Pork Carnitas

Ladeback69

My neighbors are having a watch party this coming Saturday for the Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight And I am doing pork carnits.  What do you think of this recipe?  
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/147751/smoked-pork-carnitas-with-photos

fletcherfam

We do the recipe from Tacolicious, it is amazing.

blukat

Recipe looks good, let us know how it turned out.

Ladeback69

One of the neighbors is Mexican and it is an early Cinco de Mayo Party. 

rosco

Living in San Diego I eat a lot of carnitas around town. That recipe looks good but I would avoid smoking the meat. If I was eating out and I got a plate full of smokey carnitas I would not be happy. Real carnitas are cooked in a copper pot and should not taste smokey. Just my two cents form living in the front lines of Mexican food.

Ladeback69

rosco said:

Living in San Diego I eat a lot of carnitas around town. That recipe looks good but I would avoid smoking the meat. If I was eating out and I got a plate full of smokey carnitas I would not be happy. Real carnitas are cooked in a copper pot and should not taste smokey. Just my two cents form living in the front lines of Mexican food.

It's a different take it on it and what's wrong with a little smoke flavor in carnitas?  That's the whole cool thing about the cooking on the egg.

rosco

you asked me what I thought and I told you. When I bite into a carnitas taco the last thing I want to taste is smoke. I would cook low and slow without the wood chips. Just one mans opinion. I am sure the carnitas in KC are different than they are in San Diego. Enjoy!

NCEggSmoker

I smoked a couple butts last weekend and after a couple meals of pulled sandwiches we decided to make some tacos. Made some homemade flour tortillas and dressed me with cilantro and tomatillo salsa verde. Not exactly traditional carnitas but delicious nonetheless. Homemade flour tortillas are really easy too if you feel like giving it a try. 

theyolksonyou

I gotta agree with @rosco on this one, IF you're shooting for authentic. About as close as I've come is slow cooked with lots of citrus, cumin, bay and garlic.  However, there is nothing wrong with riffing off that with a smokey egg cook. Just not sure how the Mexican neighbor will feel if you call it authentic. 

Also, if you're looking for sides, might I recommend googling churro beans. Money. 

Eggcelsior

When I do carnitas, it's in a dutch oven on the egg, just charcoal. Adding wood for smoke will basically just make it pulled pork.

Ladeback69

Eggcelsior said:

When I do carnitas, it's in a dutch oven on the egg, just charcoal. Adding wood for smoke will basically just make it pulled pork.

@Eggcelsior, I was hoping you would chime in.  My other thought was to get 2 boneless pork butts, cut them up in pieces and place them in a Dutch oven on the egg.  I was going to use apple wood,  but guess not. I was hoping to use orange juice, onionsoup. Garlic  and other seasonings listed in the first post.  I have one 7 qt DO, but not sure it is big enough for one let alone two, would a big stock pot work or a big wok?

Eggcelsior

I have a 7.5 oval DO that could handle a big butt. I haven't tried 2 but I'm pretty sure it would work with up to around 15 lbs of meat. Stock pot would work too. The wok could work if it has a kid. I keep it on for about half the cook to braise the pork, last half off to concentrate liquid.

Eggcelsior

Also, maybe a little wood to give a hint of smoke, but not like you would for BBQ-style. Some of the spices can be washed out by the smoke. One thing you can do is reserve a bit of the cooking liquid(or mix up extra) and add it to the meat after cooking. You'll get a nice garlicky, bright citrus note on top of the cooked flavors.

DMW

Eggcelsior said:

I have a 7.5 oval DO that could handle a big butt. I haven't tried 2 but I'm pretty sure it would work with up to around 15 lbs of meat. Stock pot would work too. The wok could work if it has a kid. I keep it on for about half the cook to braise the pork, last half off to concentrate liquid.

Tell me about these reproductive woks? I have a 14" and a 22" and am interested in how this might work?

theyolksonyou

Another nice touch is to get a little crust under a broiler or in a skillet at the end. 

Ozzie_Isaac

Love carnitas!  Looking forward to the cook thread.

Ladeback69

My dealer has a big 19" wok and I think that might be big enough to cook about 16 lbs of PB with some OJ, onion and spices mixed in or borrow a DO from my neighbor and put 2 on the XL on at the same time.  My neighbor is not a purist so he my not mine the first idea. 

Ozzie_Isaac

Eggcelsior said:

When I do carnitas, it's in a dutch oven on the egg, just charcoal. Adding wood for smoke will basically just make it pulled pork.

