Help: Pulled Pork the day before


 
Michael L.

Michael L.

TVWBB Fan
Sorry.. this post is a little similar to Stephen's "10 lb Butt" post, but not exactly.

Here's the deal. We're having a pot luck at work, and after some people at work have tried some of my other stuff, they've nominated me to provide some pulled pork. Of course I'm happy to do it, and I'm proud that they've asked me to do it.

Here's my problem... I work nights, and I'm having trouble imagining a timeline where I could monitor the time to cook a 10 lb butt, sleep, and still be able to work a 10 hr graveyard shift. I have the day before off. And I have no plans for that day. So I could easily spend the day smoking the butt, refrigerate it, and then reheat it and take it to work the next night. In fact.. there is an oven at work that I can use to reheat it there.

But I've always just eaten my pork after it's done cooking. I've never cooled and reheated it before. And since this is going to be like my first shot on the stage at work, I really want to pull it off well. Ya know?

So.. do I pull it, then refrigerate it? Leave it whole? Reheat it wrapped in foil, then pull it?

My original thought was to take it to work, whole, put it in the oven and warm it at 250 or something until it reached temp again, then pull it there and serve. But I'm totally open to your opinions because I've never done this before. I just don't want it to dry out.

Thanks.
 
Just my opinion but after it is cooked and rested for at least half an hour I would pull it and toss with a finishing sauce of your choosing. Let it cool then put it in shallow containers in the fridge. To reaheat I would just put the pork in a pan with a little juice or sauce, cover with foil and reheat in the oven just to warm (not back to 200). Hope this makes some sense!

Clark
 
The timing of your post is ironic. I smoked the pork yesterday, pulled it, and we had sandwiches. We just finished today's sandwiches and it seems as though they are better.

All of that to say...+1 on Clark's comment.
 
Another +1 to Clark.

I just reheated some from a few weeks ago that was frozen, and I did it in the microwave, and it was still fantastic.
 
Yeh,it reheats very well the next day and having a stove makes it even easier. Save the drippings from the foil the meat was wraped in while it rested,let the drippings sit until the fat sets up on top,dump the fat and pour the juice back over the pork after it's pulled.
 
I just finished agonizing over the same question -- I volunteered to bring some smoked pork butt to work, then realized that the chances of an overnight cook being finished at *exactly* the right time so I could foil it and bring it to work in a preheated cooler a few hours before lunch were pretty much zero.

Then I started looking at refrigerating and reheating at work; considered using a slow cooker to warm it, "boil in a bag" with hot water from the coffee machine, borrowing oven space in the company cafeteria, bringing a portable grill to work...

In the end I brought it in cold, microwaved it to reheat, let it sit for ~10 minutes in a covered container while everyone showed up, then served. Everyone loved it. I didn't notice any real difference from freshly cooked.
 
A Couple of weeks back we did our pork shoulder, pulled it and packed in in freezer bags after it was cooled and froze it.

We reheated it in foil pans on a gas grill at a family reunion the next weekend. Used a bit of apple juice and cider vinegar to keep everything moist. Worked out great. Good luck!
 
If you dont have a food saver and your doing it the next day at work, I would pull it into cake pans, cover and the next day at work reheat gently in the over. bring some apple juice to help keep the pork moist and yu might be suprised how somehow pork can taste better the next day. Its kind of like chilli
 
I've done this quite often for school events. I've made four butts on Monday/Tuesday and four more on Tuesday/Wednesday all for Wednesday night. What I do is put two pulled butts into a large tin roasting pan - the kind you might use for a turkey. They get covered with aluminum foil and put it in the fridge. When I turn up, one or two pans are warm, the others cool. The important thing is not to underestimate how long it takes to reheat refrigerated meat. Put it in at 250-300, but keep tossing and turning it. You'll do fine.
 
I put the leftovers in a sheet of foil, doused with #5, wrapped it tightly and refriged it. The next day, the flavor was substantially better tho the texture was a little "softer" then I'd prefer.
 
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