rocket science, there's also no one, simple answer, just like there's no simple answer to "How much pepper should I use in my brisket?". There is one simple thing, though: it's always 38g or 4 tbs per quart. Period. If that retains too much water for your taste, you can back down  a bit, but you don't need to use any more than that. More would be bad, just like using too much salt is bad. I hear horror stories about people using 50X too much phosphate, and I wonder where these stories get started. The instructions for Make it Meaty are right on the gallon and five gallon packs, and they're all over this web site. 38g per quart, or about 4tbs. The ingredients are in specific percentages, and you can't taste them, so trust me on this one. Don't try to use the instructions from another product, because it's not the same thing. Make it Meaty is unique.

Now, when you add flavor bases, that's the time to get creative. Think of this like baking--if you go messing with the ratio of baking powder to flour, then the cake doesn't turn out right. On the other hand, you can get creative with the flavor components. Same thing here. Don't try to be clever with Make it Meaty. Open the quart pack, add it to a quart of water. Done. Get clever with flavor, and Make it Meaty will kick it into high gear for you. I always think of this like a BASF commercial, "Make it Meaty doesn't make the flavor. It makes the flavor you make, better." Better is good. Better wins competitions!

No two cuts of meat are the same, and two different people will inject meat differently. People have different tastes...and if I had the secret on how to win every competition, I'd be competing. My point is that you're supposed to be cooking, not just assembling a rub from this guy, a sauce from that guy, etc. Be a chef, not a short-order cook.  I'll give you new tools to ramp up your game. I'll de-mystify industrial ingredients that you might not be familiar with. It's a few more tricks in your bag of tricks, but you do the cooking. So having said that, there's a learning curve. You need to learn how to use Make it Meaty, just as you learn how to use salt and pepper, or how to run your BBQ pit. It's worthwhile. The results are worth it.

So, Make it Meaty is designed to get you back to cooking, so I expect that you'll bring your own flavor to the game. For that reason, Make it Meaty has no distinct meat flavor. It's got flavor, just nothing you can put your finger on, except maybe onion. If you want more beef flavor, for example, you need to add that. If you want more pork flavor, you need to add that. What Make it Meaty will do is to make that flavor explode. That's what it does.

About the ingredients and quality...

"So it's just phosphates, then?" No, it's not...and by the way, there are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of phosphate blends. They are not all the same. There's some real junk out there. Some work better in certain situations. In a nutshell, Make it Meaty is more than phosphates. That's just one of three classes of ingredient in the product, and that's why there are other things on the ingredient statement. Those things are expensive, I'll note, so I didn't just add them to make things complicated. Make it Meaty is basically three things: phosphates (expensive, really good, top of the mark German phosphates that you can't buy anywhere else, no matter what the other guys claim about having "premium" whatever), natural flavors (these are non-specific, so it works on any meat) and last, but not least, flavor enhancers like, salt, MSG and disodium inosinate and guanylate. All of this is right on the ingredient statement, so it's no real secret, but they're all in a good balance for you to use, and I've calculated them to hit standard percentages in the finished product. Most important, I've taken them from truckload size to individual packages. Packaging is the real trick. You just can't buy this stuff anywhere else in single-serving sizes. I've sourced the best ingredients and purchased them in quantity so that you don't have to. These are not commodity products. These are the best of the best. Most important, I understand these products. When I grew up, the disodium inosinate and guanylate were right next to the salt in our cupboard. For what it's worth, I'm a member of the Institute of Food Technologists, which is the right organization for keeping up with the state of the art. Check them out if you're not familiar...it's mostly where I learn about new products, and I've got a lot of industry connections that come in handy.

Back to Make it Meaty...it's is subtle, but powerful. How can it be both? Try a side-by-side comparison and judge for yourself.  You can't tell when Make it Meaty is in something, but you'll definitely prefer the injected product over the un-injected product. That's the key - it's better, but you can't tell why it's better. That was my goal. Since there are no HVPs or strong, distinctive protein flavors, judges won't be able to pinpoint which injection you're using.

