HOW DO YOU MAKE CARNITAS?!

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THIS IS A GREAT RECIPE. (Oops ––– sorry I didn't mean to yell!)
Carnitas

Serves Eight

by David Lebovitz

4-5-pounds boneless pork should, cut into 5-inch chunks, trimmed of excess fat
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
2 tablespoons canola or neutral vegetable oil
water
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon chile powder
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
2 bay leaves
? teaspoon ground cumin
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly-sliced

1. Rub the pieces of pork shoulder all over with salt. Refrigerate for 1- to 3-days. (You can skip this step if you want. Just be sure to salt the pork before searing the meat in the next step.)

2. Heat the oil in a roasting pan set on the stovetop. Cook the pieces of pork shoulder in a single layer until very well-browned, turning them as little as possible so they get nice and dark before flipping them around. If your cooking vessel is too small to cook them in a single-layer, cook them in two batches.

3. Once all the pork is browned, remove them from the pot and blot away any excess fat with a paper towel, then pour in about a cup of water, scraping the bottom of the pan with a flat-edged utensil to release all the tasty brown bits.

4. Heat the oven to 350F (180C) degrees.

5. Add the pork back to the pan and add enough water so the pork pieces are 2/3rd’s submerged in liquid. Add the cinnamon stick and stir in the chile powders, bay leaves, cumin and garlic.

7. Braise in the oven uncovered for 3? hours, turning the pork a few times during cooking, until much of the liquid is evaporated and the pork is falling apart. Remove the pan from the oven and lift the pork pieces out of the liquid and set them on a platter.

8. Once the pork pieces are cool enough to handle, shred them into bite-sized pieces, about 2-inches (7 cm), discarding any obvious big chunks of fat if you wish.

9. Return the pork pieces back to the roasting pan and cook in the oven, turning occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the pork is crispy and caramelized. It will depend on how much liquid the pork gave off, and how crackly you want them.

I like mine deeply, darkly, crispy brown on the outside.

Real carnitas, as sold in Mexico, at least, don't contain chile.

This is my recipe.

2 pounds pork, preferably from the Boston Butt, cut into large cubes.
6 cups of water
1/2 onion
6 cloves of garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
1/2 cup orange juice (optional)
1/2 cup milk (optional)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Bring the pork, water, onion, garlic and about 1/2 tsp of salt to a boil. Cover, lower the heat to medium and cook until the pork cubes are almost tender, about 1 hour.

Drain the pork, RESERVING the stock. Pick out the garlic & onion and discard.

Add about 2 TB of lard (or you can use vegetable oil or the fat from the top of the stock) to a large skillet, heat over medium-high heat. Add the pork cubes in a single layer if possible. Do NOT move them until they've begun to brown on one side.

Flip the cubes over and add the optional orange juice and/or milk (these make a luscious coating on the pork), as well as about 1 cup of stock. Reduce the heat to medium.

Cook the pork until the liquid has evaporated and a crust begins to form on the meat. Gently turn the meat until the coating is on all sides.

Serve with guacamole, pico de gallo (or salsa) and hot tortillas.

PS...with the orange juice and milk, they are considered to be in the sytle of Uruapan.

my own recipe

I think it depends on what type of taste your looking for? I'm mexican and I'm use to michoacan style carnitas. I've seen the recipies the others have given you and honestly they all seem good. So I guess it just depends on what "carnitas" means to you.

I know that my uncle makes the best and he makes them outside. He does not use cooking oil but pig lard. He's very secretive about his recipie so I'm sorry I can't tell you exactly what he seasons the meat with. I wish I could but no one really knows how he makes them besides himself.

However if you live in socal and you want to taste them. He makes some to sell everyweekend. That is unless he's been hired to make them for a party. He usually does events like quinceneras or baptisms even weddings. You know the typical mexican celebrations.

There are many ways to make carnitas...
Here's a unique way to make Michoacan carnitas... (It's cooked in lard)

http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/view?r…

Michoacan-Style Pork Carnitas
Makes 10 to 11 pounds of boneless meat, serving 25 to 30

Ingredients

18 pounds bone-in pork shoulder (skin-on picnic shoulder is a good choice, too), cut into 2-pound chunks
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup salt
About 4 gallons lard or vegetable oil

If using oil:
1 pound piece of slab bacon, cut it into 6 or 8 pieces
Directions

1. Marinate the meat. Lay the chunks of pork in one or more large tubs (I've used vegetable bins from my "extra" refrigerator in the basement as well as roasting pans). Mix together the lime juice and salt. Smear the mixture on all sides of each piece of pork, cover and refrigerate for several hours.

2. Cook the carnitas. Set up a turkey fryer: fill with oil to the level marked on the turkey fryer for a 16- to 18-pound turkey, attach the thermometer (I always test mine in boiling water to insure that it's accurate), and, if your model has one, slide in the raised perforated plate that will keep the meat from resting on the bottom of the pan. Heat over medium-high heat until the lard or oil reaches about 275 degrees. Carefully lower in the pieces of pork, but none of the juice that may have collected around them. (Add the bacon, if you're using it.) Adjust the heat to between medium and medium-low. After the oil's initial frenzy of having received the moist pork, it should settle into what looks like a brisk simmer when you have the temperature right. You'll notice, too, that the temperature will have dropped to just above 212 degrees - the boiling point of water - indicating that the meat is literally simmering in the oil. Using a pair of long tongs or one of those large Chinese wire strainer/skimmers, gently move the pieces of meat every 10 minutes or so.

3. Finish and serve. In about 1 1/4 hours, the meat should be completely tender, but not falling a part - start checking it at about 1 hour. When it is completely tender - meaning you can pretty easily pull it away from the bone - remove it to a large paper towel-lined pan. The carnitas are ready to eat - though they may not be as brown as you're expecting. (They will, however, take on more of a golden color as they begin to cool.) To give them a richly browned exterior, raise the heat under the lard or oil and let the temperature rise to 325 degrees. A piece at a time, lower the meat into the oil and let brown - it'll only take 45 seconds to a minute. Drain on paper towels and keep warm in a low oven until you're ready to serve. (Though I use the bacon mostly for flavor, I like to brown it with the other pieces of meat and chop it up for my guests to enjoy.) You may wish to pull the meat off the bones in large chunks, removing as much fat as you like in the process. Set out for your guests to make soft tacos with warm corn tortillas, guacamole, salsa, and, if you wish, beans.