# Canned Meat



## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

I made my first venture into canning meat today. Our store had boneless chicken breasts for $1.79lb so I picked up 10lb and canned it up. It looks a little odd but the jars sealed up and I put it on the shelves. I'll let it sit there for a few weeks and make sure the seals hold. I'll bring this back to the top when I feel confident that it worked right and I've lived to tell about it.


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## Jason (Jul 25, 2009)

Jars full of meat would look kind of like lab specimens, wouldn't they?


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

Canned chicken over rice ... very nice!


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

Jason said:


> Jars full of meat would look kind of like lab specimens, wouldn't they?


Yeah, Pretty much. 

But if it works out, I won't need to rely on the freezer as much. I read a blog entry from Preparedness Pro Blog , one of our members, about canning meat and finally decided to do it. We'll see how it goes.


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## TechAdmin (Oct 1, 2008)

I've never tried to jar the meat. What did you season it with?


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## bunkerbob (Sep 29, 2009)

Dean said:


> I've never tried to jar the meat. What did you season it with?


Is this what you do with deer to can it? Where do get those jumbo sized canning jars.:2thumb:


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

Dean said:


> I've never tried to jar the meat. What did you season it with?


Not sure how Uncle Joe did his but I don't add anything (not even salt) when canning any meat.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

bunkerbob said:


> Is this what you do with deer to can it? Where do get those jumbo sized canning jars.:2thumb:


Now that was funny ... thanks for the smile.:2thumb:


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

*Andi said:


> Not sure how Uncle Joe did his but I don't add anything (not even salt) when canning any meat.


I did put a tiny pinch of salt in each jar. I also filled the jars about 3/4 of the way with water. You don't need to add either, but now when I go to use them I'll have some broth to make gravy with. Yumm.


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## sailaway (Mar 12, 2009)

How about a can of Vienna Sausages


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

sailaway said:


> How about a can of Vienna Sausages


Sorry ... I don't care for Vienna Sausages but my son loves them.


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## OldFashionedMama (Jun 18, 2009)

Mmm canned meat is good. I remember when we finally gave up on raising chickens and slaughtered the ones we had left. My stepmom canned the meat and made a killer chicken soup with it. Canned ground beef is also excellent, not to mention very convenient for chili, tacos, etc...For those who were wondering how meat is canned, you use a pressure canner and bring it up to the appropriate pounds-per-whatever and keep the jars in the canner for as long as the recipe calls for. There are two kinds of pressure canners, one with a dial gauge and one with a weighted gauge. My stepmom's canner is from the stone age (I'm not kidding-I've used it!) and has a weighted gauge. I think most of the newer ones have dials now.


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## TechAdmin (Oct 1, 2008)

I was thinking you could herb the meat but I don't know what the break down on that would look like. I always keep bay leaves in pickled sausage and eggs but they are pre-dried.

Vienna Sausages rock. Potted meat too. I've been eating at least a couple of cans a week a since I was a kid and I don't see myself stopping any time soon.


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

OldFashionedMama said:


> I think most of the newer ones have dials now.


I just got mine in March of '09 and it has both.


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## bunkerbob (Sep 29, 2009)

OldFashionedMama said:


> Mmm canned meat is good. I remember when we finally gave up on raising chickens and slaughtered the ones we had left. My stepmom canned the meat and made a killer chicken soup with it. Canned ground beef is also excellent, not to mention very convenient for chili, tacos, etc...For those who were wondering how meat is canned, you use a pressure canner and bring it up to the appropriate pounds-per-whatever and keep the jars in the canner for as long as the recipe calls for. There are two kinds of pressure canners, one with a dial gauge and one with a weighted gauge. My stepmom's canner is from the stone age (I'm not kidding-I've used it!) and has a weighted gauge. I think most of the newer ones have dials now.


I guess I'm still in the stone age here, I love the sounds my pressure canner and pressure cooker makes when up and running, hiss...hiss...hiss...hiss. One other advantage to these is that you can be in the other room and know what is happening with the canner, because you can hear it running! I know by the sound when it is up to temp.


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## texican (Feb 15, 2010)

I'd be 'careful' putting herbs in your canned meats. The pressure cooking tends to make quite a few of them bitter. I tried it once, and ate my mistakes, insuring I'd 'remember' not to do that again. It's easier to add whatever spices you want after the fact. 

