Cider Brined Pulled Pork
On September 03, 2019 (Updated October 17, 2024)
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This salty, sweet apple Cider Brined Smoked Pulled Pork is made from pork shoulder that is brined then smoked and slow roasted to tender, fall-apart perfection.
Smoked Pulled Pork
One of the reasons that I fell so hard in love with my grill is because of how SIMPLE it is to cook dinner for my family. I am a mom of 3, and, to be honest, getting dinner on the table every night can be a pain in the butt. From deciding what to make, to grocery lists, to shopping trips, to the second shopping trip because you forgot stuff on the first trip, it can suck. The weekends have become my favorite time to cook outside with my family and meal prep for the upcoming week. My most favorite thing to do in bulk that we do over and over again on the weekends is pulled pork.
If you have followed along at Hey Grill, Hey for any amount of time you are probably aware of my pulled pork/ pulled pork leftovers obsession. I think it stems from the fact that pulled pork is so dang simple to make, it is one of the MOST inexpensive (always under $2.00/lb) cuts of meat, and there are leftovers for DAYSSSSS which means easier meal prep for me during the entire week.
If I maximize my grill space, then I can double this pulled pork recipe, portion into bags and freeze for future use. It is a life changer, truly, and helped me get over that “what am I cooking for dinner tonight” dilemma. Oh, and smoking pulled pork is completely to die for, so this recipe is a totally win-win.
Pulled Pork Brine
This pulled pork is brined in apple cider, making it completely and utterly delicious. The apple cider pulled pork brine perfectly accentuates the natural sweetness of the pork. The flavor is in every single bite of pork because not only is it brined from the outside, it is also INJECTED with the brine.
Prepare yourself, friends. This is your chance to play mad scientist and go all in with a giant syringe! It is so freaking fun. If you don’t have a meat injector, it would be worth buying one just for this recipe. Or don’t buy one and just enjoy the (still) amazingly delicious flavor from the brining process alone. This pulled pork is just so succulent and juicy and it is all from that tasty brine, so I love getting the flavor into the meat as much as I can.
How to Brine and Smoke Pulled Pork
So here’s the rundown of how I save money, time, and effort and still feed my family like they are legit royalty without me really trying very hard.
- Friday evening: Place the pork butts in the brine. Refrigerate.
- Saturday morning (7 AM): Pull the pork butts out of the brine, pat down with a paper towel, and inject with some of the brine liquid. Cover liberally with my Signature Sweet Rub (homemade or you can buy your own bottle). Place the butts on the smoker preheated to 225 degrees F. Bring 6 cups of the brine to a boil (to protect against cross contamination) and then refrigerate. Mop the butts once per hour with some of the reserved brine.
- Saturday morning (10 AM): Transfer the pork butts to disposable aluminum pans and fill the bottom of each with 1 cup of the reserved brine. At this point, you can return to the smoker and increase the heat to 250 degrees F, or you can place it in your oven at 250 degrees. If at any point during the day, your pork starts to look a little too dark for your liking, cover it tightly with heavy duty foil.
- Saturday afternoon (about 3 or 4 PM): Start checking your temperature. Always use an internal thermometer to check your pork butts. Aim for 195-200 degrees F. This can take anywhere from 6-9 hours after you place them in the foil pans . If your pork butts are done before dinner time, no problem! Just pull the whole foil wrapped tray and place it in a cooler with some towels to keep it hot!
- Saturday evening (10 minutes before chow time): It’s time to shred your pork. Pour the excess cooking liquid into a large measuring cup and set aside while you shred. You can use 2 forks, some Bear Paws (my personal favorite), or whatever you love to get that pork shredded and the extra fat/gristle removed and discarded. Once your pork is shredded, grab your cooking liquids. The fat should have risen to the top, so skim that off with a spoon or a fat separator, and drizzle some of the juices onto the pork to moisturize everything and make it extra yummy! Now serve as much as you want to your family!
Pulled Pork Recipes
I like to plan at least 2 meals for the upcoming week with pulled pork and freeze the rest for future meals. If you need inspiration for your pulled pork leftovers, look no further!
Pulled Pork Huevos Rancheros
The Smoky Cuban Sandwich
Loaded Baked Potatoes
Cider Brined Pulled Pork Recipe
Watch the video below, and let’s make some really good food! I’m all about helping you make better BBQ, feed the people you love, and become a BBQ hero. Head on over to YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook for more behind the scenes action!