Do you use the lid on the DO?  In the egg I have never used the lid.

blasting

fwiw, I'm in phoenix (lots of Mexican influence), and would have no problem if somebody served me carnitas with a smokey twist to it.  I understand rosco's point about smoke not being authentic, but I see no problem with adding your own flair to the dish.

Ladeback69

The only thing about my original post I may not do a lot of is the mop mix.  With the Egg you don't need to mop, but I to start with and a few times during the cook.  I am going to check with my neighbor to see if he is ok with a little smoke flavor or I may just not add any wood for smoke and go with Rockwood lump and just rely on the the rub, marinade and mop mix for flavor.  I will let you guys know how it comes out this weekend.  Thanks for the input.

Eggcelsior

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Eggcelsior said:

When I do carnitas, it's in a dutch oven on the egg, just charcoal. Adding wood for smoke will basically just make it pulled pork.

Do you use the lid on the DO?  In the egg I have never used the lid.

50/50 during the cook depending on what I'm cooking.

Ladeback69

I think I will make these to accompany the carnitas.  

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/black-bean-avocado-salsa-with-corn-recipe.html


http://www.avocadosfrommexico.com/recipe/anaheim-guacamole/

SmokeyPitt

I have made carnitas out of left over pulled pork.  I don't know if they were authentic, but they were darn good.  I loosely based it on this recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/pork-carnitas-recipe.html

Since the pork was already cooked I was just reheating in a pot with the seasonings and juice.  I think I added lime juice as well.  

Similar to what @theyolksonyou mentioned- this recipe has you fry the pork in vegetable oil.  I think that is a key step because it changes the texture.  You get a crusty, almost bacon-like flavor out of the fried pork.  I highly recommend this step.   If you are making a big batch like a whole shoulder it might be difficult, but you could take a few servings of meat and hit it in the skillet before building the tacos. 

Ladeback69

@Eggcelsior, from what I have been ready about authentic carnitas, its like 1lb of lard to 1 lb of pork.  Is that true?   

Ladeback69

OK, I just found this on the web and I may be changing my plans a little.  Looks like I will need to use my WSM to help me out if I do all of this.  It all looks good.  I may need to buy me a new big stoke pot, because the wife said I can't use our current ones and I want to do about 16 pounds of carnitas.  Looks like I am going to be busy Saturday.  Oh Man to many choices.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/nicolasmedinamora/mexican-carnitas-recipe#.pcREnqO6w4

Eggcelsior

Ladeback69 said:

@Eggcelsior, from what I have been ready about authentic carnitas, its like 1lb of lard to 1 lb of pork.  Is that true?   

For "real" carnitas, yeah, It's like cooking confit.

Ladeback69

Bump.

OK, after talking to neighbor on how he does it; I believe I am going to get two boneless pork butts, cut them in to pieces, place each one in a DO, add some s&p and other spices.  

Squeeze one orange over each pork butt, add a beer to each pot and water to an 1" over the meat.

 Get the egg to 300-350 and burning clean.  Put the DO's on covered for about an hour to an hour and a half then pull the lid to let the water burn off.  

After that I will add some oil or lard and fry up the pork then let it sit for a few minutes and then pull for dinner.  

This is going to be my most intense cook so far.  I hope this good.

GATraveller

Can't wait to see how this one turns out as carnitas are one of my very favorites.  

lkapigian

Ladeback69 said:

My neighbors are having a watch party this coming Saturday for the Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight And I am doing pork carnits.  What do you think of this recipe?  
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/147751/smoked-pork-carnitas-with-photos

Think I will try this but in the La Caja China to avoid smoke--book marked

ChristinaSunshine

theyolksonyou said:

I gotta agree with @rosco on this one, IF you're shooting for authentic. About as close as I've come is slow cooked with lots of citrus, cumin, bay and garlic.  However, there is nothing wrong with riffing off that with a smokey egg cook. Just not sure how the Mexican neighbor will feel if you call it authentic. 

Also, if you're looking for sides, might I recommend googling churro beans. Money. 

Do you have a favorite churro bean recipe?

ChristinaSunshine

Ladeback69 said:

My neighbors are having a watch party this coming Saturday for the Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight And I am doing pork carnits.  What do you think of this recipe?  
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/147751/smoked-pork-carnitas-with-photos

I'm going with this recipe.  So far, pretty tasty - I like heavy spice though!!  The sauce has a good kick to it and I used a pretty heavily chipotle spiced rub.  Pics and the final verdict to come in a couple of hours.