LOLLAPORKLOOZA V - Damien Pulled Pork

MaskedMarvel

Greetings!

I do a pork “festival” every now and again. Friends support me by dropping by and buying bagged and deep frozen pulled pork by the pound with sauce. Every time I do it, the response is greater and greater. 

This time I sold over 200 pounds of bags. A huge endeavor. 70 cars on my little street for pickup day lol… glad my neighbors like me. 

I couldn’t have done it without this forum and all my friends here. Thanks everyone. My pulled pork is pretty dialed in.. 

some pics from the week of insanity….

MaskedMarvel

For your notes and mine - bus tubs help IMMENSELY with managing these quantities. A typical porch chest freezer holds approximately 175 lbs of bagged product. Make rub 5 lbs at a time. And having someone help you speeds things up 5x, even though it’s only one extra person. 

lkapigian

Insane Bark! Thanks for sharing 

Canugghead

Sounds like fun and win-win for all. Ever considered getting a chamber sealer?

MaskedMarvel

Canugghead said:

Sounds like fun and win-win for all. Ever considered getting a chamber sealer?

I have a few threads here on that very subject..

I think I’m waiting for the one at Costco to go back on sale. Once it does, I’ll switch over. 

alaskanassasin

Awesome side hustle!  I was thinking about freezing leftover pulled pork in the bag before vacuum sealing it.  The issue I have is pulling out a solid rock hard block of pulled pork and trying to break it back up while heating. I just wonder if freezing it loose and then vacuum sealing would keep it in a more shredded form.  

Have you tried anything like that? Or not an issue.

MaskedMarvel

alaskanassasin said:

Awesome side hustle!  I was thinking about freezing leftover pulled pork in the bag before vacuum sealing it.  The issue I have is pulling out a solid rock hard block of pulled pork and trying to break it back up while heating. I just wonder if freezing it loose and then vacuum sealing would keep it in a more shredded form.  

Have you tried anything like that? Or not an issue.

After multiple tests:

immediately after pulling while still hot, I weigh out a pound and seal. Immediately into the freezer. 

Heating is just taking the unopened frozen bag and dunking it into boiling (then simmering) water for 10-15 minutes. 

- people were much happier with the frozen idea, opposite of what I expected. They were usually waiting a day or more to serve the hot pork anyway, and then freezing leftovers themselves. 

- quality doesn’t suffer. I put hot pulled next to the reheated frozen for a loquacious regular, and he couldn’t tell which was which. Freezing right after pulling helped a LOT with it not drying out (I now do this with Texas beef brisket as well, same results with softer bark).

- I do a small percentage of half pound bags for “first one’s free” giveaway type stuff and special requests. I never refuse any special requests. I’ll admit the half pounders are my first grab for solo Damien nights. 

Elijah

I've started freezing mine with a very mild vinegar sauce already mixed in. It's not enough that someone that is going to sauce would think otherwise, but it rounds it out. Also not enough to form an ice layer. Just coats it. I'm not sure if it will decrease the life span in the freezer, but I haven't noticed. I also just drop the bag in some hot water to bring it to temp. It's a great gift because it's so versatile and easy for the recipient. 

alaskanassasin

Cool, I’ll try sealing it hot, thanks buddy keep up the hard work!

Canugghead

If you prefer sealing right after pulling and still hot, then chamber sealer may not work well. Warm (let alone hot) liquid in chamber sealer is no bueno, not sure how hot meat would behave in it!

Canugghead

Also, you can minimise moisture loss by not pulling when it's steaming hot, wait till it has cooled down but still warm enough to pull easily?

MaskedMarvel

Canugghead said:

Also, you can minimise moisture loss by not pulling when it's steaming hot, wait till it has cooled down but still warm enough to pull easily?

I always let the butts rest for at least an hour (longer for beef brisket), so hot means more “serving temperature” to me, than at 200+°f. I left that step out when relaying the process (oops) - I think of that as an implied necessity.  Bad wording on My part. 

I’ll experiment next with cooler pork before
pulling and bagging. Great suggestion!

Canugghead said:

If you prefer sealing right after pulling and still hot, then chamber sealer may not work well. Warm (let alone hot) liquid in chamber sealer is no bueno, not sure how hot meat would behave in it!

I’m liking the chamber sealer because I can use cheap bags that look better, that don’t leak fluid while sealing, and have faster reload time. My main bottleneck in the current process is making bags and then waiting for the current vac sealer to reset the heating element. 

I can adjust the pressure bar on the chamber sealer to avoid boiling the hot product.   Not sure how low that will go??

Stormbringer

This is epic, well done!

Canugghead

On my vp215 there is no pressure adjustment. You can keep an eye on the gauge and press manual stop anytime as needed before the preset time is up. For bulk sealing once you figured out how much pressure is needed just set the timer accordingly and let it stop automatically. 

buzd504

MaskedMarvel said:

- I do a small percentage of half pound bags for “first one’s free” giveaway type stuff and special requests. I never refuse any special requests. I’ll admit the half pounders are my first grab for solo Damien nights. 

LOL, classic pusher move.

Well done. 

Ozzie_Isaac

Wowza!!  How cool!  Lucky for your friends too.

shtgunal3

This is awesome!