Carnitas


 
Michael Richards

Michael Richards

TVWBB Emerald Member
This is a recipe and a cook I have shared in the past but it's been a minute. This is a recipe and a cook Rich G. and I worked on two summers ago. Work has been taking a lot of my time and energy and the kids had half a day today so I decided to take the day off and treat myself to a little cooking therapy! After I took them to school I started by piecing the pork shoulder into three nice size chunks. Seasoned them up and onto the kettle.
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While it was smoking I ran to the Mexican market to get the chili's, veggies, and the citrus I needed.
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As soon as I got home from picking the kids up for school I opened the kettle for the first time, the temps were rock stead between 225 and 235 the whole time.
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I pulled the 3 pieces of pork from the smoker.
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I got everything into the pot for the braising session, covered it, and back onto the kettle.
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After 3 more hours at 330 covered in the pot, I probed each piece of pork, each piece was between 205 and 208. I brought it into the house and after an hour rest in the pot I pulled the pork out.
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Then I pulled the pork and strained the liquid.
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Both of the pork and the liquid are now in the fridge. Tomorrow I will skim the fat off the top of the liquid, mix it with some extra liquid, and the pork in a CI skillet to get those crispy porky edges. That will be turned into tacos, burritos, and natchos. Need to make a double batch of salsa Verde to finish the prep for tomorrow...
 
I would agree, I have done braised beef ribs for red wine short ribs, braised chuck for pepper stout beef but this is one on my list still.
Good looking grub, not sure what you do with the braising liquid in the final steps but I have seen you cook this before and it looks great.
 
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Michael........
I have a 3 pound tiny shoulder in my freezer I am taking out tonight....I can't look at any more of your Carnitas cooks without trying to nail one down.....every single time I see one I say I have to make it then something shiny goes by me and I get distracted....;)
I understand the whole smoke / braise part of the cook.....marinades, rubs ect......When I braise beef chuck before I used a beer as liquid. I also understand that traditionally oil is used as a braising liquid but yours looks more Mexican inspired......can you help me out with what you have n your braising liquid and if it's just water or not? have a lot of chilies, spices, citrus all available.
Thanks for helping, I will be sure to get pics and post....Might have enough for tacos on Sunday and maybe some enchiladas or something different mid next week.
I have tomatillo's so will be making some sort of verde to go along.....this week I made a roasted salsa with Roma tomatoes.....it was a nice spin on our usual....I have been eating it every day this week....very addictive and good way to get nutrients in the body......I am a carnivore of course....
 
Darryl - swazies said:
Michael........
I have a 3 pound tiny shoulder in my freezer I am taking out tonight....I can't look at any more of your Carnitas cooks without trying to nail one down.....every single time I see one I say I have to make it then something shiny goes by me and I get distracted....;)
I understand the whole smoke / braise part of the cook.....marinades, rubs ect......When I braise beef chuck before I used a beer as liquid. I also understand that traditionally oil is used as a braising liquid but yours looks more Mexican inspired......can you help me out with what you have n your braising liquid and if it's just water or not? have a lot of chilies, spices, citrus all available.
Thanks for helping, I will be sure to get pics and post....Might have enough for tacos on Sunday and maybe some enchiladas or something different mid next week.
I have tomatillo's so will be making some sort of verde to go along.....this week I made a roasted salsa with Roma tomatoes.....it was a nice spin on our usual....I have been eating it every day this week....very addictive and good way to get nutrients in the body......I am a carnivore of course....
Click to expand...
The braising liquid is just water, Rich and I talked about this and how traditional Carnitas is braised in lard. I put a nice scoop of lard my last batch or two, did not notice anything different (as the pork shoulder has a nice fat contain itself) and my wife and I are trying to be a touch more health conscious so no lard this go around. With the water the chili's and the citrus really come through. I know Rich uses more oranges then me, but I can taste even just the half and feel like that is a flavor that can overpower. When we started I was just using guajillo peppers, but I have added a chipotle, 2 ancho, and a single arbol for heat to the mix. With it being a 3 lb roast monitor the liquid levels (and and number of each ingredient), you may remember my epic fail because of going with about 3 lbs of pork and not monitoring how all the liquid evaporated. We do 3 to 4 hours at 225-235 and then in the covered braising pot for another 3 to 4 hours at 325 to 335. I use the prob to check for tenderness before I take it from the kettle.
I will take photos of how I use the braising liquid tonight, but it is similar to what I did when I made Brirra, removed that top layer of fat to fry everything up and add that extra flavor. I will also use some of the braising liquid to keep everything super juicy and tender.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or need a more details ingredients list.
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Thanks for the advice.
I think I have an idea that should work.....it's pretty simple like most other cooks, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to miss anything.
Using water sounds odd but I guess it isn't going to hurt anything, and I use that to rehydrate chili's all the time.
So simple it down here.

Marinade over night, then probably use gringo as the rub.....its one I can't give up.
I have a small no bone shoulder.....smoke 250 or less till I get the colour I want.....going to use peach wood.
Braising it in a small foil pan ( I don't have a cast dutch oven ) water, onion, chili's, citrus....cover
Braise to pulling temps, let it cool a bit.....pull and reserve in the fridge.
Save the liquid, use the fats for the crisp stage and maybe some fluid if it looks dry.
Make a verde salsa.
Put together some pinto or black beans.
Make tacos with crisp pork, salsa, onion, cilantro and probably hot sauce.....we will see if I make one or not....might want Brett to give it a go first an see if his head melts off.
Make the MRS happy.....makes things better when she is happy.
I have about 5 different chili's, I have ancho. guajillo, morita, and a couple other I cannot remember around the same spice level as morita.
I gave all those little red rockets that Brett wants me to use n that recipe away......but I can get more....they are rippin hot.
 
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Some pretty good science in this recipe. Worth the read for anyone seeking authentic homemade carnitas. I am not saying Michael’s recipe isn’t authentic. Just adding a really good recipe to the dialogue here.

Enjoy!

www.seriouseats.com

No-Waste Tacos de Carnitas With Salsa Verde Recipe

Our carnitas recipe is easier than the traditional bucket-of-lard method, and produces results that are juicy and flavorful with plenty of browned crispy bits.
www.seriouseats.com www.seriouseats.com
 
Brett-EDH said:
Some pretty good science in this recipe. Worth the read for anyone seeking authentic homemade carnitas. I am not saying Michael’s recipe isn’t authentic. Just adding a really good recipe to the dialogue here.

Enjoy!

www.seriouseats.com

No-Waste Tacos de Carnitas With Salsa Verde Recipe

Our carnitas recipe is easier than the traditional bucket-of-lard method, and produces results that are juicy and flavorful with plenty of browned crispy bits.
www.seriouseats.com www.seriouseats.com
Click to expand...
I do that one a lot. Good stuff.
 
Went for groceries this morning, also picked up the required produce for tomorrows cook.
shoulder piece was larger than I remembered coming in at almost 4 lbs.
nice fat cap on one side, may still cut it in half before smoking.
It’s been vac packed and apparently almost 2 years old……good price on it back then….
 

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