smoke - freeze - serve

petecofishing1

New member
Daughter graduates end of month.  Gonna smoke some Boston Butts.  Looks like I may need to smoke them the weekend before.  Needing expertise on how to smoke, freeze, reheat and serve and keep flavors and moisture.  Do not have a vacuum sealer.  Any help?  Thanks
 
If you can do it only 3 or 4 days ahead you wont need to freeze. 

If you have to freeze, good quality zip locks will do the job for a weeks time. 

Just thaw in fridge, nuke in casserole or low heat in the oven to re-heat.

Its not rocket science, just the cooking part:)


 
Without saying go out and buy a vacuum sealer from you local store, try heavy plastic wrap after the butts have cooled and remove as much air as possible without wringing out the juices. Then zip lock bags.  Important to keep as much freezer burn or ice crystal formation as possible from occurring while stored in the freezer. (A Food Saver is not industrial strength but they do a nice job).  My butt leftovers are always pulled and vac'd or if serving the next day, just bagged.  For reheating I use a large lidded pot with a little liquid (typically water) to gently re-heat within a moist environment and avoid drying it out. Then I sauce it once heated through.  A large crock pot or a large Nesco type roaster will work well also. Just keep an eye on it while re-heating. I am not sure about reheating whole butts; never done it. I don't suppose it is any more difficult than 'cooking' a ready to serve shank ham in a covered roaster in the oven.  But again, I have never done it so that is just a guess.  Others should be around with some proven techniques that work well for them.  And good luck!
 
I have done this before, and I smoked and pulled the pork on the same day, then popped into the freezer.  A week later when I was ready to serve, I thawed and put the pulled pork in a crock pot with some apple juice and re-heated. Turned out perfect.
 
smokinwannabee said:
Did I say sauce?  It's juice...  Globulated - expanding my vocab on the SI forum. I must have been a bit discombobulated

Don't misunderestimate the knowledgeacation you'll get around here!  lol!
 
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