Honey Brined Smoked Pulled Pork Recipes

SOY HONEY BRINE

Steps:

• In a large saucepot, simmer first three ingredients until solids are dissolved. Add apple juice and submerge pork belly in mixture. Place in the- refrigerator for 3 days.
• After three days have passed, remove the pork from the brine, rinse the belly, and pat dry with paper towels. Lay on a rack over a sheet pan and place in front of a fan for 1 hour to form a pellicle. Lay the pork in the protein box of a cold smoker and smoke for 4 to 6 hours. Chill the meat in the freezer for 1 hour to stiffen for easy slicing into strips of bacon. Slice what you need and keep the remainder in a freezer safe bag in the refrigerator or freezer.
• Place the strips of bacon onto a sheet pan fitted with a rack and place into a cold oven. Turn the oven to 400 degrees and cook for about 12 to 15 minutes, depending on how crispy you like your bacon. Remove from rack and drain on paper towels. Enjoy.

HONEY BBQ PULLED PORK IN THE SLOW COOKER

Steps:

• Place onions into the bottom of a slow cooker and place garlic on top. Top with pork roast and season with pepper and salt. Pour BBQ sauce over the top of the roast, making sure all is covered, including onions and garlic. Pour honey on top of the roast only.
• Cover and cook on High until meat is easily shredded with 2 forks, about 6 hours, or on Low for 12 hours.

BOB'S PULLED PORK ON A SMOKER

Steps:

• 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 about 1/4 cup sugar rub into cider; reserve remaining rub.
• Cover pot and refrigerate for 12 hours.
• Prepare smoker to about 210 degrees F (99 degrees C). Add enough wood chips to smoker.
• Pour cider brine into the water pan of the smoker; add onion and about 1/4 cup more sugar rub. Spread remaining rub over pork shoulder. Transfer pork to the center of smoker.
• Smoke pork until very tender, about 8 hours. Monitor hickory chips and liquid, adding more wood and water, respectively, as needed. Transfer pork to a large platter and cool for 30 minutes before shredding with forks.

HONEY BRINED SMOKED PULLED PORK

Steps:

• Combine the hot water and the salt (brine ingredients) in a 54-quart cooler. Stir until the salt dissolves. Stir in the vegetable broth and the honey. Add the ice and stir. Place the pork in the brine, fat cap up, and cover with cooler lid. Brine overnight, up to 12 hours.
• Remove the pork from the brine and pat dry thoroughly. Rub the butt(s) with the vegetable oil. Then add your favorite rub mixture (I included recipe for mine above). Wrap in plastic wrap and allow to sit in fridge at least 3 more hours. Then remove and rest at room temperature for 1 more hour while you pre-heat the grill to 250 degrees F.
• Using a smoker, place pork over indirect heat in smoker with hickory wood, (if you have one, insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the pork, and set the alarm for 165 degrees F. If you don't have one, you will have to use a stick thermometer every hour after about 10 hours.) Close the lid and cook for at least 4 hours.
• After 4 hours check the pork; if the surface is golden brown, cover with aluminum foil tent and continue cooking. Once the butt(s) reach 165 degrees F (about 14 hours), remove from grill, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 1 hour. Shred then add favorite bbq sauce. (The best brand is Sven's Sizzlin Sauce, but if you can't find that Famous Dave's Sweet and Zesty will work as well.).
• For my homemade Carolina Style bbq sauce (also good as a marinade):.
• 5 cups cider vinegar 5 tbl kosher salt 2 ½ tsp cayenne pepper 1 tbl + 2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes ¾ cup brown sugar.
• Combine and allow to sit at room temperature for at least 6 hours to let flavors blend before using. I usually make it just before I load the meat into the smoker. Then add this sauce to moisten the shredded meat about 1 cup at a time until meat is wet enough to your liking. (About 3½ to 4 cups per 10 pounds of meat for me, you may not like as much or more, here's a hint: taste often until it's the way you like it.) Then you can add some of the store brand sauce of your choice, to "kick it up a notch", if you wish.
• Then, I usually finish it by adding a little more of the dry rub. Feel free to experiment with this one, you may or may not want to add any more once the sauce is applied.