Carnitas, Bradley style

[Consiglieri]

Occurred to me early this morning that carnitas are made with essentially a two step cooking process: (1) primary cooking to rend out the fat (for frying later) and to make the pork shreddable (read pulled), and (2) frying the tender meat to get some crispiness and season the meat.  Thought about this first step a bit and could not think of a reason why the ole DBS shouldn't be used (since I wouldn't fry in the fat or lard anyway-- darn doctor).  Same cuts of meat are used: shoulders and butts.  Same finished texture desired at end of step one: pullable/shreddable.  Biggest difference is that in the typical recipe the meat is cut into chunks and then simmered in liquid.  Did a search here and found one thread discussing carnitas, and basicaly these points, but still haven't determined if anyone has performed the "Bradley Experiment."  If anyone has given this project a try, Bradley style, would like to hear from you.

All in all, I will probably give this a try anyway.  Chilorio is what I aim to make, which is essentially step one carnitas fried/simmered in an ancho chile paste during step 2.  I will be using the recipe from Diane Kennedy's book, using smoked rather than simmered pork butt.  I will do the step one cooking overnight in the dbs starting about 5pm, 4 hours of smoke (may use a bit of mesquite with hickory), change the water at the end of the smoke period, baste as usual (but mop to be determined).  Hopefully reaches target pulling temp of 195 by midmorning next day.  Will likely FTC for a bit before shredding.  From past experience with the Bradley finished product, the meat will probably shred itself; no molcajete necessary.

Mop selection is a bit of a challenge.  I've combined cumin with apple juice, and a bit of lemon juice, for mops with some good results.  But for this dish, don't know that I want the apple sugar.  Maybe a vinegar mop.  Any ideas are appreciated.

Hoping this one produces postive results.

[CLAREGO]

sounds great ill be over

[Consiglieri]

Okay, a load of Ice's sauce landed today so modified the plans somewhat.  Bought a Costco two pack of cryo butt.  One rubbed with some mexican seasonings; the other mustard slathered and rubbed with the pigrub.

Into the DBS in about 45 minutes, and will cook at 220 overnight.  Will smoke for 4 hours 2:1 hickory to mesquite. 

Will be cooking these hunks of meat at the same time, mopped with the same apple-lemon cumin juice.  Only differences are the rubs (and a slather) and the finish: whether fried in the ancho-pasilla paste or tossed in iceman's sauce.  I'm looking forward to posting some results.

[Consiglieri]

Project update:  1st butt, the slathered and rubbed one, hit 195 at 5 am (Maverick wake up call).  FTCed for 4.5 hours, then pulled and tossed with Iceman's sauce (the praise you read about is deserved).  Still some time left on the carnitas bound butt.  First butt turned out moist and tasty.  the cumin, lemon apple juice mop tastes pretty good (1.5C apple juice, juice of one lemon, tsp cumin)

I'll post carnitas debriefing later.  In the meantime, here are some pictures of the pulled pork and the ancho-pasilla paste:

[NePaSmoKer]

My mom has mexican roots and here is the way i learned to make carnitas from her. I grew up on my parents farm in the desert of Southern Calif. We had some large family cook outs with lots of good mexican food.  Ahhhh the memories  ;D

cut up ready for seasoning.



all seasoned and going in a zipper bag overnight in the fridge.


nepas

[NePaSmoKer]

Looks good Consiglieri  ;D

nepas

[Consiglieri]

So here are the carnitas, probably 8+ pounds of 'em.  Didn't get them as crispy on the outside as I like them, but it's hot here so didn't want to stand around the stove waiting for that many pounds to crisp up.  Taste pretty darn good, and a nice alternative to the bbq sauced pulled pork.  Here are some pix:

Out of the DBS, 4 hours FTC, and then shred fest:



Then mix in the sauce, and fry away





(free plug for Iceman)

I like this recipe and if anyone's interested, I'll post the recipe for the ancho-pasilla paste (giving full credit to Diane Kennedy).  Getting hungry and, to borrow a phrase, I gotta eat.

Cheers.

[CLAREGO]

yeah post it !

[Consiglieri]

Here you go.  Adapted to 8lb quantities and modified to include pasilla chiles, here's the chilorio sauce from Kennedy's Essential Cuisines of Mexico (essentially quadrupled the original, with a bit less salt):

16 Ancho Chiles
16 Pasilla Chiles
1 1/3 cup vinegar
2/3 cup water
2T salt
1T crushed garlic
.5 to 1tsp cumin, depending on your taste
1tsp oregano.

Soak the chiles in warm water until tender, drain and destem.  Put the liquid and spices into your blender and blend until smooth.  Start adding chiles and blend until smooth.  Stuff gets pretty thick; you may have to free up the blades with a spatula from time to time.

Toss this stuff over the meat and then fry until the excess moisture evaporates and you get some crispiness on the meat.

[CLAREGO]

thanks

[Consiglieri]

My pleasure.  I think you'll like this recipe if you give it a shot.

[begolf25]

Consiglieri,

Thats looks great. Something I would definitely like to try. I could easily eat that right out of the bowl. But at the risk of sounding ignorant, exactly how do you serve this? Do you use this meat for tacos, burritos, etc?

Bryan

[Consiglieri]

Hi Bryan:  I make sides of mexican rice and whole pinto beans.  let people fill up tortillas how they like.  Have on hand the usual vegetables, condiments that people like to put on tacos.

[HCT]

Thanks for the posting Cons, very informative. ;)

[Consiglieri]

My pleasure, and I got to eat the experiment too.