Best Smoked Pork Steaks

Smoked pork steak are shown on a platter with barbeque sauce and boiled corn.

Juicy, tender hickory smoked pork steaks are brined (recommended) then seasoned with dry rub and smoked until perfectly cooked.

5 from 2 votes

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Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

Servings: steaks

Calories: 307kcal

Author: Milena Perrine

Ingredients

4 pork shoulder steaks about ¾ to 1 inch thick
3 tablespoon dry rub or to taste*
½ cup flavorful liquid chicken stock, apple juice or apple cider vinegar to spray/brush

BRINE

¼ cup kosher salt
½ cup dark brown sugar
4 cups water** see notes

Instructions

BRINE (OPTIONAL STEP)

In a small sauce pan combine the salt, brown sugar and 1 cup of water. Bring to simmer and stir to dissolve the salt and sugar. Add the solution to a large, non-reactive bowl with 3 heaping cups of ice and 1 cup of water. Stir to cool down. Add the pork steaks, cover with plastic and refrigerate. Brine for 6 to 12 hours.

SMOKED PORK STEAKS

Bring the raw pork steaks to room temperature and pat them dry. (If you brined them first, pat them dry really, really well and discard the solution) . Season them with the dry rub.
Set up your smoker as per the manufacturer's instructions. Heat the chamber to 225 - 250F range. Add the wood also per the manufacturer's instructions. (Make sure you have sufficient amount of charcoal and wood to maintain the temperature range for 3-4 hours.)
Grease the rack/grate with oil and place the seasoned pork steaks on top. Close the lid and smoke for about 2 ½ hours. Every 30 minutes brush the steaks with the flavorful liquid of your choice and flip the steaks over.
After the second hour begin to check for tenderness - the internal temperature should be in the 180-190 F.
If you want to use barbecue sauce, generously brush the steaks about 10-15 minutes before you decide to remove them from the smoker.
Once the steaks have reached your desired tenderness, transfer them to a platter and tent them with foil before you rest them for 10 minutes. If using BBQ sauce you can brush them once more before the resting period. Serve.

Notes

*Use your favorite dry rub or combine: 2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, 2 teaspoon paprika, 2 teaspoon garlic powder, 2 teaspoon onion powder (for a total of 3 tablespoon of dry rub).

NOTE: If you used a brine the salt in the dry rub should be just a little bit, so feel free to reduce it and add a bit more of the other ingredients. Or use a prepared dry rub you like with minimal salt content.

***To speed things up use 1 cup water to heat and dissolve the salt and sugar, 3 cups in the form of ice cubes (they should be heaping to come close to the needed water volume) and 1 cup as cold water. You will not need to wait for the brine to cool down.

Nutrition