Reheat Temp For Pulled Pork

[Bighorn Dave]

I've got 2 pork shoulder bone in butts on the MAK this morning. No way will we eat anywhere close to all of it before something will need to be done to keep it safe to eat later. I plan to package what I need to in vacuum bags and seal in our VP215. When we want to sample some more the plan is to put it in a water bath with our Joule and set the temperature at???? I'm thinking around 140* but what are your recommendations on temperature? TIA

[fzxdoc]

Bighorn Dave , you may want to read this topic about food safety and reheating with the sous vide method.

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...nd-food-safety

This was my take-home message from that topic, provided by Potkettleblack :

http://sousvideresources.com/2016/07...tment-is-safe/

A NOTE ON RETHERMING.

If you treat your food lovingly on the way up, and then on the way down again, you want to make sure you use safe practice when you decide to retherm. I have observed people advocating retherming via sous vide at a lower temperature than the original target, and this is really not a good idea. The same safety guidelines exist regardless of whether or not the food has been pasteurized previously, if only to avoid autolysis. Sous vide is not necessarily the best application for retherming, because time spent in the danger zone is cumulative. Most traditional methods spend LESS time in that danger zone than sous vide does.

So, for me, once I’ve taken that chicken or pork or whatever up the ladder and then gently lowered it down again, I leave it sealed in the bag until the day of service. I crack the bag, and saute, roast, bbq, grill, baste, deep fry, boil, whatever (did I forget any?) just like it was never processed in the first place. Just like Sous Vide never existed.

Some people want to argue that, if you’re going to do that, why would you sous vide in the first place. I have engaged in these debates, but, ultimately, I rely on that old truism: THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING


Based on this, I choose not to use sous vide for preheating.

Kathryn

[Bighorn Dave]

Bighorn Dave , you may want to read this topic about food safety and reheating with the sous vide method.

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...nd-food-safety

This was my take-home message from that topic, provided by Potkettleblack :

http://sousvideresources.com/2016/07...tment-is-safe/

A NOTE ON RETHERMING.

If you treat your food lovingly on the way up, and then on the way down again, you want to make sure you use safe practice when you decide to retherm. I have observed people advocating retherming via sous vide at a lower temperature than the original target, and this is really not a good idea. The same safety guidelines exist regardless of whether or not the food has been pasteurized previously, if only to avoid autolysis. Sous vide is not necessarily the best application for retherming, because time spent in the danger zone is cumulative. Most traditional methods spend LESS time in that danger zone than sous vide does.

So, for me, once I’ve taken that chicken or pork or whatever up the ladder and then gently lowered it down again, I leave it sealed in the bag until the day of service. I crack the bag, and saute, roast, bbq, grill, baste, deep fry, boil, whatever (did I forget any?) just like it was never processed in the first place. Just like Sous Vide never existed.

Some people want to argue that, if you’re going to do that, why would you sous vide in the first place. I have engaged in these debates, but, ultimately, I rely on that old truism: THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING


Based on this, I choose not to use sous vide for preheating.

Kathryn

Thanks for the link. Very interesting indeed. Looks like for now I'll find a faster method of reheating than sous vide. Much rather be safe than sorry.

[Mudkat]

I just take the vacuum bag out of the freezer and put in a pot of water. Turn on the burner for 20 - 30 minutes depending on size of the bag. Usually this is right around the time I start seeing steam. I am just trying to heat it without cooking it. Not sure if this is food safe but freezer to plate in 20 minutes should be okay.

[Attjack]

It's well done pork. Why worry about cooking it a little?

[Attjack]

Just toss it in a frying pan and get it hot.

[Steve B]

How did I miss this thread?? Great question Kathyrn. But now I to am wondering "What is the best and safest way to reheat."

[Rod]

We've reheated buy putting the vac sealed bags in boiling water. Can't really say for how long and what temp the meat gets to, but you should be able to finish it off in the microwave if you don't quite get it hot enough.

