Advice please! Freezing Pulled Pork for a Party..

[neilduncan]

Hi folks,

If I could ask for the benefit of your collective wisdom please?

My cousin's getting married at the end of August. The day after the main event I've been asked to take charge of the 'que for the family after-party.

The only available hardware at the event is a half oil drum grill (no lid) which I can obviously use to do burgers/steaks/chicken etc. direct.

I would really like to take a load of shoulder up with me, but obviously this will need to be cooked in advance (I have a KJ Big Joe which is not very portable..) Also (if practical) some St Louis cut and possibly a brisket..

I'd be very grateful if anyone has any advice re the best way to store this once I've cooked it in advance. (Will probably have to cook this weekend, as am away between now and when the wedding is happening). I have a vacuum packing machine and loads of freezer space.

I've heard that mixing the meat with 'a little' BBQ sauce before freezing can help keep things moist - can anyone be more specific on the quantity ratio of sauce:meat for this? The optimum size in which to freeze it all? (i.e. in many small portions or a smaller number of big ones?) Reheating methods - sous vide or microwave or something else? Any other hints or tricks?

Any related advice would be much appreciated, my reputation rests on this!

With thanks in advance.

[T-bone]

I'm sure you'll get some great advice from those that have catered/cooked big events and have more experience, but my thoughts are to vac seal in gallon-sized bags and re-heat with a SV. I'm a fan of putting a water/drip pan under the butts while cooking and then after the cook, de-fat the drippings (reduce if needed) and use that to moisten the pork before vac sealing. My personal preference is to sauce pulled pork right at serving, not prior to freezing. If you can't SV on-site, then I'd SV at home and then put the bags in a cambro/faux cambro to hold the meat at temp. If you have to hold in a cambro, then serving with heated sauce helps with the serving temp. Good luck and don't forget the pics.

[HouseHomey]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here. Full disclosure.... "Your reputation depends on it" a wise man once said "you are serving leftovers."

Maybe you can pick up a kettle on Craig's list for cheap? They are easily transportable. Maybe some one on that end can do it locally?

If you must.. I would freeze in smaller portions if you don't have a blast chiller so as to freeze it faster. It would be preferable to leave it whole and reheat it whole before you pull. I don't have an SV but I hear it's the best way to reheat. If you are truly optionless and committed to pork leave it whole, bring it up and then pull before service. If you have and SV even better. Do you have access to an oven?

im sure others will chime in. Let us know how it goes.
Good luck.

[neilduncan]

Thanks both - and yeah I hear you on the 'serving leftovers' piece.. but hey, people will be 'tired' after the wedding the day before and the beers will start flowing early so maybe people won't notice!

I'll have access to an oven yep.

I'm thinking cook - rest for a couple of hours - freeze? I like the idea about using the de-fatted drippings to moisten the meat pre-freezing - is there likely to be much liquid left though once the fat's been strained off?

[T-bone]

I start with some pork stock/broth and some herbs in the drip pan to start with to make sure I have enough 'juice'. If it's too watery at the end, I'll reduce it after straining and skimming it.

[HouseHomey]

Just do what you gotta do! I find that often timeds people are just happy to be eating. Lots of sound info in this thread.

[scottranda]

Fill the bags up with as many pounds as you want with as much sauce as you want. Just cover the meat up so it's covered in sauce. But you wanna go more or less? That's fine too.

I reheat mine mine straight from the freezer in the microwave (kept in the bag). Takes a few minutes and I massage the bag/meat to ensure all the meat is getting defrosted.

SV also works. Probably around 160 would be enough for an hour? Just a guess. I'm sure others have done it before.

[BGWolf]

I did 50lbs of pulled pork for my sons graduation last year. We pulled it, vac sealed and froze it, then reheated it in boiling water. Added a little cider vinegar & apple juice to the heated pork. It turned out fantastic.


Good old luck and have fun!

[LA Pork Butt]

neilduncan I vote for the BGWolf plan. I have done the sam thing on a smaller scale. Good results.

[HorseDoctor]

All good info above. Cook ahead of time, freeze in 1 or 2 gallon Ziplocks, add some liquid and reheat the best way you can arrange. You'll be fine! Don't worry about the "serving leftovers" comments. What you'll be serving still will be so much better than store bought pulled pork or the stuff served at the vast majority of restaurants. You're serving a family celebration not the judges on "BBQ Pitmaster"! Relax and enjoy the party!!!

[choffert]

I usually package in vacuum bags for freezing, pound to pound and a half, with a pat of butter, then reheat SV at 140. Squish the bag around to distribute butter before you open it.

[RonB]

If you don't have an SV, just reheat in a pot. Take a thermometer along so you can keep the water between ~ 150* and ~ 190*. If you have a vacuum sealer, use that. I have had ziploc bags leak. Or double bag. If you have enough meat, do a test run before the big event with one bag to see how long it takes to heat.

[Gooner-que]

I love to use SV to reheat pulled pork. I can fill up the 22"/SnS and have a few pounds of BBQ for future lunches etc. If you don't have a SV machine then fill a cooler with 180F water and drop the vacumed bags of pork deliciousness into it for a couple hours. It will taste even beter if you catch all the drippings and put that with the pork before you seal the bags.

[EdF]

For bigger groups with time constraints, I like to SV about 18 hours at 160. Chill, then smoke 4-5 hours. If that's in advance, then freeze, and thaw and rewarm in the SV at around 145 for an hour or two. All of the above variations apply.

[DeusDingo]

i have done it many times. vacuum seal (i do 1lb bags), freeze, and when you want to reheat it just simmer some water in a big pot and put the pork (still in the sealed bag) in the simmering water for about 20 minutes (depending on how much meat and how thick it is in the bag). when heated through it will come out hot and not watered down. it will taste close to what it did when you froze it. i never put bbq sauce in the bag with the pork but sometimes i do put some extra drippings or rendered fat from the cook in the bag with it. you don't need a SV device. it doesn't need to be that accurate.

i don't follow the whole "you're serving leftovers!" crap. big meat BBQ, when done at home, is almost always going to end up as leftovers. if you can find a way to reheat it and have it taste just as good as when you made it there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.