hello all,
i know this is a smoked meat forum, but i know everyone here appreciates outdoor cooking, so i thought i'd share. i live in southern california and was shown how to make carnitas the tradional mexican way by my grandfather. there are several variations on ingredients but this is how i was shown.
start with pork shoulder or butt (this is 13lbs of shoulder)
you then de-bone and cut into cubes about the size of your fist
you cook with garlic and bay leaves, i use a large tea ball to keep the ingredients from floating in my batch
carnitas are cooked in a large copper pot to evenly distribute the heat, this pot can handle up to about 35-40 lbs (i purchased it in 2001 for about 125$, not sure what a pot this size would run now). you clean the pot with salt, a little bit if vinegar and lemons, its amazing how well this will make the pot shine.
this is my setup (some use a rock ring firepit, i like to keep it easier)
carnitas are cooked in lard, for the 13.5lbs i made i used 10lbs of lard (more than needed, but i like to make sure all my meat is submerged)
once you get the lard into the pot and at a slow boil you add the meat, notice the tea ball with the bay leaves and garlic... continue to cook the meat with a slow boil
after about 30 to 45 minutes you add orange juice (some people use coke) with salt mixed in, you then crank up the heat some to get more of a faster boil. the orange juice will give the meat more of a carmelized coating.
when you think the carnitas are done, cut a piece or two to see how the inside looks, you dont want any pink meat, here are the carnitas right after removed from kettle
shred or cut the carnitas into small pieces
served on a plate with tortillas, rice and beans
or in a taco (the hot sauce is tapatio and is very popular in southern california)
hope you enjoyed the topic
i know this is a smoked meat forum, but i know everyone here appreciates outdoor cooking, so i thought i'd share. i live in southern california and was shown how to make carnitas the tradional mexican way by my grandfather. there are several variations on ingredients but this is how i was shown.
start with pork shoulder or butt (this is 13lbs of shoulder)
you then de-bone and cut into cubes about the size of your fist
you cook with garlic and bay leaves, i use a large tea ball to keep the ingredients from floating in my batch
carnitas are cooked in a large copper pot to evenly distribute the heat, this pot can handle up to about 35-40 lbs (i purchased it in 2001 for about 125$, not sure what a pot this size would run now). you clean the pot with salt, a little bit if vinegar and lemons, its amazing how well this will make the pot shine.
this is my setup (some use a rock ring firepit, i like to keep it easier)
carnitas are cooked in lard, for the 13.5lbs i made i used 10lbs of lard (more than needed, but i like to make sure all my meat is submerged)
once you get the lard into the pot and at a slow boil you add the meat, notice the tea ball with the bay leaves and garlic... continue to cook the meat with a slow boil
after about 30 to 45 minutes you add orange juice (some people use coke) with salt mixed in, you then crank up the heat some to get more of a faster boil. the orange juice will give the meat more of a carmelized coating.
when you think the carnitas are done, cut a piece or two to see how the inside looks, you dont want any pink meat, here are the carnitas right after removed from kettle
shred or cut the carnitas into small pieces
served on a plate with tortillas, rice and beans
or in a taco (the hot sauce is tapatio and is very popular in southern california)
hope you enjoyed the topic
