reheating

bradgreer said:

Hello all.
I have a small catering job that will deliver on a Saturday. Long story short, do you think it would be detrimental to my final product (pulled pork) to cook on Thursday, then re-heat on Saturday before delivery? Also, what would be the best way to re-heat?

Thanks,

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When I was managing a BBQ quick service restaurant we always did same day cooking (overnight anyways). However with a small business it might be more difficult.

Are you able to cook Friday night or day and either hold or reheat Saturday? If you can hold without pulling that would best IMO. If you can't try to cool the butt down quickly and keep it whole, reheat then pull at last minute and save the dripping to help remoisten it.

Hope that helped.

I would check with state/county regulations... Most do not allow food to be reheated, but rather prepped, cooked, and then immediately served hot.

But not all states have the same regulations.

I would agree with laurenwatts, cook Friday night and hold the temperature before arriving on-site.

No problem, get pulled add extra juice and sauce. If desired. Wrap in plastic,then foil reheat at 250, sealed is the key, will keep up to a week

Cook on Thursday, pull and put into vacuum sealed bags or double up gallon zip-locks and either freeze or keep refrigerated. Put the extra juice in a separate bag to add if needed later. On Saturday put the bags into a boiling pot of water until at the correct temp then just empty into half pans or serving plate and it will be as good as when you pulled it. If you freeze it you can take the bags right from the freezer into the boiling water to defrost and cook. The mistake that most make is they put the juice in with the meat which makes it mushy when reheating. We do this all the time and when friends ask if I have any extra pulled pork I can use this if needed. Most times if it was juicy when you pulled it it will be just right and you will not have to add any additional juice when serving. If it seems dry then add some of the extra juice. I have done this for years with pulled pork, corn and bean sides, brisket and even ribs. Brisket and ribs still taste the same they just loose some of the bark during reheat. Nothing like having a party and no one ate before they got there and the meat is going fast.....just run to the freezer for the backup.

^^^I've had great results with the method AZMANNIMAL describes. My preference is to cook right before the event, but sometimes it's not possible. I'm gonna have to cook this weekend for an event next weekend due to a work thing that popped up, and I will be vac-sealing and then boiling in the bag to reheat the day of the event. It's a great method, but it involves a fair amount of extra work.