A Very Large Bowl: Freezer Meal Component: Smoked Pork

I posted previously about how I smoke, shred and freeze chickens to use in a variety of summer meals. Another meat I love to cook in my smoker is pulled pork. However, I didn't make pulled pork to freeze because I thought it wouldn't be as versatile as the chicken. And maybe it's not as versatile as chicken, after all I wouldn't throw pulled pork on any old salad like I do with the chicken. It was mistake to put off freezing pulled pork. I have been missing out on deliciousness and what turned out to be some of my favorite meals.

We had guests for the Fourth of July and smoked two pork butts and served them with barbecue sauce and coleslaw. Two pork butts make a lot. I made so much with the intention of freezing it, thinking that we would have plenty for the freezer. I did freeze a lot of pulled pork, but it did not last nearly as long as I had hoped. A week later we had more guests over and served pork noodle bowls. We enjoyed the pork so much we kept serving it every time we had guests over, and before I knew it, it was all gone. I hadn't done everything I wanted with the frozen pulled pork, so a scant two months after freezing pork for the first time, I had to make another big batch.

Cooking the pork:

Pork butt is a very budget-friendly meat. It is a tough cut though, so you will need to cook it in such a way to make it tender and delicious, generally either low and slow roasting or by braising. Use your favorite method. I have a Pit Barrel Cooker that I use to smoke my meats and I love it. I highly recommend it if you are in the market for a smoker. It's easy to use, affordable and makes delicious meat.

If you don't have or want a smoker, Amazing Ribs has excellent instructions about smoking meat in a gas or charcoal grill. It's a super informative website for smoking meats. Before I bought my smoker I used a gas grill to smoke pork butts using Amazing Ribs instructions with great success. It is a project though and takes all day. So if you want to do something easier, you can use a crockpot or roast in the oven. I haven't tried either of those links, but they look promising (although I would leave out the liquid smoke). Or if you have a favorite tried and true way to cook pork butt, use that.

Freezing the pork

After your pork is cooked, shred it and divide it into dinner sized portions. The main difficulty with freezing cooked meat is that it gets freezer burn easily. If this is something you do regularly, I recommend getting a vacuum sealer. If you're not ready for that, then I recommend putting the meat in freezer Ziploc bags and squeezing out as much air as you can.

Serving the pork

Thaw the pork in the fridge overnight. If you are serving the meat in a sauce, bring that sauce to a simmer and add the meat. Simmer gently until the meat is heated through. Otherwise you can reheat in the microwave. Spread the meat out on a microwave-safe plate. Reheat in two minute bursts at 60 to 70% power until heated through. Don't overheat. That will make the pork tough.