Skillet Carnitas (Slow-Cooked Mexican Pork Shoulder in a Cast Iron Pan | Kenji's Cooking Show 

This is peak Kenji and why I started watching in the first place. Unique POV. Improvised/off the cuff. Informative. Showing us mortals how to level up day to day home cooking.

I love how 99% of time Kenji mentions he’s going to put something away to eat tomorrow he ends up eating a portion 5 seconds later 😂

I'm so glad the content has been coming to us again! For a while I was afraid we had lost Kenji to life's many twists and turns! 😂

I have 70 lbs. of pork shoulder cooking sous vide for our church Christmas party on Sat. Kenji's carnitas recipes have blessed the lives of many people, thank you!

"Are navel oranges navel like the belly button or naval like the Village People?" this is such a perfect encapsulation of Kenji. Brilliant, informative, delicious, but always above all else fun. Not to mention engaging and always make me feel like I'm capable of doing it myself (even though I'll never be half as good as he is). Love the video, carnitas are one of my favorite dishes in the world!

So much new Kenji content lately, loving it!

Look at Jamón doing his best Shabu impression! 😍

I swear I owe like 90% of my culinary prowess to Kenji, and half of that is due to his PoV videos. I just made a three minute taco with vacuum packed frozen (thawed) carnitas from a local Mexican restaurant, half a diced avocado, 1/4 of a diced red onion, and a small handful of grated gruyere placed on top of the carnitas as soon as I flipped them in the skillet, below the tortillas. I added a few drops of habanero salsa and oh. my. GOD. My stomach is full, and so is my heart.

The slow cooked carnitas recipe from Serious Eats has been a staple in my house for years now. I probably make that thing once every month or two.

The fact that this is made in a countertop toaster oven shows how accessible this recipe is! 👏👏👏

I had some leftover home made cranberry sauce, and saw this. Ran out and got pork shoulder and an orange for the carnitas. What a great combo! I also made some of Kenjis Frijoles Charro to go with it. All so Delicious, thanks Kenji!

Watched this earlier today and plan on making it sometime next week but it inspired me to go get the carnitas plate from the family owned Mexican restaurant in my neighborhood. For $14 I just ate what feels like my body weight in Carnitas. Thank you Kenji for everything you do!!

I gotta say, the camera tilt when Kenji hunches to take a bite made me smile. Such a visceral action.

Perfectly captures the satisfaction of leaning on the kitchen counter stuffing carnitas tacos in my face as fast as I can make em. Made a big batch just last week maybe I'm already due for another one

I've made your home-friendly carnitas at least a dozen times, and I've also had carnitas at one of the (supposedly) best places for them in San Diego. The difference in taste a quality is so small, I'd have to eat them side-by-side to pick out the differences. Your method makes an amazing approximation of the "real thing"!

These are really phenomenal! Thanks for another great recipe Kenji

Love this recipe. I let it all cool overnight in the 'fridge, coat the large chunks in the solidified lard and fry them in an air fryer.

Thanks Kenji! I’ve always over-complicated Carnitas. Thanks for showing us the simplicity needed!

Thanks for doing another Carnitas vid. Have used your last vid to make carnitas almost a dozen times now-it’s become our favorite meal to share with friends.

A welcome lesson in methods and using up what you have. This is why I enjoy your posts so very much!

This is my favorite and most made recipe out of anything I've cooked over the past years. It's become special so watching you make it has been a full circle moment

I love the doggy. So cute and adorable and I just want to give him a big ol' cuddle 💕

Perfect for our Christmas Eve dinner and way more appealing than my usual stovetop method. Genius!

That looks delicious. That blue bowl looks stunning :)

Dig the copper pot notes. One of my favorite things in Baja Mexico since childhood is passing through small villages. Every one has one or more carniceria with a copper pot outside the store, filled with hot lard, and carnitas frying away. Pork, pig tails, snouts, ears, feet, all of it.

Your carnitas recipe has been my go to for several years now it's so easy and always turns out well! Never thought of a cranberry sauce or relish on a pork taco before but as soon as I saw it it made perfect sense , sounds sooo good

Looks amazing! I like the drywall/spackle tool being used -- probably less expensive than a "kitchen" bench scraper.

I really like your previous video (where the camera gave out part way through), but I also like this one! It showed a few variables that demonstrate how forgiving the recipe in general is. Gonna have to make these again. :3

Im impressed how you explain why doing this and that. Looks delicious too, subscribed.

