How to Reheat Pulled Pork (To Ensure Your Leftovers are Juicy and Moist!)

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At the end of every pulled pork recipe or article I read, they always tell me to make more pulled pork than necessary. These articles constantly rave about how great and useful leftover pulled pork can be.

I always see the line, “It’s quick and easy to make leftover pulled pork sandwiches!”

However, these articles never discuss how awful and dry leftover pulled pork can be. But I finally figured out how to properly reheat it, so my pulled pork can still be amazing, even if it wasn’t cooked that day.

So, do you want to know my secrets to prevent dry meat and reheat your pulled pork leftovers like a true pit boss? Let’s go

Want my top technique for reheating pulled pork without drying it out?

I have six techniques for reheating pulled pork, but I wanted to give you my top tip first, so I put it below, followed by my list.

Well, the biggest way to avoid the dreaded dry-out is not to shred your meat until you’re ready to eat it.  

For example, you can cook your pork butt or any other pieces of meat in advance but hold off on shredding it until you’re ready to serve and eat the pulled pork. Storing leftover pork as a whole — or even as chunks of meat — will prevent moisture loss.

Reheating your Pulled Pork – My 6 Simple Ways

Keep on reading to learn about my reheating methods.

1. Using Your Oven

This method is perfect for people who like to set a timer and leave their food alone until they hear the timer ring. However, this method isn’t for me; I like to monitor my meat closely.

One thing I like about reheating pulled pork in the oven is that it ensures an even distribution of heat.

1. Set the oven temperature to 250℉ and leave it to preheat.
2. Place the leftover pulled pork in a ceramic container, drizzle on any leftover juices and a stick of butter and cover it with a lid or foil.
3. Leave it to bake in the oven until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 165℉.
4. Take it out of the oven. Separate some of the meat with a fork and add sauce. Now it’s ready to serve.

2. Using a Slow Cooker

If you have a couple of hours on hand, you can use a slow cooker to reheat your pulled pork. Allocating a couple of hours for reheating may seem a little extreme.

However, using a slow cooker to prepare leftover pulled pork will produce tasty, juicy meat.

1. Place the leftover pulled pork in your slow cooker.
2. Pour any suitable sauce on top of the shredded meat.
3. Set your slow cooker to the warm setting.
4. Leave it alone for around two to four hours.
5. Ensure that the meat’s internal temperature is around 165℉ before serving it.

3. On the Grill

Never place the pulled pork directly on the grill and hope for the best. This sort of direct heat will completely dry out the meat, and it will not be nice to eat.

When reheating pulled pork on a grill, always use the 2-zone indirect cooking method. 

This indirect heat method can be used on both gas and charcoal grills. If you’re using a gas grill, light only half of the burners. If you’re using a charcoal grill, arrange the lit charcoal on one side of the grill.

1. Turn up the heat until the indirect part of the grill reaches temperatures of approximately 225℉.
2. If you’ve frozen your pulled pork, thaw it out and wrap it in two layers of foil. To give the meat some extra flavor, you can pour barbecue sauce or any other leftover sauce onto it. Adding two fluid ounces of water to the meat is also important before you close up the foil.
3. Put the foil package on the indirect heat side of the grill. 
4. Take the pulled pork off once the internal temperature of the meat reaches about 165℉. We recommend using a meat thermometer for this step.
5. Next, transfer the pulled pork from the foil to a pan. 
6. Place the pan on the direct heat side of the grill for around one to two minutes. This will improve the texture of the pulled pork.
7. Next, pour any leftover BBQ sauce or dripping sauce from the foil package onto the pulled pork. Now, it’s ready to serve!

4. With a Sous Vide

This method is perfect if you’ve stored your leftover pulled pork in a vacuum-sealed bag.

While the ‘sous vide’ method may sound extremely difficult because of its name, it’s actually quite easy. All it involves is dipping the vacuum-sealed bag in hot water—think of it as a hot water bath.

You can easily use a large enough stovetop pot if you don’t have a sous vide machine.

