Smoking then serving in two weeks


 
Michael G. (Canada Mike)

Michael G. (Canada Mike)

TVWBB All-Star
Hi,

Sorry for the absence (see here for my sad story: http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?48178-Think-it-s-been-too-long)

I'm smoking four butts today, and they are going to be served Jan 30. This earliness is because I am off to México for 6 weeks and won't be around for my granddaughter's annual science fair. But they are not letting me of the hook regardless. So, my question: my plan now is to smoke the butts, cool them slowly, and vacuum pack them whole and freeze. My wife will subsequently defrost them, pull them, and reheat.

Is this the best way to go?

Cheers,

Michael
 
I've never froze a whole (cooked) butt. I've always cooked > rested > pulled > froze > reheated
Something about getting all the fat globs & such out of a still warm butt sounds more appealing than doing so after thawing.
Might just be me though.
 
I'm not sure you would get the same shred if the butt was cold, I always pulled then freeze, (sauce on the side)
 
This time of year you could prolly just leave them outside and they will cool rather quickly.:) I agree with the others, rest , pull, cool than freeze. If you don't have the time and want to make it easier on the Wife at least break them down into the natural sections. Most of the fat/gristle follows those seams and easy to remove while warm.
I envy you going to Mexico, have fun!

Tim
 
I did something similar last year - I cooked 6 butts, pulled them and then put them in vacuum bags - without sealing. I put the unsealed bags in ice water to rapidly cool them. After they were cool, I vacuum sealed them (I waited until they were cool so I didn't have juices sucked into my sealer). A week later, I put the sealed bags in boiling water to reheat. I kept the hot meat in a cooler with towels and then opened each bag as I needed it. I was serving at an outdoor location with no cooking facilities or electricity. If cooking facilities were available, I would have reheated in a pan with apple juice.

The only thing I would have done differently would have been to package in smaller packages - Each of mine had about 8 lb of cooked meat. Smaller packages would have been easier to heat. My large bags were in the water for a couple of hours and were hot, but could have been hotter.

Good Luck.
 
I can't eat a whole butt when I cook for myself, so I pull, vacuum-seal in about 1lb portions, and freeze.

I've also had good luck with smoke, pull, refrigerate, vacuum-seal, freeze. Cooling the pulled pork means less grease getting sucked into the food saver.
 
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