Classical Kenji; the very best. Thankfully HE's back!

Made all of this the other night and everything was so good. Will definitely be keeping pickled red onions on hand from now on

That looks absolutely delicious & and great advert for cranberry sauce all year round 😊

Just made these carnitas and they are simple and delicious! Thank you, Kenji, for your clarity, common sense, and for providing your expertise on these delicacies.

Navel oranges are named after the human navel! if they were named after the navy, they'd be naval oranges lol

Made this. Delicious!! Followed the recipe as is. Have saved and frozen the fat for the next time I make them. Thanks Kenji.

Thank you for strapping on the go pro again! Having that POV makes the recipes seem more accesible somehow...

Yum! Great idea with the cranberry!

love the cute wee treble clef on your compost bin!

This looks sooo good. 🤤🤤

Great recipe, and I love getting to see Jamón! Such an adorable little guy.

I wish I saw this video two weeks ago. World have done this for Thanksgiving instead of turkey with the traditional sides. I bet it would work. Thanks Kenji.

I always hold off making carnitas because I think of it as a large batch meal, this is great. I rwalize you could do a similar volume birria as well. amazing stuff Kenji, thank you🙏

Good to see Jamon!!!

I would love a video of your kitchen hacks / organization/ workflow strategy!

Nice. I’m glad Thanksgiving is over based solely on the fact that all the cooking videos have to do with turkey. Glad to see a new carnitas video. Thank you!

I just love that you put cranberry sauce on that taco. 1000% something I would’ve done and now I’m planning to make these to use up my leftover cranberry sauce.

Was planning to do carnitas tomorrow for a couple of friends visiting, crazy timing

This is one of the most delicious things I’ve ever made - highly recommended

Since seeing your other video on carnitas, I make this regularly now...and I guess I'm making them next week then!

Your pup is so stinkin’ adorable 😍😍😍 I want to come over for a snuggle. I like that you use cast iron and a toaster oven. Gives me hope for being able to make amazing food in a small space. I have a full oven, but I love my toaster oven and try to use it when I can. I also have an affinity for cast iron and use mine often.☺️

Doggo is like "you sure are talking a lot while you're not feeding me"

Love the trowel.

I’ve had leftover cranberry sauce since thanksgiving and have put it almost everything I’ve made, tacos included 😂

I've made taco carnitas a million times before, but yesterday, I tried Kenji's recipe, and I will never again make the meat in any other way.

What incredible timing- I have leftover cranberry sauce in my fridge, and my grocery store had pork shoulder on sale yesterday. Guess I'm making carnitas

Just reheated some carnitas last night that were frozen via your old video. Fantastic on fresh corn tortillas :) Hey Kenji, can herbs simmered overnight in a poultry stock go bitter?

Kenji any advice on selecting a cutting board like the one you have that contours over the edge of the counter? I've seen some sellers saying things like to never use it to cut meat, and only use olive (not vegetable) oil to refresh it etc... I'm not sure what to look for without having buyers remorse later since they are a little expensive for nice hardwood ones

Kenji… thanks for this, i had no idea how to do this at home and opens up options for a pork butt

Hey Kenji! This is one of my favorite recipes of yours and I make it pretty regularly as a form of meal prep. In the other video, you crisped it under the broiler. Would you say its better to wait until right before serving to crisp it and store it in the fridge before that step to avoid drying it out?

Was just thinking about smoking a couple pork shoulders this weekend (great budget food) but now I might do carnitas!

Love your videos and enjoy you as a person. When you say you can strain the fat and keep it for next time. How long is the fat good for and is this something that requires refrigeration?

Tacos are one of the ultimate foods

Man. I REALLY want a taco now.

Using a putty knife as a bench scraper. That’s awesome.

I actually did this recipe and scalled it up and put everything in a dutch oven. Used the same cooking time and temp and the middle was still raw even if my baking dish made it "snug". I believe that my issue was because it wasn't a flat dish. I think that as long as you don't pile it up, you should be good.

Looks delish! Was that a drywall knife?

Very useful technique which I will use for making pork shoulder for my New Mexican style posole which is normally cooked in liquid but inevitably too fatty (for me).

That was perfect! I personally love carnitas in tacos with lime, fresh onion and cilantro, always with a very spicy salsa!

