Re heating BBQ

[houdini]

I used my Bradley Smoker for the second time this week end.

I smoked a bone in Boston Butt and a brisket. Because it rained, I moved the smoker on to the porch and smoked away. I did this the day before my birthday dinner. The meat turned out just great.

Question: Is it ok to do this and store the meat in a good ice chest until the next day. That is what I did and nobody got sick. Is this the best way to cook day before or should I put it in a freezer bag and store in refrigerator. In that event, what is the best way to reheat the meat.

God Bless,
Spot the WonderDog

[icerat4]

Welcome here houdini. Glad to see all turned out ok for ya.Most people here use a machine called the FOODSAVER.Very nice machine vacuums in the freshness and keeps stuff for a long long time.And reheating is a breeze boil in water or nuke no problems.Hope this helps ;D.

[Habanero Smoker]

Generally I enjoy smoked food a day or more after the food has been smoked, also if I am smoking for some event I will smoke most, if not all of the food a day or two in advance and keep it refrigerated until I need to reheat it.

It's alright to keep it in a cooler, as long as you maintain the cooler at 40F or lower, it's much safer to store the refrigerator.

As Icerat state, for long term storage I vacuum seal the meat, and reheat it as he stated. If it is one or two days, I just store the meat in freezer bags, then reheat in disposable foil pans, tightly sealed with foil in an oven at 250F.

[manxman]

The danger zone with regards to bacterial contamination of food is generally regarded as 40F - 140F and one of the commonest causes of food poisoning is food remaining in this zone too long when cooling.

After cooking food should be cooled to <40F as soon as possible and ideally within a couple of hours. Like HS said, storage in a refridgerator is probably safest.

Icerat4's comment on vacuum sealing for long term storage is correct, I have a foodsaver vacuum sealer and very good it is too. However if reheating is planned within a couple of days of cooking vacuum sealing is not really necessary.

The Bradley Smoker is not suitable for reheating food, this is best done in a microwave, boiling water in a suitable bag or oven as appropriate.

[houdini]

Thanks everybody, that answers my question.