Vacuum Packing

The microwave is quick and easy on one lb packs.

I pack a lot of these for easy meals.

I tend to use the boiling water on the packages up to 5-6 lbs.

I'm old fashioned at 37 years of age. I like to boil myself. Another fun method with ribs are to just let thaw completely and reheat on the grill with some fresh sauce. Make'um think you slaved a while!

Hi Hook...the method that I use is pull it, dose it with Smokin's pulled pork baste & finishing sauce, portion it as you like (I use styrofoam bowls sprayed with a little Pam), and then freeze it for a few hours before removing from bowl and then vaccum sealing. This avoids getting juice into the vacuum pump and causing a major problem. I also like the boiling method to reheat. Good luck neighbor!
CB

Thanks for the all the advice.

I never would have thought of freezing the meat first.

Also, Mr Chateaubeyond, do you add Smokin's sauce because it helps in the freezing and keeping process or just so you don't have to have it handy when you eat later? If it's the former, I'd better brew up a batch right away.

Hook

hey Chateau- that seems like a lotta work.

I use my food scale, and weigh our 6 oz of pulled pork. this makes 2 decent hamburger-roll samiches.

I use a folded paper plate to avoid saucing the top of the bag. If you 're only using a little sauce you can put a couple of table spoons on the leading edge of the paper plate, next goes the 6 oz. of pork, insert that into the bag, go vertical and remove bag. This keeps the sealing area clean. With the sauce now below the meat, it sucks up into the meat on vacpaking.

Sometimes, I also use the paper towel trick. When vacuuming smoked pork loin chops that have been brined and are still very moist, I fold up a paper towel to the width of the bag, folded to 4-6 thicknesses; any excess fluid sucks up into the paper towel and not the vacuum chamber. Its also handy when trying to figure out which rub you put on the chop- you can write the rub name on the napkin, so you know when you later defrost it that it was CS rub or Zacher rub or Raj rub, etc....

If you use lots of sauce (like I do with individual or double lasagna portions), I just freeze it in the vac bag before vacuuming, closing it with a cloths pin or one of these large black document paperclips. Next morning, remove from freezer, warm up the sealing area by rubbing inside and outside with warm hands, and vacuum seal it then, works great. Save the pam spray for grilling...


I personally prefer microwaving over boiling. I have had problens with water leakage, esp. with roll bags. It is important if using the rolls to double seal the ends, if you are a boiler....

Actually, there's another, equally important reason for freezing meat b4 freezing. At least accordintg to Tilia. In the instruction book that came with our machine it says to freeze meat before sealing to prevent the vacuum from sucking the juice out of the meat. I've tried it both ways and they're right.

Just my two bits worth.

Hook,

I do it exactly like Chateau. And adding the sauce is one less step when you reheat, it will already have the sauce in there.

Reheated pulled pork can be SOOOOOO dry if you're not careful.

Smokin'

I was this close to buying a bigger capacity vacuum sealer to use for reheating precooked meat while catering or to sell pulled pork in 1# packs.
When I checked with the Minnesota Dept of Ag , I was told that in no way could I make that legal, even if I took it to my butcher to bag it. I would have to start with brined meat. Their main fear is of BOTULISM, which thrives in areas lacking oxygen.
Under his advise we now bag our meat in gallon ziplocks [5#], and I found these nifty little microwaveable boxes that we put 1# in. Our customers at the Farmers Markets love the convenience of them. I am currently getting heat-shrink bands made for them. Roger

As far as I am aware the legality of vac-packing for reheat has more to do with following the correct procedures. this means that product must not remain within temperature parameters that permit bacterial growth for more than specific time spans. Packages may be frozen for reheating as long as specific temps are acheived within these parameters. As I understand these are universally recognized procedures. I have a Vac master which I modified by sandcasting a larger capacity oil reservoir cover in aluminum to reduce overheating. This unit can now operate with continuous cycles and instead of spending 5 grand for a new machine I spent less than $200. As for reheating I believe that the gentler this can be done, the better your end product. Ideally thaw in the fridge, second choice is hot water.

Once again you guys come through with the best advice. I now have a freezer stuffed with pulled pork and brisket. A twelve pound butt and the same size brisket. That's the largest load I've ever done.

Thanks again.

Hook

Hook...Sorry to take so long to respond but I've been out of town on a film shoot for Everwood (up in Kamas) for a few days. I should have prefaced my advice by saying that I use a Tilia 1075 for vac-sealing and that explains my concern for getting juice into the pump. The reason that I use styrofoam bowls is that I get a better "visual" on serving size than I do in a bag. As far as the very light Pam spray is concerned, it helps release the product after freezing and it has no adverse effect on the food taste. After freezing it sticks to the bowl not the food.
Zacher said that my method seems like a lot of work but it's not...it's quick and easy and I don't have to worry about liquids, folding paper towels, wiping bags before sealing, etc. What ever works for you is the best way to go Also, I see that we are getting more & more Forum members in SLC...We should all get together sometime.
CB

Hi folks! Although I've owned a model 089 for about 6 years I never knew this website existed until I stumbled onto it about a month ago. I've got to say this site and forum are excellent, I wish I'd have stumbled in here earlier.

Anyway, I'd like to share a method for storing leftover pulled pork that I've been using. It's very much like Chateaubeyond's except I use muffin tins instead of styrofoam bowls. I mix in a little BBQ sauce to the pulled pork then pack it into muffins tins that have been sprayed with PAM. I cover the tins with plastic wrap then place the tins in the freezer. Each muffin cup holds about 4 ounces of pork depending on how firmly they're packed. After the BBQ muffins are frozen I pop them out of their tins and put them in zip lock freezer bags and store them in the freezer. When we want a quick pulled pork sandwich we take a BBQ muffin from the freezer and put it into a coffee mug and heat it in the microwave. For a large crowd we take as many BBQ muffins as we need and heat in a saucepan on the stove. I can't see any difference in the taste no matter how they are heated - both ways are delicious. I've stored them in zip lock bags for as long as three months and they still tase great.

Hmmm, after 6 years with the same Cookshack smoker you would think I would know what model it was. Wrong! It's not an 089 it's an 008. But no matter what the model number, I love it.