Cider Brined Pulled Pork
Video
Ingredients
- 1 bone-in pork shoulder or Boston butt 5-7 lbs
- 1/4 cup Signature Sweet Rub for seasoning the pork butt after the brine
- Buns and BBQ sauce for serving (if desired)
Cider Brine
- 6 cups apple cider
- 4 cups water
- 2 cups apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup salt
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp onion powder
- 1/3 cup Signature Sweet Rub for use in the brine
Instructions
- In a large plastic container or food safe bucket, combine all of the brine ingredients and stir until the salt and sugar crystals have completely dissolved. Be sure the pork is almost fully immersed in the brine. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, but no more than 12 hours.
- When ready to cook, start your smoker going at 225 degrees F and preheat, lid closed, for 10 to 15 minutes. While the grill gets up to temperature, remove the pork from the brine and set on a large cookie sheet with raised edges. Do not discard the brine liquid. Pat the meat dry with a paper towel. Using a meat injector, inject the pork with some of the remaining brine about every two inches across the entire roast. Pour about 6 cups of the remaining brine into a pot and bring to a boil to kill any raw pork germs and discard the rest.
- Now that the meat is brined and injected, it is time to rub. Rub the Sweet Rub liberally onto your pork butt, using your hands to massage the rub across every surface of the meat.
- Put the pork directly on your grill grate, fat-side up, and cook for 3 hours, mopping with your reserved brine every hour after the first hour.
- After 3 hours, the pork is going to have taken on as much smoke flavor as it can, so it is time to turn up the heat! Transfer your roast to a large disposable aluminum foil pan and pour about 1 cup of the brine liquid in the bottom of the pan. Increase your grill temperature to 250 degrees F, and cook for 6 to 8 additional hours, or until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat (but not touching bone) registers 195 to 200 degrees F. If the pork starts to brown too much, you can cover it loosely with aluminum foil. I usually put foil on after the pork has been on for 6 hours or so, but that is personal preference.
- Once your pork is up to temperature, remove it from the grill and carefully transfer it to a large cutting board or serving dish and let it rest for at least 20 minutes. Pour the juices from the bottom of the aluminum pan into a liquid measuring cup and separate any fat that rises to the top. Now it's time to pull the pork into lovely shreds. You can use your hands, Bear Paws, or whatever method you like Discard the bone and any lumps of fat, including the cap. Season the pulled pork with additional rub (if desired) and moisten with the reserved pork juice.
- Serve on buns with BBQ sauce, if you like! Freeze any leftovers in labeled gallon freezer bags. Will keep in the freezer for at least a month for your future use.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
**This post was originally published in November 2015. It has since been updated with more tips, but the recipe remains the same as the original**
Hi Susie, came across your website last week and I must say I’m very impressed. I’ve tried a couple of your recipes and all I can say is. Yummy! I live as far away from a Utah as I can possibly get Esperance, Western Australia. We can’t get American style Apple cider. The stuff they call apple cider is more like apple flavoured soda. Can 100 percent apple juice be substituted to make your cider brined pulled pork? I’m responsible for providing pulled pork for my daughters wedding reception (ring ceremony) so I want something totally awesome. Thanks Tim
Hey Tim! Hi from so far away! I’m glad you found my site! You can absolutely sub apple juice straight across for the apple cider.
I’m glad I looked at these comments! I’m from Western Australia too and I just made the brine with our apple cider! It’s alcoholic and carbonated and was fizzing like crazy… I have just made it again with apple juice!
I’ve tried a few of your recipes too and is my go to for smoking now.
I’m glad you read them too!! I need to go back and add in a note for my Australian friends!
You did it again Susie. What an awesome method. I made 3 10 pound butts for my daughter’s wedding rehearsal dinner. Everyone was amazed at the taste and how moist the pork was. It was a lot of extra work but worth it with the end result. Thanks again, you always post things that hit it out of the park.
Thank you so much Rich!! This is definitely one of those recipes with a few extra steps, but I’m so glad you thought it was worth it!
hi everyone!
seasonal greetings from ireland.
just a quick question, I don’t have a ‘smoker’ but i was wondering if i could roast it low and slow
instead ?
thanks in advance
kevin
also my pork shoulder is 8.5lb- how many people should I put in serving box calculator to find out the
required amount of ingredients for the brine?
thanks
kevin
Hi Kevin-
You can absolutely roast instead of smoking. An 8.5 pound roast should serve 15 people.
wow!!!