First, forget what you know about other products. Make it Meaty is unique. It's different. It's not the same as "the other injections", because it's a different product. It's not your father's "injection"...it's not my father's injection, either ;-)

How do you mix it? Here are the quick-start instructions: Use 38g (about 4 tablespoons) per quart of liquid. Mix immediately before use for best results. Inject as long in advance as you like, because once it's injected, it does its work, and that can be a week or more in advance. After injecting, you MUST let the product work, and that takes a bare minimum of four hours. Six is better. Overnight is even better. You may need to adjust your "standard" cooking times, because there's now a lot more retained water in the meat.

How much do I use?

As a rule of thumb to start a calculation, the most liquid a piece of meat can pick up is about 10% by weight, so that's the theoretical max.

For a five-pound brisket, that would be about a cup of liquid. Some people actually mix a cup to inject a brisket. In my opinion, that's just not enough. There are a few problems with using such a small amount:

 You can't accurately weigh such a small amount of Make it Meaty. Settling means that some of the ingredients won't be in the proper proportion, and the amount you would use is just 9.5 grams, which is a very tiny thing to measure.
You really can't get that last little bit out of the container with a syringe. It's awkward.
Soaking helps to ensure complete distribution of the product within the meat's exterior, so it helps consistency.

As in all things, your mileage may vary.

If you ask me how much to inject, I'll tell you, "As much as you can." Excess will drip or boil out as the meat cooks, so it doesn't hurt, unless you fill a big pocket or void with a lot of liquid. That's not good technique. I use a quart of Make it Meaty when I inject a brisket, and I soak the brisket in the remainder that I don't inject inside. That works for me, but your mileage may vary.

If you're trying to use as little as possible on account of expense, try using less and see if it makes a difference, but again, I don't recommend mixing such a small amount, on account of settling out of the ingredients. I wouldn't make less than a pint of injection, personally. If you think you're spending too much on your injection, buy in bulk. Packaging accounts for a lot of the expense in Make it Meaty, so the five gallon bag is a real bargain, compared to the quart pack. If you really need a lot, ask about larger buckets. As for expense, are you really worried about $10 if it helps you win? You're probably spending three-four times that much if you're using a competitor's product, I'll note.

Make it Meaty works very well with our natural flavors, like Simple Beef and Savory Premium yeast extract.

Make it Meaty is designed to be mixed 38 grams per quart of liquid, or about 4 level tablespoons. Weight is slightly more accurate, but most people don't notice a difference.

Add up to a 1/3 cup of your favorite spice blend per quart. We especially like 3 EYZ rub for pork and beef, available in our store. Before adding spices, it's helpful to grind them into a powder using a coffee grinder or with a mortar and pestle in order to avoid clogs.

Make it Meaty works over a wide pH range, so it plays well with a variety of liquids, like apple juice, broth and vinegar. If your additions are very acidic, you may wish to use a little more Make it Meaty. Experiment to find your personal preference. Because it has a high pH, Make it Meaty should be mixed immediately before using. While it will last a week in the refrigerator in terms of food safety, it will degrade over time, becoming less effective the longer it sits. The best practice is to mix with water (or other liquid) then immediately inject. Once injected, you needn't worry about degradation, so you can inject as far in advance as you like.

Because it retains up to 10% more juices, Make it Meaty can increase cook times, so judge doneness the old fashioned way, and not just by temperature until you re-calibrate your timing. For example, use an instant thermometer to probe a brisket, and check the bones in a rack of ribs.

With all methods, it's important to agitate the meat and solution a few times while marinating. This helps to ensure even penetration when the meat might be touching the side of a container or another piece of meat. With chicken, for example, give the container a good shake and rotate it a few times to get things moving.

Make it Meaty is stable and effective over a wide range of pH, but for consistent results, it's best to mix just before using. If you need to mix in advance and store, we suggest freezing into ice cubes.

We are often asked about precision, which is a difficult question to answer. Commercially, mixes like this are incorporated into meat very precisely through needling and vacuum tumbling. Vacuum tumbling allows for very precise measurements, allowing an exact amount of product to be fully incorporated into the meat. While small tumblers are available, it's not really practical to use this method in the field, so we tested a variety of formulations and injection/marination techniques, arriving at the final formula for Make it Meaty.

So, after all that, maybe you should just buy a pack of Make it Meaty and give it a try. If you do have any questions, send me an email, or Like the Facebook Page, because that's where I tend to post new information.   --Bill