Smoking Pork butts the day before what to do?

[Fishin4bass723]

I need to cook a few pork butts on Saturday for my mom's birthday on Sunday. How do I store it until the party and what is the best way to reheat? Should I pre shred or wait til I reheat? Should I pre-sauce or not? any suggestions, comment, or advice is greatly appreciated.

[caseydog]

Pork butt is easy to cook, and easy to keep and reheat, IMO.

I would cook it, rest it, and pull it. Then chill it, reheat it, sauce it and serve it.

Seriously, serving it one day after the smoke is not a big deal, IMO. Pork butt has plenty of fat, so you can reheat it in the oven a day after you smoke it, and it will still be moist and tender.

I would wait until you are ready to serve to add sauce. IMO, saucing it before it is ready to serve could make it mushy.

Other brethren may have other opinions, but mine is pull it after it cooks and rests, and reheat and sauce it when you are ready to serve it.

CD

[ButtBurner]

I do this all the time

All I do is let it rest, then put it in a covered roaster in the fridge

the next day, put it in the oven with a little water (maybe 1/2 cup or so)in the bottom at about 275 and let it get up to temp,(bone will wiggle) then pull it and serve

[Iroquois]

I'm with CD. I always smoke, rest, pull and store in fridge in aluminum pan. Reheat the next day on 200-225. When I use the Texas Crutch I always reserve some of the fat rendering in the fridge, remove the hardened fat from the top then reheat and add to the pork for more moisture and flavor if needed (rarely). I never sauce it as it becomes too mushy plus I offer a number of sauces for my guests to try out. Carolina vinegar based, Lexington, South Carolina mustard and a couple of Georgia sweet and spicy. Good luck!

[IamMadMan]

Originally Posted by caseydog

Pork butt is easy to cook, and easy to keep and reheat, IMO.

I would cook it, rest it, and pull it. Then chill it, reheat it, sauce it and serve it.

Seriously, serving it one day after the smoke is not a big deal, IMO. Pork butt has plenty of fat, so you can reheat it in the oven a day after you smoke it, and it will still be moist and tender.

I would wait until you are ready to serve to add sauce. IMO, saucing it before it is ready to serve could make it mushy.

Other brethren may have other opinions, but mine is pull it after it cooks and rests, and reheat and sauce it when you are ready to serve it.

CD

Same here, but I serve sauce on the side...

[FromthePitBBQ]

CD has it dead on. I have done that for 2 parties in the last few weeks, and numerous times in the past. The people wanted the pulled pork for an event in which I was unavailable to attend.

I cooked, rested, and pulled as normal, put into half pans (one shoulder per pan) then off to be cooled. For reheating, I instructed them to add about 1/2-3/4 inches of aple juice to the bottom of the pan, cover tightly and then place in a 275* oven for 45 mins and occasionally flip the meat around with tongs. Once it was hot enough, turn the oven to 190*ish and it can sit there all afternoon. When doing the initial heating you want to make sure you don't boil off the apple juice, so you may need to add more, once your just holding it, the juice temp should be low enough to not burn off.

Your guests will never know that you didn't pull it off the smoker just prior to their arrival.

***As a side note & disclaimer, I never serve customers this way on events which I'm catering unless I have informed them prior. They wouldn't know any difference, but to me it's still the principle.***

[Pappy]

I store it in 1 gallon bags over night in the fridge. When you re-heat, if it is a little dry you can add some apple juice for moisture. I also like to mix in a little more rub. Not enough that you can see it. Just a little for flavor.

[ButtBurner]

Originally Posted by Pappy

I store it in 1 gallon bags over night in the fridge. When you re-heat, if it is a little dry you can add some apple juice for moisture. I also like to mix in a little more rub. Not enough that you can see it. Just a little for flavor.

It wont be dry if you leave it whole and pull it the next day

no adding apple juice or anything like that

Its like it just came off the smoker

dont believe me if you dont want to...

[Lake Dogs]

Guess I'll be the contrarian...

In reverse order:

> Should I pre-sauce or not? any suggestions, comment, or advice is greatly appreciated.

Particularly when cooking for guests, I really prefer to present the meat without sauce and give them sauce options. I usually have 4 or 5 different sauces (at the minimum).

> Should I pre shred or wait til I reheat?

Regarding shredding, I really prefer it not shredded. If it's tender enough, chunks roughly the size of your thumb are more than edible, whether on a bun or on the plate by itself, and they hold moisture and IMHO flavor much better than shredded or heaven forbid chopped. We pull the pork, removing any fats that weren't already rendered, into chunks.

Pre-pull? It really depends on timing. I do a couple of large cooks each year. Frankly, I'm now of the age where staying up all night with no sleep isn't worthwhile because I'm not good for anything the next day. I usually cook the day before. I'll usually start around noon and finish up the cook depending on what I'm cooking around 10 to 11pm. The butts/briskets/chuckies will be wrapped and snug in their beds too (in the cooler used as a warmer) overnight. Get up in the morning, get a nice shower, some coffee, get a few friends over, and THEN we pull the pork, usually 10+- hours after putting them in the warmer. If done correctly they're still hot enough to burn your fingers; moist and fresh.

Which gets me to this:

> How do I store it until the party and what is the best way to reheat?

Wrap in foil (helps to re-hydrate the meat and keeps the heat in), place in a cooler and wrap that in old cotton towels (newspaper helps here too). Fill the empty space in the cooler. You're using it as a warmer. I've had them keep for 12 hours before (unintentional, but worked).



We throw about 3 or 4 good sized parties each year. If it's for lunch, I do like I said above. For dinner servings, I'll just get up at 5am+- and cook all day...

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by ButtBurner

It wont be dry if you leave it whole and pull it the next day

no adding apple juice or anything like that

Its like it just came off the smoker

dont believe me if you dont want to...

Agree- once reheated it will pull just like new. I wrap mine when reheating- softens the bark some but I had some issues with bark getting too hard so went to the wrap. Put a little apple juice in the bottom of the foil.

[SmokinJohn]

Tell your mom Happy Birthday!

[Gnaws on Pigs]

Like everybody else said-pull it and stick it in the fridge. Don't feak out when you see the congealed fat on it the next morning, that's just all the concentrated magic yummy goodness that will become invisible again when you reheat it. Don't add sauce until after it's reheated.

I actually think that pulled pork is better the next day, and it keeps great in the freezer. I usually cook a few butts at once, pull and vacuum seal, then get a pack out whenever I'm craving bbq.

[firefighter4634]

I am on the same page as many others here. I will pull mine store in the fridge, place in the oven with a bit of apple juice and reheat.

[samfsu]

I am in this same situation.Can you reheat in chaffing dishes with Sterno?

[FromthePitBBQ]

Originally Posted by samfsu

I am in this same situation.Can you reheat in chaffing dishes with Sterno?

I wouldn't. You'd be flirting with the temp danger zone too long. Although an electric roaster oven, which I use occasionally, will work and its portable. You can get one on Amazon for $48 that'll hold 4 shoulders and it'll get you to temp quickly.