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Apple Cider Brined Smoked Pulled Pork is a bone in pork roast that gets soaked in a sweet and salty apple cider brine overnight, covered it in the best dry rub, and smoked to perfection on the grill.
The meat is so tender that it shreds effortlessly and the flavor is unreal!
Why this recipe works:
Nothing says summer like some outstanding Apple Cider Brine Smoked Pulled Pork. This meat is so tender from the brine and flavorful from the dry rub and slow cooking.
Pulled pork is the best, wouldn’t you agree? Its so good.
This is one of my favorite pork dinner recipes. Because this recipe is so flavorful, no additional sauces are needed, but if you love a really good homemade BBQ sauce, both my Whiskey BBQ Sauce and my Carolina Mustard Barbecue Sauce are fantastic on pulled pork.
We have a Traeger and I love it. A lot. I use apple wood when I cook pork. But this will work on any grill as long as you can somewhat control the temperature and use a trusted meat thermometer to know when your meat is done.
Cooking tips:
- A bone-in roast with some fat on the outside is recommended as it will give you the most tender moist shredded pork. You will need pork shoulder or pork butt in order to make pulled pork. A tenderloin or loin roast will not work.
- Using a large oven bag like the kind you would use to roast a turkey is great for the brine. If you are able to squeeze out all of the air, the entire roast will be covered in the brine.
- Unfiltered apple cider is fantastic in this recipe and adds a ton of flavor.
- I did not use apple cider vinegar in this recipe, however you could add a small amount to the brine and it will tenderize the meat even more!
- Although 145 degrees Fahrenheit is the standard for most pork roasts, when roasting a pork shoulder or pork butt to make pulled pork, it’s also possible to roast/smoke until it reaches an internal temperature of approximately 195 degrees Fahrenheit, which can be more optimal for pulling.
Related recipes:
If you’re cooking a large pork shoulder roast, chances are you’re going to have some leftover pulled pork. After you’ve had your fill of pulled pork sandwiches, here are a few recipe ideas on how to use up the rest of all of that tasty tender pulled pork.
- Pulled Pork Nachos
- Cuban Pork Sandwich
- BBQ Pulled Pork Loaded Sweet Potato Fries
- BBQ Pulled Pork Quesadillas
- Pulled Pork Enchiladas with Sour Cream Sauce
- Pulled Pork Rigatoni
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Ingredients
Required Ingredients
- 1 6-10 pound pork shoulder or pork butt roast bone-in recommended, size of roast may impact cooking time
- 1/4 cup yellow mustard amount is approximate
- 1/4 cup dry rub amount is approximate, my recipe is recommended but store bought will work
Optional Pork Butt Brine
- 4 cups apple cider Trader Joe's unfiltered Honey Crisp Apple Cider recommended, but any kind of apple juice will work
- 2 cups water
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
Instructions
If using the brine:
- Rinse pork roast under cold running water. In a large oven bag or airtight container, combine apple cider, water, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and salt. Mix until sugar and salt have dissolved. Add the pork roast, cover or seal, and refrigerate (overnight is best).
Cooking directions:
- Heat smoker grill: When you're ready to cook your pork, preheat smoker grill to 225°F. If you have a meat injector, take some of the brine and inject it into the roast (this step is optional).
- Slather with mustard: Remove the roast from the brine mixture (if using) and blot dry with paper towels. Discard the remaining brine. Cover all sides of roast with mustard (use gloves or a brush).
- Coat in dry rub: Generously cover all sides of the mustard-covered pork roast with the dry rub.
- Slow Smoke Method: Put the roast on the grill with the fat side up and smoke for 10-20 hours or until the temperature of the roast reaches 195°F (continue cooking up to an internal temperature of 200°F for a softer and easier-to-pull-apart pork). Quick Smoke Method: Put the roast on the grill with the fat side up and smoke for 3 hours. Use an aluminum foil pan or make a boat out of heavy-duty aluminum foil and place the roast on top and place them back to the center of the smoker grill. Increase the temperature to 250°F and roast until the internal temperature reaches at least 195°F (continue cooking up to an internal temperature of 200°F for a softer and easier-to-pull-apart pork). The total cooking time for a roast this size can vary anywhere from 4-6 hours.
