Did some simmering today.....


 
Rich G

Rich G

TVWBB Honor Circle
Smoked carnitas (smoked, then braised), and rendered out some beef fat! Not much in the way of interaction needed on either of these, so was able to fit in my tasks between work. Chunked up a pork butt last night, got it on to smoke for a few hours, then into the DO's to braise for another three hours. Removed the meat from the liquid, strained that, and everything is put up in the fridge to be eaten tomorrow as well as portioned and frozen. The beef fat just went into a DO at about 230 until it was done (which took about 5 hours or so?)

Pork chunks getting some smoke....with a side of fat:

1630376428690.jpeg

Pork has been cut into smaller pieces, and braising at 350F (covered for two hours, uncovered for one):

1630376473982.jpeg

About two hours in on the beef fat....I moved it to the Skyline since the pellet grill needed to run hotter:

1630376498852.jpeg

Bowl of meat:

1630376513356.jpeg

Liquid gold!!

1630376526284.jpeg

I will use a bit of the braising liquid from the pork to moisten the carnitas when it's time to reheat/crisp them, and I will skim the fat off the top of said liquid to use as my crisping fat......should be halfway decent! :)

R
 
BrianCal said:
The liquid gold looks amazing. Any specific plan for it?
Click to expand...
I've been using it in my new favorite tortilla recipe (posted in the side dish forum.....Sonoran Tortillas), so mostly that (we eat tacos a lot). But it's also a killer frying fat......diced potatoes in particular are a great match! Lasts a pretty long time in the fridge or frozen, so we'll use it all long before we need to think about tossing it! Hopefully, my bbq buddies remember to save fat trimmings for me! I try to keep them supplied with goodies to stay in good graces! :)

R
 
Rich G said:
I've been using it in my new favorite tortilla recipe (posted in the side dish forum.....Sonoran Tortillas), so mostly that (we eat tacos a lot). But it's also a killer frying fat......diced potatoes in particular are a great match! Lasts a pretty long time in the fridge or frozen, so we'll use it all long before we need to think about tossing it! Hopefully, my bbq buddies remember to save fat trimmings for me! I try to keep them supplied with goodies to stay in good graces! :)

R
Click to expand...

I do this when I smoke a pork butt, save all the fat that drips off. When you need a fat to cook with, really hard to beat smoked pork fat !!
 
Bruno said:
Looks amazing! Need to try that! We love carnitas and tacos!
Click to expand...
Yes you do! Seriously, once you get the ingrediencies, this is actually a simpler cook, it does take some hours, but not tons of babysitting (simpler than pulled pork). It can be done before hand and then crisped up when time for service. This IS my vote for recipe of summer 2021! The only problem with this recipe is if you make it once the family WILL ask for it like every night!!! I may have some friends over on Monday and I am thinking about making this or a hybrid recipe cook using this cooking method with a al pastor/chilis Colorado hybrid sauce.
 
Rich, enjoy this one, it looks amazing. I love this meal. I am going to make some sort of pulled pork Mexican meal this weekend and I really want to try to make my own tortillas. I have bacon fat on hand that I think I am going to use for my fat. Excited about this first attempt.

Oh on a fun side note, my kids went back to school last week, for all the "get to know me" activities my son has been saying his favorite food is pork tacos (with Cheerwine). One of the Latino boys who is on my son and my soccer team (I coach, he plays) asked in class what kind of pork tacos and my son said "Any, I would take my dad's smoke Carnitas over anything else, but his al pastor was also great." So, I show up to soccer practice last Thursday night and the player goes, "What do you now about Carnitas Coach Mike? So I was showing off pictures of my smoked Carnitas (which by this point I had the interest of all seven of our Latino players) and one said "that's not how you make Carnitas." I tried to explain... but it was when I showed the pics of the al pastor that they said, Coach does know what he is doing! What a pure joy moment for me, three of my favorite things combining; connecting with my son, cooking, and coaching!
 
Michael Richards said:
Rich, enjoy this one, it looks amazing. I love this meal. I am going to make some sort of pulled pork Mexican meal this weekend and I really want to try to make my own tortillas. I have bacon fat on hand that I think I am going to use for my fat. Excited about this first attempt.
Click to expand...
Sounds good, Michael! I have been enjoying making tortillas, and am getting better at it every time. Yesterday I go almost all of them to puff up while cooking, which is good! :) If you want something other than carnitas, Chile Colorado is a great choice.....traditionally made with beef, but don't tell the team that I make it frequently with pork! (If they get out of hand, I'll just card the lot of 'em!) :)

R
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top