Place dried chiles in a large pot filled with 2 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil for ten minutes. Pour cooked chiles along with the water into a blender. Add garlic and cumin and blend until mixture is smooth.

Melt lard in a medium sauce pan then add chile sauce and cook on low heat for about ten minutes and set aside.

Place pork butt in a roasting pan with onion, smashed garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, water and bake at 275 degrees Fahrenheit covered for about 4 – 6 hours or until tender and meat pulls away from the bone easily.

Tip: I will usually bake the pork the night before. Before going to bed I place it in the oven and allow it to bake while sleeping and by morning the meat is done to perfection.

Remove roasting pan from oven. Carefully lift meat from pan and place on a cutting board. Using two forks gently pull pork apart. This is what they call pulled pork because it pulls away so easily.

Be sure to keep at least 2 cups of the juices from the pork because this will be used when making the masa. Any leftover juice can be place in plastic jars or ice trays and frozen or late use in other recipes if desired

Place pulled pork in pan with 1 cup red chile sauce and stir to combine. Set aside or refrigerate until ready to assemble tamales.

Place the lard and water in a stand mixer and beat until fluffy. Add a cup of corn flour, salt and baking powder and continue mixing. Alternate by adding flour and pork stock to mixer and beat until all blended. At the very end of mixing add 2 Tablespoons of red chile sauce and mix until completely combined.

Tip: To make sure masa is ready take about a half Tablespoon and pop it into a cup of water. If it floats our masa is ready to use. If it sinks continue to mix for a few more seconds.

Before assembling tamales first inspect corn husks to make sure there are no holes in them. If there are any holes just sit them aside as these can be used for the bottom of the pot.

Submerge corn husks in a large pot of hot water. I use a large cereal bowl inverted sitting on the husks to keep them submerged. The goal is to work with pliable corn husks so they fold easily and don’t crack and break while folding and rolling tamales.

Remove warmed corn husks from water and shake off excess water. Put the small tapered end on the table towards you and the wider piece away from you.

Place about 2 Tablespoons of prepared masa onto the upper half of the husk and make a hull n the center of the masa and place filling in the hull. Pull the two sides of the corn husk together, like a taco, and gently roll husk closed Tuck the lower part of the husk up and gently squeeze the rolled up husk making the tamale uniform in shape.

Then place assembled tamales in a pile.

Once all the tamales are made it is time to prepare for steaming. I use this 20 quart steamer stock pot for cooking tamales.

Before adding the tamales to the steamer first prepare the pot. Add the steamer rack to the pot and fill with water just below the rack. Drop in a penny into the pot so if and when the water should evaporate while boiling the penny will start bounding around in the pot giving you some insight that water may need to be added to the pot.

Now, place tamales in the steamer pot where they are standing straight up with the tops exposed. If the pot is not completely filled with tamales I use an aluminum pot like a meatloaf pan to support the tamales so they don’t fall over.

Over high heat steam tamales for one hour or until the dough has formed a solid shape. Keep an eye on the steamer making sure the water does not boil out.

TIP: It’s a good idea to have a tea kettle full of hot water in case the steamer boils out.

Once the tamales are done turn the heat off and keep the tamales in the steamer with the lid on until cool enough to handle. Enjoy!