How to Make Pork Bone Broth
Instant Pot bone broth that uses pork bones. Pork bone broth has a sweet, savory, and deeply complex flavor. It is rich in nutrients and can be used when making soups, sauces, and stews.
Welcome to my kitchen. If you poke around long enough, you might open the fridge or freezer door and find a bag of frozen bones or a jar or two of homemade bone broth. Don’t be freaked out. I’m not saving these for a weird science experiment. Keeping bones or bone broth on hand is a secret weapon of mine. It comes in handy if I ever want to make soup or if sickness dares to strike.
To me, bone broth is the epitome of healing. Holding a warm vessel of broth is not only warming to the body but also the soul. It is warm, rich, and full of nutrients. Not to mention, it is high in calcium and contains easy to absorb proteins that are soothing to the belly. Win, win to me!
How to make instant pot bone broth
I’ve experimented with making bone broth in a Crockpot, pressure cooker, and on the stovetop. After much experimentation, I find the pressure cooker to be my favorite appliance for making an easy and consistent bone broth. Not to mention, you will not have to wait 24 hours for your broth to cook compared to other cooking methods.
Making bone broth in a pressure cooker is rather simple. The first and most crucial step when making any homemade broth is finding high-quality animal bones.
When looking for pork bones, pasture-raised is best. That means the animal has been eating a natural diet and is free to roam on the grass. Finding pasture-raised pork bones may sound difficult because health food stores and big-box grocery stores typically do not carry pork bones that are from pigs raised on pasture.
I would suggest checking your local butcher shop if you have one in your community. A local butcher shop will be able to provide the freshest bones and will typically have pork bones.
If you do not have access to a local butcher shop that specializes in supplying meat from humanely raised animals, here are a couple of other options. Try searching for farms in your area, checking a smaller local grocery store, check out the farmers market, or as a last resort, search online.
Online Resources
Once you have pork bones from pasture-raised pigs, you will roast the bones in the oven. Cooking the bones first creates a bone broth that is richer in flavor and has more depth. I also like to sprinkle a small amount of oregano and paprika for extra flavor.
Once the bones finish roasting, transfer them to the pressure cooker. Add the apple cider vinegar and fill the pot 1 inch below the max fill line with filtered water.
Next, secure the lid and keep the pressure release valve closed. Set the timer for 4 hours. Compared to other bone broths, pork bone broth requires a longer cook time, even in a pressure cooker, because the bones are so thick. The higher cook time will allow the bones to break down and more nutrients to be drawn out.
When the pork bone broth is finished cooking, allow the pressure to release naturally. It can take up to an hour for the pressure to release. Do not release the pressure manually, because it could cause a big mess in your kitchen. When the pressure has released, you may open the lid.
The next step is straining the broth. There is no right or wrong way to do this. For my method, I first strain through a mesh strainer to catch the larger bits of bone and meat. After, I will pour the broth through a tea steeper, to filter out any herbs or smaller pieces. You can also filter through a cheesecloth or a nut milk cloth.
Homemade bone broth can keep up to a week in the fridge for six months in the freezer. Just ensure when holding it in the freezer, you do not store it in a glass container. The fat will seal the top, and the liquid will expand, thus breaking the glass jar.
What is the difference between stock and broth?
You may be wondering, “What is the difference between stock and broth?” I went to my local butcher and asked them this exact question because I honestly wasn’t sure what the difference was either. The way it was explained to me was stock is made with just bones, water, and acid to draw out the minerals. Stocks are very plain for the purpose that they are a perfect base for dishes where they enhance the flavor of the dish, without interfering with it. Broth is stock that has been flavored using herbs and aromatics. Broth can be made by infusing a stock with herbs and aromatics. Broth can easily be consumed on its own because it is flavorful.
I hope this recipe becomes a staple in your household. From the dreaded flu and cold season, to enhance the flavor of any dish, pork bone broth is a must to keep on hand. I hope it brings you much warmth and healing during these cold months ahead!