pressure canning meat?

[zzelle]

Hi me and dh are wondering what meat is the easiest to pressure can. thank you

[Cat]

If it's not moving, you can can it!

 

 

For me, the first "meat" canning I did was turkey broth with meat. I couldn't bear to toss it, and my freezer was full, and so I decided to just jump in and DO IT!!

 

 

I had helped Mom growing up, but had never tried it on my own, by myself. I had leftover Thanksgiving meat and broth and didn't want to waste it.

 

 

All I did was cook it down, take the meat off the bones, strain and season the broth (no sage - it gets nasty... just a little salt & pepper), and canned it using my Ball Blue Book instructions. I was happy at how simple it was!

 

 

If you try something like that... already cooked, lots of broth, and easy to handle, (and so versatile to use!) it should help you gain enough confidence to try other things. (Chicken would work just as easily!)

 

[Kelly]

I have canned boneless chicken breast,venison tenderloin and I'm going to try smoked sausage. Its all about the same to me. Just be sure to pressure can it the right amount of time.

[westbrook]

canning chicken is pretty easy...

 

sterilize your jars, have some vegetables cut up and ready to put in, there is always space in the jar to stick those in.

 

go out to the barn and grab a chicken, hold chicken by its feet and shove in jar!

 

if there is any space, slide those vegetables in! put lid on jar.

 

it is kind of cool to hold the jar up as you are inserting chicken.. their eyes get so big!

[Leah]

I don't like doing it that way, Westbrook - the feathers get caught in my teeth!

[zzelle]

i will have to try that to see how big the eyes get.

[mommato3boys]

Originally Posted By: westbrook

canning chicken is pretty easy...

sterilize your jars, have some vegetables cut up and ready to put in, there is always space in the jar to stick those in.

go out to the barn and grab a chicken, hold chicken by its feet and shove in jar!

if there is any space, slide those vegetables in! put lid on jar.

it is kind of cool to hold the jar up as you are inserting chicken.. their eyes get so big!

Westie has had too much sun dumpster diving this week. Quick pass her the chocolate

The only thing I seem to recall my mother not canning was fish. Dad didn't like canned fish, said it didn't fry up to well. She did can some seafood to make gumbo with but that is about it.

[westbrook]

seriously, jam as much raw chicken into a jar as you can get! you have choices..

 

remove bones, keep bones

 

raw pack (no liquid it makes its own) or pour a nice broth over it.

 

if you don't have the ball blue book get it.

[Heather]

I started with chicken leg/thighs. I boiled them and removed the meat. Since then I have done several batched of chili with meat and beans and Pasta Fagioli. It's very easy, once you read the directions.

[Abigail]

Hi everyone; I'm new here, although I've lurked for a long time. This is a subject that I knew NOTHING about before I came here. I still don't know much, other than to gather basic supplies. The warnings about botulism if you mess it up have scared me! But I still want to do it.

 

This is one area that I've thought a lot about. Meat/Chicken/Ham/Sausage/Seafood...protein in general. The commercially canned stuff we have some of for emergencies, but usually use fresh, as it's obviously better tasting. I've never known anyone who home canned meats & poultry, or ANYTHING for that matter, with the exception of fig preserves once or twice. I have never even had an opportunity to taste home canned food to compare the taste with commercially canned offerings.

 

When I started getting into prepping, of course the home canning alternative came across my radar screen.

 

I've read a lot of the threads; havent acted on anything as I'm planning a move and have packed up my new canning toys. But I'd like to learn as much as I can in the meantime.

 

I've focused on the meat/poultry because I figure I'm more likely to have a veggie garden (never done that before either, though) than I am a cow! It scares me that I'm so completely dependent on commercial suppliers, and it seems that the learning curve is so high it will take me years to acquire the head knowledge!

 

But back to canning protein...what's closest in taste to fresh? Is sausage possible? Beans are a common storage item, and I've only recently acquired a taste for them. Just plain without sausage/ham....yuck. So looking for alternatives.

 

Thanks!

 

Abigail

 

 

[westbrook]

abigail.. start with apple sauce or jams. Something that will build your confidence.

[zzelle]

thanks ladies for the great advice

[Darlene]

Abigail, I'll hafta disagree with westie on this one (this is a first)...

