Storing a Butt After Cooking


 
J

James Harvey

TVWBB Pro
Hi All,

I'm doing a butt for a birthday party. The party is on Saturday mid afternoon served around 4pm but I want to have it finished on Friday afternoon as I have a ton of birthday prep on Saturday.

Any advice on how to keep it at its best from mid Friday to mid Saturday? I don't want to pull it until just before serving. Also, any advice on how to make it juicy for service? It's a kids party so I want to keep it pretty tame.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

James
 
I recommend pulling right away. It will pull easier. If you have a food sealer you cans seal it, refrigerate overnight then drop into a pot of water to heat. Otherwise seal it and refrig overnight. You can heat in a pan, oven or crock pot. I add a little apple juice and sauce (if you sauce yours) to help keep moist when reheating.
 
I was hoping there was a way not to pull it early but, if I have to, will I lose any tenderness going the crock pot route? I've done this with brisket and a beef broth mixture and it came out great flavour wise but I noticed some chewiness in the meat when serving. Perhaps I let it warm for too long.

Also, any suggestions on a neutral liquid base for the crock pot? I'm wondering if apple juice alone will oversweeten it? I generally use a thin, vinegar based finishing sauce when serving right away but I think this may be too acidic on a longer crock reheat.

Thanks again for the assistance.

James
 
Pulling and storing will not effect tenderness. If anything, it might be more tender. I like the bag and reheat method, but just be sure it's really hot before you serve - I've been burned by that before [pun intended.]

Also, I've not always foodsaved for one day, but just covered in a tin roasting pan and refrigerated overnight, then put in oven to reheat.
 
I have vacuum sealed the meat which holds the flavor well.

Reheating I will cook up a package of bacon remove the bacon. Place the pulled pork in the rendered bacon fat chop the bacon and add to the mix. The pork will not dry out and I will mix in the sauce after removed from the pan.
 
Since your preference is not to pull the butt ahead of time,

How about double foiling the butts, let them rest a couple of hours, refrigerate over-night, preheat oven to 225-250, throw the butts in for about 90 min.in the same foil, pull and enjoy!! If I know I'm gonna cook ahead of time I try not to cook my butts past the low 190's. This has never left me with 'dry' 'overcooked' butts and the quality/freshness is very hard to discern from 'just cooked'.

Apple juice is a way to go, especially for sensitive palates like children, for adding more juice to the pork. Let us know how it goes!!
 
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