[jbthomas69]

+1 on carnitas.  Cooks Illustrated has a good recipe

[erockrph]

I wish I had the time I once had in my younger days to take the time to brine and smoke one up right. I always take the easy way out - Crock Pot on low, a sliced onion, apple cider and/or Coke, fat side up. Walk away for the day. When it's done, just pull it and toss with some BBQ sauce (not much is needed at that point). Serve it up on a good roll with some slaw available for those who choose to use it.

[euge]

Damn that sounds good. Start it before work- dinner is ready when you get home!

[blatz]

Thanks for all the help guys.  I want to try just about every recipe put on here!

Here's what I did for the first one yesterday:

Dry rubbed overnight, wrapped in plastic:

Brown sugar
Salt
Pepper
Crushed fennel seed
Crushed cumin
Cayenne
Paprika
A little thyme

Then got the Dutch oven super hot, sautéed one yellow onion and three Crisp apples (both sliced up), then browned all sides of the pork, added about 20 oz of robust porter an some chicken stock to deglaze and bring the liquid level halfway up.  Put in the oven at 275 for 3.5 hours, flipping once in the middle.

Then pulled the meat and brought the braising liquid to a boil to concentrate it and spooned some of that over the meat.  Served with sautéed Swiss chard and mashed sweet potatoes (made in a pressure cooker - divine). Was a great meal especially after a long IIPA brewday.

[Hokerer]

I've been doing the Texas Crutch to reduce smoking times to about 6 hours.  Smoke it for 3, wrap it in foil and add some liquid (Coke, if you like) and smoke it for a couple more.  Un-wrap it and finish.

Without doing this, I need 10 - 12 hours to get it so the meat will pull.

I've definitely got to try the crutch on my next butt - last one took 14 hours

[majorvices]

Thanks for all the help guys.  I want to try just about every recipe put on here!

Here's what I did for the first one yesterday:

Dry rubbed overnight, wrapped in plastic:

Brown sugar
Salt
Pepper
Crushed fennel seed
Crushed cumin
Cayenne
Paprika
A little thyme

Then got the Dutch oven super hot, sautéed one yellow onion and three Crisp apples (both sliced up), then browned all sides of the pork, added about 20 oz of robust porter an some chicken stock to deglaze and bring the liquid level halfway up.  Put in the oven at 275 for 3.5 hours, flipping once in the middle.

Then pulled the meat and brought the braising liquid to a boil to concentrate it and spooned some of that over the meat.  Served with sautéed Swiss chard and mashed sweet potatoes (made in a pressure cooker - divine). Was a great meal especially after a long IIPA brewday.

That doesn't even remotely  look like anything I suggested...

[brewmichigan]

+1 on carnitas.  Cooks Illustrated has a good recipe

+2 on the carnitas and +1 on the cooks illustrated recipe.

[majorvices]

What issue is it from? Can someone post the CI recipe or would that be unethical? I've had subscriptions off and on but currently off.

[james]

What issue is it from? Can someone post the CI recipe or would that be unethical? I've had subscriptions off and on but currently off.

I'm also an on/off subscriber, currently off.  Whenever I'm looking for a certain recipe googling 'cooks illustrated <recipename>' always comes up with the official recipe 1st and then the 2nd and/or 3rd have it reprinted in someones blog (though sometimes with modifications).

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2013/04/carnitas-mexican-pulled-pork/
http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/1156908-Mexican-Pulled-Pork-Carnitas-

[jbthomas69]

http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/detail.php?docid=13064

It was on PBS so they have all of those recipes for free. You have to register an email.

[jbthomas69]

Nm its locked as premium. The episode is on youtube though

[brewmichigan]

Here it is. I'm a member and since it is on youtube...

