Ah, the curses of the Taiwanese kitchen. No oven.
All the recipes I’ve found for making carnitas (a specially prepared pork) require the use of an oven. Is there a way of making it without an oven? (I do have a toaster oven, BTW.)
Help!
I’ve done it without an oven by doing the first stage in the toaster oven and finishing in a wok. Came out well but its a real pain in the arse as you can’t leave it alone and it takes ages. I’d make something else instead, or buy an oven.
You don’t have to have an oven in the kitchen. You can buy one and put it on a chair or table in the living room. 
Seriously, though, I don’t think you need an oven. (Disclaimer – I’ve not actually made it because Dragonbabe doesn’t like pork and I’m on a low animal fat diet, but I have read quite a few recipes, and not all call for an oven.) As far as I can tell, you just need a long, slow cooking in liquid followed by high heat for browning (caramelizing), and that last part (or even the whole thing) can be done in a heavy pot or Dutch oven on a stove (although you’d have to be willing to tend to it for a goodly while).
So you could try putting it all in a big heavy stockpot, cooking on very low for ages with liquid in the pot, until the liquid is gone (there should be oil left; if not, you didn’t use a fatty enough meat; add lard, or for health another oil). Then turn the heat up a bit, stir every five or ten minutes once all the liquid’s gone, until it starts to get brown and crispy. Like Sandman says, the last stage could be a pain – I’m not sure how often you’d need to stir it, but you might want to bring a stool and a good book into the kitchen with you.
That’s what I’d try, anyway, if I didn’t have an oven. 
Just realized that my mother in law makes exactly the same thing except with different herbs and spices and does it in a wok. I’ll ask her next time I see her.
I’ve always done it with a slow cooker. Luck for you Taiwan has them in abundance. 
I did it! It works! With a toaster oven!
I rubbed pork shoulder with salt and let it sit overnight. Then I pan-seared the pork slabs in a wok with oil until the surfaces were nice and brown, then braised them in a shallow pan in my toaster oven for 3 hours at 180 deg C, in water with pepper, cumin, bay leaves and garlic added, turning the meat once an hour. Then I pulled the meat apart and continued roasting for another 30 minutes.
Crispy perfection!
Oh joy! :lick:
:bravo: Good to know. And tomorrow we diet, right? 
I have an oven, but I’m too lazy to make carnitas myself. I just go to Eddy’s Cantina, because Eddy makes the tasties carnitas in Taiwan! Yum yum yum.
I just made another batch (my fourth). I made the mistake of using a cut of pork that was way too lean. Result: way too dry. The meat needs to have a reasonable amount of fat on it to work.
Experience: the best teacher!
[quote=“Chris”]I did it! It works! With a toaster oven!
I rubbed pork shoulder with salt and let it sit overnight. Then I pan-seared the pork slabs in a wok with oil until the surfaces were nice and brown, then braised them in a shallow pan in my toaster oven for 3 hours at 180 deg C, in water with pepper, cumin, bay leaves and garlic added, turning the meat once an hour. Then I pulled the meat apart and continued roasting for another 30 minutes.
Crispy perfection!
Oh joy! :lick:[/quote]
Hey, how big was the shoulder?
[quote=“Chris”]I just made another batch (my fourth). I made the mistake of using a cut of pork that was way too lean. Result: way too dry. The meat needs to have a reasonable amount of fat on it to work.
Experience: the best teacher![/quote]
Add liberal amounts of olive oil. It’ll be a little different, but still good, and much healthier.