Steaks may be air-fried in your air fryer with such ease. These unquestionably stand up to a grilled steak. The rib-eyes can be marinated in the morning before you leave for work and cooked at night.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 8 hrs |
| Additional Time: | 12 hrs 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 20 hrs 40 mins |
| Servings: | 20 |
Ingredients
- 1 (8 pound) pork shoulder roast
- 1 quart apple cider, or as needed
- 5 tablespoons white sugar
- 5 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 3 cups hickory chips, or more as needed, soaked in water
- 1 onion, chopped
Instructions
- Place pork shoulder in a large pot and add enough apple cider to cover. Combine white sugar, brown sugar, salt, paprika, onion powder, black pepper, and garlic powder in a bowl. Mix 1/4 cup of sugar rub into cider; reserve remaining rub. Cover the pot and refrigerate for 12 hours.
- Preheat the smoker to 210 degrees F (99 degrees C). Add enough wood chips to the smoker.
- Pour cider brine into the water pan of the smoker; add onion and 1/4 cup more sugar rub.
- Spread remaining sugar rub over pork shoulder. Transfer pork to the center of the smoker.
- Smoke pork until very tender or until it reaches an internal temperature of 200 degrees F (95 degrees C), about 8 hours. Monitor hickory chips and liquid, adding more as needed.
- Transfer pork to a large platter and cool for 30 minutes before shredding with forks.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 442 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 15 g |
| Cholesterol | 104 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 24 g |
| Saturated Fat | 11 g |
| Sodium | 2691 mg |
| Sugars | 13 g |
| Fat | 32 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I really like this seasoning, I save the extra and use for french fries
This recipe was amazing! Restaurant quality results! I took one reviewers suggestion to make BBQ sauce out of the marinade and it is GOLD!!
Slightly easier method to brine: rib the shoulder with the 1/4 C, then place in X-Large Ziploc bag, then add the cider, and place in large stainless bowl. Marinating/brining in a bag always keeps more juices closer to the protein. This worked for my 11 pound shoulder, and as others noted, smoking was closer to 12 hrs.
Beautiful! I did 2 pork shoulders for my grandson’s 1st birthday. Popped in at 0600 and out at 2100. Slow smoked @ 180 degrees for 6hrs then 225 for another 6hrs then gradually up to 300 degrees to set that nice bark. Finished the meat at 200 internal temp. Served with Guy Fieri kansas city sauce. Good recipe
Excellent – I smoked it at 200 degrees to an internal temp of 200. It was almost too well done. I could have made smoked pork pate. ( I don’t know how to type the little thing over the “a” and the other little thing over the “e” to make it French like duck pate.) It was delicious and I’ll do it again trying an internal temp of less than 200 degrees.
Great recipe! Mike’s sauce suggestion is an incredible addition to this recipe too.
First time using our pit boss smoker! This turned out excellent overall. I was one of the people that didn’t READ! It’s not apple cider vinegar, it’s just plain apple cider! But it didn’t taste vinegary and we read the comments noting this mistake, so we removed the water bath/vinegar and onion mixture and used a peach juice we had instead. Which honestly probably was not all that necessary. We ended up cooking the Boston butt in the oven at 350 for a couple of hours the next day, but it was otherwise cooked as noted, about 7 hours or so on 225 for a 6 lb roast. It was at 167 when we pulled it out and decided to finish off the next day. It pulled apart pretty well over all, but we will cook longer and get started earlier next time. I’d like more of a spice to it, but this was still great even though we goofed on the apple cider part.
I’ve been using this recipe for years, couple things I do different, I smoke the meat at 225F and I smoke it for 14-16 hours. I use an electric smoker, so set and forget, it holds heat very well and takes this long.
Came out sooo tender and the rub& brine were delicious!!
