Great recipe, I took the advice of other and made the meat in a slow cooker the day before. Also, definitely don't need three-8oz packages of corn husks.

I followed the recipe exactly and these had absolutely no flavor.

What more can I say but MMMMMMMM! Outstanding recipe!

This recipe is actually very good. I used pork carnitas and menudo seasoning along with the other spices. I toasted my peppers with some liquid before adding everything together and seasoned my masa with more menudo seasoning for better flavor. The picture posted of these really looks nothing like what they should. Tamales should not be that thick and by all means should not have a red (blood like) sauce seeping from them. Great recipe!

A great and as easy as it can be recipe! The masa was perfect.

I have made tamales for years, and this is a good recipe. I just wanted to say that IF you love tamales but can't eat them due to the fattening nature of the ingredients, there is a very good substitute. You can use water (yes, water) instead of lard. And if you need less meat you can use the same spices in some blended blackeyed peas for the filling. Now I know this is not the SAME, but it IS quite good and would be a great way to once again have tamales even though your doctor has said 'NO.'

This was time consuming but worth it! We made extra so we could eat them all week. I think adding the cooking liquid to the masa made them extra special. definately will be making these again.

This is a great recipe. Next time I make it I will definitely increase the salt. I did not add a lot out of fear that the tamales would be too salty. I did find it easier to puree the peppers in my blender with a cup of the beef broth. When I attempted to grind them in my mortar, it did not do anything. Another difference is I added baking powder to the tamale dough because the masa corn that I purchased indicated this as a key ingredient. My tamales came out great. I bought 5 bags of corn husks instead of 3 and I used most of them. I would definitely make this again.

this is by far the best recipe for tamales, the cooking liquid is key to a very good masa. Making these tamales are a treat worth waiting for.

I found these to be really easy. I was really pleased with myself, until I took off the corn husks , it just started to crumple. I dont know what I did wrong. Did I not add enough liquid to the masa?

I should have listened to everybody else when they told me tamales were an all day task! The meat was really good (I may use it for taco filling, etc.), but next time, I will cook it in the slow-cooker ahead of time. The directions were fantastic and very detailed.. great for a beginner like me! However, my only qualm with this recipe is the masa. Did I select the wrong masa? Anyhow, it was very dry. I may have to increase the lard next time (never thought I'd say that!!). Also, when we ran out of masa, I used 1/3 lard and 2/3 shortening.. big mistake.. they turned out crumbly and flavorless. I will try again next year, but will tweak the recipe some. Thanks!

I grew up in Texas eating Tamales, now that I live in Georgia they are hard to find. I made them using this recipe and they were AWESOME. I can't wait to make more.

Being a San Antonian, home of Tex-Mex, I was a bit nervous about making tamales on my very own this year. I must say, these turned out to be a real winner! I borrowed my mother's HUGE steamer(metallic, the kind that looks like a triple boiler with holes on the bottoms) because I don't have a dutch oven. I had to adjust the height of the tamales to get the lid to close, but it worked. You're supposed to steam the tamles in a semi-upright position, so I rolled a wad of foil into a ball and placed in the center. Then, I lay the tamales around the foil to form a teepee-like shape. I followed the recipe to the letter, and they are soooo delicious! BTW, I didn't feel the husks needed 3 whole hours to soften. I submerged them (almost blanched them) in hot tap water in the sink and put an inverted glass baking dish over them to keep them from floating for about 45 minutes. Very tedious, but my family had high praises! Next time, I will start in the morning as opposed to the evening and also enlist the help of a friend. I was EXHAUSTED by the time they were finished at 1:00 in the morning. I started around 9:00 in the evening. Oh, I also never bothered tying the tamales (my family doesn't do it either), and I divided the chuck roat into 2 parts and boiled them in 2 seperate pots to cut down on the cooking time. I trimmed off most of the fat, but you want to leave just a LITTLE tiny bit for flavor :)

i prefer to buy the masa freshly made from your local mexican food store.but when you order your masa make sure you order it with cili powder mix. and i like to use beef. it takes beteer and much more tender.Just add garlic,cuman,salt,californis red chili pepper with the beef and beeh stock. it taste much better. i use the corn musk to tie together.

A little advice about mixing masa: add the lard to your dry ingredients and mix very well by hand. Begin adding your meat broth a little at a time until you get peanut butter consistancy, and to be really sure your batter is ready, drop a bit into a glass of water. If it floats to the top, it's ready.

I followed some of the suggestions from the other ladies and they came out delicious. The only thing I'll do different next time is cook them probably about 15-20 minutes longer.