Pulled pork serving question

[Joe Hermitt]

Hello. I am hosting a graduation party for 100 or so of our closest friends next week and I have been smoking pork for the past two months in preparation. I have been air sealing and freezing the meat and will have about 50 pounds or so ready to go.

I have seen posts about thawing the meat by submerging the bags in pots of boiling water for about 15 minutes each. My question is, I am planning on serving in a couple of crock pots for the 5-7 hour party. Does anyone have any suggestions for the process? I have been smoking for a number of years, but never froze and served before, so any tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

[crazzycajun]

I would put the bags in water in the crock pot bring it to a temp above 140f to keep from drying out. Then dump the water and place in the crock pot maybe add a little finishing sauce good luck.

 

[weedeater]

Not sure I would agree with “boiling water”. I would be more inclined to use more of a simmer than a boil. Sous Vide works real well for warming if that is available to you.

Crock pots work well for warming and holding pulled pork and it’s not hard to round up several if needed. I would recommend adding a finishing sauce to the finished product. I like “SoFlaQ’uers Finishing Sauce” or there is also a good one by “Chefjimmyj”.
A search should find either one of these. A little bit goes a long way!

5-7 hours is a long time to hold anything. I think you will need to plan for the big rush at the start of the party and stagger and stage replacements as needed.

If you get in a pinch pulled pork will microwave fairly well also especially if you used some finishing sauce. Good luck and post how it turns out.

Weedeater

 

[crazzycajun]

If I remember the post that the op is referring too they had nothing but a microwave and they were heating water and pouring it on thawed pp to warm it up.

 

[zwiller]

Doing the EXACT same thing now for grad party in July. No way to offer specifics unless you give us some detail about the venue. You have a decent kitchen at your disposal? Oven?

For now, be sure to defrost the packs in fridge a few days ahead. I'd probably move them today if for Sat. Assess your power situation in advance and bring some good extensions. Avoid running all the heating devices on one outlet. Also heads up crocks take forever to heat up so fire them up early.

 

[gmc2003]

If the PP is vacuumed sealed then I would thaw it in the fridge. To heat it up - plop a bag or so in a pot of simmering water(remember you want to reheat not recook) Once up to temp, then open the sealed bags and put the heated pork in a crock pot on the low setting. Mix in a small amount of apple juice or whatever you like to keep it moist.

Chris

 

[Joe Hermitt]

The party is in my yard, so I will have access to oven, stove and power. Thank you for all the advice, it is appreciated.