Pork Broth

We are kicking off this new blog with one of the first things you can make after picking up your half pig from Red Ledge Farm.  Pork broth can be used in so many recipes and it is a great way to use every part of the pig.  when you receive your half pig, you will notice that I don't go overboard removing all of the meat from the bones.  The meat and fat on the bones helps make a very rich pork stock.  I also cut the bones into smaller pieces to increase the amount of collagen release and make them easier to fit into a crock pot.  

Ingredients
-5 lbs Mangalitsa/Berkshire Pork Bones
- olive oil 
- salt
- handful of parsley 
- 2 celery Sticks 
- 1 onion (quartered with skin)
- 4 bay leaves 
- 1 tbls black pepper 
- 1 tbls dried thyme 
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary 

Instructions 
​1) Coat the pork bones with about 2 tbls of olive oil and 2 tbls of salt.  Roast them at 400 degrees for one hour.

2) Put the pork bones into a large crock pot and add 12 cups of cold water.  Turn the crock pot on high and let simmer for at least 12 hours.  I usually let it go for almost 24 hours.

3) Strain out the bones.  The amount of water will certainly have decreased.  Add enough water to get to a total of 10 cups and add the broth back into the crock pot.  

4) Add parsley, celery, onion, bay leaves, black pepper and dried thyme.  Let simmer for 2 hours.

5) strain out the vegetables and let the stock chill until the fat is solidified on the top.  Scrape off the fat.  Heat the stock back up. And salt to taste, I used 2 teaspoons. Strain it through cheese cloth before filling your jars. 

This recipe will yield 4 pints of stock.

*If you want the stock to be shelf stable, it will need to be pressure canned.  It can also be frozen until you are ready to use it.