Such a prompt reply, Thanks a million.
I’m going to cook it for New years day, I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.
Well…we’re waiting.
So I’m not much of a recipe follower but this brine is top notch! And to make things better I used the rub and mop sauce recipe from your bourbon brown sugar butt recipe because that made my mouth water. The result was out of this World! Keep the recipes coming. And thank you from the bottom of my stomach! ????????????
Why not bring any longer than 12 hrs? I have brined for 2 days before with no issues. Is it because of the vinegar?
Hey Jay- exactly right about the vinegar. Salt brines are a bit different, the vinegar in this brine is acidic enough to actually start to break down the protein after too long and will result in mushy pork.
Thx
Do you know if I brine for eight hours then drain the brain off and save it and then put a dry rub on it for another eight hours does the vinegar still have the same affect as if it was sitting in the brine longer than 12 hours ?
No, once it is out of the brine, it won’t continue brining like when it was submerged.
I leave mine in the brine for 24 hours with no issues. By the way, I use this recipe slightly modified and it always gets praises.
That’s great! Recipes are just guidelines. Do what works for you!
Hello! This recipes sounds delicious and I plan to make it soon but do you have any suggestions for the smoker step if I don’t have one? Thank you!
Hey Jane- this recipe can easily be adapted for the crock pot! Just follow the steps for the brine and seasoning and put in a slow cooker with a couple cups of the brine liquid. Cook over low heat for 8-9 hours or high for 5 1/2 hours. If you don’t have slow cooker, you can place the seasoned shoulder in a baking dish with some of the brining liquid, cover the pan with foil, and cook for about 3-4 hours at 325 degrees F.
Thank you for the video and recipes! I’m getting ready to try this, this weekend, can’t wait!
Two questions:
-The recipe posted above, omits the ground mustard and cayenne pepper used in the video. Was that intentional, or should I leave out those two ingredients? -Is the rub recipe also just for one butt, or do I need to double it for two butts?
Thanks!
Hey Marshall! The simple recipe here is a great starting point. I recommend going for the recipe with the mustard and cayenne if you have the ingredients on hand!
Also, the recipe should make enough for two butts but I always double the recipe anyways so I have some on hand for next time.
Thanks for the quick reply!
Hi, my name is Johnny I read MR. MARSHALL ADAMS, 02/16/17 comment about the omitted ground mustard and cayenne pepper, and I watched the video twice to see if they added the the two missing ingredients neither the video or the posted recipe has it so what is the recipe he is talking about? and what is the link to that recipe?
Hey Johnny- he’s referring to the Sweet Rub I used for this pork butt. Here’s a link: https://heygrillhey.com/best-sweet-rub-grilled-pork-chicken/
Those seasonings sound good!
My old smoker disintegrated after 10 long faithful years and I decided to break in a new one and learn how it cooks. I came across this recipe and decided to give it a try. After putting my Boston Butt in the brine I realized I had a lot of space left. I took a whole pork loin I had purchased and threw it in to take up the space overnight. Same rub applied to both. Apple wood on the smoker at 8 AM and off we go! Pulled the tenderloin off after five hours and 155 deg internal temperature for lunch. Sliced thinly and what an amazing flavor it has! My girlfriend and her mother couldn’t keep their hands out of the plate!!! What a wonderful compliment of cider and vinegar, along with the brown sugar and freshly cracked pepper in the rub. Still another treat awaited 3 hours later when the butt hit 195 deg!!! Took it off and headed to the high school football game. Came back and shredded and everyone is in bliss again!! This is going to become one of my staple pork recipes! Scanned your site and found some other recipes that also peaked my interest! Thanks for sharing!
Hey Troy! Thank you SO much for taking the time to come back and leave a comment! Next time I make this recipe, I’m putting a pork loin in with the pork butt. That sounds amazing!! I hope to hear from you if you try any more recipes. Happy smoking!
I used your apple cider brined pulled pork recipe at my church’s annual Grill Off yesterday. I won the pulled pork category. My wife liked it so much she’s having me make it again next week for her birthday. Thanks!
That is so awesome Dave! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment. It made my night! Wish your wife a Happy Birthday for me.
is this recipe for one or two butts
Hey Phoebe! The recipe as written is for 1 pork butt. I always double it though and freeze the extras. Hope that helps!