We like serving carnitas spooned into tacos, but you can also use it as a filling for tamales, enchiladas, and burritos.
Ingredients
Pork

    1(3 1/2-to 4-pound) boneless pork butt, fat cap trimmed to 1/8 inch thick, cut into 2-inch chunks
      Salt and ground black pepper
    1teaspoon ground cumin
    1small onion, peeled and halved
    2 bay leaves
    1teaspoon dried oregano
    2tablespoons juice from 1 lime
    2cups water
    1medium orange, halved

Tortillas and Garnishes

    18(6-inch) corn tortillas, warmed
      Lime wedges
      Minced white or red onion
      Fresh cilantro leaves
      Thinly sliced radishes
      Sour cream

Instructions

    1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Combine pork, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, cumin, onion, bay leaves, oregano, lime juice, and water in large Dutch oven (liquid should just barely cover meat). Juice orange into medium bowl and remove any seeds (you should have about 1/3 cup juice). Add juice and spent orange halves to pot. Bring mixture to simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Cover pot and transfer to oven; cook until meat is soft and falls apart when prodded with fork, about 2 hours, flipping pieces of meat once during cooking.

    2. Remove pot from oven and turn oven to broil. Using slotted spoon, transfer pork to bowl; remove orange halves, onion, and bay leaves from cooking liquid and discard (do not skim fat from liquid). Place pot over high heat (use caution, as handles will be very hot) and simmer liquid, stirring frequently, until thick and syrupy (heatsafe spatula should leave wide trail when dragged through glaze), 8 to 12 minutes. You should have about 1 cup reduced liquid.

    3. Using 2 forks, pull each piece of pork in half. Fold in reduced liquid; season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread pork in even layer on wire rack set inside rimmed baking sheet or on broiler pan (meat should cover almost entire surface of rack or broiler pan). Place baking sheet on lower-middle rack and broil until top of meat is well browned (but not charred) and edges are slightly crisp, 5 to 8 minutes. Using wide metal spatula, flip pieces of meat and continue to broil until top is well browned and edges are slightly crisp, 5 to 8 minutes longer. Serve immediately with warm tortillas and garnishes.

[HoosierBrew]

Great recipe.  Carnitas rock.

[majorvices]

thanks brewM - planning to renew my subscrition soon anyway.

[Three]

This all looks good.  I just smoked 18 lbs with hickory last Thursday and brought it out to my son and many of his submarine mates to give them a good meal after being underway. It was a big hit, enjoyed/devoured by all (Sorry, proud dad moment).  Anyway,  pork shoulder is an amazing cut used in a lot of ways.  For that matter anything pork just rocks.   Here is one of the many we do here in our house.  This kind of has a Cajun twist.....


This is always a hit.  You are guaranteed to make friends with this.  The fresh thyme really makes this dish.  It is really easy to put together.  The hardest part is flipping the shoulder as you sear every side in the Dutch oven.  I've also soaked the shoulder in a brine over night and that works out well.

It says 3 hours in the oven, but you know pork shoulder, it's ready on it's own terms.....

Pork Shoulder 6-7lbs
Salt (kosher)
Black Pepper, fresh gound
2 large onions, thin sliced
8 lg garlic cloves, thin sliced
3 Tablespoons fresh thyme
1 Tablespoon dried rosemary, crumbled
2 Tablespoons oil (vegetable or I use canola)
8 Tablespoons of unsalted butter (1 stick)
1/2 all purpose flour
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 lemon juiced (or not, your call, try it and see)
Rice

1 Preheat oven to 275
2 Generously season and rub salt and pepper into the pork shoulder and let sit at room temp for 30 minutes to an hour
3 Combine onions, garlick, thyme, and rosemary in a bowl. Toss to combine
4 Heat oil in a Dutch oven (medium-high) when really hot, sear pork shoulder on all sides (10-12 minutes total)
   Move the shoulder to a plate
5  reduce heat to medium, stir in butter, and when melted add the flour and make a roux (dark peanut butter about 10 minutes) add onion mixture, stir in and cook till well coated and mixture becomes thick.  Stir/whisk in chicken stock, bring to a simmer.
6 Put Pork shoulder back in to the Dutch oven, spoon some of the onion mixture over the pork, cover and
roast for about 3 hours, turning and basting every thirty minutes until the meat breaks apart easily with a fork.

Serve from the pan (pretty fatty) or remove meat, skim the fat, and simmer to reduce and thicken the gravy.  Add lemon juice now and season to taste.  Then server over rice, or potatos?  Crusty french bread.