doing butts and brisket ahead of time

[big kahuna]

Has anyone done butts and or briskets a couple of days early, then warmed them up in one of those big white roaster things you see at church dinners? How does it work, and how do you do it?

[FLBentRider]

Has anyone done butts and or briskets a couple of days early, then warmed them up in one of those big white roaster things you see at church dinners? How does it work, and how do you do it?

I have done butts this way.

I smoked, FTC'd and pulled the butts - I did not shred.

Into crock pot(s) with a splash of vaunted vinegar.

[squirtthecat]

I've done it as well.  Like FLB said, make sure you add liquids of some sorts when you are reheating.

I've got 40 pounds of brisket at 12 pounds of turkey to reheat for a function this weekend... I'm going to thaw and initially reheat them in the vacuum bags they stashed away in. (in roasters full of hot water)  When it comes time to serve, I'll open them as I need and dump into the serving roaster(s) w/ juice.  I kept the pan drippings from the brisket smoke..

[big kahuna]

That's a good idea. I have a vacume sealer, and it says you can boil in the bags. I will be serving 125 people though. I wonder if I could boil the bags and fill one roaster with brisket and one with pork.
Would canned beef broth, used sparingly work.
I thought I would try to serve 3 or 4 sauces on the side. Some of the guests will be quite old, and some young.
And for the brisket sliced, shredded, or choppped?

[squirtthecat]

I'm sure canned broth would work fine.

That sounds like a plan.    I'm going to have 3 or 4 sauces out as well...    Regular, 'Sweet', and maybe a Carolina Mustard style.

The brisket I have is already sliced (I did that before I vacuum sealed them), but I'll probably run the knife down the middle of them, as the larger slices won't fit on a little dinner roll.   As people fish them out w/ the tongs, they'll probably fall apart anyway.

[big kahuna]

Dinner rolls? Are those the smaller ones? I could give them sandwhiches and fill them up with bread too? Would that make the meat go farther and let them try brisket and pork and different sauces?

[squirtthecat]

Yes, they are maybe 3.5" square..   I figured everyone would try 2 sandwiches that way.

[big kahuna]

Very good idea

[KyNola]

Hey BK,
Just a word of caution.  I would be careful boiling in those vac seal bags.  You may cause the seal to open and fill your bag full of boiling water.  What I have done before is to bring the water to just under a boil and lay the bag in the water with the seal out of the water if possible and let the meat come up to temp.  Has worked well for me and it seems I have read on here before where someone had some seals to open up in boiling water.

Just a thought for your consideration.

KyNola

[FLBentRider]

Just a word of caution.  I would be careful boiling in those vac seal bags.  You may cause the seal to open and fill your bag full of boiling water.  What I have done before is to bring the water to just under a boil and lay the bag in the water with the seal out of the water if possible and let the meat come up to temp.  Has worked well for me and it seems I have read on here before where someone had some seals to open up in boiling water.

Been there, had that happen!

[squirtthecat]

Yep.  I try to keep the one seal out of the water by pinching it under the lid.   Keep your roaster under 200° and you should be in good shape..

FYI, I doubled sealed one end and triple sealed the other end of these bags - just to be extra safe.

[OU812]

I will second what KyNola has stated.

They will loose there seal if you boil them to long. I heat the water till it just starts to let off steam and not a boil then put in the bag, most of the time they are froze when I put them in. I do this with pulled pork, brisket, ribs and chicken, they make a great lunch, nice and moist.

[big kahuna]

Very good ideas. Thanks

[big kahuna]

One other idea, just to be safe. How about warming them up in broth just in case?
What do you think 200 degrees for the roasters?

[OU812]

If you go for the broth try to use unsalted broth.

200 to start but when things start to heat up I would turn them down to warm.