Reheating Pulled Pork

[irnman1827]

I've been away from the forum for a long time - still a great place for info.

I am going to be smoking about 70 lbs. of Boston Butt for my son's graduation party. I've done a decent amount of smoking the last 3 or 4 years, but nothing this large scale. My plan is to smoke the butts for 4 hours and finish in the oven. I would like to have them pulled and in the fridge a day or two before the party. My main question is regarding the best way to reheat. I know sealing with a vacuum sealer and reheating in hot water is a popular method, but I don't think that would be practical for this much meat.

I am considering vacuum sealing and putting in the fridge until I need to start reheating. It seems like that would hold the most juice in.

I have several crock pots and a roaster. Has anyone reheated in a crock pot, oven or roaster while the meat is still sealed? Maybe the best method just putting the meat in the crock pots or roaster and adding some apple juice? My concern is making sure this large amount of meat is adequately warmed up in time, while staying moist.

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.

[Ka Honu]

... Maybe the best method just putting the meat in the crock pots or roaster and adding some apple juice?

If you don't want to go the sous vide route, a tightly covered foil pan in a slow oven or a covered roaster or crockpot on "Warm" is probably the best way to go. Add defatted drippings, apple juice, beer, or whatever to keep it moist.

[tskeeter]

I've had really good luck reheating pulled pork by steaming it.  Because steam holds so many more btu's than boiling water, it's a lot faster than the hot water method.  I use about 1/2 inch of apple juice in the bottom of a large pot.  Drop in a steamer basket.  Bring the juice to a boil.  Then add the pulled pork.  For a large quantity of meat, it should take about ten minutes to warm the pork up.  You'll have to do this in batches, then transfer the hot pork to a crock pot or other container to hold for serving.  The juice from the bottom of the pot will collect pork juices, so it makes a good pour over for you pork.

[Habanero Smoker]

For reheating large amounts of pulled pork, I will reheat it in disposable aluminum half size steam table pans. They are easily found in wholesale clubs, WalMart etc. I pulled the pork and place them in the pans. One pan will hold enough pulled pork from a butt that started as about 7lbs. bone-in raw. When storing overnight in the refrigerator, first cover with plastic warp, then aluminum foil. Using the foil pans from start to finish, also saves time and cleanup.

When ready to reheat, set the pans on the counter about an 30 - 60 minutes prior to reheating. Next I remove the foil, and plastic, and discard the plastic. Preheat your oven to 325°F to 350°F. You will see sources stating never reheat barbecue using a temperature higher than 225°F. I've been using the higher temperatures for sometime on both pork and brisket, and it works well.

Using tongs I stir the pork to loosen it up, and during this time, I will add anywhere from 3/4 cup or more of low or no sodium chicken broth; vegetable broth also works well. I just keep adding until I feel it is moist enough. Reseal the pans with foil, and place them in the oven. It takes some time to reheat, maybe an hour or more. Keep in mind, I've only reheated one pan at a time. So if you are placing 4 pans (that how many will fit in my oven at a time), the reheating time may increase. If they reheat faster than expected, you can keep them warm by lowering the temperature to 200°F.

During the reheating, once or twice I will stir the pork. The USDA states to reheat any left overs to 165°F, but I generally only will go to 140°F - 145°F. To test the temperature I just poke an instant read thermometer through the foil. Just before serving, stir one more time, then you can move the pans from the oven directly to a wire chafing rack, the type that holds two half size steam table pans.

[beefmann]

I have reheated in crock pots, with that pulled pork and several crock pots you  can do a variety of pulled pork... plain, with BBQ sauce, spicy bbq, and a few of your own ideas,,,

sounds like it will be a good time

[irnman1827]

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I'm hoping for a smooth party.

[irnman1827]

Well, the first 2 butts are pulled. I put them in foil half steamer pans (I had several on hand), covered with cling wrap and foil. I put them in the fridge.

Any opinions on whether the meat would be ok in the fridge until time to reheat on Saturday, or should I put it in the freezer?

I think I'm at the threshold of being too early, but I didn't want to wait too long and not get all 10 butts done by Saturday - along with all of the other prep work for the grad party.

Thanks.

[watchdog56]

My guess and only a guess is that if the frog is around 36 degree I would think you would be safe but I am sure someone with more experience than me will be along.

[Habanero Smoker]

According to the USDA you are just within what they consider safe storage time for cooked meat in the refridgerator, and their guidelines are overly cautious. I agree holding them until Saturday is fine.

[TedEbear]

My guess and only a guess is that if the frog is around 36 degree I would think you would be safe but I am sure someone with more experience than me will be along.

I think a frog would hibernate if it is that cold.   ;D

[watchdog56]

LOL miss spelled frig

[JohnM70]

I recently smoked 28lbs of pork shoulder for an RC fly in. The meal was to be served Saturday/Sunday. I finished the smoke Thursday afternoon. FTC and pulled. Put all in a large (very) bowel and into the fridge. Saturday morning, we filled a large crock pot. When I got to the flying field 09:00 I started the crock and set it on HI added some apple juice. By 12:00 the temp of the pork was 155F, the meat was stirred many times before serving. I repeated the process on Sunday and all was OK.I received more accolades than ever before. O BTW I always make enough for the house. I will use pork shoulder from now on (when I can get it).

[irnman1827]

Sorry for the late update. Everything went great and everyone thought the pork was excellent.

I ended up smoking about 80 #'s of pork. I applied smoke for 4 hours then took the butts out of the smoker, wrapped them in foil, added apple juice and finished them in the oven. After a couple hours of FTC, I pulled the butts and used the half size foil steamer pans to store all of the pork in the fridge until reheating - they were covered with cling wrap and foil.

I had saved the juice after the butts were finished cooking in the oven. I used a batter dispenser to separate the fat from the meat drippings/apple juice and stored in the fridge.

On the day of the party, I removed the cling wrap from the steamer pans and added some of the drippings I had saved. I put the foil back on the pan and reheated in the oven. I then dumped the meat in various crock pots and a roaster - the meat stayed very moist.

Thanks for all of the suggestions!!