Here's my plan.

[rickw]

I am hosting a family dinner in on the 26th of Sept. It is going to be away from home at a state park. I don't want to have to work all night the previous night so what I plan to do is.

Cook up 5 pork shoulders this weekend, pull them then put them in vacuum bags and freeze them. That Friday take em out of the freezer to thaw (in the fridge) so on Saturday morning (the 26th) I can put them in a roasting pan on 275F or so and just reheat the PP. I figure a hour or two should have it back up to proper temps.

What do y'all think? Any suggestions are welcomed.

 

[richoso1]

Sounds good, just make sure there is some liquid in the vacuum sealed bags, that will help keep it moist when you reheat the PP. I'd also foil the pan while it is reheating.

 

[danbury]

If you are thawing out the day before, make sure the packages of meat are not real thick or they may still be a bit frozen. Being the meat is smoked, taking out on that Thursday afternoon/evening won't hurt anything.

 

[div]

I think it was piney who told me to take whatever juices I get from it, put it into a pan and stick it into the freezer, the fat will harden at the top and just scrap it out of there.

I did that deal before and what I did was took the pp and slapped it into the crock pot with the juices and whallllah

 

[mballi3011]

Your plan sounds good and all but like Rich said make sure you put in alittle liquid in your bag before you freeze them.

 

[gnubee]

Its going to be pulled pork so what I did with one I froze was to cut it in half lengthwise so the thickness of each half was much thinner, thus it would thaw more evenly without that cold lump in the center that you always get when you thaw a roast.

I put a piece of plastic wrap between the two halves so they would pull apart easily, then froze it.
I Took both halves out the night before the big day and thawed them in the fridge. I Put them in a covered oven roaster at 220f till they were heated up, Pulled them and served them.

I like the crockpot Idea though.

 

[rickw]

OK, I got all the pp in the roasting pan. It was a tight fit but it all did fit. I have it set to 250F, put what ever juices I had back in, there wasn't a whole lot though, plus I added 1 cup of apple juice.

Hopefully I going down the right track here. We are eating at 1ish and I just put it in, 9:30am.

If I'm doing anything wrong here please let me know. This is the frst time I smoked and froze for a party.

Thanks y'all.

 

[chefrob]

other than jam packing the pan everything so far sounds good. just bring the outsides of the pan to the inside (stiring the pork) for an even reheat every hour. hope everyone has a great time.........

 

[rickw]

There's a tad bit of room, enough for stirring for sure. I just checked, stirred, and it is warming up nicely. Staying nice and moist too, that's my biggest concern. I don't want it to dry out.

 

[desertlites]

sounds like your doing everything just fine-don't forget the finishing sauce-good luck with the party.

 

[rickw]

Got a double batch made and ready to go, I love that sauce.

 

[pineywoods]

With the liquid in there and the foil over it you'll be fine at those temps have a great party

 

[rickw]

Thanks guys.

 

[surfer_e]

Rich I have told this story before but i need to tell it again.

Well you could do what my (wife's side of the) family did. These guys were from Chicago, down (to Florida) for a summer vacation. The day after they arrived i smoked a couple up shoulders and some ribs. They had a fantastic dinner and loved it all. The next day i was at work but after work I went by the condo they had rented, for dinner. They decided to "reheat" the pulled pork. As I walked into the condo I smelled something. When I got to the kitchen I found the smell. They had dumped all the pork into a BIG pot on the stove and then dumped in TWO bottles of Kraft BBQ sauce. The whole had been simmering for god knows how long. The meat was pretty much ruined and all around sad. But the funny thing was that they really liked the meat this way. So I guess it all worked out O.K.

If all else fails you can heat it up that way.

 

[rickw]

No thanks, I'll pass

The pork came out fantasic and was a big hit. If I do say so myself, it was really good.

Thanks to all.

This place is a fantastic home, great info and great people.

 

[shooterrick]

Sounds like ya got it together Rick. Enjoy!