 

If you wanna start out with canning meats, then by all means, go for it. I would suggest however, that you start out small, just so you can get the feel for it. It's not that hard to do, and outside of the few golden rules to home canning that MUST be adhered to, is an awesome experience and one that I know you could handle.

 

I can alot of chicken breast. I debone them and take the bones and skin, add veggies and make a chicken broth that I can seperately. I cube up the chicken breast, put it in steralized jars raw, add boiling water, and process from there.

 

We can get into more important detail once you're ready, but it's just about as simple as that.

 

I say you just go for it, and we'll hold your hand along the way.

[Violet]

Sure,meats are easy to can, just take longer in a pressure canner than most other things. Dried beans can be canned, too. It is also possible to can sausage.

I am sending you this link for canning all kinds of things, including meats, dried beans, soups, etc.

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_home.html

Have fun ! Canning is addicting.

[Abigail]

Thanks everyone! Bookmarked the link. I think it's the cautions that home canned goods can harbor botulism even if the seal seems good and it smells OK when you open it that have me leery. Is this even true??

 

I've gone ahead anyway and bought some suppies; I figured with the way things are going, if the fertilizer hits the fan soon those supplies may not BE THERE at any price and they're "hardware" that there are no homemade substitutes for...so they made the top of my priority list.

 

I'm SURE I don't have enough jars from reading about the kind of quantities necessary to completely supply the needs of a family without commerical additions, and I'm almost afraid to ask how many would be a good number for a family of anywhere from 4-6, but I'll ask anyway... I have gotten lotsa lids on sale...found .50 regular lids at Wal-mart recently. I cleaned them out! Did hear of a "shelflife" of those too...that doesn't seem like it should be, as long as they weren't exposed to extreme heat. I mean, I'm sure the things are stored in warehouses and transported in trucks that are rather warm, right?

 

I've gotten a 16 Ot. pressure canner from Wal Mart that was only about $60, I think. I was coveting the All American ones, and still may go there eventually, but read a thread that not all stoves can take the weight of canners, particularly smooth top ones. This one specifically states smooth tops OK, AND it's small, so it's not overkill for the small batches Darlene referred to. Also doesn't require the extension office to calibrate the dial thing...I'm sure the extension office wouldn't be operational after TEOTWAWKI...need to get more of the gaskets, though...how many would you get without fear of rubber deterioration?

 

They had 21 Qt. waterbath canners w/ racks too; got two of them; figured they'd be good for boiling/sterilizing water and the lids/rings too. They were cheap too. Found one of the canning accessory sets, for only about $20, so maybe I should consider getting a backup set of that too?

 

Did I do OK? Sorry for all the questions...

 

Abigail

[Kelly]

I think it would be smart to get at least 1 extra rubber seal for your pressure canner to have on hand incase you can't get to town and need on.

[westbrook]

how many jars...

 

no one can answer that question for anyone but themselves.. but there are somethings to think about.

 

there are 1/2 pint jars, pint jars, quart jars and on rare occasions 1/2 gallon jars.

 

The 1/2 gallon jars are wonderful for canning Juice and that is it! they are too large to get hot enough in the center to be used for much more then just liquid. I would like to interject here.. these jars are great for canning distilled water. Distilled water lasts forever.

 

There are two types of openings.. the standard opening and wide mouth. It is so easy to put meat in a wide mouth but try to shove meat into a standard mouth. I prefer wide mouth but have hundreds of both.

 

Now to the thinking part... if there are 365 days in a year you will need 365 jars times how many meals and foods you will eat.

 

Breakfast - let's just refer to Jam as the only canned item you will open for toast in the morning (jams and fruit butters will replace butter on toast). Without refrigeration Jams and butters do fine sitting on a counter for a few days (I see all of your scrunching up). If you open a Pint Jar.. how long does it take you to use one jar up? One every two days? 1 every day? 1 a week?

 

Making muffins or cakes for dessert, you can use jams up in the batter or frostings.

 

Perhaps you want to make a fruit pie for breakfast, you will need to think about using quart jars for fruit to make a pie. I can fruit in pint jars in a med. syrup..I drain the liquid off to thicken and pour over fruit in pie crust. I don't use all of the liquid to thicken. What is left goes over a cake instead of frosting and the liquid I didn't use to thicken gets mixed with water and the kids used to love to drink it like kool-aid or fruit munch. But I need to use a couple of pint jars to make a pie.

