Slow Cooker Carnitas

23 April 2012: Yesterday I made a huge batch of pork carnitas. This is one of my favorite foods. I made it for a party. This is from All Recipes. My notes are below of what I did or did not do.

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (4 pound) boneless pork shoulder roast
2 bay leaves
2 cups chicken broth

Mix together salt, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, coriander, and cinnamon in a bowl. Coat pork with the spice mixture. Place the bay leaves in the bottom of a slow cooker and place the pork on top. Pour the chicken broth around the sides of the pork, being careful not to rinse off the spice mixture.

Cover and cook on Low until the pork shreds easily with a fork, about 10 hours. Turn the meat after it has cooked for 5 hours. When the pork is tender, remove from slow cooker, and shred with two forks. Use cooking liquid as needed to moisten the meat.

What I did or did not do:

I tripled the rub and added a teaspoon of paprika. I didn’t use bay leaves or the cinnamon.

I marinated the pork overnight.

I cooked two 5.5 (approx.) pork shoulders (Costco doesn’t package pork shoulders individually), each in its own pan and covered tightly with tinfoil; and cooked for 5 ½ hours at 300 degrees. I could have taken it out at the 5 hour mark. Cook until 170 degrees inside temperature.

I added towards the end, a large onion, sliced thin. Next time I will cook separately in a pan so that the onions don’t cook all the way down (add after shredding the pork and toss to combine). I didn’t really taste the onions when eating.

I added the chicken broth after shredding the pork (remove all fat), as there wasn’t enough juices in the pan (which I drained the fat first).

I served with corn tortillas (healthier than plain white soft tortillas - warm up first or else they’ll fall apart) and fresh-made salsa.

This recipe could use a little kick, therefore, next time I’ll serve with hot fresh-made salsa or will add some hot sauce to the shredded pork.