By this point you are a grilling master, you’ve learned the exact way how to make your smoker produce the most wonderful tasting pork butt, but what if you are reheating pulled pork?
We have seen a large number of people smoke a pork loin for anywhere between 3 to 20 hours, this is such a long time to cook a piece of meat. So you are going to want to make the most out of it.
Often there are times when we have friends and family over for a large meal. But simply not having the time to cook during the day as we are busy doing other things.
When it comes to this situation we feel that we should be prepared, so we like to prepare the meat a good few days in advance and then we can just simply reheat it when we need it.
If like us you are within a similar situation or you are simply looking for a great guide on how to reheat pulled pork from a few days ago, then you have certainly come to the right place. We are going to cover what we feel are the best ways to reheat the meat and attain the best results.
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Reheating Pulled Pork In The Correct Way
Quick note, that the process of correctly reheating this meat is just after the smoking process has been completed.
Once you have finished the cooking process, you need to save the pan drippings. This will help to keep the meat moist during the reheating process. You will add the drippings to the meat before you store them in the fridge or freezer.
How To Reheat Pulled Pork In 5 Different Ways
As we mentioned further up in this article there are five different ways that you can try to reheat your meat. Of course, you will probably find a method that works perfectly for you.
Reheat Pulled Pork In The Microwave
The fastest and easiest method in this is to use the microwave.
This method may sound like it is going to be extremely unhealthy when reheating your food inside the microwave and yes that is the case with smoked meat, but there is a correct method in reheating your pork.
Step – 1
As you have read above, you need to keep your juices from when you originally smoked or cooked your pulled pork.
Step – 2
Once you have allowed for your the juices to cool down, you should see a fat layer begin to form on the top of them. For the best results, we recommend that you remove this top layer.
There is another way that you can speed up this process, that is to allow for the juices to chill within the refrigerator. Doing this method will mean that the top layer of fat will become solid. Which will make scraping off the top layer of fat easier, leaving just the cooled juices underneath.
Step – 3
Once you have finished removing your solidified fat from the top of the juices, you can place the now cooled juices back onto the meat before you place them into the fridge or freezer. This is essential to keep the moisture in.
If you skip this step or didn’t know about doing this before placing your pulled pork into the fridge, then you will lose all the moisture from the meat when you reheat it, which will leave it to be dry.
Step – 4
Once you remove the meat from the refrigerator for reheating, you may want to add some kind of liquid to it. Apple juice or BBQ sauce works great! But you don’t want to put on too much so be careful.
Step – 5
This is now the time to reheat your meat. Place it into your microwave and set the timer for 1-2 minutes, testing the temperature until you have reached the ideal internal temperature of around 165 Fahrenheit. You can check the temperature by using a meat thermometer to help you.
And that’s the simple and easy way how to reheat pulled pork using the microwave. This is our most underused method as we don’t much like it but it is the quickest way to reheat if you don’t have much time.
Reheating Pulled Pork In The Oven
The second method we are going to explore is by reheating the meat with your oven. This is much healthier than using your microwave to reheat, not to mention that you can reheat a lot more pulled pork at one time.
Step – 1
As before with the microwave method, you will need to keep your liquids in a drip pan once you have finished cooking or smoking the meat.
Step – 2
You can either let the juices cool down or place them into the fridge, then begin by scraping off the fat.
Step – 3
Put the juices back into the meat before you place it into the freezer of fridge to store.
Step – 4
When you wanting to reheat it, remove it from the fridge or freezer and pour in some apple juice or some thickened Barbecue Sauce and mix it well.
Step – 5
Turn on your oven and set it to 250 Fahrenheit. Make sure that you cover your meat with foil and place it in the oven once it has reached the correct temperature.
Step – 6
Once you have placed the meat within the oven, you will need to let it heat up for around 30 minutes or until you have reached 160 Fahrenheit internal temperature.
This is the simple method of how to reheat pulled pork using an oven. This is definitely a much healthier method than using your microwave and not to mention you can reheat a larger amount of pork too.
Using A Crock Pot To Reheat Pulled Pork
If you are looking for a method that doesn’t require your full attention then this is definitely the method for you. Having a crock pot is definitely a great method to use.
Step – 1
As before, you will need to make sure that keep your juices in a pan once you have finished smoking and cooking the meat.
Step – 2
Cool down your juices by placing them in the fridge for a few minutes, this will allow for a layer of fat to form on the top. Once you have let it cool then you just need to scrape off the fat.
