Reheating pulled pork

[grinder]

I'm cooking 2-8lbs. butts for a memorial day party, starting at 1pm. I would like to do my smoking Sunday, during the day so, I don't have to be up all night Sunday night/Monday morning. Should I pull the pork and add finishing sauce before putting in the fridge? Any comments or suggestions on storing and reheating would be greatly appreciated.

 

[bigal]

Hey Grinder. I've done it many times. What I do is pull it, use some pulling sauce/finishing sauce, then into zip lock bags. A few hrs before time to eat I heat it up in a roaster(could use your smoker too) and put just a bit of apple juice in there to keep it moist. Check it ever so often and add more juice if needed. It will come out better than the day it was smoked.

Good luck

 

[dacdots]

Big Al is right on with that info.This week I pulled some out that had been frozen for a month.It gets better with age,I think it was the best tasting butt Id ever had.Just letting it go overnight will help inprove the taste,lets the spices have time to mingle in to the meat a littel more.

 

[peculiarmike]

What Big Al said!
It heats up well in a crockpot also. Dump it in and do the Big Al apple juice thing. Enjoy!

 

[crewdawg52]

Thanks for answering my ?. Doing a #5 er on sunday to enjoy on monday. May the smoke flow true!

 

[mrgrumpy]

That is a great way to do it.. just like BigAl said. If you really want to make everyone think you have been busy all day, start your smoker, grill a couple of hours earlier than anyone is to show up. Put the pulled meat in an aluminum pan, spray with apple juice, and cover tightly with aluminum foil.

Warm it up slowly (abt 235 degree cooker). About every half hour or so, uncover, move the meat around with tongs, and cover. Then when everyone is there, just lift the lid, uncover, and start serving....

They will think you are the best....

That is how I done it when I was vending a few weekends ago, and everone loved it.

Bill

 

[grinder]

Sounds like a plan. Thanks for the replies, Grinder

 

[tommy c]

Grinder,
I smoked a 8#er yesterday, and will be reheating it today

I've found that it's better to add the finishing sauce after reheating. The finishing sauce is vinegar based and is acidic, it will break down the meat and make it mushy if added too soon IMO.
Try some both ways and decide for your self

 

[grinder]

That's a good point I hadn't though of, thanks. I'll get some pics.

 

[grinder]

Smoking away at 225

 

[cheech]

Please do let us know how it turns out. Nothing like some good pulled pork. I honestly believe that pulled pork is better the next day.

 

[smokin for life]

I agree with the rest, I pull it, add the finishing sauce then bag it up. The next day I put it in a big ole pan and pop it in the oven for a while to just warm it up again. MMMMmmmmm good.

 

[grinder]

It's sitting at 195 right now. Had to move it to the oven, due to a down pour. It was done smoking and all foiled up, anyway. I spritzed with apple juice/Jack Daniels every hour and poured some in when I foiled. I was thinking that I would shut off the oven and leave them in there, foiled, for an hour or two, instead of doing the cooler method. What do you think?

 

[tommy c]

I only cooler for one hour after 200 degrees. Anything after that is over kill IMO. If your eating tomorrow, just pull it and let it cool then reheat tomorrow at175 degrees and add your finishing sauce just beore serving

if you have more questions, I'm here

 

[squeezy]

But ... you know ... I just have to pop a few mouthfuls at pulling time ...

 

[tommy c]

YEP!!!!!

 

[smoked]

yea, my roast is about 120 right now, so getting close........will do the reheat at 175 in my homemade tony romas blue ridge smokey sauce....

 

[grinder]

OK, the results are in. Reheated in the oven, on 175 for three hours. Pork had great flavor but, came out mushy. My mistake was adding apple juice/ J.D. mix before refridging, because I was worried about it drying out. I think the acid in the juice caused the meat to break down to much and give it a soggy, mushy texture. Oh well, at least it wasn't dried out. The ABTs were a big hit, as usual. The 50-60 that I made were gone in 20 minutes. Thanks for all the help, Grinder