Guinness Pulled Pork

April 2024. Spring in Memphis, and I am 65, watching the azaleas and dogwoods bloom along my neighborhood walk, the annual resurrection that makes the winter worth surviving. The smoker wakes up in spring the way the whole city wakes up — slowly, with a stretch, then fully, with purpose.

Rosetta beside me through the week, steady as ever, the woman who runs this household with the precision of a hospital ward and the heart of a mother who has loved fiercely for 40 years of marriage.

I made cornbread in the cast iron skillet — buttermilk, cornmeal, bacon drippings, the recipe that goes back to Mama and before Mama to her mama and before that to wherever the tradition began. Baked at 425 until golden and crusty, the edges dark and lacy, the center soft and crumbling. Some weeks cornbread is enough. Some weeks the simplest food is the most profound.

The week ended on the porch with Rosetta, the evening settling over Orange Mound, the smoker cooling in the backyard. The fire was banked but not out — it's never out, just resting between cooks, holding the heat the way I hold the tradition: carefully, permanently, with the understanding that what Uncle Clyde gave me is not mine to keep but mine to pass, and the passing is the purpose.

The smoker doesn’t stay quiet for long. That fire Uncle Clyde gave me — the one I hold carefully, permanently, as something to pass and not just keep — needs feeding, and when the cornbread week gives way to the kind of week that calls for something deeper, this Guinness Pulled Pork is the answer the smoker has been waiting on. The stout does what a long smoke does: it darkens, deepens, and slow-draws the flavor out of the shoulder until there’s nothing left to prove. Rosetta sets it on the table and Orange Mound smells like purpose all over again.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 8 hours | Total Time: 8 hours 20 minutes | Servings: 10

Ingredients

4 1/2 lbs bone-in pork shoulder (pork butt), trimmed
1 can (14.9 oz) Guinness Draught stout
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 large yellow onion, sliced into rings
4 garlic cloves, smashed
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 cup your favorite BBQ sauce, plus more for serving

Instructions

Make the dry rub. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, salt, black pepper, and cayenne. Pat the pork shoulder completely dry with paper towels, then press the rub firmly onto all sides, coating evenly.
Build the base. Scatter the sliced onion rings and smashed garlic cloves across the bottom of a large (6-quart) slow cooker. Set the rubbed pork shoulder on top, fat side up.
Add the Guinness. Pour the stout and apple cider vinegar around the sides of the pork — not directly over the top — so the rub stays intact on the surface.
Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours, until the pork is fully fall-apart tender and registers 195°F–205°F on an instant-read thermometer. Do not lift the lid during cooking.
Rest and shred. Transfer the pork shoulder to a large cutting board and let it rest for 10 minutes. Using two forks, pull the meat apart into thick shreds, discarding the bone and any large pockets of fat.
Finish in the sauce. Return the shredded pork to the slow cooker. Stir in 1 cup BBQ sauce and mix well with the cooking juices. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, or vinegar as needed.
Serve. Pile onto toasted brioche buns or serve alongside buttermilk cornbread with extra BBQ sauce and pickled onions on the side.

Nutrition (per serving)

Guinness Pulled Pork — The Slow Cook That Keeps Uncle Clyde’s Fire Burning