Reheating pulled pork that's not vac packed

[AussieMatt]

Morning all, a friend of mine owns a bar/drive thru/pizza joint and is looking at me doing pulled pork on Saturdays for the bar. His thought was to smoke the pork during the week and reheat it on Saturdays.


My immediate thought was to pull and vac pack then reheat in hot water until it hits 165° but the health department has said we can't vac pack it.


I'm now thinking that I'll be working Saturdays smoking the butts unless there's a simple way to reheat it without it drying out.


Any suggestions?

[cpw]

What kind of cooker are you using? Could you smoke overnight and then pull off on Saturday morning?


Another alternative would be to throw it in a ziploc and re heat it that way.

[AussieMatt]

Originally Posted by cpw

What kind of cooker are you using? Could you smoke overnight and then pull off on Saturday morning?


Another alternative would be to throw it in a ziploc and re heat it that way.

Pretty sure it'll be a pellet of some description. I'm thinking I'll end up getting up early Saturday morning and doing it for him during the day.

[sudsandswine]

Interesting they wouldn't let you vac pack and reheat...wonder what the reasoning is there? I guess there are some nasties that can thrive in a low oxygen environment but I'd think it might be easier to quickly cool and safely reheat in a vac pack vs a hotel or foil pan or something.

[kurtsara]

Originally Posted by sudsandswine

Interesting they wouldn't let you vac pack and reheat...wonder what the reasoning is there? I guess there are some nasties that can thrive in a low oxygen environment but I'd think it might be easier to quickly cool and safely reheat in a vac pack vs a hotel or foil pan or something.

I thought most health depts. would not let the average person just use a non commercial food saver type vacuum sealer.

[Big_Alvin]

For my pulled pork, I keep it in a aluminum pan w/cover and refrigerate. When reheating I just add about 1/4 inch of water/apple juice to the bottom of pan, cover with tin foil and through it on the gas grill to reheat.

[Pedro7]

Originally Posted by sudsandswine

Interesting they wouldn't let you vac pack and reheat...wonder what the reasoning is there? I guess there are some nasties that can thrive in a low oxygen environment but I'd think it might be easier to quickly cool and safely reheat in a vac pack vs a hotel or foil pan or something.

You have to have a special permit/license to sell vacuum sealed goods due to the potential for Botulism in anaerobic environments. There was a butcher in my town that just got in huge trouble because he didn't get his permit. 3 years after opening and passing his health dept. tests every year I guess they decided to come after him. He had to throw out thousands of dollars worth of meat, sides, etc.

[cynfulsmokersbbq]

Originally Posted by Pedro7

You have to have a special permit/license to sell vacuum sealed goods due to the potential for Botulism in anaerobic environments. There was a butcher in my town that just got in huge trouble because he didn't get his permit. 3 years after opening and passing his health dept. tests every year I guess they decided to come after him. He had to throw out thousands of dollars worth of meat, sides, etc.

I assume he wasn't going to sell the vacuum sealed product, just store and reheat in in. Many commercial kitchens do it. It's no more dangerous than placing in a zip lock, or leaving in a covered aluminum pan.

[AussieMatt]

Originally Posted by cynfulsmokersbbq

I assume he wasn't going to sell the vacuum sealed product, just store and reheat in in. Many commercial kitchens do it. It's no more dangerous than placing in a zip lock, or leaving in a covered aluminum pan.

That's exactly it. When we're closer the boss is going to have the health inspector come out and get them to tell us exactly what they want.