Smoked Pork Carnitas
On February 13, 2024 (Updated May 11, 2024)
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These Smoked Pork Carnitas are a delicious, non-traditional way to enjoy carnitas. The slow smoke makes for a rich, melt in your mouth pork with crispy edges. Hop on this pork train and enjoy some great Mexican inspired flavors in the rub with a kiss of heat and a kiss of sweetness.
Can You Make Carnitas from Smoked Pork?
Heck yes you can. While smoking carnitas is not authentic, I still wanted to take those traditional flavors and add a kiss of wood smoke for something unique and delicious.
Traditional carnitas are braised in oil, low and slow, until the pork is fall-apart tender. We get the same results for this recipe by smoking low and slow and then doing a foiled braise. The seasoning blend includes a lot of traditional seasonings mixed in so we still get that classic carnitas flavor.
Finally, crisping the pork in fat is a super crucial last step. It gives you the coveted crispy edges and caramelized flavor that makes carnitas so darn craveable. Don’t leave this step out. It’s worth the extra time and effort to get the pork just right.
Smoked Pork Carnitas
Ever since I posted my recipe and video for Smoked Chile Verde, Todd has been on my case to smoke up some pork carnitas. I finally gave in to the pressure and created this recipe for smoked pork carnitas. This meal has Mexican-inspired flavors in the rub with a kiss of heat and a kiss of sweetness. It’s the perfect balance of flavors, and you’ll find it extremely family-friendly. We ate it for dinner that first night and shredded the meat for tacos. The next day we pulled it out and tossed leftovers on some homemade nachos. Everyone in the family loved this, and you’ll get a good amount of food for your buck.
Smoked Pork Marinade
The magic to these carnitas comes from the marinade. And luck for you, it only calls for 4 ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need for the marinade:
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 Tablespoons coarse kosher salt
- 2 limes, sliced in half and juiced
- 1 orange, sliced in half and juiced
Simply place the pork in a gallon-sized zip top bag, add the remaining ingredients, and allow the pork to marinate in the refrigerator overnight (around 12 hours).
Tips for Making Carnitas
So you’re ready to make your own delicious pork carnitas, eh? Well then, take a quick peek at these tips to ensure your meat comes out tasting completely divine.
- Crisp in batches. If you have more pork than you need, do the last crisping step in batches. Save the rest of the shredded pork and liquid/fat and crisp up right before serving. This is a great way to reheat it and the crisp edges are fresh and hot every time you want to eat.
- Keep dishes to a minimum. Braise in either a 12″ cast iron skillet or aluminum foil pans. I used foil pans because that’s what I had, but cast iron works great as well.
- Reserve the cooking liquid. You’ll use the oil on top to crisp the meat and the juices underneath to keep it moist and flavorful.
How to Make Pork for Tacos
- Marinate. Place the pork shoulder in a large zip top bag and sprinkle on all sides with kosher salt, then pour over the orange and lime juice. Place the orange and lime rinds in the container with the pork, and then let it marinate for a good 12 hours to let all those flavors soak into the pork.
- Season and smoke pork. Preheat your smoke to 225 degrees F. Remove your pork from the marinade and pat it dry. Combine all of the ingredients for the pork seasoning in a small bowl. Drizzle the pork shoulder with cooking oil and then season the pork on all sides with the dry rub. Smoke with the lid closed for 5-6 hours, until the internal temperature of the shoulder reads about 165 degrees F.
- Braise pork. Transfer pork shoulder to an aluminum pan and pour vegetable oil on in, then place bay leaves and cover with foil. Increase your smoker to 350 degrees F. Place covered pork, close the lid, and smoke until your pork reaches 203 degrees F, about 3-4 hours.
- Rest and shred. Rest the meat at room temperature for at least an hour before shredding. Shred the meat and remove the large bone and any fat or gristle and discard the bay leaves. Save any liquid for the next step.
- Crisp pork. Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Use a spoon to separate the oil and fat from the pan drippings. Drizzle the skillet with the saved cooking fats. Place the shredded pork into the hot oil and cook for 2-3 minutes, flipping pieces occasionally to ensure even browning.
