Reheating Pulled Pork Using FoodSaver Bags and Boiling Water


 
M

Michael Spurling

TVWBB Member
I'm going to be doing a couple of pork butts on Friday for eating the next day ( Saturday ). My wife is having a small party and she wants to serve pulled pork sandwiches at the party.

I'm going to use my FoodSaver and seal 1 pound bags of meat for reheating tomorrow.

I'm choosing 1 pound bags so I can pick a few at a time when/if needed.

I've never reheated pulled pork with the foodsaver bags and boiling water technique -

The following is from the TVWBB web site :

" Meat in sealed Foodsaver bags can also be reheated in boiling water. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, place the sealed bag in the water, turn off the heat, and let sit in the hot water until warmed to your liking. "

My question is: How do you know when the meat is warmed to your liking? How long does it usually take to warm the meat to a safe temp. and that it tastes good ?

Anyone else use this technique and could they impart some wisdom, tips and/or opinions?

Also - I figure once I heat up the meat properly and to a good temp; I was planning on storing the meat to serve in a crock pot at a low setting. Good Idea ?

thanks everyone.

Michael
 
Never used that technique to get meat to eating temp, just to defrost. I throw it in once the heat is off, and forget about it. When I remember to check it's at room temp, and then I can easily heat it as I like. Recently I sauteed some in lard to make carnitas. Next time I'd use chunks for that.
 
I would say more like 20 to 30 minutes, depending on how many one pound bags you are doing at once. After the water boils I still keep the heat on to insure that the water stays hot. Better to err on the side of HOT.
 
Mike, If you are reheating meat that is not frozen I would just go from the heated water ,open the pouch and serve. Putting the meat in a slow cooker seems like a wasted step. Perhaps there is a reason tho that you don't want to serve right away after you heat? I would personally judge the serving temp by feel. If its too hat to handle it will be plenty hot to eat.
I am also wondering why you are using a food saver for overnight storage? I am new to food savers but the cost of the bags and labor time seem excessive for overnight. Just my opinion.

Mark
 
i have bought Dunn's montreal smoked meat single serve packages from costco (about the size of a tennis ball). when at refrigerated temperature it took 10-15 minutes to boil until the core of the package was hot. 1 pound of frozen meat i think would take around 25-30 minutes.
 
to Mark:

I guess I should have been a bit more clearer - the meat is going to be sealed in foodsaver bags and then put into the frig. for the next day. I'm not going to freeze the meat.

I want to have the meat warm and ready to go by the time people come - but people are going to be kind of coming and going to this party throughout the day. So I need to get the meat warmed up at first to eat - but the meat prob. wont all get eaten right away. Thats why I need to keep it in a crock pot to keep it warm for several hours.

Using the bags seemed the easiest - I have plenty of bags from when I first bought my foodsaver - I havent really used it that much. And the few times I did was for pulled pork that I froze for a while.

thanks for your thoughts

thanks everyone for your opinions - will let you know how it all turns out.
 
You want to be cautious here. If you keep the pulled pork warm for an extended period you may create a perfect food-borne illness situation.

The meat is sterile coming out of the smoker, but could get exposed during pulling (imperfectly clean hands, etc.). If you chill it quickly after pulling, keep it cold and then eat soon after re-heating you have no problem.

If you reheat, though, and let it sit in the danger zone you give the pathogen time to grow to dangerous levels. Make sure it's more than just warm while sitting in the crock pot. It needs to be hot (> 130 F). Or, better still, consider keeping it chilled and reheat as needed in small batches throughout the day.
 
Just another perspective. I just did 50 lbs (post-smoke) of pulled pork this week for a fundraiser, done this before. Cooked in two batched over 1.5 days. Pulled each batch and placed in freezer ziplocs (not regular ziplocks) at 3lbs per bag. Flattened as much as possible then sent to my ferminator (have to hold off brewing for this every year) and cooled the meat as quickly as possible to 34F. One batch sat two days, one batch one day. Have an old, big, ex-brewing pot which we filled with water to boil and threw in 3 bags, which were transfered to a roasting pan for serving. Bags would be thrown in the water as needed and then mixed into the roasting pan as needed. We served for 2.5 hours. The meat in the roaster stayed between 145-155. People liked seeing the meat added to the roaster because I also added some finishing sauce and rub (didn't do this when originally pulling) and was able to talked bbq with customers when doing this.
 
Brad - thanks so much for the info - wow; that fundraiser must have been a huge undertaking.

Again -some more great Q'ers dropping some knowledge
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- thanks
 
Just my opinion, but ...... I think 25 - 30 mins in the hot water bath is too long. Sure if you turn off the heat I could see where it would take a bit longer. I usually put one pound bags in the boiling water then reduce the heat to a high simmer. It only takes about 15/17 mins for defrosted meat and 17/20 mins for the frozen packs. After 15 mins pick up the bag with some tongs. If the bag is pliable and soft, most likely it's done. If doing multiple bags you may want to add a couple of mins. Even if they don't get fully heated throughout once you transfer to a crock pot that'll finish them off. Low on a old fashioned crock pot is well above 170 degrees. That's plenty of heat to keep them safe to eat. My biggest issue with roasters and crock pots is keeping it from drying out. That's why I prefer to reheat the bags as needed. We also have no issue with reheating the bags to warm in the microwave and then transferring to the crock pot. JMHO
 
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