Best Carnitas Recipes

Steps:

• Add the chicken broth, orange juice, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, oregano, red pepper flakes, cloves, and 2 teaspoons kosher salt to a large slow cooker and whisk to combine. Add the onion, garlic and bay leaves and stir to combine. Add the pork and toss to coat. Cover and cook on high until the meat is tender, about 5 hours.
• Transfer the pork to a large bowl with a slotted spoon and discard the bay leaves, onion, and garlic. Shred the pork into bite-size pieces with 2 forks, leaving some larger chunks, and season with salt and pepper.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the lard in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the shredded pork and press down into an even layer with a spatula. Cook, pressing occasionally with a spatula, until crisped and browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter and cover with foil to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining 2 tablespoons lard and shredded pork.
• Serve with tortillas, cilantro, jalapenos and pickled red onions.
• Put the sliced onions in a medium heatproof, nonreactive bowl. Put the vinegar, orange juice, lime juice, bay leaves, sugar, coriander and 1 tablespoon kosher salt in a small saucepan and whisk to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook, whisking occasionally, until the sugar dissolves, about 1 minute. Pour the mixture over the red onions and set aside until cooled to room temperature. Serve at room temperature or cover and refrigerate up to 4 days.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
• Put the poblano and onion slices in the bottom of a heavy pot. Mix the cayenne, cumin and a pinch of salt and pepper together in a bowl, then use the mixture to season the pork shoulder. Put the pork on top of the vegetables. Add the chicken broth, jalapeno slices, lime zest and juice and orange zest and juice. Cover and cook until tender, 4 to 5 hours.
• Turn the heat up to 450 degrees F, remove the lid and cook until the surface crisps slightly, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the pork to a board and let it rest until cool enough to handle, then remove the fat and shred the meat with 2 forks.
• Strain the vegetables from the sauce and set aside. Put the meat in serving dish, add the vegetables and pour over some of the sauce.
• Serve the shredded pork with warm corn tortillas, radishes, pickled jalapenos, pico de gallo, hot sauce, lime wedges and cilantro leaves.

Steps:

• Mix cumin, garlic powder, oregano, coriander, kosher salt and ground black pepper together in a small bowl to make a dry rub. Pat the pork shoulder roast or boston butt dry with paper towels, and then cover roast with dry rub.
• Place the pieces of onion and the bay leaf in the bottom of your slower cooker, lay the roast on top. Carefully pour the chicken stock or the water around the roast, taking care not to wash away the dry rub. Cook on low for 6 hours or until the pork easily falls apart.
• Once the pork is easily falling apart, remove from slow cooker to cool. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Remove and discard the excess fat, shred the remaining pork.
• Place the reserved cooking liquid in a large non-stick skillet with shredded pork. Cook over medium high heat until the liquid is absorbed, tossing the pork occasional to coat.
• Once the cooking liquid is absorbed, add the oil and crisp up the carnitas to your desired doneness. We like our extra crispy, usually about 14-18 minutes.
• Serve with your favorite taco fixings, like corn or flour tortillas, cilantro, lime, shredded cabbage, pico de gallo, sour cream and cheese.

Steps:

• Cut up your pork roast into 1 to 2 inch chunks (Don't trim the fat it will render in final part of cooking) and put it in a large pot. Add the cup of orange juice and your seasonings. Add enough water to just cover the meat (it's ok if it's not completely covered). Bring it to a simmer and let it simmer uncovered for 2 hours. I know you'll be tempted but DO NOT stir or touch the meat during these 2 hours. You should have enough water/juice in the pot that by the end of the 2 hours you will be down to about an inch or less of liquid. When you get to this point turn the heat up to medium high and chop and stir it around until the liquid evaporates and your pork is a mixture of something between chunks and shredded. I like to let it brown up a bit even. That's it, you're done! The best pork ever and the flavor is simple enough that you can do pretty much anything with the meat.