Even if you could season the meat... what happens when you want italian and you have the meat seasoned mexican, or vice versa.

I only use salt and water when canning...


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## marlas1too (Feb 28, 2010)

ok here goes--cold packing refers to canning meat-ive been cold packing deer meat since i was in my teens--cut deer in small chunks and pack in quart jars to within 1/2 in of top ad one level tablespoon salt and wipe clean rim then seal-put in canner and cover with water (keep water level over lids even when boiling)bring water to a rolling boil for 3 hrs then remove from heat and put jars of meat to a towel on counter to cool-dont rush the cooling time as they cool you will hear the lids pop as they vacum themselves ---will keep for years --when ready for use just drail liquid off and eather make chilli our like me i make sloppy joes using my favorit bbq in a skillit---hope this helps


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

We've canned meat (and milk and cheese and even hot dogs) for years. Meat has been canned ground, in patties, cubed, roast and steaks. My wife now cans most of it with very little water. The meat is easier to work with this way. We got tired of having to cook it so long for things like spaghetti, sloppy joes, etc. to get the water to evaporate. Incidentally, canned hot dogs suck unless you buy the very best ones to can.


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## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

mosquitomountainman said:


> We've canned meat (and milk and cheese and even hot dogs) for years. Meat has been canned ground, in patties, cubed, roast and steaks. My wife now cans most of it with very little water. The meat is easier to work with this way. We got tired of having to cook it so long for things like spaghetti, sloppy joes, etc. to get the water to evaporate. Incidentally, canned hot dogs suck unless you buy the very best ones to can.


Can you tell us how you can milk? Have you ever canned goat's milk?


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## 1sttnrifles (Oct 18, 2008)

My wife has been canning sausage, pretty easy, fry sausage, have jars hot, she uses water bath canner to keep jars hot, have lids hot, put cooked hot sausage down in jar and pour in some grease, wipe lid sealing area clean and tighten band, turn upside down until cool. Easy and good.


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## lhalfcent (Mar 11, 2010)

Lake Windsong said:


> Can you tell us how you can milk? Have you ever canned goat's milk?


I have kids who would croak if they didn't have fresh cold milk. lol
Canning milk is something i have wondered about too. 
i guess you would follow the same procedures as for cheese?
I am gonna try that and see what happens. We have a local dairy who produces amazing milk and creams. My only concern is losing important nutrition with canned milk. 
I can't get raw milk because of laws against it but the local dairy assures that their milk is as close to fresh raw as possible.


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## pdx210 (Jan 8, 2010)

freeze dried milk lasts much longer that canned or condensed milk 20+ years

Canned Milk - Evaporated and Sweetened Condensed Milk Selection and Storage Information. How to store canned milk.


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## HozayBuck (Jan 27, 2010)

Spam, I love Spam..easy to kill but a bitch to skin...eat em raw!!.. takes a few for a good mess tho... wash em down with a cold beer!!! m mmmmmmmm

:beercheer:


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## Clarice (Aug 19, 2010)

I can meat all the time. We processed 25 of our oldest laying hens a few month back. We only use the breast, thigh & legs the other boney parts go in the stock pot. What broth from the stock pot is not used as liquid for the chicken is also canned for just broth. The boney parts are tender enough my husband puts them through the meat grinder and we use that for dog food. The dog food can also be canned. You can process ground beef, just brown it a little and add beef broth for the liquid. I buy the cheaper cuts of meat and after processing they are very tender. We have some venison in the freezer and will can that up before next deer season.

Just think how handy it is to grab jars of beef, potatoes & carrots add a little onion and you have a quick and easy stew. Try it you will like it.


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## HarleyRider (Mar 1, 2010)

Spam, Vienna Sausage, and Potted Meat.... mmmmmm! They probably have a shelf-life equivalent to Uranium. If anyone says they don't like it, tell them "It may taste like crap, but it'll keep you alive." Used to serve it up all the time at the "******* Yacht Club".


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## Diego2112 (Aug 18, 2010)

Hrm... Suppose I should probably learn to can stuff?  I've thought about it in the past, but for this reason or that, never get around to it.

Too bad the ONE person I know that knows about canning, well, let's just say I'm not welcome in her home anymore (not that I've lost anything! )... And as my deepfreeze is out of commission this year, I've got to have SOME way to store my game!

