My brother, his family, and I are doing weekly Taco Tuesdays in 2021–for fun, but also so we can interact with each other during this pandemic where we need to stay pretty close to home and limit contact with others.
This recipe is slightly non-traditional as I use chipotle peppers (instead of jalepaños), extra garlic, and I use a combination of liquids–beer, orange juice, broth. (Some recipes only use orange juice.) It is also best made one day in advance to allow the flavors to really permeate the meat.
Kitchen implements needed
- 6-quart or larger slow cooker
- Sharp knife for removing excess fat
- Chopper (or food processor) for chopping onion and garlic, or a sharp knife
- Citrus juicer (optional)
- Bottle opener for the beer
- Two forks or other type of meat shredder (I recommend the MeatRake brand of tools)
- Sheet pan
- Aluminum foil
Ingredients
- 1 pork shoulder or pork butt (approx. 7 to 8 pounds with bone or 6 pounds, if boneless)
- 2 TB kosher salt, or more to taste
- 1 TB ground cumin
- 1 TB freshly ground black pepper
- 1 TB dried oregano (I use Mexican whole oregano)
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 head garlic (~10 cloves), peeled and chopped
- 4 whole chipotle chiles (from a small can of chipotles en adobo)
- 1 can (14 oz) diced or crushed tomatoes
- 1.5 cups beer (I use brown ale)
- One-half cup orange juice (about 1.5 oranges, if using a juicer)
- 1 cup chicken broth
Garnishes
Choose your favorite Mexican-American accompaniments to garnish your carnitas dish.
- Chopped cilantro
- Pico de gallo
- Salsa
- Sliced avocados
- Thinly sliced radishes
- Thinly sliced, or chopped, jalapeño peppers
- Sour cream
- Chopped red onions
- Lime wedges
- Queso blanco
- Guacamole
- Black or refried beans
Directions
Trim excess fat from the pork. Sprinkle the pork with a rub of the salt, cumin, pepper, oregano, cinnamon, and cayenne (if using). Place the meat with the rub into the slow cooker.
Place the chopped onion and garlic, as well as the chipotles, around the pork in the slow cooker. Pour the tomatoes, beer, broth, and orange juice into the pot with the meat. Cover and cook for about 8-9 hours on low (or 7 hours on high), or until the pork is fork tender or falling off the bone.
Use tongs to transfer the pork to a large cutting board. Remove and discard the bone (if applicable) and any large chunks of fat. Use two forks or a meat shredder to shred the meat into chunks.
The carnitas can be served at this point, or browned in the broiler. If you are using the broiler, transfer the meat to a large, rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
To broil, arrange a rack about 8 inches from the broiler and turn the broiler to high. Broil the meat until a dark golden-brown crust forms on top, about 5 minutes. Flip the carnitas and broil until the second side is also golden-brown, about another 5 minutes.
Transfer the finished broiled pork to a serving dish. For carnitas tacos, serve in tortillas or taco shells with any (or all) of the items in the garnishes list.
Pan variation: If you don’t have a broiler, add a TB of oil to a frying pan and brown the meat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.
That Infernal Itch 