Pork cook time

[binnesman]

I am cooking a couple pork butts for a work pot luck. The pot luck is going to be on Saturday so I will be cooking them on Wednesday my day off. Was going to keep them wrapped then early Saturday heat them in the oven still wrapped in foil then taken to the pot luck. Not cooking them to far in advance I hope? Any suggestions?

 

[kilo charlie]

I would mix a lot of the fat back into the pulled pork instead of throwing it out. That way when you reheat it, it will help keep it's moisture. Whatever rub you use on while smoking them, use extra after it's pulled and mix it in.

 

[SmokyMose]

Are you planning on pulling them?
Personally I would pull them while they're hot and re-heat them Saturday.

 

[thirdeye]

3 days of holding is my personal limit. But... it sounds like you are planning to do a foil finish step (which is always a good idea when making a cook-ahead butt) and you mentioned keeping them wrapped, which is also good because inside that wrap is a very safe environment.

One thing I do for all cook-ahead meats is put the foiled meat in a 2.5 gallon zipper bag or a 5 gallon brining bag and flash chill it in an icy slurry. In an hour or maybe 90 minutes I've got the internal down to 40°F.

 

[tallbm]

Like SmokyMose advises, I would also shred them once they were done and then bag it all in zip log bags.
Why? Reheating whole pork butts wrapped in foil takes HOURS in the oven until it is hot enough again to shred. You would have to hit an IT of like 170F or maybe hotter to shred/pull a reheated pork butt.

The BBQ done on Wed and served on Saturday will be perfectly fine and even more flavorful than the day it was ready. Just store the shredded pork and all it's juices in sealed bags that you sqeeze all the area out of... it's important to squeeze out the air to keep the freshness.

If you have a vac sealer and a vac bag roll then just but one giant bag and throw it all in there and seal it. You can reheat in the sealed bags. OR if the 1 bag is too big then cut enough bags to fit in a big pot to boil and heat back up while in the bags and go that route. In flag vac sealed bags it will reheat in no time in a big pot of boiling water.

DO NOT attempt to boil heat a zip lock bag. It will not hold up but the vac seal bags will hold up on a light simmer no problem.

I hope this info helps :)

 

[binnesman]

Don’t have a vac sealer if I pull it on the day I smoke it what is another way to reheat it?

 

[SmokyMose]

Don’t have a vac sealer if I pull it on the day I smoke it what is another way to reheat it?

Keep it in a disposable foil pan well covered and re-heat it slowly in the oven.
Any juices you had be sure to put them in the foil pan also.
Re-mix it when you're ready.

 

[tallbm]

Don’t have a vac sealer if I pull it on the day I smoke it what is another way to reheat it?

Yep like SmokyMose is talking about.
I would pull on day of cooking, shred and put into gallon ziplock bags with the air squeezed out.
Day of eating I would put into a foil pans, cover with foil, and reheat in the oven.

It will reheat much faster this way then trying to reheat a whole entire pork butt.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Good info above. Reheat the pans of pulled pork at 325°F. Some Finishing Sauce or other liquid speeds the reheating...JJ

 

[binnesman]

Think that what I am going to do.