Carnitas (Mexican Shredded Pork)

Directions

• Before We Start

  Salt Amounts: Use 1 1/4 tsp of salt per 1LB of pork. When you buy it, the weight of the meat is usually on the package, which makes things easy.
  Lard Amounts: Start with 3 LB of lard for ~5 LB of pork; the meat should be at least 3/4 of the way submerged. It is ok if it is fully submerged. You may need an extra 1-2 LBs of lard if you have a smaller pot or a really large pork butt. You can reuse the lard, so it is not a one time use situation.
  Beer options: Modelo Negro is what we use for this recipe, if you can’t find it or a similar dark beer, an Amber beer is your next best option. There isn’t a ton of it going into the recipe, so alternatives don’t greatly impact the final product.

• Cut and Season the Meat

  Cut the meat into 2 1/2 x 3 in chunks. You will likely need to cut through the entire length of the pork butt like you would dividing a chicken breast into thinner cuts. Giving you 2 slabs of pork that are about 2 1/2 – 3 in in thickness, before cutting up the rest of it.
  
  All of the seasonings in this section needs to be scaled up or down based on the weight of your pork butt. If it is more, you will need to scale up the salt, cumin, clove, black pepper accordingly. If it is less, then scale down the amounts.
  
  If you have the time, salt the meat an hour before you are ready to cook. This will help the salt to dissolve to minimize salt loss during the cooking process.
  
  Pork Seasoning
  29 g 2 tbsp kosher salt (see Before We Start)
  15 g 2.5 Tbsp ground cumin
  0.5 g 1/2 tsp ground clove
  3 g 2 tsp black pepper course ground
  
  If grinding whole spices, it is best to go by weight.
  2.5 Tbsp of ground cumin is about 2 Tbsp whole cumin seeds.
  1/2 tsp of ground clove is about 7-8 whole cloves.
  Grind your cumin and clove in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder.
  
  Sprinkle the meat with the salt, ground cumin, clove, and black pepper and pat it into the meat.

• Melt the Lard and Add the Ingredients

  Add 2.5 lb 1125 g lard to a large heavy bottomed pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat until fully melted and starting to simmer.
  
  Using a set of long tongs, carefully add the pork, giving it good contact with the bottom of the pot. Add the onion, 4 of orange halves (you will have one halve remaining for a later step), and the spice pouch trying to submerge them as much as possible in the lard.
  
  Not all pots and cuts of meat require the same amount of lard to submerge the meat enough. We are aiming for a little more than 3/4 of the meat to to be submerged in the lard. If it is less than that add more lard up to 4-5 LB in total if needed to reach that amount of submersion.
  
  Note: Don’t throw away the lard afterward. You can reuse it for future carnitas, refried beans, tamales, flour tortillas, etc. You can either use it seasoned as is or you can boil it with some water and let it cool on the counter until it solidifies. This will separate the seasoning and the lard since the seasoning will fall to the bottom of the water and the lard will solidify on top, removing the seasoning in the process.

• Cook

  Cook uncovered for 20–25 minutes, flipping the meat half way through until the pork begins to lightly brown and the edges develop a little color.

• Transfer to the Oven

  Preheat oven to 300°F 150°C.
  
  Transfer the pot to the oven and leave it uncovered. Place it directly on the middle rack. Cook for 1 hr 45 mins, flipping the meat once halfway through the cook. It will bake for a total of 2 hours (see next step).

• Add Beer and Milk

  Take the pot out of the oven and add the dark beer, sugar, and whole milk. Transfer back to the oven uncovered and bake for another 15 mins. The pork will be fork-tender and shred easily.

• Finish on the Stove

  Transfer the pot to the stove top and set the heat medium-high.
  
  Cook uncovered for 15–25 minutes, until the pork develops crisp, browned edges and a shiny, lacquered finish. Flip the meat about half way through with tongs. Be careful not to over agitate the meat since it is tender at this stage.
  
  You do not want to over brown the meat. Creating too much bark will make it tough and chewy. Looking for a mostly light amber color.
  
  NOTE: If you dry the meat out by seasoning it the night before and letting it sit in the fridge overnight, the browning will happen much faster. You will need to adjust the timing on this step to more like 5-15 minutes.

• Shred and Finish with Hot Lard

  Remove the spice pouch, oranges, and onions.
  
  Using tongs, transfer the pork to a large bowl or sheet pan and shred the meat using two forks. A stand mixer with the paddle attachment for a few seconds also works well.
  
  Add ⅔ cup 160 g hot lard and squeeze one of the roasted orange halves over the meat and the remaining fresh orange halve. The meat may lose some salt during the cooking process depending on when you salted it, so taste it and add additional salt as needed and mix.
  
  Optionally, rough-chop the caramelized onions and fold them back in with the meat as well.

• Enjoy

  We love this meat for Mexican street tacos and as a protein-heavy rice bowl. Load up your pork meat in some corn tortillas, top with white onions, cilantro, salsa verde, and habanero salsa with a hit of lime juice.
  
  You can crisp up the meat further by heating it for 5-10 minutes on a sheet pan in the oven at 375 F 190 C. We love to do this for leftovers as well as with Mexican rice and beans to make carnitas bowls the next day.