Time to learn...


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

Diego2112 said:


> Hrm... Suppose I should probably learn to can stuff?  I've thought about it in the past, but for this reason or that, never get around to it.
> 
> Too bad the ONE person I know that knows about canning, well, let's just say I'm not welcome in her home anymore (not that I've lost anything! )... And as my deepfreeze is out of commission this year, I've got to have SOME way to store my game!
> 
> Time to learn...


Canning meats is quick (well, 1 and a half hour ...give or take) and easy.  and so yummy!!!!!!!!!!! Jump right in ... No Problems! :2thumb:


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## fred45 (Sep 3, 2010)

*what if it did not seal?*

I was watching the Alaska experiment last year and some of the groups had trouble with seals on their caned salmon. If it did not seal during the first go can you re-can and get it to seal, will it still be good. 
PS hate Spam, LOVE caned corned beef and sardines!!


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## hardrock (May 19, 2010)

The wife cans lots of HB. Learned not to put in any spices as they seem to 'change' while being canned. One 1 pint = 1 lb. HB.
Rows and rows of it...no worries about losing power.


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## snappy1 (Sep 2, 2010)

I learned to can beef and chicken last year and did so with no spices. Turned out good but not much flavor. This summer I added minced garlic and raw chopped onions to each jar along with meat. Makes a good difference! Mexican or spaghetti, it is still good to go.


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## efbjr (Oct 20, 2008)

*(Mis)adventure in dehydrating...*

I bought a 3 pound roast to make into jerky. After slicing and marinating the meat overnight, I decided to pressure-cook the meat before drying it into jerky. I figured that the high heat and pressure would kill any nasties that may be lurking in the beef, and eliminate the need to heat the finished jerky in the oven for 1 hour at 160 degrees, as is usually recommended.

The downside: After drying for 8 hours, I removed the jerky from the drying trays only to have most it crumble into small bits! Apparently, the pressure-cooking was a bit of overkill!

On the upside, the dehydrated beef flakes (I really can't call it jerky) keeps well without freezing, etc., in an empty peanut butter jar. It mixes real well with Ramen noodles and dehydrated veggies.

Note: I had previously tried this with chicken and had better results...no flaking (disintegration) of the meat. I guess the old bird was tougher than the cow!:scratch


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## snappy1 (Sep 2, 2010)

"If it did not seal during the first go can you re-can and get it to seal, will it still be good.?"

I have been told that if a jar does not seal, you can re-process it within 24 hours. After that, not good.

Also been told to only pressure can meat (not water bath), never add thickeners (cornstarch, flour) and never add oil. All of those items can be safely added afterward
http://128.192.83.157/faq/FAQ_home.php

I've never tried to do a link before--not sure this will work.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

efbjr said:


> I bought a 3 pound roast to make into jerky. After slicing and marinating the meat overnight, I decided to pressure-cook the meat before drying it into jerky. I figured that the high heat and pressure would kill any nasties that may be lurking in the beef, and eliminate the need to heat the finished jerky in the oven for 1 hour at 160 degrees, as is usually recommended.
> 
> The downside: After drying for 8 hours, I removed the jerky from the drying trays only to have most it crumble into small bits! Apparently, the pressure-cooking was a bit of overkill!
> 
> ...


do they still make the ground beef jerky in the faux snuff cans?


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## JeepHammer (Oct 10, 2008)

Jason said:


> Jars full of meat would look kind of like lab specimens, wouldn't they?


Yes, they do.

Doesn't look very good, but tastes OK.
I use canned meat mostly in stews, canning usually dries the meat out (Salt) so when you go to use it, stews, or those 'Bake In Bags' with a lot of liquid usually makes it pretty palatable.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

You can always leave the salt out ... As I do ...


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## CVORNurse (Oct 19, 2008)

I canned a turkey last weekend. This was my first attempt at canning meat. Got 4 quarts of meat, 6 quarts of stock.

Tonight I cooked some. Took a cup and half of rice and put it in my pot. Poured a quart of stock over it, added a dash of salt and a handful of dehydrated onion. Brought to a boil, covered, reduced heat, and set timer for 15 minutes. Then I added a quart of turkey meat, and a bit of black pepper. Thought about adding a can of cream chicken soup but decided not to. Heated a can of peas and carrots. Man o man. DD1, picky eater, has already been back for seconds. DD2 has also had seconds.

