QUESTION: PP a week in advance

[mcokevin]

Hey all,

First post in quite a while - having a toddler is fairly demanding; who would've thought?

Anyhow, I've got a bachelor party that I'm attending next weekend and one of the daytime activities will be yard games and watching the NFL playoffs before we get into the more debauchurous nighttime schedule.

Since the bachelor party is happening about 20 minutes from my house I've volunteered to do pulled pork sandwiches for next Sunday. We're at about 12 guys, so I will be doing two 8-9lb butts (whatever size is available today at the local wholesale club).

I've got enough smokes under my belt that I'm comfortable with the prep, running my WSM and all of that, but I have never done a smoke this far in advance.

My plan is to rub the butts today(Saturday), smoke tomorrow (Sunday), pull and add finishing sauce tomorrow night, then freeze in a catering tray. On the day of I'll throw the catering tray in the oven to reheat and serve.

Does this plan seem reasonable? Anything I am missing here? I am not worried about the food safety part as I'll be fine there, more the quality of immediately freezing the pp and reheating a week later. I'm wondering if I should leave it in the fridge overnight Sunday to let the finishing sauce do its thing, then freeze Monday morning?

Thoughts appreciated and pictures forthcoming.

 

[tropics]

Thaw it before reheating IMHO
Richie

 

[wild west]

Thawed pp is awesome. I actually prefer it to fresh. I would save the finish sauce for when you reheat.

 

[ab canuck]

I am thinking the sauce after it is thawed and reheated, Maybe wrong but after it is thawed and reheated then sauce and toss. my train of thought anyway.

 

[mcokevin]

Ok, pretty unanimous on saving the finishing sauce for after thawing - appreciate that advice.

Would you guys do A:

1) Thaw
2) Heat
3) Sauce
4) Serve

OR B:

1) Thaw
2) Sauce
3) Heat
4) Serve

A would be easier to manipulate the meat but B would allow more time in the sauce.

 

[gmc2003]

Personally I would thaw, heat, serve and let the guests sauce their own. Another option is to use a vacuum sealer. That why you can vacuum seal it, freeze-it and heat it up quickly in a pot of simmering to boiling water.

Chris

 

[noboundaries]

I have done the week before thing many times. The folks I take pulled pork to are not meat smokers, so anything with smoke tastes fantastic to them.

I smoke it, pull it, add a little BBQ sauce, like a cup for an 8-10 lb roast, then freeze it in vacuum bags or Ziplocks. The day it is to be served, I thaw it (water, oven, microwave, whatever is available), reheat in a crock pot or oven (either is preferred), or microwave (eh), or pot on the stove (must stir occasionally to prevent burning), then provide finishing sauce for the sandwiches. I always take red onions, dill pickles, and cole slaw for the sandwich build. Buy small hamburger buns. The pulled pork will last longer. I've made the mistake of buying big buns once and the meat disappeared too soon.

 

[dward51]

Thaw
heat (I go with sous vide as the PP is already vac bagged, you can start from the frozen with sous vide)
add Finishing juice/sauce (see below)
serve
Customers can sauce on the side as desired (I usually offer at least two types)

I've had very good results with this finishing sauce and it is now a go-to in my recipe box. It was originally posted by SoFlaQuer in this forum way back in 2006. It is simple and only has a few ingredients. Chef Jimmy J also has a good one, but more ingredients.

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/finishing-sauce-for-pulled-pork.49892/

 

[mcokevin]

Thanks all for the advice, quite helpful!

noboundaries appreciate the thoughts on condiments/toppings.

dward51 thanks for the sauce recipe. Had already bought the missing ingredients for JJ's sauce prior to reading this, I'll add the one you linked to my list to try.

Shoulders rubbed and ready to go on first thing tomorrow morning.

 

[mcokevin]

Well today was the day for smoking. Got the shoulders on at 7:00 this morning. Ran smoker 240-250 for the first nine hours, then added a 1/2 chimney and upped to ~270 after a good bark had started to form. Smoked with hickory and a bit of apple, spritzing with apple juice every 60 minutes from the three hour mark onward.

First two (~7.5lb ea) were on the top shelf of my WSM and hit 205 IT right at about 12 hours. They are wrapped and resting and I'll pull them in about 30 minutes. The larger (~8.25 lb) is on the bottom rack and not quite done yet, 199 IT and climbing.

I am always amazed how little tinkering is needed with my WSMs even for long smokes. Running for 13 hours and counting and only have had to touch adjust it a few times.

QView below - pictures of the first two finished cooking but not pulled, as well as a progress photo I snapped during a spritz.

Thanks all for the advice, I'll post an update in a week or so after we eat it.

Progress photo:

Pulled from smoker:

 

[noboundaries]

Nice looking picnics!

 

[mcokevin]

Thanks Noboundaries!

Here's a pic of these two pulled. The third hit 205 IT right as the first two had rested an hour and I finished pulling them. All three pulled and in the freezer now (with a bit set aside for dinner tonight)

.

 

[dward51]

Good looking PP!!!!! Going to be some great eating...

 

[Bearcarver]

Looks Great from here!!!:)

Nice Job!!
Good luck on your Party!

Bear

 

[mcokevin]

Well Sunday was the day for serving and all went well. A dozen satisfied partygoers and still plenty of leftovers to take home. I wound up following the advice here of freezing unsauced, thawing, reheating, then saucing (JJ's recipe), which proved to be a great choice.

Served with coleslaw, dill pickles, and additional sauce with potato chips on the side. Thanks again for the advice, this will be the new "method" I follow from here on out.

 

[skooter]

For what it's worth I pull, separate the fat from the drippings, put the pulled meat in vacuum bags, pour juice back in and freeze. Then I thaw, reheat in the bags submerged, in water, in chafing dish with Sterno, or on stove if available. At serving time I open bags, pour into trays and set them in the chafing dish.

 

[Krusatyr]

I have done the week before thing many times. The folks I take pulled pork to are not meat smokers, so anything with smoke tastes fantastic to them.

"I smoke it, pull it, ...The folks I take pulled pork to (are grateful for anything smokey)."

As we referenced in high school, "Good enough for the girls I run with".

BTW, simmer that smoked shoulder bone in Beef Stock (not Beef Broth) with chopped celery and onion for a couple hours for Bone Stock that can be used to cook blackeyed peas or combined with a modest amount of Liquid Smoke and Stubb's BBQ sauce to add to pulled pork.