Tacos Al Pastor

Tacos. There’s really not much to say about them aside from that they are awesome and delicious. There are so many taco spots in Toronto these days that you can get your taco fix whenever you want. But, what if I told you, you could make epic Tacos Al Pastor at home, with the Alchemy. These Mexican-style tacos are typically made with pork and it is cooked on a revolving spit. The Alchemy doesn’t have a revolving spit (yet) but it does have hanging racks in the smoker box compartment to be able to hang-smoke your meat. To make the filling for the tacos Al Pastor, marinated pork is layered onto a metal skewer, topped with half a pineapple, and then hung and smoked for three hours in the Alchemy. The juices from the pineapple drip down onto the pork and help flavour it and caramelize the exterior. Once smoked and cooked through, the meat is cut off the spit onto grilled blue corn tortilla and topped with chopped onion, cilantro and grilled pineapple. Keep reading to find out how to make these Tacos Al Pastor, or jump to the full recipe.

Set the smoker to 275F. Remove the bones from your pork shoulder and cut into three large pieces. Slice each piece, lengthwise, into 1 inch-thick portions. Add the pork shoulder to a bowl and season with How to BBQ Right Grande Ringo rub and Alchemy Low and Slow BBQ Sauce, toss to coat.

Cut the pineapple in half and cut the top part of the stem off. Reserve the bottom half of the pineapple for later. Peel the top half of the pineapple.

Layer each piece of pork onto the hanging rack and finish with the top half of the pineapple. Hang in the Alchemy smoker for about three hours, or until the internal temp reaches 160F.

Peel and cut the bottom half of the pineapple into rings and place on the diamond patterned grill. Flip once, until nicely charred.

Finely chop half a white onion and ½ cup cilantro and add to a bowl. Remove the pineapple from the grill, remove the core and finely chop. Add to the onion and cilantro and mix.

Place the corn tortillas on the plancha. Drizzle with a bit of oil and flip. Remove the pork from the smoker and slice off the meat onto the tortillas. Or, slice the meat onto a platter and then place on the tortillas.

Top with the onion, cilantro and pineapple mix and dig in.

And now for the full recipe...

Tacos Al Pastor

Makes 8 tacos

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours

Total Time: 3 hours, 10 minutes

Ingredients:

3 lbs pork shoulder

3 tbsp @howtobbqright Grande Gringo Rub

½ cup Alchemy Low and Slow BBQ Sauce

1 pineapple

8 blue corn tortillas

½ white onion

½ cup cilantro, chopped

How to Make Tacos Al Pastor:

Set the smoker to 275F.

Remove the bones from your pork shoulder and cut into three large pieces. Slice each piece, lengthwise, into 1 inch-thick portions. Add the pork shoulder to a bowl and season with How to BBQ Right Grande Ringo rub and Alchemy Low and Slow BBQ Sauce, toss to coat.

Cut the pineapple in half and cut the top part of the stem off. Reserve the bottom half of the pineapple for later. Peel the top half of the pineapple. Layer each piece of pork onto the hanging rack and finish with the top half of the pineapple. Hang in the Alchemy smoker for about three hours, or until the internal temp reaches 160F.

Peel and cut the bottom half of the pineapple into rings and place on the diamond patterned grill. Flip once, until nicely charred. Finely chop half a white onion and ½ cup cilantro and add to a bowl. Remove the pineapple from the grill, remove the core and finely chop. Add to the onion and cilantro and mix.

Place the corn tortillas on the plancha. Drizzle with a bit of oil and flip. Remove the pork from the smoker and slice off the meat onto the tortillas. Or, slice the meat onto a platter and then place on the tortillas. Top with the onion, cilantro and pineapple mix and dig in.

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