Best way to freeze/store smoked meats


 

Steven Tree

New member
I've been asked to smoke several pork butts for a church activity, which I am all too happy to do but my work travel schedule makes it difficult. I will not be able to smoke them day of. I have time now, but I need a good way to store them for 2-3 weeks and then reheat them for the actual event. Any ideas? I have a deep freeze at home and will be smoking 3-4 butts. Is it better to freeze them whole or pull them first? What is the best method for reheating without dry it out? Any ideas or suggestions would be helpful. Thanks
 
I would vacuum them in as big of a chunk as you can get into the bag,Into a crock pot to reheat with 1/2 cup of apple juice then pull/shred when time to serve
 
pull first, then seal in freezer or vacuum sealed bags...
if you freeze WITHOUT pulling it before hand, you'll hate it. it'll be nearly impossible to pull it.

Pull First, then freeze.

to reheat, you can place the vacuum sealed bag in pots of hot water over heat, or remove from the plastic, folk the pulled pork loose then reheat in Nestco's or slower cookers with some added liquid (i.e. beer, apple juice, water)

again, PULL before freezing.
 
Yea for food safety wise I would agree with Jim.
Pull then put on sheet pans to cool, ( in the fridge) then zip or vac bag.
You can re-heat in an oven or crock or whatever, but do stir it occasionally. You only want to bring it up to serving temp. ( any more can and will dry it out )

Tim
 
One thing I do when I need to reheat after smoking, pulling, cooling, vac bagging, and refrigerating or freezing my pulled pork is to use my sous vide setup. It makes the reheating process very simple. Just set your temp of your sous vide setup, I use 150f, toss the bag or bags of pulled pork in and since the temp of the bath can't get over the set temp you can leave them in as long as needed. When serving just cut the bags open toss the pulled pork in your serving container, fork the meat around a bit and you're good to go. I really can't tell the difference between fresh pulled pork and some reheated by this method.
 
pull first, then seal in freezer or vacuum sealed bags...
if you freeze WITHOUT pulling it before hand, you'll hate it. it'll be nearly impossible to pull it.

Pull First, then freeze.

to reheat, you can place the vacuum sealed bag in pots of hot water over heat, or remove from the plastic, folk the pulled pork loose then reheat in Nestco's or slower cookers with some added liquid (i.e. beer, apple juice, water)

again, PULL before freezing.
agree 100%.
 
I agree on pulling before freezing, but I'd suggest leaving it a bit chunkier than usual. If you shred it too finely, it can dry out during freezing. And if you have access to a vacuum sealer, that's the best way to preserve it.
 

 

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