Pork Carnitas
- 11 Pounds Pork Shoulder, or Pork Butt
- 1 1/2 Cups Butt Kickin' Blacken, Southwest Blend
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons Coarse Kosher Salt
- 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
Basting Sauce
- 1 Large Onion, rough chopped
- 2 Large Jalapeno Chile Peppers, minced
- 2 Large Fresno Peppers, minced
- 2 Large Habanero Chiles, minced
- 1/2 Large Green Bell Pepper, rough chopped
- 1/2 Large Red Bell Pepper, rough chopped
- 1 Can Diced Tomatoes, 28 oz. can
- 6 Ounces Frozen Orange Juice Concentrate
- 1/2 Large Lemon, juiced
- 3 Tablespoons Butt Kickin' Blacken, Southwest Blend
2. Trim the large chunks of fat from the meat, and cut the meat into large chunks. Mix up the blacken and the salt, and rub into the meat. Add the oil and mix it well, to coat the meat fully. You want the meat to be quite shiny, so it'll brown nicely in the pan. 3. Line a 9" x 13" pan with a single piece of aluminum foil. This will make cleanup a LOT easier.
Pre-heat a stainless pan to a medium high heat. Place the meat in and brown it on all sides. As it's done, place it into the foil lined baking pan.
Ron's note:
As you can see my frying pan looked almost ready to throw out after I'd finished browning the meat.
4. By immediately pouring some cold water into the pan, I was able to de-glaze it to the point it shows in this picture. Later it was real easy to finish cleaning it.
5. Place the meat in a pre-heated 300 degree oven.
6. While the meat begins cooking, you can start the sauce.
Chop all of the vegetables and place them in a pot with a tablespoon of vegetable oil, and 1 tablespoon of water.
7. Cook, covered, until the vegetables are soft, Then add the Tomatoes, Orange Juice Concentrate, Lemon Juice, and the blacken.
8. Let this cook for about 15 minutes, then use an immersion blender to blend it up, or, place it in a blender.
9. After the meat has cooked about an hour, Coat with the basting sauce, and add some chicken broth, or water to the bottom of the pan. Let this cook, uncovered for another 2 hours, flipping and basting every 45 minutes, or so.
10. After a total of about 3 hours cooking, cover it, with aluminum foil and continue cooking for another 45 minutes to an hour. You want to cook it until the meat has shrunk from any bones, and you can pull it apart with a fork.
11. Let the meat cool enough to handle, and pull it apart using 2 forks.
12. Taste the pork, and if you want more flavor, there are a couple of ways to do it. You can add 1/2 cup of the SouthWestern Blend; Add any leftover Basting Sauce, or, add some Enchilada Sauce to it.