Hey all,
I have a big picnic to go to on Saturday afternoon. My plan originally was to cook a pulled pork beginning at 9PM on Friday night. I'm worried it won't be ready in time early Saturday morning when I need to leave for the picnic. Just seems to risky with how the time could vary.
My next idea was maybe to just do ribs the night before, then put them in the fridge. What would be the best way to reheat the ribs the next day? There will be grills at the picnic that I could use. I was thinking to just wrap the ribs in foil with apple juice and heat them on the grill. Would just cooking them on the grill be smarter? I usually do my ribs 3 hours smoke, 2 hours in foil, then a final hour with sauce on the grill. Maybe I just do 3/2 and do that final hour on the grill the next saturday with sauce?
Or am I being a big wuss and I should risk it and go with the pulled pork idea I had originally?
3-2 on the ribs with a grill finish at the picnic will work just fine.
If you want to go with the pulled pork, do it earlier in the week and refrigerate until reheating on Saturday.
Quote from: Ka Honu on August 07, 2012, 07:36:51 AM
3-2 on the ribs with a grill finish at the picnic will work just fine.
If you want to go with the pulled pork, do it earlier in the week and refrigerate until reheating on Saturday.
Yup,
What he said x 2.
Quote from: bozer on August 07, 2012, 07:25:30 AM
My plan originally was to cook a pulled pork beginning at 9PM on Friday night. I'm worried it won't be ready in time early Saturday morning when I need to leave for the picnic. Just seems to risky with how the time could vary.
Figure on 1.5 - 2 hours per lb for the pork to cook and plan accordingly.
When you reheat the pork, do you put apple juice or anything in there? Do you just keep it in a large foil container with the lid on, on the gas grill until its hot?
For the ribs, just throw them on and sauce them for an hour? Or would ribs be better in foil too?
For the pulled pork, if you're reheating on a grill, I'd bring it to room temp, and then heat it slowly in a foil-covered pan on a low flame (don't want to "boil" it or dry it out). Apple juice or drippings make good moisturizers if necessary.
Bring the ribs to room temp and finish as you would if you were doing the last part of the 3-2-1.
If they are spare ribs, fully cook them and do not separate into individual ribs. When they need to be reheated, I use the flash reheating method. The flash method works well on thin cuts of meat, and chicken parts. The below link will give you more information; though it speaks of using 425 - 475°F, I have used 375°F with great results. I use the lower temperature, because I also apply the sauce at this time; if I am saucing. I don't like baby backs, and never tried this method with them.
Flash Cooking (http://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/lauren-braun-costello/99-flash-cooking/)
So if I do ribs or pulled pork, and need to reheat it, I would put it in a large foil tray, and cover the tray with foil, then reheat it on the gas grill until its warmed up? So figure maybe 20 minutes? I might just do ribs as that may be easier to do overall. I'd use spare ribs and would cook them using the 3-2-1 method. For the last hour of that method, I wouldn't use any sauce? Then when I reheat, put the sauce on? Does that make sense?
If you are using the flash method, putting the ribs in a foil pan will not work as well. I generally just throw them directly on the grill (but if you want to play it a little safer, foil each rack individually), and heat until they are warmed through; which is generally 5 - 10 minutes. The time depends on the thickness, and the temperature of the ribs when placed on the grill. I start them meat side down, then about half way through the process I turn them over and if I sauce I apply the sauce after turning the ribs meat side up.
If you put all of them in a foil pan, I would use a lower temperature and reheat for a longer period of time. I've never tried to reheat pulled pork on a grill, so I can't help you there.
How big is the butt you are making? I would put that baby in no later that 7 PM. I just got done doing a large amount of butts and the ones that I put in around 7-8 were not finished until 2-3 o'clock and these were 8-9 lb butts. I cooked my pork butts ahead of time and vac sealed them and threw them in the fridge. Once I was ready I threw them in a heating pan with apple juice on 200 degrees and that warmed them up real good. If you don't have an electric warming pan you can easily use a crock pot as well. I have used crocks before and they work just fine.
