While South and
North Carolina have pulled pork, in Texas and Mexico we have pork
carnitas. So what exactly are pork carnitas? Well it sorta depends on
what part of the country you live, but essentially pork carnitas are
cooked and shredded pork that is then served with corn or flour
tortillas with various condiments such as lettuce, salsa, cheese, hot
sauce etc...You get the picture right?
Anyway, the meat of
choice for carnitas or at least the one I use is a bone-in pork butt.
The size of the pork butt does not really matter as the seasonings
and the procees used to cook the carnitas is the same. Just remember
that if you are cooking for a large group or you want to place meals
in the freezer, that on average, the yield from a pork butt is about
60% of the actual weight of the uncooked meat give or take 10%.
The Recipe
The traditional
recipe for pork carnitas is pretty basic, take your pork butt
out of the cryovac package season with salt and pepper. Now, I prefer to use my carnitas rub recipe on my pork butt. I simply like my rub
better, and I am cooking for me and my family. Having said that, I
have included the traditional method as well as my canitas rub so you
can choose to go for the more bold flavors of Texas, or the
more traditional Mexican carnitas. As always, the choice is yours.
1 bone-in pork butt
1 onion, diced
2 tablespoons lime
juice
1 tablespoon minced
garlic
1 teaspoon cilantro, dried
salt and pepper or
my optional carnitas seasoning (see below)
Add the garlic,
onion, lime juice, and cilantro to the cooking device of your choice, then take
your bone-in pork butt and season it thoroughly with salt and pepper.
Heat 2 – 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan and brown
the pork butt on all sides, then place the pork butt in the cooking
container of your choice and cook as follows. Below I have listed
some basic directions for cooking a pork butt in either the oven,
slow cooker or pressure cooker.
Chef's Note: Some
people prefer to just season the pork butt and place in their dutch
oven or slow cooker without browning. Then after shredding they saute
the shredded pork in olive oil until it is, slightly crispy. I will
be honest, I just usually season my pork butt with my rub, throw it in my dutch
oven and cook it. Then when it is done, shred the pork, sprinkle a little extra rub
mix into the shredded pork and toss it will it is still warm, then
serve.
Oven Method: Place
the lid on the dutch oven or large roasting pan and bake for 225
degrees for 10 to 12 hours or until the internal temperature of the
meat is greater than 170 degrees. I prefer to use my enamel coated
cast iron dutch oven for cooking bone-in pork butts as it has thick
walls and heats evenly helping to regulate the temperature more
evenly than thin walled roasting pans, but as always you have to use
what you have.
Slow Cooker Method:
If you are fortunate to have a slow cooker that is large enough to
hold your pork butt, then after you have browned it throw it in your
slow cooker and cook it overnight or while you are at work. According
to the 'Crock-Pot' website a 6-7lb pork butt takes 9 ½ hours (about
42 minutes per pound) on low and 7 ½ hours (about 55 minutes per
pound) on high so you will have to adjust your cook times depending
on the size of roast you are using.
Pressure Cooker
Method : Recently we purchased an electric pressure cooker as my wife
is not a big fan of the jiggler type pressure cookers that I have
been using all my life. Having said that she uses it quite a bit and
it does a really good job at cooking many items, one of the things
that it cooks really well is bone-in pork butts. When using the
pressure cooker method, add ¾ cup beef broth to the pressure cooker
before adding your pork butt as you do not want to rinse the
seasoning off your meat. Set your electric pressure cooker on high
(9-11psi) and cook for 15 minutes per pound (i.e. a 3lb pork butt
would cook for 45 minutes).
Todd's Preferred
Carnitas Seasoning Mix
This is my own
version of a pork rub that I use when I make pork carnitas rub. It
has a more Texas or Southwestern flavor than a traditional pork
carnitas seasoning. It is my “go to” carnitas seasoning rub when
preparing carnitas for my friends and family. .
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon chili
powder
2 teaspoons black
pepper
½ teaspoon red
pepper
½ teaspoon cumin,
ground
¼ teaspoon
cinnamon, ground
Mix spices together
and store in an airtight container until ready to use. Makes about ¼
cup of dry pork canita rub,
shake jar well before using
Conclusion
Making your own pork
carnitas at home is easy, and delicious. Most of the ingredients here are
recommended in our minimalist pantry series and most of you will have
them in your pantry or refrigerator. So your outlay to make this
recipe should only be the additional cost of the pork butt. Anyway,
this is one of the recipes that my family loves that I just do not
make enough of, and I hope it will become one of your families
favorites as well. As always, if you have enjoyed this article,
please share it with your friends and don't forget to send us a
friend request on our 'CulinaryYou' Facebook page and follow us on
Google+ so that you will not miss out on any of our new articles.
Resources Used In
This Article:
BBQ Smoker Cookbook,
By Todd Gamel (currently in editing phase)
Weinstein, Bruce,
and Scarbrough, Mark 'The Great Big Pressure Cooker Book', Clarkson
Potter, New York, 2015.
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