Carnitas in the Slow Cooker
In keeping with the taco theme here’s a recipe for carnitas in the slow cooker. I used the recipe from Damned Delicious (thank you!) which you can find here: Slow Cooker Carnitas. I changed out the black pepper for white pepper and added a bay leaf. I also used orange juice from concentrate (2 Tbsps to 2 Tbsps of water in place of the fresh juice, but I did use fresh lime juice because the bottle stuff is just yuck).
Ingredients
- 2 kg pork shoulder picnic roast (4.4 lbs) with the string and fat cap removed.
- 1 heaping tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 onions, quartered
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 Tbsp orange juice mixed in 2 Tbsp water
- 2 limes, juiced
Method
- Combine chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and white pepper.
- Rub the spice mixture all over the roast (I did this right in the slow cooker).
- Lift up the roast and put the garlic, onions and bay leaf underneath to act as a rack.
- Mix the orange juice and lime juice and pour over the roast.
- Cover and cook on low for at least 8 hours.
- Remove pork from the slow cooker and shred the meat.
- Return the shredded meat the pot with the juices; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Cover and let it warm up for 30 minutes.
- Move rack to the middle of your oven and preheat oven to broil.
- Line a baking sheet with foil or baker’s parchment (makes clean up easer) OR if you have a big black cast iron pan, like I do, just use that and don’t bother lining it.
- Using tongs, put the carnitas onto a baking sheet or in your pan and broil until crisp and crusted, about 3-4 minutes.
- Serve with tortillas (or rice) and the condiments you like.