I cannot wait until turkey goes on sale around Thanksgiving. Think I will buy 3 or 4 and do them up at the same time. Will also be doing some chicken.

Easy, cheap, and I know what the ingredients are that went into our dinner tonight.


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## lhalfcent (Mar 11, 2010)

regarding turkey...so you cooked them up in the oven then debone them?
sorry for stupid question but do you can raw meat?


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## CVORNurse (Oct 19, 2008)

lhalfcent said:


> regarding turkey...so you cooked them up in the oven then debone them?
> sorry for stupid question but do you can raw meat?


My instructions said to cook it about 3/4 done. Could have been in the oven, but I boiled mine on the stove until no blood was coming out, but the meat wasn't falling off the bones yet either. Cut most of the meat off the bones and threw them back in the pot to continue cooking for broth. The meat I cut off sliced into chunks but you could tell it wasn't to that completely done stage yet.


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

We've had good results for many years with boning raw chicken or turkey and boiling the bones and carcass in as little water as possible. While the carcass is boiling we cut the meat into small pieces, brown the meat in very hot olive oil and pack it tight in quart jars. We then add a teaspoon of powdered chicken stock as well as the stock from the carcasses, fill to within an inch of the top with stock or water, tighten the lids and pressure can at 10 pounds for 90 minutes. Same with beef or venison. Mmmmmmmm. 

Same with pints except they will be done in 75 minutes.

PS....When browning the meat, put small batches of the meat in the oil rather than the whole bunch. You don't want the oil to cool from too much meat. You want it to brown very quickly rather than boil in its juices. Since you will be packing it tightly in the jar, make sure you run a table knife down the side of the jar as you add liquid to get the trapped air bubbles out, the fill with liquid to about 1 inch of the top. Do not overfill or you will loose your seal.


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## Jason (Jul 25, 2009)

For those new to canning, as we are this year, you can buy kits with all the utensils you need. The mention of a table knife in the above post made me think of this. Our kit was from Amazon.com and it contained a magnetic digital kitchen timer, jar lifter tongs, a bubble popper stick with a magnetic tip on one end for picking lids out of the water, and a few other gadgets. It ran about $16 and is well worth it. All you need to get started in one kit. DW got pretty good at it this year-she ended up with over 100 cans of tomatoes, spaghetti sause, praline syrup, peach bbq sauce, peach jam, and black raspberry jam. No meat, but we are going to try canning some venison this year and some other meats next summer.


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

Sounds like a pretty handy kit, Jason. But since the cooking time is so absolutely critical for safety, as soon as the pressure cooker comes up to pressure we write the *finish time *on the lid of the cooker with a magic marker. I think the timer is a great idea to alert, but I'd back it up with the finish time written on the lid based on brain cells instead of ChiCom quality control just to be sure.  The marker comes off the lid easily with a little Brillo.


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## ditzyjan56 (Oct 3, 2009)

I have been canning meat for years, and once canned it will last for years too. The best way to learn to can meat or anything is to get a Ball Canning Recipe Book. The time and temp for any meat is critical and no skipping of any details. 

I have canned venison and added 2 cubes or teaspoons of beef bouillon to each jar. The meat is tender and tastes excellent. I use it in stews, BBQ sandwiches, stir fry and add it to spaggetti sauce I'm sure you get the picture.

Every year at Thanksgiving I can the leftover turkey. I stuff the jar almost full then add water and chicken bouillon. I use it for homemade chicken and noodles, casseroles and soups. I also buy several extra and can them up for the rest of the year.

This year I will try and can hamburger, haven't tried it before but am willing to give it a try. 

This year I am going to try and can twice the amount I normally can for a year and have a supply on hand. I know it takes about 60 jars of venison and 80 jars of chicken to last a year if all 12 of us were eating at my house every day. I keep both my son and daughters family's supplied in canned meat for their own use so I have a good idea of what i will need for 2 years

Good luck with your canning and never stop trying

The nice thing about canned meat is that it takes so much of the prep work out of cooking and is a great budget stretcher.


