I’ve wanted one of these pellet smokers forever and we finally added one to our back porch this past summer and we’ve been using it non-stop. I had no idea how easy they were! If you’re not familiar with them, it’s a wood smoker with an electric temperature gauge, so you basically push a button and it’s all automatic. No babysitting fires, staring at thermometers, or anything. Wood pellets are burned, creating smoke that circulates around your food and infusing it with flavor. I have this Camp Chef Woodwind and I genuinely LOVE it. If you’re interested in smoking meat, but intimidated, I can’t even stress how easy this is.
One of the first things I started experimenting with was pork, because it’s so easy and forgiving (and inexpensive! Never try out a new toy with an expensive cut of meat- I’m looking at you, Instant Pot users.) Plus smoked pork is just so, so good. My only gripe about a big ol’ pork roast is that it takes a LONG time and there’s just no way around it. You don’t want to speed it through, low and slow is the name of the game with most smoke recipes. So you either have to get up crazy early in the morning to throw it on the smoker, or perhaps cook overnight or cook one day and eat the next. I’ve experimented with a few different methods and you’ll just have to figure out what works for you. I’ve found cooking it completely one day and then reheating it the next day in my steam oven is just as good as eating it fresh out of the smoker so I’ve done that a few times as well.
Ingredient Notes
Don’t be intimidated by the long ingredient list on this recipe. It’s necessary since it has several steps, but it’s not hard to pull together!
Pork Butt/Shoulder Roast – For pulled pork, I always go with a Pork Butt (also labeled Pork Shoulder). This is a large bone-in roast. You can also find little boneless roasts about half this size if you want to make a smaller batch in your crock pot (I’ll explain!) With pork, you lose volume from the roast with the fat and the bones, so if I’m estimating size, I usually go for 1lb per person. Rub Brown sugar Garlic powder Onion powder Kosher salt Black Pepper Smoked paprika Dry mustard Coriander Chili powder Spray Apple cider Apple Cider Vinegar For Braising Apple cider Crisp red apples Onions Sauce Ketchup Apple jelly Apple cider Liquid smoke Worcestershire sauce Chili powder Onion powder Pan juices from the roast
How to Make Apple Cider Braised Smoked Pulled Pork
Prep: Cure
To start, I score my roast, mix up a dry rub and rub it all over the pork and then let it sit in the fridge over night.
Step 1: Smoke and Spray
Pork roasts cook in a 2 part process. The first part is smoking directly on the grill like that to absorb the smoke flavor. This roast smokes for about 5 hours like this. I fill a clean spray bottle with apple cider and apple cider vinegar and give it a good spritz about once an hour.
Step 2: Finish Cooking by Method of Choice
The second part is cooking covered, and with liquid to tenderize that meat until it falls apart. In this recipe I’m cooking it in apple cider, with fresh apple and onion slices. So you have 3 options for part 2:
Finish
The pork should fall right apart. See that pink in there? That’s the infamous smoke ring- where all that smoke flavor is! And the apples and onions will be totally cooked and soft and they’ll just kind of mix right in with the pork. It’s okay if they dissolve into mush, that’s how they should be.
Serve
Pile the meat on buns and drizzle the sauce over, or eat it plain, or whatever! It’s smoky and flavorful and so tender!
