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Carnitas: I'm trying this this weekend! (1 Viewer)

Thanks for reminding me. There's a Mexican place near my house that serves a great carnitas burrito- they put very crunchy pork skin with the meat that gives it extra flavor. And they griddle the tortilla so its crunchy. I think I will head over there this weekend.

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radcen said:
I haven't decided. I am leaning toward the stove top and oven method.
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Probably better but when you work all day, slow cookers are the best option. My neighbors do it Michoacan style and add beer, coke, and little bit of orange juice which is very good. I'm craving some carnitas now and I just had some Sunday morning. Once you do it, you're gonna love it!
 
PoS said:
Thanks for reminding me. There's a Mexican place near my house that serves a great carnitas burrito- they put very crunchy pork skin with the meat that gives it extra flavor. And they griddle the tortilla so its crunchy. I think I will head over there this weekend.

fvXumLm.jpg
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That looks amazing. I love it when they cook the tortilla all crispy like that.
 
americanwoman said:
Probably better but when you work all day, slow cookers are the best option. My neighbors do it Michoacan style and add beer, coke, and little bit of orange juice which is very good. I'm craving some carnitas now and I just had some Sunday morning. Once you do it, you're gonna love it!
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I use my slow cooker a lot, and actually I might this time because I do have a lot to do this weekend, so the convenience would be handy.

I LOOOOOVE good carnitas, btw, but the key word is "good". Not all are equal. I've never tried making them, but this recipe looks fantastic.

My only concern is 1 tablespoon of condensed milk. I know it's necessary, but you can't buy it in very small portions and I don't know what I'll do with the rest. (First world problems, I know.)
 
I love carnitas. In Puerto Rico we make them a little different. Instead of a sweet orange, we use lime or naranja ( a bitter orange ) and cilantro.

As far as the slow cooker goes... My grandmother would return from the grave to slap me upside the head if I ever prepared Island food in a slow cooker. For us, slow cooking meant putting just a few coals around the Dutch oven, or keeping the flame very, very low under the big cast iron pot. Then again, we never had money for a slow cooker, or for that matter, the electricity to run it. I can afford both now, but I an still afraid of grandma.
 
radcen said:
I use my slow cooker a lot, and actually I might this time because I do have a lot to do this weekend, so the convenience would be handy.

I LOOOOOVE good carnitas, btw, but the key word is "good". Not all are equal. I've never tried making them, but this recipe looks fantastic.

My only concern is 1 tablespoon of condensed milk. I know it's necessary, but you can't buy it in very small portions and I don't know what I'll do with the rest. (First world problems, I know.)
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Pumpkin pie!!!
 
radcen said:
Was going to try the caramel thing, but the can is supposed to be unopened for that.
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Are we talking about sweetened condensed milk?? If that's the case, then just heat it up slowly and you can achieve the same thing. If it's plain evaporated milk, then it's PIE TIME!!!
 
my favorite is a place called Cookies and Carnitas up in Chicago. took the GF there many times when visiting. it's in the Edgewater area.
 
radcen said:
Was going to try the caramel thing, but the can is supposed to be unopened for that.
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Just slurp it from the can, its great on its own. :cool:
 
Been meaning to get back to this. I tried it last Sunday (the 15th). I was disappointed, but it may have been my fault.

It came out dry, and honestly not all that flavorful. I chose the crock pot method, but then I switched it up at the end. Instead of finishing it on the stove top, as the directions for the crock pot version said, I finished them in the oven per the stove top method. I'm suspecting that's what dried them out.

It was still tasty, but not nearly as tasty as I have had in restaurants. I am going to try it again, but with the full stove-top method next time.
 
Carnitas. Is that just a fancy Mexican word for "pulled pork"?

I really want some pulled pork tacos with cole slaw.

One of my favorite go-to dinners at a local brew-pub.
 
radcen said:
I use my slow cooker a lot, and actually I might this time because I do have a lot to do this weekend, so the convenience would be handy.

I LOOOOOVE good carnitas, btw, but the key word is "good". Not all are equal. I've never tried making them, but this recipe looks fantastic.

My only concern is 1 tablespoon of condensed milk. I know it's necessary, but you can't buy it in very small portions and I don't know what I'll do with the rest. (First world problems, I know.)
Click to expand...

I have the same problem with buttermilk (though if you want, you can make buttermilk on the fly with milk and vinegar, but I never do). So when I buy buttermilk that means I'm making biscuits and gravy at least once, pancakes, syrup if necessary, etc.

Thankfully I love biscuits and gravy.
 
Dragonfly said:
Carnitas. Is that just a fancy Mexican word for "pulled pork"? I really want some pulled pork tacos with cole slaw. One of my favorite go-to dinners at a local brew-pub.
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Traditionally Carnitas are more like a Mexican pork stew than BBQ. The meat doesn't lose texture, it is cubed, cooked in a spicy sauce, often with cubed potatoes, peppers and onions. I stove top it in a heavy skillet. Serve it with refried black beans, cheese and tortillas. I like mine spicy, so rotels find their way in or a sharp verde sauce as I like verde over 'chili' looking sauces.
 
Dragonfly said:
Carnitas. Is that just a fancy Mexican word for "pulled pork"?

I really want some pulled pork tacos with cole slaw.

One of my favorite go-to dinners at a local brew-pub.
Click to expand...

Not sure if it is a Mexican word, we use it in Puerto Rico. The word is derived from carne (meat) and ita (a suffix that indicates a small version of the word it is attached to). So basically, carnitas translates to small meat. Pulled? I guess it could be, but most of the time the pork is cut into small (about one inch) squares.

But anyway... A pulled pork taco and coleslaw does sound good.
 
radcen said:
Been meaning to get back to this. I tried it last Sunday (the 15th). I was disappointed, but it may have been my fault.

It came out dry, and honestly not all that flavorful. I chose the crock pot method, but then I switched it up at the end. Instead of finishing it on the stove top, as the directions for the crock pot version said, I finished them in the oven per the stove top method. I'm suspecting that's what dried them out.

It was still tasty, but not nearly as tasty as I have had in restaurants. I am going to try it again, but with the full stove-top method next time.
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I can't imagine how long you must have cooked it for pork shoulder to come out dry. It has so much fat that it's self-basting.
 
sangha said:
I can't imagine how long you must have cooked it for pork shoulder to come out dry. It has so much fat that it's self-basting.
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8 hrs in the crock pot, submerged in liquid per the recipe. 20-25 minutes in the oven, no liquid. Supposedly, the oven part was to get the crispiness on the edges, etc. I'm suspecting the oven part was the culprit in the dryness. I did not taste it between the crock pot and the oven.
 
radcen said:
8 hrs in the crock pot, submerged in liquid per the recipe. 20-25 minutes in the oven, no liquid. Supposedly, the oven part was to get the crispiness on the edges, etc. I'm suspecting the oven part was the culprit in the dryness. I did not taste it between the crock pot and the oven.
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It shouldn't have dried out in the crockpot unless it was boiling for a while, but it doesn't sound like it was boiling in there. 20-25 minutes in the oven shouldn't dry it out either but I would put it in a skillet to crisp them up once they're done in the crockpot.

Also, you may not have to cook them in the crockpot for 8 hours. Once they're tender (because the tough connective tissues have broken down in the slow moist crockpot), you can crisp them up. How long that takes depends on a # of factors (how tough the meat was, the temp it's being slow-cooked at,etc) which can vary, but it's never taken me that long. I have heard of chefs bragging that they cook their meat for a long time but I've often wondered if that's just salesmanship.
 
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