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## lotsoflead (Jul 25, 2010)

ditzyjan56 said:


> I have been canning meat for years, and once canned it will last for years too. The best way to learn to can meat or anything is to get a Ball Canning Recipe Book. The time and temp for any meat is critical and no skipping of any details.
> 
> I have canned venison and added 2 cubes or teaspoons of beef bouillon to each jar. The meat is tender and tastes excellent. I use it in stews, BBQ sandwiches, stir fry and add it to spaggetti sauce I'm sure you get the picture.
> 
> ...


we do the ground beef on page 63 and the chili on page 61, it's a great way to store meat and not think about the freezer quitting or a power outage, we're still using both that we canned in 06.


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## snappy1 (Sep 2, 2010)

Got more free elk 3 days ago and have the pressure canner venting now! Am canning it with v-8 juice, onions and minced garlic. 

Ditzyjan56--I always can my browned hamburger with onions and minced garlic and broth. That way I can cook Mexican or Italian and it is ready to go.


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## PopPop (Sep 14, 2010)

Yes canning has become a big part ofour life. The turning point was when our 14 month old freezer quit. We lost a whole deer, all of this years creamed corn, all of this years blue berries and strawberrys and a whole bunch of catfish. We are still freezing food but can atleast a dozen quarts each week. We have been alternating between soups, stews, chili and spagetti sauce. Each is pretty much a meal in a jar. Our thinking is that right now the ingerdients and energy are plentiful and cheap. THAT IS SURE TO CHANGE.


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## Ezmerelda (Oct 17, 2010)

I watch my grocery store's meat locker and pick up chicken leg quarters for as little as .67 cents a pound.

Then, I put them all in the stock pot, boil them until the meat falls off the bone, pull the meat out, strain the broth, strip the meat off the bones, then I can the chicken in its own broth in pint jars. 

No seasonings needed, and the chicken (and its broth) are delicious! Whatever broth is left over (and there is always some left over), gets canned in half pint jars too.

I plan to can some ground beef tomorrow.

Just put up 23 quarts of potatoes in the last three days - I was blessed by the local food bank - they gave three bags each to the food bank clients, but still had half a pallet left over. So, they begged us workers to take some home. (Twist my arm...)

:2thumb:


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## BuggingIn (May 31, 2010)

Please, please do NOT waterbath your meat! I saw a couple posters say that they use boiling water canners rather than pressure canners. The problem is that botulism spores are not killed at 212 degrees, and no matter how long you boil the jars, they NEVER get any hotter than 212. The pressure canner uses pressure to raise the temp inside the canner to 240 degrees, which will kill those spores. Since you can't tell from looking at the end product that it has or does not have botulism growing in it, you run the risk with every jar. Yes, you could eat waterbathed canned meat all your life and never hit a bad jar, you only have to hit ONE in a lifetime to end your life and that of your whole family. That's not a risk I'm prepared to take. Pressure can low acid foods, including meat.


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

BuggingIn said:


> Please, please do NOT waterbath your meat! I saw a couple posters say that they use boiling water canners rather than pressure canners. The problem is that botulism spores are not killed at 212 degrees, and no matter how long you boil the jars, they NEVER get any hotter than 212. The pressure canner uses pressure to raise the temp inside the canner to 240 degrees, which will kill those spores. Since you can't tell from looking at the end product that it has or does not have botulism growing in it, you run the risk with every jar. Yes, you could eat waterbathed canned meat all your life and never hit a bad jar, you only have to hit ONE in a lifetime to end your life and that of your whole family. That's not a risk I'm prepared to take. Pressure can low acid foods, including meat.


I agree wholeheartedly with Buggin. And 212 degrees is at sea level. The higher you are the lower the max attainable temp.

Lots of folks will say that that's the way their families have always done it. Water bathing *usually* works, but if conditions are just right, the whole family can wind up dead from one jar of meat.


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

BuggingIn said:


> Please, please do NOT waterbath your meat!


My personal experience with BWB and meat.

Before I got my pressure canner, I tried canning some chicken corn soup that DW had made. We have a friend who grew up with her mother doing it that way so I figured I'd have a go at it. About 2 weeks after I did it, I went down to get a jar and could smell something was wrong as I got close to the shelf. It turns out 1 of the 6 jars had lost it's seal so I tossed the entire batch.

