Traditional Carnitas are a poem on their own right. Slow fried in a large copper pot to achieve tenderness and juiciness inside and crispiness outside. These Air Fryer Carnitas will, hopefully, scratch the itch and satisfy the cravings of many a gourmand!
It is not for nothing that Carnitas have taken the world by storm. And while recipes abound, without a large copper vat and seasoned (reused, thus acquiring all the delicious flavors) pork lard, it is hard to replicate the wonderful results of the original recipes.
Although Carnitas originated in the Mexican state of Michoacan, you can find them anywhere in the country. Spanish Conquistadores introduced pigs to Latin America. I find it fascinating how Mexicans mastered the art of cooking pork, when they hadn’t even seen one before the Conquista.
Taste Atlas rated highly several Mexican recipes in their Best Rated Pork Dishes in the world dishes. We have some of them here in the blog: Pastor Tacos and Cochinita Pibil. Carnitas is number two on the Taste Atlas list! That tells you everything you need to know about how yummy they are.
The trick with Carnitas is juicy and crispy pork. Thankfully, pork is not a tough meat. If your pork is chewy by the end of a recipe, you either didn’t fully cook it or you are a really clumsy cook.
Hopefully, with this recipe we will manage to avert both catastrophes. At the same time, when we use the air fryer/pressure cooker combo appliance, we will also slash the calories.
For this recipe we need an electric pressure cooker/air fryer combo appliance. Most of the air fryers I have seen have multiple settings that perform several different tasks. If your air fryer does not also pressure cook or, conversely, if your electric pressure cooker does not air fry, read the notes on the recipe. It is not a big deal.
So go ahead. You can have your Air Fryer Carnitas and eat them too!
Air Fryer Carnitas
Equipment
- Air Fryer/Pressure Cooker combo appliance
Ingredients
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup white onion cut in wedges
- 3 units garlic coarsely chopped
- 2 units dry bay leaf
- 5 units all spice berries
- 1 – 2 unites chicken bouillon cubes
- 2 lbs pork shoulder or pork butt (with fat) cut into 2 inch cubes
- For garnish:
- warm soft corn tortillas
- your favorite salsa and/or
- pickled onions
- 2 quartered Mexican limes
Instructions
- Set your Air Fryer/Pressure Cooker to Pressure Cooking. Place the orange juice, white onion, garlic, bay leaf, all spice berries, chicken bouillon cubes, with the cubed pork on top, inside your appliance cooking basket. Seal and set to High and cook for 25 – 30 minutes. Use your pressure cooker following all the manufacturer's indications. Depressurize the appliance completely once the cooking time has completed, open the basket and dispose of the cooking liquids. Remove meat, wash the basket.
- Place the meat back into the basket and set your appliance to Air Crisp, at 345 F for 3 – 5 minutes.
- Shred the meat, serve hot and assemble your tacos with your favorite toppings. Enjoy!
Notes
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