- Rest: Wrap tightly in aluminum foil. Allow it to rest for at least 20 minutes (minimum) up to a full hour (recommended). This will ensure the meat will easily shred.
- Shred: After the rest period, transfer the roast to a cutting board and pour any of the residual cooking juices that accumulated in the foil to a measuring cup. When the meat is cool enough to handle, separate the tender meat from the bone and fat (discard the bone and fat).
- Moisten meat: If any fat rose to the top of the cooking liquid, spoon it off and discard the fat. Alternatively, use a fat separator. Moisten the shredded meat with the remaining cooking liquid.
- Serve: Keep the shredded meat warm in a slow cooker on the warm setting or in a covered saucepan over low heat. Serve with soft brioche buns and your favorite BBQ sauce along with your favorite sides for a complete meal!
Notes
- A bone-in roast with some fat on the outside is recommended as it will give you the most tender moist shredded pork. You will need pork shoulder or pork butt in order to make pulled pork. A tenderloin or loin roast will not work.
- Using a large oven bag like the kind you would use to roast a turkey is great for the brine. If you are able to squeeze out all of the air, the entire roast will be covered in the brine.
- Unfiltered apple cider is fantastic in this recipe and adds a ton of flavor.
- I did not use apple cider vinegar in this recipe, however you could add a small amount to the brine and it will tenderize the meat even more!
- Although 145 degrees Fahrenheit is the standard for most pork roasts, when roasting a pork shoulder or pork butt to make pulled pork, it’s recommended to roast/smoke until it reaches a minimum internal temperature of approximately 195° Fahrenheit, which can be more optimal for pulling.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was originally published in November 2017 and has been updated with helpful information, ingredient and process photos, as well as recipe tips. Don’t worry – the recipe hasn’t changed!
Can I use apple cider, with alcohol? Or is it meant to be juice?
Meant to be apple cider or apple juice, not hard cider. Although, I think that might taste great too.
We did end up using hard cider cause the local convenience store didn’t have apple cider. It worked out great!
Good to know! Thanks for the follow up!!!
This was the best pulled pork I have ever made. I followed the recipe as written with the exception of putting it in the slow cooker versus smoking it. Added a little liquid smoke to the juices about an hour before it was done. My husband said the only thing that was wrong was he got full and couldn’t eat more😋 The Carolina mustard BBQ sauce was also delicious. Thanks so much for a wonderful recipe.
Hi Krissy.
Howdy everybody…
This is my fourth time with this brining and smoking procedure. The first two were learning experiences. As are all things in the kitchen. And this is what I’ve nailed it down to…
Plus the added twist for the brine before it comes into contact with the pork….
I also reduced the salt to 2 tbsps.
In a 6 qt. pot add
-4 qt. organic apple juice
-1 large navel orange sliced in 1/2 inch slices. ( I trim a 1/4 inch of the ends first and discard the ends)
-1 large Granny Smith apple cored and sliced in to 1/2 inch rings
-1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
– 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
-1 additional cup light brown sugar to coat the pork just before smoking
-1/4 tsp. red chili flakes
-2 tbsp kosher salt
-3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
-1/4 tsp. ground cloves
-8.945 lb. bone out Boston Butt
Bring the apple juice, the 1/4 c. brown sugar, chili flakes, apple, orange, salt and clove to a rolling boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
Reserve 1 pt. of boiled brine solution for later and 2 orange slices rind and all to dice up fine and mix into the finished pulled pork (Remember… no pork has been added yet.)
-Allow brine to cool to room temp and submerge the pork in the pot or in an oven roasting bag and refrigerate for 24hrs.
-Remove from brine.
