Hot holding pork belly burnt ends

[cheflusk420]

Anyone have any tips regarding hot holding of pork belly burnt ends for service. Is it better to heat up portions to order or how do I ensure the same tenderness throughout the day in an alto sham Thanks

 

[thirdeye]

If you are talking about a hot holding oven, what kind of volume are you considering to have on hand to serve throughout the day? Admittedly, I don't make mine as a buttery/saucy as some do.... but it's not like you are trying to preserve the bark or worry about cooking them dry. I can tell you that when taking them in for work or to a Sunday football pot luck I've held in a slow cooker with no problems at all. I would have one bottle of thinned sauce just in case the original sauce thickened up, but the cubes held up well.

 

[cheflusk420]

View attachment 489785

If you are talking about a hot holding oven, what kind of volume are you considering to have on hand to serve throughout the day? Admittedly, I don't make mine as a buttery/saucy as some do.... but it's not like you are trying to preserve the bark or worry about cooking them dry. I can tell you that when taking them in for work or to a Sunday football pot luck I've held in a slow cooker with no problems at all. I would have one bottle of thinned sauce just in case the original sauce thickened up, but the cubes held up well.

we go through like 10-15 pounds a day. Cubed and smoked for a couple hours on the Mixon bring inside to foil pans. Butter brown sugar and our house Memphis. Cooked until 75% done. Uncover for5 minutes then chill quick. Keep half foil pan in alto sham as needed but sometimes it dries out and gets tough. Could sous vide I suppose but rather go a different route

 

[Fueling Around]

Only offer burnt ends in limited windows of time than you can plan the smoke and cook to serve?
15# of belly is not your only specialty in a day?

I am not a typical burnt end fan. Way too much sugar for me

 

[thirdeye]

we go through like 10-15 pounds a day. Cubed and smoked for a couple hours on the Mixon bring inside to foil pans. Butter brown sugar and our house Memphis. Cooked until 75% done. Uncover for5 minutes then chill quick. Keep half foil pan in alto sham as needed but sometimes it dries out and gets tough. Could sous vide I suppose but rather go a different route

Maybe the combination of a shorter smoker time, a partial (75%) tenderizing step, then chilling and reheating is not quite getting them to that perfectly rendered and tender state.... and that might be making them not hold as well as you want? Or maybe you need to change up your cover liquid when cooking them down, and just add some warm sauce that is thicker when preparing a pan for a couple of hours of service or when plating? Sous vide is very good for reheating barbecue, but if you already have the holding oven going, try bagging some of the PBE's and just use a hotel pan with hot water to hold them.

After my post yesterday I did think the same thing as @Fueling Around mentioned, many BBQ joints plan on and accept the fact they will sell out some of their popular items earlier in the day. Or announce for example that Saturday's are PBE's "All Day". Another twist.... I stopped at a BBQ place outside of San Antonio one day and they had beef ribs that were outstanding, but it was like a Monday or Tuesday, which was the only day of the week they barbecued them. When asking why they said that had traditionally been their slowest day of the week, so having a rib special that day increased business for the other items.