[Karon Adams]

Since we bought our Sous Vide we are lucky or unlucky enough to not smoke as often. since it is just the two of us, we almost NEVER could possibly eat it all. there are a couple of things I do with my BBQ leftovers, Make Chinese Steamed buns (YUM!!) or Korean Hoetteok (Yum and yum!) but, we also set some aside just as pulled pork.

What we do is put together packages of enough for we two and vacuum seal them. we add a bit of the reduced dripping to the bag which does two things, it keeps the meat nice and moist, protecting from freezer burn, and it carries the original taste and texture of just off the smoke meat (or as close as one can go)

When reheating, we toss it in the sous vide at 175. that's kind of a tough temp to hold and the water can evaporate fast. BUT, we usually cover the top of the pot with press'n'seal then lay a towel over the top of the press n seal and wrap the pot in silver bubble insulation

ABSOLUTELY stunning!!

[Dr ROK]

Can you explain to me what you mean by "put away hot?" Are you vacuum sealing it while it's hot?

[Karon Adams]

when we put it in the bags, it is still pretty warm from the smoker. so we use the Foodsaver bags for BBQ. we COULD just toss them in boiling water but I prefer using the sous vide cause I can toss it in and I'm not forced to watch it closely. I was mistaken about worrying about damaging the bag since we don't use ziplocks on the BBQ, but, I still like the sous vide

[Dr ROK]

Ok, gotcha Karon. I would recommend that you make sure you ice bath them after sealing and then into freezer. Some of the bad bugs (botulism for example) can still thrive at fridge temps. Keep frozen till used and do not thaw in bag in fridge.

[Bob's BBQ]

I'll take a couple of pounds in a vac sealed bag and put in the microwave on the thaw setting, leaving the bag sealed. Then I'll microwave on high for a minute or two. The bag puffs up like Jiffy Pop but it retains all the moisture. Hot, smokey, moist, and best of all - EASY!

[Bighorn Dave]

I've been giving this some more thought and have this question to ask those that are concerned about the reheated food being unsafe to eat. Here goes. In this world today people sue over any and every little thing. But I've personally never heard of a law suit over left over foods being a danger for those of us that take a doggy bag home from a restaurant to reheat and enjoy later. If the danger is there it seems the liability would be reason enough restaurants would not allow some of the more suspect foods to be taken home. Just thinking out load. How do you view this reasoning?

[Attjack]

In that scenario the mishandling of food would be done by the customer not the restaurant. If there was a case there then there would be one when buying raw meat from a butcher.

[Frozen Smoke]

Seems we sure can complicate things. I usually make 70 to 80lbs of raw pork butt at a time. After pulling I Vac seal it in 3 to 4lb. packages and freeze. When I need some I defrost in the fridge a couple days. On day of use I throw it in a crock pot until it's warm enough to eat. Been doing this for more years than I care to remember. Never a problem.

[Dr ROK]

I think one issue that isn't being addressed (assuming safe handling procedures prior to vacuum sealing) is the size/shape of your frozen product. A pound of pp reheated via sous vide would only take about 20 minutes to come to serving temp (I believe 165 F is recommended for all leftovers) vs a much larger HOM. This short time would not allow bacterial growth whereas larger portions are going to take more time and will therefore be in the danger zone much longer. Personally, I portion my pp out in 2 lb packages and vacuum seal. When reheating, I just bring a pot of water to a boil. Drop in the pouch and reduce heat to a simmer. Come back in 15 and you are good to go.

[Karon Adams]

One thing we do, or rather, DON'T do, is pull the whole butt. We pull off what we wish to eat when it comes off the smoker. the rest we take apart in chunks to help preserve the natural gelatin in the meat before freezing. that allows me to put it away and add some more of the sauce to the bag to insulate the meat while it is in the freezer.

[Attjack]

Here's how I do it.