Cooking Pulled Pork a day ahead.


 
A

andrew j murphy

New member
I am finishing a smoke, which I will not be serving until tomorrow. I usually just pull the pork, toss with a little vinegar based sauce, throw it in the fridge and reheat the next day with a little more sauce at 200* in the oven.

I was wondering if there was a better way, like maybe not pulling until the next day... or what. I am all ears to how you all do it
 
What you're planning sounds fine, just be sure to chill it down quickly (for safety). If you wait til tomorrow you'll have a difficult time with the pulling as it wants to be hot. Reheating a whole butt would be difficult.
 
I've done that before, several times, when I've made huge amounts, like 8 butts, over two days for a charity cook. You'll find that reheating the amount that goes in, say, a turkey roaster pan, will take a very long time at 200'. You might want to go higher, even to 300'. Give it a lot of time and make sure the pans is covered with tin foil.
 
Funny you started this thread today. I am actually doing a test run today for the exact same situation in July.

Any one have a guess how long in the oven at 300 for about 6 pounds cooked pulled pork?

Should it be just warm to the touch?
 
I would reheat at 350 just until warm, no need to temp or anything, just hit a desired serving temp, covered it won't take long at all, just check it frquently. I would definatley pull sooner than later and not wait until the next day.

Clark
 
You want it just hot. (No need to reheat at low temps.) If you pull it cold from the fridge give it some time in the oven unmolested, then give it a good stir after 25 or 30 min and recover. Check on it in 10 or 15 and give it another stir. Time depends on how thickly it covers the pan.

Over-reheating you want to avoid. Once it becomes very hot you're cooking it again.
 
Memorial Day weekend I did 3 butts, however with all the other food I cooked (and the amount of alcohol I had already consumed) we never got to 2 of the butts. I kept them in the foil and threw them in the fridge. About 4-5 days later I took them out and pulled them cold. Its pretty tough to do, but I did like how it chunked up... I couldn't use my Bear Paws, I had to use two forks. But all in all, it wasn't really a big deal to pull after refridgerated. Reheating I use equal parts chicken & beef broth with a little left over rub.
 
I would add some liquid to the pan when re-heating too. I spray a nice mist of apple juice to keep moist while reheating. I haven't covered with foil but that sounds like a good idea.
 
What about putting the pulled pork in a slow cooker / crok pot to re-warm the meat after cooking it the day before ?

Add some sauce to the meat or some apple juice ?
 
Michael, haven't tried that with day after cook, cold from the fridge (that's usually what I do when I pull it in the AM and want to keep it for folks to have lunch/dinner. Just on "warm" and keep hitting it with Kevin's finishing sauce every now and then), but I'd imagine it would work. Just heed the advice about getting it just to your chosen temp for serving and not starting to cook again (as you might do on a high setting in a crock pot)...
 
The issue with slow cookers/crock pots is that they are sooooo sloooow to come up to temp.

BTW, if you haven't done it already, you should temp-test your pot at all it's heat settings.
 
I did this for the super bowl. I finished the day before around midnight, waited 30 minutes, pulled it in the crock pot pan, then put it in the fridge. Next day, about 2 hours prior I popped in in the crock pot and put it on low. Came out out perfectly.
 
I am actually doing the same thing for my daughters 3rd birthday Sat. I am pulling the meat on Friday and will be serving it for Sat. I was going to put it in the crockpot on warm or low. I was thinking of using the no 5 sauce to keep it moist and then keeping bbq sauce on the side. Will bbg sauce and the no 5 sauce clash or should i just use no 5 sauce acroos the board? Lastly, what is Kevins finishing sauce? Thanks.
 
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