1. Start by ensuring that the water in the sous vide machine or pot has a temperature of approximately 165℉.
2. Insert the vacuum-sealed bag into the water.
3. The soaking time entirely depends on the thickness of the meat. We’d suggest allocating around 45 mins per inch. Therefore, if the thickness measures up to 2 inches, leave it to soak for an hour and a half.
4. When you pull the bag out, the meat is ready to serve. You can add extra barbecue sauce or some other kind of finishing sauce if you wish. The brilliant thing about storing meat in a vacuum-sealed bag is that it doesn’t lose any moisture while it’s sitting in the fridge or freezer.

5. In the Microwave

If you’re short on time or only have a microwave, you can use this method to reheat your pulled pork.

Well, it’s not my top method; it still works well!

It is best to use a ceramic or microwavable glass container, especially if you aren’t sure if you have a safe microwavable plastic container.

1. Place the pulled pork in a microwave-safe container. Set the microwave to medium-low heat and cook for one minute at a time.
2. Repeat this process until the internal temperature of the pulled pork is at 165℉.
3. If the meat is drying out, add some leftover sauce or a little water before placing it back in the microwave.

6. Steaming Your Pulled Pork

If you plan on steaming the pulled pork when you reheat it, it is important to save any leftover sauce.

For this method, you’ll need apple juice, a stove pot, and a steaming basket.

1. Drizzle some BBQ sauce or some apple juice on your leftover pulled pork.
2. Pour some apple juice into a pot and bring it to a boil on the stove.
3. Put the leftover shredded meat into a metal or bamboo steaming basket and place it over the pot.
4. Please leave it to steam for approximately half an hour.
5. The meat is ready to serve when its internal temperature reads around 165℉ on the meat thermometer.

So, Which is The Best Way to Reheat Pulled Pork?

 All of these methods are great. No matter which one you go with, you’ll be left with pulled pork that won’t taste like their leftovers.

We recommend the microwave method if you’re short on time and equipment. But if you can fit it into your schedule, we highly suggest using the slow cooker or oven method.

This will leave you with the juiciest leftover pulled pork you have ever tried. 

How Many Times Can Pulled Pork be Reheated?

While there is no definitive answer to this, I don’t ever do it more than once. Not only does heating meat several times decrease its quality, but it can also promote bacterial growth.

Hence, you should strive only to reheat any meat once. If you know you won’t be able to finish all of the leftover meat, then only reheat a small section and leave the rest in the fridge or freezer.

Cooked too Much Pulled Pork? Here’s How to Store it

Have you overestimated how much pulled pork to serve? If you’re left with a lot of shredded pork, I’ll teach you how to store it.

The first thing you should avoid is storing the pork in plastic containers.
First, these containers take up too much space in the fridge or freezer, and they don’t correctly trap moisture. Sure, airtight containers or airtight freezer containers are viable options. But they’re still not perfect for keeping your meat juicy in a drying and cold environment.

Instead, it would help if you kept leftover pulled pork in a vacuum-sealed bag. These bags have a truly airtight seal that prevents moisture from escaping. Vacuum-sealing pulled pork will lock in the freshness of the meat and stop it from drying out. 

We highly recommend getting one if you don’t already own a food vacuum sealer. I’ve seen a fair few around that cost less than $100. If you’re going to spend all that money on the meat, you might store it so it’s edible! So, bottom line: If you’re tired of dealing with dry leftover meat, then you should really vacuum seal it.

My Favorite Ways to Use Leftover Pulled Pork

We hope this has helped you learn new methods of reheating leftover pulled pork.

And if you’re struggling to figure out what to do with leftover pulled pork, we have some ideas! Here are some of our favorite ways to serve up delicious shredded meat:

• Pulled Pork Shepherd’s Pie
• Leftover Pulled Pork Tacos
• Pulled Pork Nachos
• Pulled Pork Hash
• Pulled Pork Grilled Cheese

What’s your fav way to use leftover pulled pork?

Smoke on!

Charlie 🙂

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