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Slow-Cooker Pork Brisket Carnitas

PorkSlow cookerTacosMake-ahead

Fatty pork brisket braised in citrus until it falls apart, then shredded and broiled until the edges crisp.

My recipe, written for a 2 lb pork brisket and a GreenPan Elite slow cooker. It uses Chris's taco seasoning, and the toppings come from the sauces page.

At a glance

Don't skip the broil
15 minPrep + sear
8 h / 4–5 hLow / high
5 minBroil
4Servings
–kcal / serving
–Protein
–Thiamine (B1)
–Sodium

What makes it work

  • Sear it in the insert on Brown/Sauté first
  • Add almost no liquid, because the pork makes its own
  • Cook until it shreds with a fork, not just until it's done
  • Broil the shredded meat with a little of the juices
method ↓

Good to know

  • Thaw the pork before it goes in
  • Pork fat is higher in omega-6 than beef fat
  • Skim the fat off the juices before spooning them back
notes ↓

Ingredients (4 servings)

Method

  1. Season. Pat the pork dry and rub it all over with the taco seasoning and salt. If you have time, do this the night before and leave it uncovered in the fridge.
  2. Sear (optional, but adds flavor). Set the GreenPan to Brown/Sauté and brown the pork on all sides, fat side first, 2–3 minutes a side. Use wooden or silicone tools to protect the ceramic coating.
  3. Load the pot. Lift out the pork and put the onion and garlic in the bottom. Set the pork on top and pour the orange and lime juice over it. That's all the liquid it needs.
  4. Slow cook. Cook on Low for about 8 hours or High for 4–5, until the pork shreds easily with a fork.
  5. Shred and skim. Move the pork to a sheet pan and shred it, discarding any large pieces of fat. Pour the cooking liquid into a cup and let the fat rise, then skim it off.
  6. Crisp. Spoon a few tablespoons of the skimmed juices over the pork. Broil on high for 3–5 minutes until the edges brown and crisp. Toss and broil 2 minutes more if you want it crispier.
  7. Serve in warm corn tortillas or over rice, with pico, guacamole or salsa. It keeps 4 days in the fridge. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot skillet, not the microwave.

Nutrition per serving

This is calculated from the same USDA data as Build a Day. USDA has no entry for pork brisket. That's the breast, the cut next to the spareribs, so braised spareribs stand in for it. Shoulder is the leaner, more common carnitas cut.

Cut
Serving
Tortillas
Topping

% of the daily target for men (the same targets as Build a Day). ~ = mostly estimated. 2 lb of raw brisket is counted as about 20 oz cooked, after the fat renders out. Half the onion and garlic, and a quarter of the citrus juice, are assumed to end up on the plate. The skimmed fat isn't counted.

Nutrition notes

Pork fat carries more omega-6 than beef fat

Pigs, unlike cattle, store the fat they eat largely unchanged, so pork fat mirrors the feed. Conventional pigs eat corn and soy, and USDA lard is about 10% linoleic acid, against about 3% for beef tallow and 2% for butter. A 5 oz serving of braised brisket comes to roughly 3.5–4 g of linoleic acid, as the panel shows. That's not much more than the shoulder, because both are marbled. Two things help. First, skim the rendered fat instead of spooning it back. Second, if you buy pastured pork, ask what the pigs were fed. "Pastured" pigs still get grain, often corn and soy, so the label alone doesn't guarantee lower omega-6. The Linoleic Acid paper has the full argument. (Strong: USDA composition and well-established feed-to-fat biology)

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Pork is a top thiamine source

Pork has four to five times the thiamine (B1) of beef or chicken, and one 5 oz serving covers about half the daily target. Thiamine is the cofactor that lets cells burn glucose and alcohol. The Thiamine page covers why that matters, and why it's the vitamin to watch if you drink (see Alcohol & Liver). (Strong: USDA composition data)

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Slow-cooker basics

Thaw the pork in the fridge before it goes in. A frozen roast spends too long at lukewarm temperatures in a slow cooker. Keep the lid closed, since each peek costs heat and time. Don't reheat leftovers in the slow cooker either, because it warms too slowly. Use a skillet or the oven, which also re-crisps the edges.

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