Reheating Pork

[Jinxed94]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new around here and fairly new to the game, as well. I have spent the last few days reading a ton of you all's posts on here and I feel fairly prepared to smoke a pork butt on Saturday. I think I created a huge mash-up of everyone's suggestions. However, I am planning on taking this to Arrowhead on Sunday for the Chiefs/Texans game and would love some advice on re-heating methods. I had found an old post on here asking the same question but that post was suggesting a few different methods and wondering which was best. I am fairly set on smoking the butt on Saturday and then taking my Coleman Roadtrip grill (it's fairly small) to the stadium on Sunday and re-heating there. A couple of questions bouncing around in my head:

1) Should I separate the pork on Saturday or would there be any advantage to trying to re-heat the whole butt on Sunday and pulling at the tailgate?
2) If I heat in a disposable pan, should I cover it in foil?
3) About how long would it take to re-heat?
4) Best method to keep it from drying out?

Thanks in advance for any help/tips/suggestion you all might have.

And, of course, go Chieeeefffffffsssss!

 

[BigW.]

Go Chiefs!

Definitely pull on Sat for convenience. If possible reheat with meat juice, broth, apple juice, finishing sauce(look on here for recipes) are all possibilities to keep moist. It is personal preference on which you use. Reheat will not take long. Yes I'd use a lid or foil, it will be a bit chilly on Sunday.

 

[WaterRat]

Pretty much what @BigW said. I'd also cook and pull Saturday. Be sure to have plenty of juice/moisture in pan but you don't want it swimming. Have extra juice or whatever on hand to add it it starts to dry during reheat - especially on a grill. And yes, cover for sure and give a good stir occasionally. Give it plenty of time, if you're wanting to eat soon after arrival, I'd heat it before leaving home (if possible) and wrap it up in a towel filled cooler. I'd guess a 1/2 hour minimum to reheat - I'd give myself longer - but depending on weather and that grill's output, it could take a while longer.

 

[TNJAKE]

I save my pork drippings in mason jar. Let it cool and put in fridge so fat will separate from juice. When time to reheat I scrape off the fat layer and below you have pork deliciousness in jelly form. Put your pulled pork in a pan. Stir in the jelly and heat covered. When I vac seal pulled pork I put a few tablespoons of the jelly in with the meat and seal it up and freeze. Always have moist pork that way.

 

[thirdeye]

Normally I would suggest reheating whole, but since you are tailgating the less handling and the least amount of garbage is always best. Disposable foil pans work great and use double foil for the lid.

When you pull the meat save the foil juice and de-fat it. When you break down the butt, leave the bone in place (use it as a reference point) and try and stay within the individual muscle groups and sort them in different areas of the pan. This way, everyone can get a little of everything when they make a plate or a sandwich. Some muscles are much better than others, and there are some texture differences. This cross section of a butt will show you how to navigate. The money muscle is the best muscle on the butt, next would be the tubes, coppa, then the horn muscles which surround the blade bone. Let the tenderness of each muscle guide you. You might need to slice some muscle areas, this is fine. Do the pulling by hand, and discard globs of fat, but leave some bark for flavor. Be on the lookout for veins, or slivers of bone around the blade bone, they are easy to spot. I doubt you will find a gland, but they are about the size of a quarter and looks like a fatty mass; cut it away with a margin and change gloves or wash your hands.

Once you pan is all arranged drizzle some of the foil juices over the meat, add salt to taste, and hit it with some fine ground rub. Chill the pan down as fast as possible. Set it in the freezer if you have room. For reheating, does your grill have a lid, and will the pan fit with the lid? You only need to get the meat to 150° or so but you do need some reheating liquid on hand in a separate container to keep everything moist. Here are some choices ranked by popularity, don't be afraid of using soda, you won't taste Coke or Dr Pepper, but they add a subtle sweetness. I compiled this list many years ago and now several juice companies sell a mix of apple and white grape juice which is very good too:

REHEATING PULLED PORK
Apple juice + cooking juice (from the foil)
Apple juice + chicken broth
Coca-Cola (the cane sugar Coke from Mexico is best)
Apple juice + cooking juice + cider vinegar
Coca-Cola + chicken broth
Coca Cola + BBQ sauce
Apple juice
Apple juice + cider vinegar
Dr. Pepper + cooking juice
RC Cola + sauce
Cider vinegar + water
Vinegar + water (or apple cider)
Fruit nectar
Pineapple juice + sauce
Sprite (Sprite adds some sweetness, and also makes the meat shine a bit)

 

[Jinxed94]

Wow! Thanks everyone for the responses.

I think this answered all of my questions and then some! If my brain can process more than BBQ and Football, I will try and take some picks to let you guys know how it turned out.

Go CHIEEEEFFFFSSS!

 

[dave17a]

Wow! Thanks everyone for the responses.

I think this answered all of my questions and then some! If my brain can process more than BBQ and Football, I will try and take some picks to let you guys know how it turned out.

Go CHIEEEEFFFFSSS!

You got all the answers you needed. CHIEFS!!!!

 

[jcam222]

Looks like you got lots of great advice. I reheat my pulled next day more often than serving fresh. I also mix the pan drippings back in after de-fatting. Cooking in a cabinet smoker I always have a pan of chicken broth below my butts. It’s takes on the smokiness and drippings from the pork and rub. Insures I have plenty of declious liquid gold for mixing in. If any is leftover I freeze it. All kinds of uses for the Smokey broth.

 

[dave17a]

Wow! Thanks everyone for the responses.

I think this answered all of my questions and then some! If my brain can process more than BBQ and Football, I will try and take some picks to let you guys know how it turned out.

Go CHIEEEEFFFFSSS!

We did it!!!!

 

[Jinxed94]

We did it!!!!

We sure did! It's almost hard to believe!

Also, the pulled pork turned out great or at least everyone told me it was good! Big thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. Very much appreciated.