Questions About Smoking 100 Pounds of Shoulder


 
J

Jeff C.

TVWBB Member
Back in late March I dropped about 30 pounds of shoulder on the WSM and made a big pile of pulled pork.

I took a bunch in for co-workers and gave some to my boss. He shared it with his family and it went over very well.

Well enough that he asked me to make a whole bunch for his son's graduation party next month. It'll be a pretty big party so he wants me to do 100 pounds of shoulder so he ends with around 50-60 pounds. Extra will obviously NOT go to waste!

To do this, I'm borrowing two WSMs from friends so I'll be running 3 of them at once, each with 4 butts. The plan is to run them overnight so I can get everything done at once.

Here's the tricky part. I have to make the BBQ prior to the event and take it to his house so it can be re-heated and served.

He'll have everything for heating and serving, so all I need to do is provide the meat.

Is there anything special I need to do with regards to storing it before taking it to him? I'm only expecting to have it for one or two days before the party, so I assume I could just pack it into some big foil serving tins and stack it in the fridge as soon as it's pulled.

Or would I be better off NOT pulling the pork right away - storing it after cooking and then heating it up and pulling it soon before the party? I've never tried waiting on the pulling, so I don't know if that's even an option.

This should be fun, and for 16 hours or so my house will be the best smelling place in the city!

Any input is appreciated.
 
Jeff I did my sons graduation party for 200 people and have done a few other big jobs. for my sons I vacumned seal large bags and froze. Then used my turkey deep fryer with water to reheat the pork. Brought it to a boil then turned down to a simmer. Then placed the bags in the water for about an hour and then into chaffing dishes. I also took the juice and skimmed the fat off and reseasoned the juices to my liking and made ice cubes and then added them to the bags before sealing.
 
Jeff - I did 8 butts on two WSM's a few weeks ago on an overnight cook and it was a blast. I loved doing it. I pulled my pork and took it straight to the event, but I also had two butts worth that I had done a few days earlier on a test cook. I did just as you suggested - I put the pulled pork in tins in my fridge then the day of the event, I sat them out for just a bit then reheated the pork in the oven at about 250. I freshened it up with a few dashes of Carolina vinegar sauce, but I've read of folks doing the same thing with some apple juice.

Good look on the cook - it sounds like a lot of fun.

Pat
 
When I hold pulled pork, I reheat with apple juice. You definitely don't want to leave them whole though. Pulling cold meat is a real pain. So much easier to pull it while it is still warm.
 
pull warm.

As Gary states, recover any juice (I foil @160* so I can capture the juices) after chilling the fat will easily scrape off and you will be left with jello that can be added to the pork during the reheat.

pack in bags. you'll want to chill the bags on ice for a bit before storing. 50 lbs of warm meat will take a long time to get to a safe temp in a fridge.

zip locs will work if planning to reheat in warm water, just be sure to clip them, zip end up to the lip of the pot with a clothespin or something, and give the pork a stir in the bag during the reheat.

I don't mind putting pork in foil pans with foil over them and popping them in the oven for a reheat. Its just they are tough to rapid chill, dont stack well and never fit in a cooler. do bags and dump it in the pan at the site if needed.
 
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