My Pulled Pork Went Swimming

[IrondeQuer]

It was my first time reheating bags of meat that were vacuum packed and frozen. I figured it would be pretty simple to do and I put a towel on the bottom of a pot, put two frozen bags in the water and turned on the heat.

The water never actually came to a boil but after a while, maybe 35-40 minutes, the bottom seam of one popped a hole and when I pulled the other out of the water, the seam fully broke and the meat went sliding out into the water.

I used a FoodSaver and two gallon-sized FoodSaver bags to originally pack the meat and it was about 3.5 pounds total. It was the pre-made seam that let go.

Maybe too much for one pot? Should the bag(s) lay flat when reheating? Any general procedures you use to keep this from happening?

On the whole, the pork wasn't too bad. I ended up straining it and then using bbq sauce to take the place of the missing juices. A bit soggy but it still tasted pretty good.

Thanks for any advice!

[mackdaddy]

oh my. At least you got to salvage it some what.

[Ernest]

You heat the water first, take the pot off the heat then put the bags in or pour the water into a cooler.

[IrondeQuer]

Hmmm. Interesting, Ernest! I guess you really wouldn't need to keep the flame on, at least for small bags.

I also wonder if FoodSaver bags just suck or if the rolls are better, i.e., more reliable.

[Ernest]

No flame. The bottom of the pot is hotter than the water is you leave the flame on.

[Dr ROK]

I will sometimes place my vacuum sealed bags inside a gallon freezer ziplock just to be safe.

[chudzikb]

Sealing some today. I can't remember what type of bags I use, but, they are robust. That would not be a good day to have a beach in the containment field!

[Dr ROK]

Doesn't hurt to put two seals on each end of the bag too.

[IrondeQuer]

Thanks all! Some good ideas Dr ROK.

[David Parrish]

I just microwave pulled pork, or use a slow cooker. Works great.