I did everything except cut all ingredients in half as I had a shoulder that was half the size as recipe called for did and didn’t use Temps suggested did 225 for 4 hours then upped it to 250 when I wrapped it and waited for internal temp to reach 200. Turned put amazing a little sweeter then I would make but tasted delicous I used my own bbq sauce though
This recipe is always great. The only ingredient I add is I coat the the top (fat side) with mustard prior to applying the rub. I admit that I was frustrated the first time I made it due to the same complaint several others have stated. That is, the cooking time is not correct. If you can get it done in 8, you’re lucky. Be prepared to smoke it for 12. It’s not the recipe, it IS THE FAT CONTENT IN THE THE SHOULDER. It may “stall” after 6-8 hours (probably around 165°) and go no further. If you have time, wait it out, it should resume. If not, you can cheat by pulling it out, wrapping it in foil and finishing it in the oven by cranking it up to 325-350 with a meat thermometer to get it to the internal temperature you desire. Works every time and avoids friends and family thinking you’re a moron that can’t tell time, without compromising the integrity of your masterpiece!
I would give this 4.75 stars. It is really close to 5 stars. Changes I made or will make for next time. Next time I make this I’m going to have my grill/smoker a little hotter. I cooked between 250°-275°, 8-9 lb. Roast cooled for 10 hours to get internal temperature to 170°. next time I’ll be closer to 300°.
This was the most bland pork I have ever had. I am so glad I decided to only use half a roast because I would’ve been upset to waste an entire one. Barely any flavor or taste outside of sweetness. Even bbq sauce couldn’t save it. 0/10 for this recipe.
VERY VERY tender. Smoked pork shoulder until it reached 160. Finished if off on the smoker at 325 temp until internal reached 190. Let it sit for 30 mins. Wow you can use a fork to cut it. Flavour was great
The ingredients and the brining instructions are great, however the cooking instructions are lacking. I’ve made this several times but i cook at 225°f until the internal temperature is 204°f. That could be 12 to 14 hours depending on the size of the shoulder. I also spray a mist of apple juice every couple hours. After cooking I wrap it in tinfoil, then wrap that in okd ckean towels and place that in an old cooler for 2 hours. After that I use a pair of meat rippers. The meat just falls apart! Heaven!
I’ve been cooking for 40 years, and I’m pretty good at it. I followed this recipe to the letter, but after 8 hours on my smoker the meat was solid like a roast. So I read the comments for helpful hints, and at the suggestion of several I gave it 2 more hours. Still no softening. I salvaged the dish by slow-simmering the meat for 2 hours.
I live in eastern NC and folks in this state are very particular about their pulled pork. Folks I made this for were impressed with this Yankee for making BBQ that good. rave reviews. The layers of flavor from the brine, rub and smoke make this a winner regardless of the condiment requirements (we have 3 distinct BBQ types). FYI: A Picnic will take significantly longer than 8 hrs, think closer to 12 -16hrs for pull apart tenderness. 8 hrs will work but you will have to chop the pork up.
I have a question. For an 8lb, do I smoke it for 8hrs. Where it says additional 12 hr has got me confused. I understand the internal temp. This will be my first time smoking one
Tasty recipe, I also add diced onions and garlic! I toss it into this marinade for 12-16 hours, flipping it over halfway through. I start smoking at midnight. 8hrs @ 210F gets you to 165F, full 9lb butt (usually two) directly on the rack. I then crank it up to 250-275, put the butts into the marinade tin with the marinade, and cook for 4hrs to finish it off at 205F. I add some of that juice into the shredded pork. I may boil it down next time. Really tasty!
Man oh man am I glad I found this gem of a recipe. I wanted to give a go at smoking my first Pork butt (shoulder) and this recipe was a winner! My shoulder was just over 7lbs. I followed the recipe exactly for the rub/brine. I used the suggestion from a fellow reviewer and added mustard to the pork before adding the dry rub. The bark that was creating was absolutely amazing!! I’ll definitely be giving this another go.
This was the first time that I ever made pulled pork. It was competition quality. I will definitely be using this recipe every time I smoke a pork shoulder.