 

I try to use each jar up I open and not have any left overs. If I don't have refrigeration I want to make sure there is no waste.

 

If we are going to have vegetables.. beans, peas, corn, turnip greens, spinich and etc. for dinner, then 365 jars are needeed.

 

You will need 365 jars of ? for dinner.

 

Work out a menu, repeat it as much as possible without getting too boring.. "Oh Mom!!! not peas again!" Plan on left overs. make soups. Soups can be put on a stove and if kept hot will be find for a week... I mean 3 or 4 days LOL! there is only so much soup you can eat day after day after day.

 

I only present ideas to ponder.. others will have other ideas, use these as a baseline.

 

Canned chicken - heated meat, chicken sandwiches, chicken burritos, chicken tacos, chicken enchiladas, chicken soup, chicken and noodles, chicken pot pie, chicken in gravy over mashed potatoes, battered and fried, chicken chili.. and these are just a few ideas on how to use chicken.

 

 

 

 

[HSmom]

I think crumbled, browned hamburger is one of the easiest meats to can...and use...and seems just like fresh.

 

Fry up/brown the meat in your usual manner. Drain off the grease. If you use low-fat to start, that should be adequate. However, if your meat is particularly greasy, you might want to take a couple of extra steps: Cool it, place it in a bowl, cover with water and refrigerate several hours or overnight. In the morning, the fat will have risen to the top of the water, so you can easily skim it all off. When you're ready to can the meat, you'll have to drain of the water and reheat the meat to hot again.

 

I usually just fry it up and drain it. At the same time, I have my empty jars boiling in the canner, my lids simmering in a pot, and a tea kettle of water brought to a boil.

 

Pull a jar from the canner, fill with meat, top with boiling water from the tea kettle (allowing usual headspace). Wipe rims, set lids and process.

 

I usually do pints and half-pints of ground beef, but I am only feeding three (one doesn't eat beef). To use, I pour the meat and it's water into a small saute pan and heat. The water evaporates and you're just back to browned ground beef. I usually add some taco seasoning when I first put it in the pan (don't can with taco seasoning already in, cuz commercial seasoning may have thickeners that are not safe to home can).

 

The rule "a pint's a pound the world around" fits ground beef well: a pint jar holds about a pound of cooked meat.

[daisies518]

HSmom- thanks for the "a pint's a pound the world around" hint!! I was wondering about that!!

[Abigail]

Thanks soooo much everyone. Since my goal is to avoid refrigeration and freezing, I've been thinking about using more half pints and pints than anything else; my family is so picky and our schedule so uncertain and changeable, I might stand a better chance of avoiding leftovers requiring refrigeration that way...

 

Thanks for all the specific ideas of how to incorporate it into recipes; different ideas are needed with storage foods than with fresh, I'm learning.

 

This looks like it will be fun. Thanks.

 

Abigail

[HSmom]

Originally Posted By: HSmom

I think crumbled, browned hamburger is one of the easiest meats to can...and use...and seems just like fresh.

I take that back. Raw pack chicken is the easiest to can. Absurdly easy, as I discovered this evening. Hopefully, we'll be happy with the taste & texture.

[susie]

Raw pack turkey breast is even easier. But next time, I'll put the salt at the bottom of the jar.

 

I did sardines this morning. So far, so good, but next time I'll cut off their little heads.

[Snowmom]

 

The easiest meat to can would, for me be the hunks of beef, or ham. That is the only meat I don't partly cook.

 

I do my meat canning according to the Ball Blue Book. I think it says to partly cook the turkey and brown the steaks, chops, etc. I even browned, in a frying pan, the roasts I canned.

 

[anna]

Canned pork tenderloin is great too. I do it in chunks and then pull it for bar-b-qued pork sandwiches. Its also good just heated straight from the jar.

 

To save $'s when doing stew meat I buy round steak on sale and cut it myself. Only takes a few minutes and can save up to $1 per pound.

[Buttercup]

I do canned pork loin too! It's really easy and the juice it makes is so yummy.. I do a lot of pork and noodles this way! And it's very easy. I just chunk it up raw and throw it in my jars with a little salt. Process and viola! It makes it's own juices!