Trying to answer my own question....

I am thinking about doing the Bayless method for making cochinita pibil over Memorial Day weekend this year at my family's lakehouse in MI. I haven't been able to find the video of the One Plate at a Time episode that covers this. I have one major question though - what kind of rocks/bricks do you need to use? Bayless doesn't specify in his recipe and every recipe I find online talks about roasting the pork in the oven. Also, do the rocks really stay hot enough for the 4+ hours that the pork needs to cook? My nightmare scenario is pulling the pig out and not having it be done yet.

Would regular paver bricks like this work? http://www.ruralking.com/brick-red-holland-paver.html?cvsfa=1908&cvsfe=2&cvsfhu=303032333730313738

Has anyone actually done the cochinita pibil in a pit and not roasted it in the oven?

I've done Bayless' cochinia pibil recipe in my pit. It was extremely easy. I just got the baby heated up to temp. I have an egg-like smoker, so getting it to stay at temperature is a breeze. I don't have his cookbook w/ me, but believe it was b/w 300-350. Wrapped the achiote marinaded pork shoulder in banana leaves and put in a big roasting pan to collect the juices. After 3-4 it was done and extremely easy to pull. If you're going to make it, do yourself a favor and make sure to make the pickled red onions and the habenero salsa. They are both extremely easy and, in my opinion, musts for the dish to turn out.

I made the Bayless "Mexican Everyday" version a while back and thought the results were a little, well, gross. So I'm trying again with the Rodriguez recipe, which looks a whole lot better. Surprising differences, too. The Bayless calls for the store-bought achiote paste, which includes annatto, salt, garlic and oregano. The Rodriguez achiote from scratch includes annatto, cumin, cloves, allspice, peppercorn and salt. The Bayless calls for bone-in pork shoulder, the Rodriguez boneless butt. The Bayless marinade is just the paste plus lime juice and water. The Rodriguez is paste plus orange juice, garlic, vinegar and lemon juice, plus habenero and tequila, which seems a whole lot more flavorful. Bayless suggests slow cooker for six hours. Rodriguez suggests the oven for four.

I'll let you know how it goes, but it smells good so far!

What did you find gross about the Bayless recipe?

I've made this before and thought it had pretty good flavor. I didn't think it compared to the restaurant versions of the same dish, but I wouldn't call it gross.

I'm just curious to see what you found wrong with the recipe and how the Rodriguez version tastes in comparison.

The Rodriguez version was much more flavorful, whereas the Bayless tasted a lot like bland slow-cooked meat. There are just so many more tasty things in the Rodriguez that are not in the Bayless, and I think the former's is also helped by marinating the meat overnight rather than just dropping it in the slow cooker, as Bayless instructs. I mean, it could just be the matter of the slow cooker, or maybe the cut of meat (I used boneless pork butt from Caputo's for the Rodriguez, bone-in Whole Foods shoulder for the Bayless, but even after trimming the Bayless cut was pretty fatty), or any number of other factors, but the Bayless seemed like one short cut too many and a few ingredients short.

Regardless, I think I've got this dish out of my system, since even the Rodriguez version is far from my favorite slow-cooked thing I've made with 4 lbs. of pork butt.

i had Cochinita Pibil at chuck's in burbank,il. it is great
i would try it

Link ---> CINCO DE MAYO April 1st- May 5th

philw wrote:i had Cochinita Pibil at chuck's in burbank,il. it is great
i would try it

Link ---> CINCO DE MAYO April 1st- May 5th

Ooooh, ditto: I doubt Chuck uses an earth oven instead of the big wood fire in his kitchen, but whatever his technique, it sure tastes great. I'm thinking he probably goes with the sour (bitter) orange juice too, or at least that's what my taste buds tell me. Y'all can figure out the best in-the-ground technique; me, having only a balcony and not a yard, I'll just go to Chuck's and be very happy. Especially as his place is practically in my back yard, and my waistline's starting to show that.

Used Bayless' Cochinita Pibil recipe from Authetic Mexican for dinner tonight. Topped with some pickled red onions. Damn tasty dinner.

Marinated Pork Shoulder

Added slices of banana pepper and onion

Wrapped up in banana leaf

Final product

the wimperoo wrote:Used Bayless' Cochinita Pibil recipe from Authetic Mexican for dinner tonight. Topped with some pickled red onions. Damn tasty dinner.

Looks delicious, very nice.

Wonderful pictures, Wimperoo! I wish I had that last filled tortilla in my hands right now!
--Joy