Slowly braised lean cuts of pork loin center, perfectly seasoned, and charred to perfection! Oven Baked Brown Sugar Spiced Pork Carnitas is about to become your favourite pork recipe!
In a large dutch oven, add all ingredients except the pork. Whisk the ingredients together until well combined.
Add all of pork. Stir the pork into the pot so that all of the pork is covered by the liquid mixture.
Place the lid onto the pot and bake for 1 hour.
Remove from oven and stir. The pork pieces has a tendency to stick together, so gently break them apart. Place the lid back on the pot and return to oven. Bake for 1 hour.
Remove from oven and stir. Place the lid back on the pot and return to oven. Bake for 1 hour.
Now that the pork has been slowly cooking for 3 hours, remove the pot from the oven and set it on the stove top. Let the pork sit in the liquid for 30 minutes.
Gently remove the pork pieces from the liquid and place in a single layer onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Skim the fat off the liquid and measure out one cup of the liquid. Evenly distribute the one cup of liquid over the top of the pork.
Using the back of a fork, gently press each piece of pork to open up the pork a little. This will create a semi-pulled pork look. You can leave the pork pieces whole if you wish.
Drizzle the olive oil evenly over the pork.
Set the oven temperature to the broil setting and place the baking sheet in the oven. Watch the pork carefully. You will want the pork to char just slightly. This should take no more than 5 minutes.
Once done, spritz the pork with freshly squeezed lime and garnish with cilantro or parsley.
Serve immediately.
Notes
This recipe serves about 20 people with roughly 4 ounces of pork per person. If you have lots left over, no worries! Oven Baked Brown Sugar Spiced Pork Carnitas makes a great sandwich the next day!