-I also core another Granny Smith apple and slice into 8 wedges and insert into slots in the meat prior to putting in the smoker.
-Pat dry and coat in your favorite dry rub. My new favorite comes from Willowside Meats in Sonoma County.
I also tie the roast up with cotton cooking string into a uniform log shape to get an even temperature through out while smoking.
-When I put the pork in the smoker I pack the exterior with brown sugar and add 1/2 tsp. salt and pepper to the exterior. ( It makes an awesome sweet crusty bark when finished.
-Place the pork in the smoker ( have a Char-Griller brand smoker with the offset fire-box) that is already up to 175*F., fat side up in a heavy 4 inch deep foil pan with the built in wire handles.
-With the smoker running at 225* – 250* F.I let this run for approx. 3 hrs. or until an internal temp. of 150*F. is reached.
– During this time I inject the brine mixture into the pork and just under the fat every 1/2 hour.
-At this point I remove the the heavy foil pan and pork from the smoker and save the drippings and separate with a gravy separator. Discard the fat from the top.
(But not down the sink though…. Although the fat looks harmless at this point when warm… This will create major havoc in your pipes, garbage disposal and all plumbing. It will cool, turn into heavy grease. Liquid Plumber or boiling water won’t even remedy the blocked plumbing that you now need to remedy. This is an exercise in cooking. Not field triage plumbing…) So…discard into paper towels or paper bags or soup cans to be thrown away or saved for a rainy day….. You get the picture….
-I now wrap the pork in heavy duty aluminum foil. 3 to 4 layers wrapped tight from different directions on each wrap to ensure all the juices stay contained inside.
Return the the pork to the smoker and continue to inject the brine solution through one hole you make in the top so the juice doesn’t run out of the foil wrap you just created. Continue to cook with your smoker at a temp of 225-250* F. until an internal temp of 190*F. is reached. A little above 190* is always better than a little under. 200-210 is still ok. So 10 to 20 minutes at this temp. is good.
-Remove from the smoker and allow to cool and relax for at least an hour.
-Once cool enough to to handle safely, I cut the aluminum orb open with a serrated knife and clean or remove by hand any of the strange tissue or undistinguishable tissue matter from the pork.
-Transfer the pork to a large 8″x12″x3″ serving dish.
-Stir or mix in some of the separated drippings you saved from earlier
-You can add the finely chopped orange slices you saved earlier if you like too. The spiced orange flavor is amazing. Everybody thats tried it says its the best pulled pork they’ve ever tried!
-Serve on slider buns with coleslaw of your choosing.
Oh yeah… that pint of cooked brine you saved in the beginning… before the pork went in… Add 1 oz bourbon to 2 oz warm brine for a “unique sort of hot cider cocktail.
Hope you enjoy…
Steve J.
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Wow! So many great recommendations. Thanks for sharing your tweaks on the recipe!
Do you leave it uncovered the whole time you cook the pulled pork?
After the first 3 hours of smoking, Use an aluminium foil pan or make a boat out of heavy duty aluminum foil and place the roast on top. Increase the temperature to 250 degrees F and roast until the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees F, about 5-6 hours total.
Exactly. I had same question. And, I think that Krissy should clarify this in two places. The “aluminium boat” does not clarify if it is fully sealed or not.
Apologies for the confusion! I updated the recipe and am in the process of updating the post. The recipe card at the bottom is correct, but the body of the post isn’t quite finished, so I deleted the stuff that was conflicting. I’m so sorry! Summer has had me away from the computer for a bit…
Hi just now going to try pulled pore, saw your recipe and decided to try it, but i don ‘t see you dry rub recipe, is it the same as the brain
Hi Helen, I use this recipe for the dry rub: https://selfproclaimedfoodie.com/one-spoon-dry-rub/ After your roast soaks in the brine, remove it and coat it with this dry rub before smoking it. Enjoy!
Hi Krissy!
Can you use a spiced apple cider for this brine? Or would you recommend just the plain apple cider? I accidentally bought spiced cider and now I am questioning if this was a good choice. Thanks!
