Smoke today and serve tomorrow

[ghosttown]

Looking in smoking a pulled pork and some ribs for a birthday party later this month. I usually smoke and serve the same day as nothing beats meat right off the smoker. However I am tight on time and was looking to see how can I accomplish smoking the pulled pork the day before and reheat the next day. It will be about a 10-12lbs. If I can get it so I finish the pulled pork on a Friday I can then start early Saturday to do the ribs as the party isn't until 3pm.

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[Grouperman941]

I almost never serve the same day. Pull, cool, seal, and refrigerate. Reheat slowly (200 F or so), but by pretty much any method that's convenient. I often just use a big skillet. Add apple juice or reserved drippings if it dries out (even a little water if that's all you have). I hardly ever need to add liquid when reheating.

I find all flavors more prominent after a day or 2 in the fridge. I usually use Renowned Mr. Brown rub and apple smoke as my go-to.

[Habanero Smoker]

I also always cook my pork butts, and shred them at least a day in advance. As Grouperman941 mentioned, I also find the pork more flavorful when it has time for all the flavors to meld together.

For that amount of pork, that will loosely fill two half-steam pans. The way I do it; I will store them in the steam pan, cover with plastic, then a layer of foil. About an hour prior to reheating, I take them out of the refrigerator, remove the plastic, re-foil, and let them sit at room temperature for about an hour, or so. Preheat the oven to 300°F - 325°F. Prior to placing the pan into the oven, I will remove the foil, use tongs to stir and loosen the pork, then reseal with foil. I usually will add liquid at this time. I feel the extra moisture helps shorten the reheating time.

Depending on how cold the meat was prior to placing it in the oven, it may take an hour or more to reheat. Every 20 minutes I will remove the foil, stir using the tongs, and check if it needs liquid. If it needs liquid, I generally will use a low sodium chicken or vegetable broth (pork broth would be ideal if you can find it). The USDA suggest to bring left overs to 165°F, but reheating slowly to 140°F should be just as safe.

[ghosttown]

Perfect guys thanks alot. Your right there is alot of methods online and I guess either one will do. One method says to take out the pork when it hits 175 from the smoker and assuming you foil it already when the internal temp was at 165. When pulled off the smoker, lay ice in a cooler and lay the butt as you want to shock it to get as cool as possible. After it cooled down move it to the fridge and the next day preheat the oven or back on the smoker until temp hits 203F

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[tskeeter]

Ghost, a few thoughts..

For pulled pork, the rule of thumb is to cook it to an internal temp of 195F.  This yields fork tender meat, which is suitable for pulling.  An internal temp of 175 should slice nicely, but will likely not break down the callogen enough so the pork pulls easily.

After cooking, my practice is to wrap the pork in foil, then in an old bath towel, and put the bundle in a cooler (a practice referred to as FTC, here), or another small space such as a microwave for an hour, or up to four hours.  This allows heat to equalize throughout the roast and is a great way to hold pork for several hours until you are ready to serve it.

To reheat, I stumbled on a variation of Habs and Grouper's method.  I steam the pork with apple juice.  I've found this to be the fastest way to reheat the pork and the steam from the apple juice keeps the meat from drying out.  All it takes is about 1/4 inch or so of juice in the bottom of a large pot and a steamer basket, colander, or grate of some kind.  Since you use only a small amount of liquid, it comes to a boil and starts to steam quickly.  Another 10 - 15 minutes and the meat is warm through.

[Habanero Smoker]

Perfect guys thanks alot. Your right there is alot of methods online and I guess either one will do. One method says to take out the pork when it hits 175 from the smoker and assuming you foil it already when the internal temp was at 165. When pulled off the smoker, lay ice in a cooler and lay the butt as you want to shock it to get as cool as possible. After it cooled down move it to the fridge and the next day preheat the oven or back on the smoker until temp hits 203F

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If you use the par-cooking method, it would be nice if you let us know how it works, and the time, and cooking temperature you finished at.

[ghosttown]

I do know to bring the butt to 195-205 internal temp but I was referring if I want to smoke it the day before and server the next day, would it make sense to cook it until it's at 175 then when still wrapped put it in a bag and then put the bag in a cooler of ice so it can get cool fast, the next day put it in the oven until the temp hits 195-200. Or should I completely cook it then pull it then vacuum seal and then reheat the next day?

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[TedEbear]

Or should I completely cook it then pull it then vacuum seal and then reheat the next day?

Once you start cooking, finish cooking it.  Reheat the next day. I personally think pulled pork tastes better after a day or two anyway.

[Habanero Smoker]

Par-cooking; which looks like the way you want to go, your description of how you plan to do it is safe. Though I feel that fully cooking, the reheat time will be faster than finishing the cook after par-cooking. That is why I would be interested know how it works, the time, and cooking temperature you finished at.

It will take a lot of ice to rapidly cool the butt. When I smoke/cook a whole turkey the day or two before I plan to eat it, I place it in a roasting bag - sealing it tight. Then into a cooler that has 5 pound of ice in the bottom, and pour another 5 - 10 pounds over that. I also reserve about 10 pounds of ice to replenish the melting ice.

Like TedEbear states, when I fully cook the pork butt, I then pull it then store it in the refrigerator, then reheat. It tastes much better; since the flavors have had time to meld together..

[ghosttown]

Okay cool thanks, fully cook is the way to go [emoji1]. I won't have steamer big enough so I was planning on using a Crock-Pot and readd the juice that I saved during the cooking time, maybe a bit of apple juice?

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[cherrybergher]

I always enjoy a bit of apple juice with the reserved juices, good plan

[Edward176]

I just did a 10 lb pork shoulder in the slower cooker (Crock Pot) today for a family get together. I rubbed it down with yellow mustard and rub, marinated it with Cattle Boyz BBQ sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Let it rest over night in the fridge and then yesterday 12 hours in the slow cooker. Pulled it apart and left it in its own juices over night in the slow cooker. This afternoon I reheated and added a little apple juice and served it hot. Needless to say it tastes better the next day after cooking and refrigerating, just reheat and serve.   

[cherrybergher]

I've always been a tad skeptical of slow cookers, tough to know what temperature they're running at?

[Edward176]

Not a problem, set it up on low and let it go! Reheated moist juicy Pulled Pork. Perfect every time, I"ve been making it like this for a while without any issues.

[cherrybergher]

Thanks for the information, I'll give that a shot next time