- Enjoy. Serve immediately in tacos or burritos, on nachos, or plain. Drizzle more of the reserved cooking liquid, as desired.
More Tasty Pork Recipes
Oh baby, I love me some smoked pork. If you find yourself looking for some tasty smoked pork to make this week, look no further than these other popular recipes from Hey Grill Hey:
Smoked Pork Carnitas Recipe
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Smoked Pork Carnitas
Video
Ingredients
- 1 7-9 pound bone-in pork shoulder
Marinade
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 Tablespoon coarse kosher salt
- 2 limes sliced in half and juiced
- 1 orange sliced in half and juiced
Seasoning
- 1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons coarse black pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion
- ½ teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- ½ teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Braise
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- Marinate the pork. Place the pork shoulder in a large zip top bag or other food-safe container. Coat with cooking oil and sprinkle the shoulder on all sides with kosher salt and pour over the orange and lime juice. Place the orange and lime rinds in the container with the pork and refrigerate for 12 hours (typically overnight).1 7-9 pound bone-in pork shoulder, 1 Tablespoon coarse kosher salt, 2 limes, 1 orange, 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- Preheat the smoker. Preheat your smoker to 225 degrees F with your favorite hardwood. I recommend pecan or oak for this recipe.
- Season the pork shoulder. Remove your pork from the marinade and pat dry. Combine all of the ingredients for the pork seasoning in a small bowl. Drizzle the pork shoulder with the 2 Tablespoons of cooking oil and spread all around. Season the pork on all sides with the dry rub.1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar, 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt, 2 teaspoons coarse black pepper, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon granulated garlic, 1 teaspoon granulated onion, ½ teaspoon chipotle chili powder, ½ teaspoon dried Mexican oregano, ½ teaspoon cumin, ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Smoke. Place the pork shoulder on the smoker and close the lid. Smoke for approximately 5-6 hours, or until the internal temperature of the shoulder reads about 165 degrees F.
- Prep to braise. Transfer the pork shoulder to an aluminum pan and pour the ½ cup of vegetable oil over the top. Place the bay leaves on top and cover tightly with foil.2 bay leaves, ½ cup vegetable oil
- Braise the pork. Increase the heat on your smoker to 350 degrees F (this step can also be completed in the oven) and put the covered pan inside and close the lid. Allow to cook for an additional 3-4 hours or until the pork shoulder reaches an internal temperature of 203 degrees, or your thermometer probe slides into the meat like it is sliding into softened butter.
- Rest and shred. Rest the meat at room temperature for at least an hour before shredding. Shred the meat and remove the large bone and any fat or gristle and discard the bay leaves. There will likely be a lot of liquid in the aluminum pan, do not discard this liquid! It is delicious and you’ll need it in the next step.
- Crisp the pork. Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Use a spoon (or fat separator) to separate the oil and fat from the pan drippings. Drizzle the skillet with 1-2 Tablespoons of the cooking fats. Place the shredded pork into the hot oil and cook for 2-3 minutes, flipping pieces occasionally to ensure even browning.
- Serve and enjoy. Serve immediately in tacos or burritos, on nachos, or plain! I recommend having the reserved cooking liquid on the side to drizzle on, as desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Easy recipe and came out great! I smoked 2-7 pound Boston butts, too right at 8 hours, rested 1 hour before shredding. Extremely moist!!
Question — after the pork hits 165 and you wrap it, is there any advantage to using the smoker over the oven?
Once it’s wrapped you can finish it in the oven. All of the smoked is absorbed into the pork during the initial smoke.
Hey! Recepie looks great but I’m using a smoker with a dipping collection cup. Can the collected dripping be used instead of 1/2 cup of veggie oil for the braise?
Sure!
Fantastic recipe, highly recommend.
We have made this before and loves it. We are making it again for Christmas but with a 17 lb. Pork. Any ideas for me on cooking time adjustments? Thanks for the amazing recipe!!
you still cook to temperature not time when internal is 165 wrap it up and braise it.
