How do you keep pulled pork moist?

i add some organic chicken broth to it before i reheat it. seems to work nicely.

Can of Coca-Cola mixed in and reheat.

Below is a summary of the information I've collected on the subject of reheating liquids for pork. Some information is from my cookin' notes, some from interviews, podcasts, cookbooks or magazine articles as well replies to the poll question I posted on 3 Q sites. The most popular responses are listed first in each list. Some responses mentioned a pinch of this or a splash of something like Worcestershire. These things were omitted. Likewise I did not break down specific brands of BBQ sauce.

Cooking juice was mentioned often. This generally referred to juices collected in the foil during the resting period, not juices collected if meats were cooked in foil or in pans. De-fatting the juice was not mentioned very often, the exception was de-fatting juices when meats were COOKED in pans or foil. Coca-Cola & apple juice are used a lot, both straight and as an added ingredient. When BBQ sauce is used it is usually thinned out with another liquid. Mostly it is to add flavor, but some adjust the thickness to make the pulled or chopped meats "sticky" so they hang on a bun better. Vinegar + water (or apple cider) + cayenne, one of my favorites, was not mentioned as often as I thought it would be. Sprite was only mentioned once. The reasoning is that the citrus adds some "brightness" to the product. Only about 25% of folks added more dry seasonings or rub after pulling the beef or pork.

PULLED PORK
Apple juice + cooking juice
Apple juice + chicken broth
Coca-Cola
Apple juice + cooking juice + cider vinegar
Coca-Cola + chicken broth
Coca Cola + BBQ sauce
Apple juice
Apple juice + cider vinegar
Dr. Pepper + cooking juice
RC Cola + sauce
Cider vinegar + water
Vinegar + water (or apple cider)
Fruit nectar
Pineapple juice + sauce
Sprite

Thanks for taking the time to pull this together...great info!!!

i use apple juice and mix around.

there's a good reason why it won't be the same...

the "moisture" that everyone enjoys when they pull a freshly cooked butt is collagen. sure, there's some residual moisture (water) in the meat. but it quickly evaporates off. when you cut into a pork chop cooked to say 135, and it is moist, that moisture is water, and hasn't been driven off.

but the moisture (i know YOU know this, but a lot of folks don't consider it) in a pulled pork butt is almost entirely melted gelatin.

when gelatin cools, it doesn't become collagen again, but it solidifies. and to melt the gelatin AGAIN, so that it would be just as wet as when freshly pulled, well, that requires MORE heat than converting it from collagen in the first place. you'd have to really heat the PP to re-melt it, and that would overly dry out whatever other moisture (water) there might be left.

so you really end up resorting to adding other re-wetting 'agents' to lubricate the meat. sauce, coke, broth, etc.

best thing to add if you really wanted to replicate fresh PP is pork broth-flavored jello (flavorless gelatin mixed with broth). because that's what you had originally lubricating the meat. no one does this of course, i'm just being literal for the sake of illustrating.

it's counter-intuitive, but Harold McGee has explained it for us a few times: pulled pork really is DRY, overcooked pork. luckily, in the act over slowly overcooking it (so that it would fall aprt and be less tough), we allowed the collagen to break down into gelatin, which disguises the dryness. the now-small bits of fiber are broken apart (no longer tough), and the gelatin lubricates it, making us think it is "moist" (with water/juices).

sure, there's some water left, but not much. and after pulling, it's GONE, evaporating from the serving dish.

if you tried it with a pork chop, you'd also get pullable tender pork (it would fall apart), but there'd be little or no gelatin to re-moisten it for you. the moisture is gone, and the gelatin is missing. too dry.

pulled pork is a magic act, and like any decent trick, shoudldn't really be repeated.... :laugh: ...unless you start with a fresh butt of course

Leftover, dried out BBQ is why God invented BBQ sauce.

Fresh smoked Que needs no sauce.

Coca Cola is for drinking!

All just my opinion of course.