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Carnitas on the egg?
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SoCal_Griller
Posts: 516
I've been craving good authentic Carnitas recently and found what appears to be a great authentic recipe. It involves 3 pounds of pork lard and 3 pounds of pork shoulder. Basically you melt the lard over a medium heat in a large pot, add the pork and cook for two hours. Then crank the heat up to medium high and cook for another 30 minutes. This recipe is intended for the stove top, but I thought it might be fun to try it on the egg, enhancing the flavor by cooking over lump.
SO my question is what does the forum think the best setup would be? Im thinking indirect @ 450 for the first two hours, then crank it up to 475 for the last 30 minutes. These temps are based on APLs book.
Would it be better to go indirect? Are these temps to high?
I also plan on making home made tortillas on the egg.
Thoughts?
The link to the recipe is here.
Simi Valley, California
LBGE, PBC, Annova, SMOBot
LBGE, PBC, Annova, SMOBot
Comments
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Not sure how much extra flavor you're going to get making the carnitas on the egg given that it will be cooking in a pot. Not too sure about temps but when I do paella or stir fry I go direct with my cooking grid raised to the felt level.As for your tortillas... are you making corn or flour? I make my own corn tortillas but just cook them on an electric griddle. You should be able to them on the egg; maybe even directly on an upside down plate setter.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Well, "spa-Peggy" is kind of like spaghetti. I'm not sure what Peggy does different, if anything. But it's the one dish she's kind of made her own.____________________Aurora, Ontario, Canada
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whoa- I've done a lot of carnitas and barbacoa on the egg. I am not afraid of fat in my cooking but this sounds like an insane amount of fat. I cant see using a 100% fat to pork ratio in any style of cooking.Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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Yeah, all that fat seems a little crazy, but I guess the idea is similar to duck confiet? And the lard helps render the fat from the pork.TON: Im making corn tortillas, I have cooked them on the egg before, I bought on of those cheap comals and used that. But since then I bought a cast iron griddle and will use that this time.Maybe making the Carnitas on the egg is overkill.... especially trying this recipe for the first time, but it sounds like a good challenge...Simi Valley, California
LBGE, PBC, Annova, SMOBot -
CT what fat/pork ratio have you used for Carnitas?Simi Valley, California
LBGE, PBC, Annova, SMOBot -
SoCal_Griller said:Maybe making the Carnitas on the egg is overkill.... especially trying this recipe for the first time, but it sounds like a good challenge...---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Well, "spa-Peggy" is kind of like spaghetti. I'm not sure what Peggy does different, if anything. But it's the one dish she's kind of made her own.____________________Aurora, Ontario, Canada
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No your not discouraging me, I'm just second guessing myself. But what the heck, I'll go for it. Poking around the forum it seems others have done both direct and indirect. I think I'll consider 400 dome temp "Medium", and watch the lard and see how it behaves and take it from there.Simi Valley, California
LBGE, PBC, Annova, SMOBot -
Not trying to be anti-egg but the following recipe is amazing. Using so much lard sounds ridiculous AND dangerous. Mexican Pulled Pork (Carnitas) From the episode: Supper From South of the Border Serves 6 We like serving carnitas spooned into tacos, but you can also use it as a filling for tamales, enchiladas, and burritos. Ingredients Pork 1 (3 1/2-to 4-pound) boneless pork butt , fat cap trimmed to 1/8 inch thick, cut into 2-inch chunks 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 small onion , peeled and halved 2 bay leaves 1 teaspoon dried oregano 2 tablespoons juice from 1 lime 2 cups water 1 medium orange , halved Tortillas and Garnishes 18 (6-inch) corn tortillas , warmed Lime wedges Minced white or red onion Fresh cilantro leaves Thinly sliced radishes Sour cream Instructions 1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Combine pork, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, cumin, onion, bay leaves, oregano, lime juice, and water in large Dutch oven (liquid should just barely cover meat). Juice orange into medium bowl and remove any seeds (you should have about 1/3 cup juice). Add juice and spent orange halves to pot. Bring mixture to simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Cover pot and transfer to oven; cook until meat is soft and falls apart when prodded with fork, about 2 hours, flipping pieces of meat once during cooking. 2. Remove pot from oven and turn oven to broil. Using slotted spoon, transfer pork to bowl; remove orange halves, onion, and bay leaves from cooking liquid and discard (do not skim fat from liquid). Place pot over high heat (use caution, as handles will be very hot) and simmer liquid, stirring frequently, until thick and syrupy (heatsafe spatula should leave wide trail when dragged through glaze), 8 to 12 minutes. You should have about 1 cup reduced liquid. 3. Using 2 forks, pull each piece of pork in half. Fold in reduced liquid; season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread pork in even layer on wire rack set inside rimmed baking sheet or on broiler pan (meat should cover almost entire surface of rack or broiler pan). Place baking sheet on lower-middle rack and broil until top of meat is well browned (but not charred) and edges are slightly crisp, 5 to 8 minutes. Using wide metal spatula, flip pieces of meat and continue to broil until top is well browned and edges are slightly crisp, 5 to 8 minutes longer. Serve immediately with warm tortillas and garnishes.I cook. I eat. I repeat. Thornville, Ohio
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I don't add any fat to my carnitas or barbacoa (brisket or chuckie). They are LOADED with fat. I do them clay Q style with a long smoke followed by a braise. I make my own braising liquid though (he does BBQ sauce). I do this: http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1145985/barbacoa-chuckie-a-la-centex/p1Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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What you have is an old timers recipe for carnitas sans the hoof. Carnitas are braised, not fried, in pork fat until tender. I have done this cook once on the egg without a problem.I cook my carnitas a little different because it is hard to find good the pork fat.I have braised the meat in everything from beer to chicken stock until fork tender. I remove the lid from the pot and evaporate the liquid until the meat starts frying in its own fat. At that point I pull meat apart with a fork to let the meat crisp up.Adding wood chips while evaporating could be an option.Forgot to add I never exceed 350 dome when I do carnets. Try to target 325-350.Large, small and mini now Egging in Rowlett Tx
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Thanks AE. I cut the lard to about two pounds, just short of covering the pork. I'm sitting at 360 right now. The pot is uncovered. I went in indirect just in case the lard spilled. So far so good. I'll attach picks when I'm done. I added a half of lime, half of an orange, cumin, bay leaves and half a cinnamon stick. Lards's at 170 F, boiling point around 200, ignition point at 280.Simi Valley, California
LBGE, PBC, Annova, SMOBot -
Will be waiting for the pictures.Large, small and mini now Egging in Rowlett Tx
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