X's 2 with Habs on the fully cooking the ribs if they are spare ribs. I have also done baby backs where I did 3 hours of smoke and let them cook for almost 2 hours, then threw on a grill for an hour in foil with apple juice and when i was ready to sauce I basted them and threw them on the grill for a few minutes (but not too high you don't want to burn them or dry them out)
Ok - wife wants me to make pulled pork, so ribs are out.
I'm going to start it at 7PM the night before and pray its done by the next morning. Then I will FTC for as long as possible. When I need to reheat it at the picnic, I'm going to put it in a foil pan with some apple juice and cover it with foil wrap. Then it will go on the grill. Should I have it over the flame or away? I'm going to try to just get it warm enough to eat but don't want it to burn or dry out. In theory I may be able to FTC until its time to eat, but would it be a bad idea to do that? Could you FTC for too long?
What time are you planning on eating it? I don't FTC my pork, by the time mine is done its all good to go. I foil it for about an hour after I pull it out of the smoker and then pull it after that. Some people FTC it, when I do mine I don't feel the need. Some may think differently though.
Well the store only had bone in pork shoulder, so thats what I got. How screwed am I??
I can eat it anytime the next day, lunch or dinner.
You're fine - you make pulled pork the same way with a shoulder as with a butt - just go to the same IT and it will fall off the bone. I'd trim the rind first though.
Ditto.
I've done shoulders, and while it is a different cut, it's all a wash in the end when you run it up towards 200°..
I trimmed some fat and poured molasses and butt rub all over it, then saran wrapped and into the fridge. I plan to begin smoking tonight.
I have never heard about cutting off the rind before. I had to google that. Is it bad that I didn't do that?
The rind will block some of the smoke from that portion of the shoulder and might slow the cook down a bit. I prefer to remove it and make chicharrónes.
The names are often confusing because different areas and different stores use different labels for the same cut of meat. In my area, a Boston butt is sometimes labeled as a bone-in pork shoulder. So I believe you have a butt. To quickly tell the difference, check the bone. If it is circular then it comes from the lower part of the shoulder, and it is often called a picnic shoulder. If the bone is more of a flat type of bone and looks like a shoulder blade it comes from the upper portion of the shoulder, and you have the butt section.
If you see both types of bones, then you have the whole shoulder. :)
Hopefully my last question. If I FTC this thing all day long until when its time to eat, maybe 8 hours later, will that ruin it at all? Im planning on FTC then heating it up only if need be.
I wouldn't FTC for that long, I would set it in a crock pot or something wrap saran wrap over the lid and set it in the fridge, add juice and turn on low about 1.5 hours before time to eat.
John
Quote from: Habanero Smoker on August 10, 2012, 01:14:10 PM... To quickly tell the difference, check the bone... circular ... flat type...
For "circular," think of the bone in a ham or your upper arm. The picnic (or whatever it's called where you live) will generally have some of the rind (skin) covering the narrow end.
For "flat bone," think of the "7-bone" in a beef chuck roast or your shoulder blade. This cut is normally what most of us refer to as a bone-in butt.
I don't FTC for more than 3-4 hours because I don't want the meat to get cool enough to be back in "the danger zone." I'm a known coward.
I won't have a fridge as I'm going to a picnic. I will FTC for 3-4 hours. After that what should I do? I'll probably have another 2-3 hours to go before I can eat it. No fridge, am I screwed?
Any suggestions? I could put it in a cooler with ice? Would it be best to not pull it until I reheat it? Pull it, then reheat it?
Well,, Everytime I do this I learn something. Then I post my findings here so I can look at this the next time I make pulled pork.
This time, with a 6.5 lb pork butt I cooked it from 7PM until about 7AM all night in the Bradley. I used 4 hours of maple smoke. Coated it first with molasses and rub for 24 hours. I swapped the bowl out after 4 hours of smoke with a big pan.
The shoulder came out very juicy, almost wet. The cook itself came out fantastic. The problem I had is it didn't taste like much smoke or rub. I think what I need to do next time is cut more of the fat off of it. I probably lost a lot of flavor by removing the fat and skin.
Thanks everyone for your help with my dumbass questions!