Hey Kenji, I started making the pulled pork you did a while back with the 4 derived dishes and it has become a regular favorite with my family. I do tacos the way you do it here, crisped on a griddle. But when I use store bought corn tortillas (sometimes day- or two-day-old), the tortillas tend to ‘delaminate’ and fall apart. Is there anything I can do to keep the tortillas intact? Or do I just need to use better, fresher tortillas?

Damn this is making me hungry

Germs everywhere!

I make this whenever "pork butt" is on sale and use pretty much the same aromatics; although, I often include a tiny bit of turmeric and ginger. However, it never occurred to me to include citrus. I'll definitely include it the next time I make carnitas.

cranberry sauce on a taco with carnitas, no window shot, nothing better!

Kenji, hermano! Ya eres mexicano!

I love this recipe. My Mexican neighbor makes the "whole hog" version and I'm not really fond of the fat or stomach. I'll make this for him for Christmas. Thanks!

Kenji What Beef / Pork Recipe is Quickest, Healthiest and Tastiest for Daily Diet ? Thank You

Best carnitas I’ve ever made I used only pork belly. It was insane how good it was

Love the video! What’s in the jar to the right of the peppercorns?

As a mexican I aprove: I'd love to try the cranberry sauce on carnitas taco: I imagine the complementay flavors must be a hit! In my family in Guadalajara is a tradition to eat turkey on christmas or new year; just as our cousine have influenced the USA, we in Mexico also eat turkey and cranberry sauce (or more commonly with mushroom gravy and side dishes: mashed potatoes, christmas afruit salad, steamed vegetables, etc.). Some familys on the northen states do celebrate thanksgiving day, but in the rest of the country is more common to have turkey on christmas night, among many traditional mexican dishes options: codfish, romeritos, lomo relleno (stuffed pork loin), chicken, pierna mechada (roast pork leg), tamales, pozole, etc. We try to cook something special and different to the everyday dishes. In the recalentado I will buy some traditional carnitas to eat with my cranberry sauce leftovers: thanks Kenji! God bless you all and have a great Christmas!

What tends to be your go to neutral oil? I'm sure it changes, but just curious!

Is that just a paint scraper you're using for the bench scraper? What a great idea. I feel like a bit of a dunce that I hadn't thought of it myself.

Don’t you pour the liquid into a container to solidify in the fridge to create fat/jelly separation then use the jelly back on the pork when reheating it?

A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.

damn good. slightly changed your linked recipe, instead of using new onion and garlic for salsa just used them from the roast. definitely a change from my typical pulled pork. kinda want to try this with pulled venison (I usually do it on a stick burner but this might retain the noms better)

I made your cranberry sauce and I ended up with about 3 quarts of it. I’m definitely looking for extra uses lol.

When saving the pork fat what is the best way to keep it ? Is it refrigerated which is the best container for it ? And I love the idea of putting cranberry sauce on it looked delicious.

love carnitas but don't make them enough - so i would be interested in reusing the fat since you mentioned it, but would it freeze? don't want it to go rancid just sitting around in my fridge for like months

I really like the idea that this was cooked in a counter top oven. I would like to know two (2) things what model oven and what size cast iron, 8-inch?

Just curious, If you only have little bit of oil stain on your big cutting board like ins 09:17 do you clean the whole board with soap? or just wipe it down?

I make them almost exactly the same way, but plus a little whole clove, cumin seeds, oregano, and black peppercorns. Not too much. I even use a little less cinnamon.

Is there any risk to the seasoning of that cast iron when you cook with something like oranges long term? Im always wary of even sautéing tomatoes in my seasoned cookware.

Yes, The Village People were known for eating naval oranges to stave off scurvy. 😂

Is that the sage/breville smart oven you cooked it in? If it is how did it compare with the fancier one which talk about being able to basically do sous vide without a vacuum bag?

What kind of oven is that on your counter? I live in a small apartment and it doesn't have a real stove/oven. The microwave has a convection oven built in but something extra like that would be great.

Is that a drywall knife? 😂 👏🏻

Hello Kenji

I vote we start a go fund me for a bigger kitchen for Kenji.

Navel Oranges are named for their belly button like divot, and are not (as i thought for years) Naval Oranges which would be "In the Navy!" (i always thought they were called that because sailors used to eat oranges to keep from Scurvy...)

I wish my Misen carbon steel looked as good as yours. Had a roommate put it in the dishwasher and it’s never been the same since. :(

Definitely navel like the belly button, not naval like the fleet of ships. Love this recipe! Usually sous vide but I'll slow cook in a cast iron next time