Smoking pork shoulder then vacuum freeze

[wvu2010]

Hi guys, so my best friend is getting married and wanted to give him some pork as a little side wedding gift (I live out of state now so he's never had my bbq). Since he'll be leaving for the honeymoon after I was thinking maybe I could vacuum freeze a shoulder and give it to him that way. A few questions

1. Is there a noticeable difference in taste/tenderness? If so not sure it'd be worth the hassle
2. Should I leave it whole, bone in, or pull it into a bag
3. I've seen varied opinions on this, if I were to pull it finishing sauce or no finishing sauce in the bag?

Food safety wise I'd let it rest and sit for hours before freezing

Thanks for all the help, happy smoking.

 

[gmc2003]

Hi guys, so my best friend is getting married and wanted to give him some pork as a little side wedding gift (I live out of state now so he's never had my bbq). Since he'll be leaving for the honeymoon after I was thinking maybe I could vacuum freeze a shoulder and give it to him that way. A few questions

1. Is there a noticeable difference in taste/tenderness? If so not sure it'd be worth the hassle
No noticeable difference in taste of tenderness.
2. Should I leave it whole, bone in, or pull it into a bag
Pull it shred it an put it in a bag vacuum sealer is the best option.
3. I've seen varied opinions on this, if I were to pull it finishing sauce or no finishing sauce in the bag?
A touch of finishing sauce I don't think would hurt it. To much and it may get mushy.

Food safety wise I'd let it rest and sit for hours before freezing
Let it cool off, you can place the shredded pork in the fridge and freeze it the next day.

Thanks for all the help, happy smoking.

 

[daveomak]

I usually pull and add the finishing sauce then vac-pack and freeze... Put the bag and all in hot/warm water to reheat.. or in the sous-vide to reheat..

 

[berrya]

I usually pull and add the finishing sauce then vac-pack and freeze... Put the bag and all in hot/warm water to reheat.. or in the sous-vide to reheat..

I was about to post a similar question and saw this thread. I am leaving for Tennessee on Friday, March 30 and staying in a hotel. We will be arriving at our Cabin the next afternoon. I plan on transporting it in a cooler with ice. I want to smoke it this weekend (6-7 days before leaving). Should I follow the same process as you mentioned above?

 

[myownidaho]

I do the same thing Dave does. There’s only two of us, so after pulling, finishing sauce and eating, the leftovers get frozen and vacuum sealed in dinner for two portions.

 

[daveomak]

berrya, evening..
I was about to post a similar question and saw this thread. I am leaving for Tennessee on Friday, March 30 and staying in a hotel. We will be arriving at our Cabin the next afternoon. I plan on transporting it in a cooler with ice. I want to smoke it this weekend (6-7 days before leaving). Should I follow the same process as you mentioned above?

That should work... Keep the vac packed frozen mix in ice until ready to re-heat.. Then I would clip a corner to allow in air.. You don't want the bag exploding as it is heating up..

 

[SmokinAl]

That is the one really good thing about PP. It reheats very well. I can't tell if it just came off the smoker, or was frozen for 6 months!
Al

 

[johnmeyer]

Pull ... weigh (portion control) ... vacuum.

Juice from the drippings and finishing sauce each get put into a vacuum jar and refrigerated. The finishing sauce will last forever in the fridge; the drippings have a lot of "stuff" in them and I don't feel comfortable leaving that in the fridge for more the 2-3 weeks, even in a vacuum jar.

As SmokinAl say, it reheats remarkably well. I freeze in 9-10 oz portions which is the perfect amount for the two of us.
I just drop the vac bag in really hot water, paying no attention to temperature or time (it was pulled at 200+ degrees). It always tastes exactly like it did when fresh.

 

[petehalsted]

Another one that does this for all smoked meats because there are just 2 of us. Pulled pork works really well. One trick I use I make the bags a bit bigger than needed, after sealing its a big odd shaped hunk of PP. But because bag has room in it, I can smash the hunk down and get a nice flat bag before freezing. Must easier storing in my vertical freezers.

Another tip when reheating, don't let the water get to warm, you just want to heat it back to "eating temp" 130-140. If you let the water get to warm the seal on the bag can loosen.

 

[laziebun]

Funny you bring this question up. I just tried it to my PP (pork shoulder) I just made recently (which I made a post/video on). As a trial/test I vacuumed sealed it warm and tossed it in the freezer warm. Few days later- which happens to be yesterday, I thawed it out in hot water, warmed it up in the microwave and sure enough it was fantastic. Now I plan to make a bigger shoulder and vacuum seal portions, as well as document it in a video.

Worked well!

 

[mikedaub]

I might be late depending on when you are doing the cooking, but I agree.. Pull, let cool, then vac and freeze.. That's how I do it every time. I hate running the smoker any less than full.

Something I have found, other may agree or disagree, but I like to pull the pork when its still hot. I find that it pulls easier for me. A couple times, I did more than one butt at once, pulled the one we were immediately eating, and let the other sit and cool down before pulling. I noticed a huge difference in ease and quality of pull (if that is such a thing and makes sense).

Just my $0.02

 

[laziebun]

I’ve been trying vacumm seal lately on a few of my smokes, since my family isn’t the biggest eater of left overs. And so far so good- if not better. I’ve been vacuuming the protein when it’s warm. To thaw out- I just let it soak in warm water and then heat in the microwave. And honestly I think it comes out even better.

So far I’ve done:
- ribs
- pulled pork
- spatchcock chicken
- prime rib ( haven’t thaw out or tried yet. This one scares me. But you don’t until you tried)