*Pressure can your meat!*


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## oraltool (Feb 19, 2009)

I salted the meat and a little pepper too. I also added alittle boiling water to make sure we had no bubbles. I was pretty proud of how i was able to do this with a very little fat left behind after the jars cooled. The hamburger meat does look wierd but i was hoping for better flavor. I will leave out the onions next time. My grandma used to serve us roast that had been canned with mashed potato's and beef gravy. The meat was epic. Tender, super flavorful an the best I have had outside of a really quality rib eye or filet that was not crucified. I will do some roast at some point. i will post a report as to the results. I'm positive it should be amazing. I have also had home canned salmon and it is really good, but you gotta love fish and I do.

My problem is i like everything.


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## oraltool (Feb 19, 2009)

Andi:

When you can your vennison do you fully roast it or do you just brown it, cut it up and place it in the jars. Then pressure canner the suckers? Do you pack it really tight or do you add water? What is your way you like to do it.


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## Salekdarling (Aug 15, 2010)

bunkerbob said:


> Is this what you do with deer to can it? Where do get those jumbo sized canning jars.:2thumb:


LOL bunkerbob! Totally made my night with that picture.


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

oraltool said:


> Andi:
> 
> When you can your vennison do you fully roast it or do you just brown it, cut it up and place it in the jars. Then pressure canner the suckers? Do you pack it really tight or do you add water? What is your way you like to do it.


I don't know about Andi but I pack mine raw, fill the jar to 1" from the rim with water and add a pinch of sea salt. Iodized table salt will make the water cloudy. Process for 90 minutes at 10#. The meat is fully cooked, tender and delicious. :2thumb:


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## oraltool (Feb 19, 2009)

Ok. Thank you.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

oraltool said:


> Andi:
> 
> When you can your vennison do you fully roast it or do you just brown it, cut it up and place it in the jars. Then pressure canner the suckers? Do you pack it really tight or do you add water? What is your way you like to do it.


I raw pack, cut it into 1 inch cubes and place in wide mouth jars. I don't pack mine ... or add water, salt or anything else. (but that is just me )

Pressure can for 1 and half hours at 10# (check you area for the right pressure)

My mom does it the same way that Uncle Joe talked about. So you can try it both ways and see which you like better.


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## Jason (Jul 25, 2009)

Ok, we canned some chicken today, as I alluded to in my other posts this evening. So here's what we did.

We got extra chicken breasts at Sam's Club. It was $1.79 a pound so we couldn't pass it up. Got home and while DS was napping we cut it into roughly 1.5" cubes and raw packed it into what ended up being 5 quart size jars. We made up a simple chicken broth and added it to the jars, poked the bubbles and all that, and after verifying the 1" head space we canned them at roughly 13 # for 90 minutes. I jacked up the stove real high at the beginning and then even knocking it down to simmer it held the heat above 10 lbs for the remainder of the cook. I guess I could have moved the canner off the burner a bit but we're still learning. Anyway, it looks ok to me...jars are intact, smells ok, looks ok. So now I'll put them into storage tomorrow when they're cool and see how they fare.


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

You'll really like the looks of it when you have 40-50 of those jars setting on the shelf. 

BTW Good job. :congrat: Wasn't as hard as you may have thought, was it?


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## Jason (Jul 25, 2009)

That's what I'm waiting for, Joe. Slowly, slowly, we're getting there. I don't even say "we'll get there" any more- now I say "we're getting there". Of course, you're never "there" but anyhow...you all know what I mean.

Thanks for the kudos and no it really wasn't that bad. I'm no longer deathly afraid of the pressure canner and am confident about operating it on my own. we did have a funny incident today, though.

During the 90 minute process time DS (age 2 and a half) wakes up from his nap and DW brings him downstairs. He was running around the house and dashed through the kitchen. When he did he shook the floor enough that the weight came off the canner and it sounded like a jet took off in the kitchen. DS's eyes got HUGE and filled with tears because DW said "Out of the kitchen NOW" just because she didn't want him near the steam. We calmed him down and showed him what happened, using my grill tongs to remove the weight again so he could see the noise was not scary. In the end, we all got a good laugh, and another great memory.


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## carolexan (Dec 28, 2010)

WTG Jason and DW. Your jars of chicken breast look very good:2thumb:

This thread is so informative, wonderful information everyone!


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## Jason (Jul 25, 2009)

Thanks, Carolexan! We've gone from never having canned anything in our lives to having a desert topping sauce, spaghetti sauce, tomatoes, different jellies, and now chicken sitting on the shelf in less than a year. It's such a satisfying thing to do.


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