Step – 3
You can now go ahead and mix your non-fat juices with the meat and place them into the fridge or freezer, depending on how you would like to store your meat.
Step – 4
When you are wanting to reheat your pork, simple remove the meat from the fridge or freezer and place in some apple juice or even some BBQ Sauce, although be careful not to place in too much.
Step – 5
Place the meat into the crock pot and set it onto warm. You can leave the meat for several hours or until you have reached the internal temperature of 165 Fahrenheit.
This is by far the best method for us, as we can go about doing other things with our day whilst the meat is reheating. Reheating pulled pork using a crock pot can leave you with a lot of free time but it is such a simple method that requires minimal effort.
Reheating Pulled Pork With Steam
We have always been super fans of steaming your meat and it is an extremely effective method to use.
Step – 1
As you have done in all the previous methods, you will need to keep your juices in a pan once you have done smoking or cooking the meat.
Step – 2
Once your drippings have cooled down, you can do this by either allowing them to stand for a while or accelerating the process by placing them into the fridge for a few minutes. Scrape the fat layer from the top.
Step – 3
Mix your juices that are now fat-free into the meat before you place it into the fridge or freezer to store.
Step – 4
Once you want to reheat your meat, simply remove it from your fridge or freezer and add a small amount of apple juice or BBQ sauce, be careful not to ruin the flavor.
Step – 5
Place a small amount of apple juice to the bottom of you crock pot and place it on the stove. Bring the juice to boil.
Step – 6
Place your meat into the steaming basket and put it over the boiling juice.
Step – 7
Leave it to steam for around 30 minutes or until it has reached the 165 Fahrenheit internal temperature we recommend.
This is a simple method for reheating pulled pork using steam. This really is simple, clean and works extremely well to get your meat reheated.
Reheating Pulled Pork By Vacuum Sealing And Boiling
We were told from our parents that you really shouldn’t boil your meat to reheat it, but we have come up with a method that works great and help to retain the smoker flavor.
Step – 1
Ensure that you keep the drippings in a pan once you have done smoking or cooking your meat.
Step – 2
Remove the fat produced from the juices whilst you are cooling them down, you can do this either by allowing to cool to room temperature or placing it into the fridge.
Step – 3
Mix the juices into the meat before you place it into a sealed bag.
Step – 4
Vacuum seal your meat and place it in your fridge or freezer depending on how long you are wanting your meat to last.
Step – 5
Once you decide you are wanting to reheat your meat then you can remove it from the freezer or refrigerator.
Step – 6
Get a pan of water and bring it to the boil. You can use a pot, pan or even a crock pot on high with this method.
Step – 7
Turn off the heat and settle the meat into the water for at least 30 minutes or until you have reached an internal temperature of 165 Fahrenheit.
Step – 8
Add your sauce ( We’re sure you will make a good choice! ) and enjoy your reheated meat.
This is the final method that we have in this list, and it is the way of reheating pulled pork by vacuum sealing and boiling.
So What Is The Best Method To Reheat Pulled Pork
When you look at all the different possible methods above, it can be hard to know exactly which will give you the best results, but we can tell you that there is only one winner. Vacuum sealing and boiling your meat gives the best flavor and there are a number of reasons why this works the best:
Vacuum Sealing and Boiling Benefits:
- Vacuum Sealing helps to prevent air from getting to the meat, which helps with preservation.
- Once you have sealed your bag and have placed it into the refrigerator there are no other flavors which could ruin your meat.
- The bag helps to retain moisture so that it doesn’t evaporate whilst you have it in the fridge or dry out when cooking.
- Keeps the smoky flavor of the meat which may be lost if you use another of the methods mentioned above.
- This method is actually used in many BBQ restaurants to help keep their meat quality high above their competition.
- Using the vacuum seal and boiling method means that the meat doesn’t break down further unlike many of the other reheating methods.
Final Thoughts
We loved pulled pork here at Best Grills Reviews and it is one our favorite things to make our family & friends.
Getting up at 5am to get the smoker going and sitting outside next to it to smell the rich tasty meat and apple wood smoke.
We put a lot of effort into making our pork so delicious and we love to know that there are ways to preserve the end product and have it taste as if it has just left the smoker, even after a few days.
We hope you enjoyed this article and can use the reheating pulled pork methods on your own meats. We selected these 5 methods as we know not everyone has access to a vacuum sealer.
Give it a go and let us know how you got on. It’s always interesting to hear how our readers go on with the tutorials we produce.
Get on our social media and in our comment section.
Enjoy!