Crispy and Sweet Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas
These carnitas are slow-cooked sunshine: rich pork shoulder kissed with citrus, sweet pineapple, and smoky spices, then crisped to golden perfection. A dish that’s as festive as it is comforting.
Serves 6
Ingredients
- Crispy and Sweet Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas
- 4 pounds pork Shoulder (or pork butt) (skinless, bone in)
- (purchase pork that has some fat marbling and I prefer bone in. The fat adds juiciness to the carnitas and you can skim the fat off during the cooking process)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black Pepper
- 1 onion (chopped)
- 1 medium jalapeno (seeded and chopped)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 3 cups fresh orange juice (with pulp is best)
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup chopped Pineapple
- Rub
- 3 tablespoons brown Sugar
- 1 tablespoon dried Oregano
- 1 teaspoon chile powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil (for browning)
- Crispy and Sweet Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas
- 8 pounds pork Shoulder (or pork butt) (skinless, bone in)
- (purchase pork that has some fat marbling and I prefer bone in. The fat adds juiciness to the carnitas and you can skim the fat off during the cooking process)
- 5 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons black Pepper
- 2 onion (chopped)
- 2 medium jalapeno (seeded and chopped)
- 8 cloves garlic (minced)
- 6 cups fresh orange juice (with pulp is best)
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups chopped Pineapple
- Rub
- 6 tablespoons brown Sugar
- 2 tablespoons dried Oregano
- 2 teaspoons chile powder
- 4 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 tablespoons vegetable oil (for browning)
- Crispy and Sweet Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas
- 20 pounds pork Shoulder (or pork butt) (skinless, bone in)
- (purchase pork that has some fat marbling and I prefer bone in. The fat adds juiciness to the carnitas and you can skim the fat off during the cooking process)
- 12 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 5 teaspoons black Pepper
- 5 onion (chopped)
- 5 medium jalapeno (seeded and chopped)
- 20 cloves garlic (minced)
- 15 cups fresh orange juice (with pulp is best)
- 5 cups water
- 5 cups chopped Pineapple
- Rub
- 15 tablespoons brown Sugar
- 5 tablespoons dried Oregano
- 5 teaspoons chile powder
- 10 teaspoons ground cumin
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 20 tablespoons vegetable oil (for browning)
- Crispy and Sweet Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas
- 40 pounds pork Shoulder (or pork butt) (skinless, bone in)
- (purchase pork that has some fat marbling and I prefer bone in. The fat adds juiciness to the carnitas and you can skim the fat off during the cooking process)
- 25 teaspoons salt
- 10 teaspoons black Pepper
- 10 onion (chopped)
- 10 medium jalapeno (seeded and chopped)
- 40 cloves garlic (minced)
- 30 cups fresh orange juice (with pulp is best)
- 10 cups water
- 10 cups chopped Pineapple
- Rub
- 30 tablespoons brown Sugar
- 10 tablespoons dried Oregano
- 10 teaspoons chile powder
- 20 teaspoons ground cumin
- 10 tablespoons olive oil
- 40 tablespoons vegetable oil (for browning)
Directions
- Preheat your Viking range to 350 (you will be turning it down to 250 for the last hour or so.)
- Rinse and pat dry the pork shoulder. Rub all over with salt and pepper.
- Combine the spice rub ingredients then rub it all over the pork.
- Place the pork in a dutch oven with a heavy lid (fat side up), top with the onion, jalapeño, minced garlic and pineapple (don't worry about spreading it) and pour the orange juice and water over it all.
- Place the pot in your oven and cook covered for 3 hours. Lower the heat to 250 degrees and cook for an additional hour to an hour and a half, until it is fork tender. Keep your eye on the liquid as you can always add a little water to maintain the moisture. You do not want it to get dry so check it occasionally.
- Cook the Pork until it is tender enough to shred. Remove the Pork from the dutch oven and discard the bone, keeping the delicious liquid. Let it all cool slightly. Once everything is cooled down a bit you can shred the pork by using two forks.
- Skim the fat off from the juices remaining in the pot and discard it but be sure not to discard the non fatty juices as we use that to crisp up the shredded pork in a cast iron skillet. You also want to keep all the other cooked ingredients.
- If you have a lot more than 2 cups of juice left in the pot, reduce it down to about 2 cups. The liquid will be salty because of the seasonings for the pork. Set that liquid aside.
- Add more water if the liquid dries out too much. You should end up with about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of liquid when finished.
- In a cast iron skillet over high heat add a bit of vegetable oil to coat your skillet and then add your shredded pork to get it all browned and crispy. Add your reserved juices to the pork so it is all nice and hot and ready to serve.
- Get excited to make some amazing Pork tacos.