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Porkbutt event advice

 My local VFW is having an event, and I'm a member, but honestly not an active one. Well they asked me if I'd cook for them. So duh, of course I will, it's the least I can do.

So I was wondering, if I smoke 8 porkbutts, four at a time on the xl, to the temp of 150F, foil, refrigerate, and then re heat in an oven at a new location in the foil to a temp of 205F, would they turn out ok?

Comments

  • bgebrent
    bgebrent Posts: 19,636
    Not sure.  A better option if available would be to cook them to finish, pull them and food saver all of it.  A lot of work I know but then its ready to go with either a stove top and pots or a few outdoor turkey fryers.  Just a thought.
    Sandy Springs & Dawsonville Ga
  • Thanks @bgebrent I will keep that in mind. Not the option I wanted but I'm guessing I could pull that off.
  • You can't get more than four on an XL at once?

    regardless, i'd cook all if them completely, and shred into foil pans with HD foil to cover. Rebeat low in their ovens with the foil over them. You can add a little liquid if you want, but you shouldn't need to

    you want to avoid small batches, vacuum sealing, etc. Keep it simple

    i'm assuming you aren't serving the same day?


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  • You can't get more than four on an XL at once?

    regardless, i'd cook all if them completely, and shred into foil pans with HD foil to cover. Rebeat low in their ovens with the foil over them. You can add a little liquid if you want, but you shouldn't need to

    you want to avoid small batches, vacuum sealing, etc. Keep it simple

    i'm assuming you aren't serving the same day?


    No, exactly. I wanted to pre cook for the event. But I could cook more than 4 but not 8 total at one do without building or buying a tier rack. So I figured 4 at a time would be ok. I have cooked to completion before, then foiled and reheated, but that takes 8-12 hours for the cook, that's why I figured if I smoke 4-6 hours each batch I would gain a ton of time.
  • bgebrent
    bgebrent Posts: 19,636
    I think @Darby_Crenshaw approach is probably more practical.  I would add a little liquid.
    Sandy Springs & Dawsonville Ga
  • bgebrent said:
    I think @Darby_Crenshaw approach is probably more practical.  I would add a little liquid.
    One thing i have learned, is to never pre pull or cut any meat before serving.
  • This isn't sliced meat like a roast. The moisture in PP from water is long gone. What's making the meat mosit is melted fat and collagen

    reheating it whole, back to the point where it shreds again would take more energy than just warming up the shredded /pulled meat until it is warm again 

    OP skould do what he wants. I have reheated precooked in a pan and it was great. Best is to serve straight off the cooker. Anything other than that will have its issues.  Whether some loss of quality or extra steps
    [social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]

  • This isn't sliced meat like a roast. The moisture in PP from water is long gone. What's making the meat mosit is melted fat and collagen

    reheating it whole, back to the point where it shreds again would take more energy than just warming up the shredded /pulled meat until it is warm again 

    OP skould do what he wants. I have reheated precooked in a pan and it was great. Best is to serve straight off the cooker. Anything other than that will have its issues.  Whether some loss of quality or extra steps
    Thanks much @Darby_Crenshaw!
  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    I just did this for Mom's birthday. I cooked them all to finish, pulled, added a bit of Eastern NC vinegar sauce and vac sealed. Did this the day before. At the party, I put some water filled stockpots on the commercial stovetop where we had the party and put the bags in the hot water for about 30-45 minutes. (160ish° water temp as I recall) It worked very well and I am a convert to that reheating method.

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

  • abpgwolf
    abpgwolf Posts: 558
    I did 50 lbs of pork butt for my son's HS graduation party. I also have an XL and did it in 2 batches over the 2 weekends before the party. After each batch we pulled the pork and sealed it in Foodsaver bags and froze it. The day of the party we reheated the sealed bags of pork in boiling water, put it in chafing dishes with a small amount of apple juice and vinegar (Darby's right, most of the moisture is fat & collagen). It tasted like it just came off the egg, and we received many complements on the pork. All in all it was a successful and relatively stress free process.  Good Luck!

    Lititz, PA – XL BGE

  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,168
    Your VFW should have the large pans @Darby_Crenshaw mentions above.  Cook, pull, load into the pans, cover with foil and freeze.  Then reheat (covered) in their kitchen to around 145-150*F on the meat-eyeball the moisture (taste test) and  adjust as necessary.  As long as you don't dry it out it will be just fine.  Many ways to get there-good for you for being voluntold  ;)
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • jemako3
    jemako3 Posts: 8

    We had to cook for 100 participants in a parade last weekend.  I cooked 8 butts total.  Cooked 4 till 205F and then FTC.  Cooked the other 4.  The morning of the luncheon the first ones I cooked were still warm and easily pulled apart.  If you have the time right before the event I found this to be the easiest way.

  • Thank you everyone for the advice!
  • Ladeback69
    Ladeback69 Posts: 4,482
    You can't get more than four on an XL at once?

    regardless, i'd cook all if them completely, and shred into foil pans with HD foil to cover. Rebeat low in their ovens with the foil over them. You can add a little liquid if you want, but you shouldn't need to

    you want to avoid small batches, vacuum sealing, etc. Keep it simple

    i'm assuming you aren't serving the same day?


    No, exactly. I wanted to pre cook for the event. But I could cook more than 4 but not 8 total at one do without building or buying a tier rack. So I figured 4 at a time would be ok. I have cooked to completion before, then foiled and reheated, but that takes 8-12 hours for the cook, that's why I figured if I smoke 4-6 hours each batch I would gain a ton of time.
    If you go turbo you can almost cut your cook time in about half depending on the size of the pork butts.  You could cook around 350 to 375 and still get smoke flavor and bark you want.  I did a couple pork butts to 150, wrapped and tried to finish it the next day at my brothers 60 birthday party a few years ago and it took for ever.  I am with finish to pull temp, pulling and holding in fridge and reheating to 140 - 150 to serve.

    I don't want to throw a wrench in to your works, but lately I have been doing pork burnt ends with pork butts and it has been a big hit and takes less time and work.  I take the pork but to about 165 to 170 internal temp, pull and let rest for 30 minutes, cube up, add sauce and put back on the grill for another couple hours to get tender and caramelize.  Just something different to serve if you like, but sound like you have a lot to do with just cooking 8 pork butts.
    Good Luck.
    XL, WSM, Coleman Road Trip Gas Grill

    Kansas City, Mo.
  • westernbbq
    westernbbq Posts: 2,490
    My experience with cooking to below temp and then later cooking to temp didnt turn out well.  The best thing is to fully cook ahead of time, shred, seal and then freeze.  Alternatively throw em all in there and cook until done right before you serve them.  Might get a little tricky if you domt have a stacking system like chs or home made upper grid.    
  • I will cook mine ahead, pull and place in freezer bags. I use either a crock pot or roaster to reheat. I add some chicken stock for moisture and keep stirring every 20 minutes. I try to get it hot enough so the fat turns to moisture, probably about the 160 range.