Well I will come back with more comments as this just entered the oven. I love good carnitas, but my past attempts with other recipes missed by a mile. This one is showing promise already!! Here we cook at 5500′ elevation so it was already in the smoker for 8 hours at 235. 3 inkbird probes in it and one tracking cooker temp just a few inches over in the airflow path. It only hit 145 to 151 on the meat. Based on many pulled pork cooks that is about what to expect. Pulled it and put it in the oven @ 350 and plan to start checking at 185. If you go to 203 at this elevation, expect very dry and meat starting to toughen. I normally pull my Boston Butt out at 190 to 195, generally closer to 190, even 188 a few times. Started cooking by feel a few years ago because all my pulled pork, brisket, and even ribs were too dry and many times tough going by temp. Smelled great but the cinnamon smell was stronger than I like but not over powering. I cut the cinnamon by about a 1/3 in the recipe. The piece of bark was pretty good, just a bit too much cinnamon for my liking. Not a huge fan of cinnamon on meat dishes if it is too strong. We do like Jamaican and red enchiladas though, both commonly have cinnamon. The family will love it though based on flavors and they don’t mind more cinnamon. Just and FYI if you are not a fan of cinnamon seasoning on meat. Also tweaked recipe just a bit based on another review. Put half the seasoning on in the marinade. There was still enough seasoning that it has a great bark on both sides. The other tweak I made based on one of my former boss’s comments was using lard instead of veggie oil when I put in the oven. She was Hispanic and loved very traditional Mexican cooking and talked about her Mom’s carnitas fairly often. She was a bit of a health nut so it was always funny to hear her take a funny dig at them. She said, ‘yep carnitas are best, they should be very fatty pork, boiled in pork fat!’ LOL I have tried the boiling in lard and I didn’t have the technique or good recipe not sure which. We are going to stick with something close to what was one of her favorites. A batch of carmalized onion, a little bit of cheese and will be putting them in empanada shells. With that, something you could get in the Denver area when we lived there… CO/Pueblo/NM pork green chili on the side as an appetizer or dipping sauce! My favorite was always carnitas, smothered with green, and carmalized onions but just remembering all the great stories my former boss told about eating it in an empanada. And it gives me an excuse to make some cherry empanadas for dessert LOL. I will be back to let you know if the family thinks it is 4 stars or 5 but based on first sample doubt it will go down.
Really terrific.
Would love recommendations on how you tend to serve it. Nice salsa? I saw caramelized onions and cheese in another comment. Just curious for side and toppings suggestions.
Firstly I would like to mention that Hey Grill Hey has been my go to for recipes for the past year now. This is my 1st review.The only thing I did different here was using orange juice rather than fresh oranges because we forgot it at the store. Trust me, it’s a fine substitute as this turned out AMAZING! I used a blended wood pellet that consisted of cherry, maple and apple. We had family and friends over for dinner, we did taco night! We had purchased a 14lbs shoulder-butt from Costco. Those who shop there know this is a package of two. We had decided to try the traditional slow cook method for the 1st one and use this recipe for the 2nd shoulder-butt. I will tell you that once everyone had a taste of the smoked carnitas, it was gone. Y the end of the night while the slow cooked carnitas was still sitting on the counter. The meat was extremely flavorful, I managed to get the right amount of crisp on the outside and a great juicy flavor on the inside. The citrus marinade blender perfectly with the traditional Mexican seasoning. I recommend this recipe to everyone! Tonight we are doing this for the 2nd time, instead of tacos, we plan on using the Hey Grill Hey Pork Carnitas Nacho recipe!
So amazingly good. The seasoning is phenomenal and crisping the pork really brings the whole thing together. This may be my new go to pork recipe.
This recipe is exceptional!!! I found you on YouTube while looking for recipes after a got my smoker a couple of years ago and I have really enjoyed the recipes and great content! Thank you!
Will be making this and just had a question, could you sub the vegetable oil with Olive or Avocado Oil?
Came to the comments to see this exact question. Looks like no one answered. Did you try it?
You absolutely can substitute a different oil.
At what point could I freeze it? I’m thinking of smoking about 40 pounds of pork butt for a rehearsal dinner but I need to freeze it to travel there. Should I freeze it before crisping it?
I would completely finish the recipe and then freeze. It’ll reheat great in crock pots or covered in an oven set on low.
Thank you for the quick reply!