Hi Jenna, Honestly I don’t know if it will work or not. If it were me, I’d probably use it just to see how it will turn out, but I don’t want to tell you to do that in case it doesn’t. I’ve had meat with cinnamon and spices and absolutely loved it, but it might not be for everyone.
Agreed. I smoke a lot. 160-170F for good sliced pork. But hit a IT of 200, wrap it and let it sit. You’ll have the best pulled pork!
I made this recipe last night and it was delicious. Everyone devoured it and the mustard BBQ sauce was something different that we enjoyed. Not sure if I’d make it all the time, but it’s nice for a break.
Just as a side note, 160 is great for sliced pork. However, for PULLED pork, it is actually best to let it go to 200. I spent years thinking I overcooked my BBQ and it just wasn’t tender or it was dry. It’s because I wasn’t cooking it long enough. There is a very long temperature stall at 170 due to all the fat breaking down inside of it. Once the temperature stall is overcome, your pork will truly be tender and delicious and fall apart like butter.
How long would you cook it in a crockpot?
Hi Donna, about 8 hrs on low. -Krissy
Has anyone tried show cooking in an oven? Would I use the same temps?
I see u list in step 5 to roast at 250 till IT of 150 is reached… Don’t you want to continue till you reach 200-205? Or am I missing a step in your process
Btw… I’ve used your recipe with the rub and sauce a number of times and it’s bomb. It’s my go to pulled pork recipe and I’ve shared it with a number o smoking buds
Hi Sandi, The recommended internal temp for medium pork is 160, so I stop cooking at 150 and let the temp rise as the meat rests. 200-205 would completely dry the meat out. PS – I love the rub too and use it all the time! -Krissy
If you want fall apart meat you want to go to 200 degrees.This temperature will completely break down the collagen.Low and slow is the only way.
I always go to 200 degrees. I wrap the pork with in foil with some of my favorite juices at about 168 -170 degrees and then go to 204. I also spritz the pork with cherry Dr. Pepper about every hour prior to wrapping in foil. LOW and SLOW. The only way to go. 6/30/19 is my birthday. I currently have pork brining in 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup kosher salt, 1 teaspoon cracked pepper, 2 bay leaves and 6 cups of cherry Dr. Pepper. It will be in the frig. overnight and smoked low and slow with the method above. Yum
Happy birthday!!! And great tips. Thank you! Krissy
At or near 165, you will hit the dreaded stall. That’s when you need to wrap the roast. Cook until you hit about 185 (still wrapped), then remove from the smoker and keep wrapped and covered for an hour (I use a cooler). The meat has to rise above 185 to 200 for it to fall apart. In addition, I would not recommend using the brine to mop unless you keep it refrigerated to prevent food poisoning… But a cold mop will cause you to lose temperature. You would be better off just mopping with apple cider and apple cider vinegar mixture at room temp mixed fresh.
Such great recommendations. Thank you! I will use your method next time I make this.
totally right Krissy… get it to about 160, wrap in foil and let it sit for an hour or so
Seems you stop early. 160 is safe to eat the pork, but far from as tender as it could be. I also thought a step was left out. Slow and low to 200 is what I’ve read everywhere.
I’ll have to disagree on it being dry if you take it to 200. Like I mentioned before love this recipe… it’s my absolute go two. But at 150° your not even hitting the stall where the collagen starts to break down. I take it to IT 203-205° every time and end up withthe juiciest most awesome flavored fall apart farthest thing from dry pulled pork. When it hits 160-170° (somewhere around the stall) I’ll move it to a foil pain and start catching juices .
A temp of 200 degrees is appropriate for a pulled pork. A temp of 160-180 means it’s cooked and sliceable. This does not give you a pulled pork effect.
Just a heads up…My pork turned grey from the brine. I believe there was too much acid in the brine
Did you use apple cider or apple cider vinegar? My recipe calls for juice, not vinegar.