This Carnitas recipe is adapted from David Lebovitz's recipe

servings: 8ish (we ate a lot more than we should have)  Total time: 5 1/2 hours 

Ingredients

5-6 lb pounds boneless pork shoulder (hopefully when it's on sale)
1 tablespoon course salt (maybe even the fancy pink kind!!)
2 tb coconut oil
1 cinnamon stick
2 tbsp chili powder
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp ground cumin
3 garlic cloves, smashed and sliced

1. Cut the pork shoulder into 4 nice chunks that will fit in your roasting pan and remove excessive amount of fat (not all of it, because yeah, it's delicious.) 

2. Salt the pork! Let it rest in the fridge until you're ready to cook. If that's right now, great! Let's start cooking. Preheat oven to 350.

3. Heat the coconut oil in your roasting pan on the stove top. We're going to brown all of the meat, which will probably have to happen in stages. Start with two pieces. Don't be a flip flopper, let it cook there until it's really dark and crispy, and do this to every side. This step can take some time, so maybe catch up on some tv while it's crisping up. 

4. The meat is browned and crispy on each side, place it on a plate. Add a cup of water to the roasting pan and scrape all the tasty bits from the bottom and side. 

5. Add the meat back to the roasting pan and add water until 2/3 of the way covered. Add in cinnamon stick, chile powder, bay leaves, cumin, and garlic. Put it in the oven and set the timer for 3.5 hours! 

6. Go check on your meat every so often, you can flip it, but this isn't required. 

7. OMG IT'S SO CRISPY!!! But not ready to eat yet. Once the timer goes off take your pan out, put the meat on a plate and discard of the liquid int he roasting pan. Pull apart the pork and add it back to the pan. Put it back in the oven and continue roasting until it's super crispy or you just can't take it any longer. Roughly 30 minutes. 

As with most things, this is best enjoyed fresh but does make some pretty amazing leftovers as well.