An engine control system includes an injection determination module and an injection regulation module. The injection determination module determines a desired rate of hydrocarbon (HC) injection into exhaust gas produced by an engine for regeneration of a particulate matter (PM) filter. The injection regulation module increases a rate of HC injection from a first rate to the desired rate during a predetermined period before regeneration of the PM filter, wherein the predetermined period is based on a difference between a predetermined temperature and a temperature at an outlet of an oxidation catalyst (OC).