Rich G
TVWBB Honor Circle
Last night, we had my sister over to celebrate her birthday. In honor of the Mexican victory over the French on May 5th, 1862, I decided on making up some carnitas and fresh flour tortillas for tacos. This cook is a redux of THIS ONE from 2021, and I employed a couple of the tweaks that @Michael Richards added during that summer. The carnitas cook is a medium length one at 7-8 hours, but is not terribly challenging, and turned out exceptionally well!
First step was cutting my 5lbs of boneless pork shoulder into chunks, which I seasoned with Lawry's Taco Seasoning, and popped onto a 230° grill. About 3 hours in,they were looking good!
![1715002124288.jpeg 1715002124288.jpeg](https://tvwbb.com/data/attachments/90/90384-f4dac8f1b2a02cd734f7629d7039757a.jpg?hash=9NrI8bKgLN)
After four hours, the pork came off, got cut up into smaller pieces and went into a 6qt dutch oven along with three small oranges off our tree (juiced, and rinds), one lime (juiced, no rind), a white onion, 6 dried peppers (3 Ancho, 3 Guajillo), some garlic, and a couple of bay leaves. Topped up with water, covered, and back on the grill now at 350° (could always finish inside since it's covered.)
![1715002270651.jpeg 1715002270651.jpeg](https://tvwbb.com/data/attachments/90/90385-3f46d401d5c073c961c2cad3e35126da.jpg?hash=P0bUAdXAc8)
![1715002280459.jpeg 1715002280459.jpeg](https://tvwbb.com/data/attachments/90/90386-a84917adcf24eb2cc2a0fe65038a0889.jpg?hash=qEkXrc8k6y)
After four hours, the pork came off again, and I drained it, reserving the juices (and fat.) The pork got shredded, then I let it rest while I got my tortillas made up....
![1715002345848.jpeg 1715002345848.jpeg](https://tvwbb.com/data/attachments/90/90387-455d81375b3260b2240cb5f1bb97e302.jpg?hash=RV2BN1syYL)
![1715002356581.jpeg 1715002356581.jpeg](https://tvwbb.com/data/attachments/90/90388-4072fa728da456d8bedec1769b3f74b7.jpg?hash=QHL6co2kVt)
I'm still using THIS RECIPE for the tortillas, and I still use a press since I'm usually too lazy to get out the rolling pin and make a floury mess!![Smile :) :)](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png)
The last step with the pork is to reheat and fry it a bit to get those excellent crispy bits. I used my 12" CI skillet for this, and added the meat in batches to a HOT skillet. I added a bit of the braising liquid at first for flavor, then when that evaporated, I skimmed a bit of the fat to fry the pork a bit.
![1715002523807.jpeg 1715002523807.jpeg](https://tvwbb.com/data/attachments/90/90389-b318ccf4c489d2e2c243dde0ae05a998.jpg?hash=sxjM9MSJ0u)
After that, it was eating time!! We had some rice and beans to serve up on the side, some margaritas on the table, and a nice celebration with the five most important ladies in my life (wife, 3 daughters, and my sis.) Let me tell you, this did not suck in any way shape or form!![Smile :) :)](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png)
![1715002615358.jpeg 1715002615358.jpeg](https://tvwbb.com/data/attachments/90/90390-653d192d1042499736a3e0a4c41aac8c.jpg?hash=ZT0ZLRBCSZ)
First step was cutting my 5lbs of boneless pork shoulder into chunks, which I seasoned with Lawry's Taco Seasoning, and popped onto a 230° grill. About 3 hours in,they were looking good!
![1715002124288.jpeg 1715002124288.jpeg](https://tvwbb.com/data/attachments/90/90384-f4dac8f1b2a02cd734f7629d7039757a.jpg?hash=9NrI8bKgLN)
After four hours, the pork came off, got cut up into smaller pieces and went into a 6qt dutch oven along with three small oranges off our tree (juiced, and rinds), one lime (juiced, no rind), a white onion, 6 dried peppers (3 Ancho, 3 Guajillo), some garlic, and a couple of bay leaves. Topped up with water, covered, and back on the grill now at 350° (could always finish inside since it's covered.)
![1715002270651.jpeg 1715002270651.jpeg](https://tvwbb.com/data/attachments/90/90385-3f46d401d5c073c961c2cad3e35126da.jpg?hash=P0bUAdXAc8)
![1715002280459.jpeg 1715002280459.jpeg](https://tvwbb.com/data/attachments/90/90386-a84917adcf24eb2cc2a0fe65038a0889.jpg?hash=qEkXrc8k6y)
After four hours, the pork came off again, and I drained it, reserving the juices (and fat.) The pork got shredded, then I let it rest while I got my tortillas made up....
![1715002345848.jpeg 1715002345848.jpeg](https://tvwbb.com/data/attachments/90/90387-455d81375b3260b2240cb5f1bb97e302.jpg?hash=RV2BN1syYL)
![1715002356581.jpeg 1715002356581.jpeg](https://tvwbb.com/data/attachments/90/90388-4072fa728da456d8bedec1769b3f74b7.jpg?hash=QHL6co2kVt)
I'm still using THIS RECIPE for the tortillas, and I still use a press since I'm usually too lazy to get out the rolling pin and make a floury mess!
![Smile :) :)](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png)
The last step with the pork is to reheat and fry it a bit to get those excellent crispy bits. I used my 12" CI skillet for this, and added the meat in batches to a HOT skillet. I added a bit of the braising liquid at first for flavor, then when that evaporated, I skimmed a bit of the fat to fry the pork a bit.
![1715002523807.jpeg 1715002523807.jpeg](https://tvwbb.com/data/attachments/90/90389-b318ccf4c489d2e2c243dde0ae05a998.jpg?hash=sxjM9MSJ0u)
After that, it was eating time!! We had some rice and beans to serve up on the side, some margaritas on the table, and a nice celebration with the five most important ladies in my life (wife, 3 daughters, and my sis.) Let me tell you, this did not suck in any way shape or form!
![Smile :) :)](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png)
![1715002615358.jpeg 1715002615358.jpeg](https://tvwbb.com/data/attachments/90/90390-653d192d1042499736a3e0a4c41aac8c.jpg?hash=ZT0ZLRBCSZ)