Can you eat cold pulled pork?

Pulled pork is one of the best foods you can add to your arsenal. First, pulled pork tends to spread, which means you can serve more meals and more people for less money.

If you don’t use pulled pork on occasion, you’re missing something. It’s a versatile meat that you can do a million different things with. Not only can you make multiple types of dishes, but you can freeze or refrigerate it and use it for days (or just months down the road).

Can you eat pulled pork cold? Yes. There are several ways to eat pulled pork: hot, cold, and everything in between. As long as the pulled pork is initially cooked to the right temperature, you can do whatever you want with it afterwards. 

We’ve put together a quick guide that will tell you everything you need to know about serving pulled pork, the best ways to cook it, and some ideas for using it cold. In the end, this guide will be useful for many things about pulled pork, but especially for eating it cold.

Read on for all the details and information you need to eat cold pulled pork and much more.

A Simple Guide to Pulled Pork

If you’re not familiar with pulled pork, it’s a pretty basic concept. Pulled pork is a common barbecue meat (ever tried Thai barbecue?) and a staple across the US for feeding large groups, catering, and enjoying parties or celebrations year-round .

Even if you don’t like barbecue, pulled pork is still a delicious food that can be used for a wide variety of things, including various recipes.

Here are some general ideas for using pulled pork:

1. pulled pork sandwich
2. A dressing (delicious on a baked potato)
3. Burritos
4. stews
5. Plain (perhaps with a little barbecue sauce)
6. Like meat for your salad
7. pork and beans
8. Egg rolls
9. pizza topping

These are just some basic ideas, but you can really do anything you want with pulled pork. It is a shredded meat so you can easily use it for any type of recipe that calls for shredded meat of any kind. You can substitute pulled pork in recipes for shredded meat.

What’s even better is that you can enjoy the pulled pork cold if you feel like it. The flavor is savory and satisfying, regardless of how you decide to use the meat.

How to make pulled pork

There are several ways to make pulled pork.  The three most common methods of making pulled pork are: smoking, baking, and slow cooking . The slow cooker has easily become one of the most resourceful tools in the kitchen, and it’s perfect for this kind of thing.

The basic concept of pulled pork is that the pork is cooked at low temperatures for longer periods of time. It is slow cooked to bring out all the best flavors and make the meat easy to shred for use .

We’re not going to detail each of these methods in this guide, but we do want to give you a general idea of the process of making pulled pork, just so you have a good overview of how the pulled pork product you’re going for is made. it makes reference.

Remember that there are several ways to make pulled pork and that there are multiple resources to find the best recipe based on the tools you have. We definitely recommend you try the slow cooker. On the other hand, the oven also does a great job. 

We’re going back to basics and we’ll share with you a smoking guideline for making pulled pork. We have decided to share this method because it is the general format of traditional pulled pork. 

1. You will need a pork shoulder, also commonly called a pig’s butt.
2. Prepare the meat with a rub or seasoning mix of your choice. Don’t get too complicated. Pork has its own saltiness, so a simple rub will go a long way for your pulled pork.
3. Heat your smoker to about 225 degrees. If you use a wood smoker, hickory or apple is best.
4. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the pork shoulder. The general rule is to cook 2 hours for each kilo of meat. However, you can reduce the time for large cuts.
5. Once you’ve heated the meat to 145 degrees, you can wrap it in aluminum foil and this could reduce the overall cooking time. Pork is at a safe temperature of 165 degrees.
6. The best cooking temperature is about 195 degrees. At 201 degrees you will get pulled pork that melts in your mouth. You can choose the one you prefer.
7. The pork is then shredded to make pulled pork.

Making pulled pork is not really a complicated process. You can expect the pulled pork to cook in the oven or slow cooker to take about the same amount of time as mentioned above.

Eating cold pulled pork

Are you ready for this part? One of the best ways to enjoy leftover pulled pork is to simply eat it cold. There are several things you can do with cold pulled pork, like putting it in a salad or making a sandwich out of it, which are all great options.

But you don’t have to do anything with it to make it really cold. You can just grab a handful and eat it straight from the fridge or you can serve it with a side dish and add some BBQ sauce.

All that is required to eat cold pulled pork is to cook it initially to the necessary temperature. Cold does not equal raw. You cannot eat raw pork at all, as it can make you very sick. 

One of the great things about pulled pork is that it’s an exceptionally versatile food that stores well and can be used to make any number of things, but doesn’t require a meal either. It can be served alone and is very good hot or cold.

So if you want something simple, take it straight out of the fridge and forget about reheating or cooking it. Just enjoy it cold! There are no steps to take here to eat your cold pulled pork . That option seems pretty self-explanatory: eat and enjoy.

If you want to reheat pulled pork, read our article on how to reheat pulled chicken, as the methods will be the same for pulled pork.

We want to cover cold storage methods to make sure you understand how they work and any limitations associated with them.

Refrigeration of pulled pork

You should not store pulled pork at room temperature. You will need to refrigerate or freeze it. These are the steps for cooling.

1. Place it in storage bags or containers that seal tightly. You can also cover a plate with aluminum foil and stir it like this.
2. Put the chosen storage method in the fridge.
3. Store it in the fridge for up to 5 days.

The most important thing is that you make sure that the pork is well sealed and that you do not try to extend its life too much. Spoiled pork is no fun and can leave you with food poisoning.

Freeze pulled pork

1. Let the pulled pork cool to room temperature
2. Place the pulled pork in freezer bags or tightly closed storage containers
3. Leave room at the top of the storage method, as the pork may expand slightly in the freezer.
4. label and date
5. Store in the freezer up to 6 months

When you’re ready to use your pulled pork, simply transfer it to the fridge the night before and give it a little time to thaw before using. As an additional note, you can enjoy it cold once thawed or reheat it to your liking.

If you also want to freeze the hamburger buns you used for the pulled pork sandwich, read our article on how to properly boil hamburger buns.

Related questions

We hope you found this guide on how to eat cold pulled pork helpful and informative and that you feel you can continue to enjoy cold pulled pork to your heart’s content.

We invite you to consult our questions and answers section for additional information that may be useful.

How can you tell if pulled pork has gone bad?

The best way to check the freshness of pulled pork is to smell it.  If your pulled pork just doesn’t have much of a scent or you just smell the seasonings on the pork, then it’s still okay. If the odor is strong, unpleasant, or has an ammonia-like aroma, you will need to throw it away.

How can I reheat pork?

The best way to reheat pulled pork is to simply cook it in something. If you are heating it for individual servings, you can microwave it for about 2 minutes. 

If you have a large skillet to reheat, heat it in the oven at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes.