GUINNESS PORK LOIN ROAST

Grilling with Guinness Stout Beer

Guinness Pork Loin Roast.....Just the name alone sounds great, doesn't it? This was a recipe I had to perfect through trial and error for sure. Since I am not a drinker, it was doubly difficult to find the right beer to infuse into the flavors I was adding to the pork. However, I had made many a beer can chicken in the past, so I decided to use beer in a different way all together.

My idea was to take the basic idea of beer brats and go ahead and actually boil the roast in the beer in order to maximize its role in the dish. I tried good ole Budweiser first, but it just didn't work for me. It was good, but just not what I was looking for. I have found that when it comes to grilling, Budweiser works better with poultry while Guinness Stout, not Draught, works best with pork and beef. Guinness seems to help create a thicker, darker, richer, au jus.

4-5 pound boneless half roast

2-3 16 ounce cans or bottles of Guinness stout or extra stout

2 sticks of butter or margarine

Fresh minced garlic ( I usually get the little jar from the store )

Black pepper

White pepper

Onion powder

Onion salt

Garlic powder

Garlic salt

Lemon Pepper

Tony Chachere's Cajun seasoning

Weber garlic and herb seasoning

Tone's garlic with parsley

Light brown sugar

Smoked paprika ( Hungarian if available, but Spanish is OK )

You will also need a grill with an upper rack if possible, but not all that necessary. However, a lid or cover is important. You want to be able to seal in the heat and moisture from the beer.

Start with the roast. I have never felt the need to tie it up or anything because it has never fallen apart. Since I do most of the cooking in a pan and baste the roast as I cook it, it comes out incredibly moist and tender anyways. Some of you may want to cut off any extra fat that is usually present on the roast, but I prefer to leave it because of the flavor which it will add to the juice.

Take a small knife and cut slits about an inch deep along the length of the roast. Get that jar of garlic and stuff the slits to brimming. Never enough garlic I say.

When it comes to the measurements for all the seasonings, I can't even begin to give you exact measurements because I usually just start dumping them all into a bowl and keep tasting till I have it right. The brown sugar can be used sparingly. You want just a hint of sweetness from the sugar, but don't necessarily want it to be sweet. I know there seems to be quite a lot of salt content so go lightly on all the seasonings containing salt.

Now take the rub and massage it all over the roast and don't be stingy with it. Place the roast into and aluminum roasting pan. I usually take two sticks of softened butter and simply smear it all over the top of the roast and then add 2 16 ounce cans of the Guinness stout to the pan. You are now ready to place the pan on the upper rack of the grill. If you do not have an upper rack, try not to place the pan directly over the flame.

This part is pretty easy because it is not one of those grill recipes which actually requires you to grill the meat the whole time. The roast will cook in the grill pan with the beer for about 5 hours. If using a gas grill, make sure the flame is set on low. If using charcoal, be sure you the coals a chance to die down a little. Of course, you will probably have to add some more coals at some point, but that's OK. The roast will not dry out at all.....I promise. The key is to either baste the roast once every half our or so, or do like I do and just go ahead and flip the whole sucker over every half hour or so.

Once the 2 cans of Guinness you initially put in gets low, you want to add one more can and another half a stick of butter. I never said it would be all that healthy. At this point, the roast should have been cooking for about 3-4 hours. Give it another flip and allow to continue cooking with the beer for an other hour or so.

Now for the actual grilling. Carefully remove the roast from the pan and place directly on the grill. I like to have geometric grill marks on my meats, so I usually let it sit for about 3 minutes and then turn the meat 90 degrees to get those beautiful grill lines you want to see. Once you have that side done, turn her over and repeat on the other side. About 6 minutes on each side should give you the desired texture and color on the crust.

You are now ready to carve the roast. As for all the beautiful bits that are now in there with the Guinness Au Jus, I would definitely keep it all in there. Some of you may prefer to strain it and serve the Au Jus pure, but that wouldn't be my style.

If done properly, this should be like one of the best things you have ever put into your mouth. It should be moist and like butter tender. The marriage of flavors should be so good as to make you want to reach out and smack somebody. I hope you all get a chance to prepare this and enjoy.

Hope You Enjoy This and Come Back To Tell Me What You Think