Keeping meat

[ttruscott]

We have two freezers full of garden produce with just enough room for our weekly meat needs.

 

I don't want to depend on electricity anyway so, for long term, I'm wondering if I should can meat or dehydrate it?

 

Which lasts longer?

Which stores easiest?

 

Thanks,

[Evergreen]

Too add this question (hope you dont mind if I jump in...) what if there were no electricity to begin with- what is the best way to preserve meat?

[DenimDaze]

meat jerky! Just remember to hide it from your family. My DH and sons can eat amazing amounts of the stuff.

[Cat]

I'd "vote" for canning... that's pressure canning, of course. It's most versatile; you can use it in a variety of ways.

 

But I'm not sure if I'd be quite as confident if I lived in a very hot area. Canned goods should be stored in relative cool areas of the home, such as a basement.

 

Meats can be smoked, or dried, but that also limits the food preparation, in my opinion.

 

 

Years ago, they'd pack it into barrels layered with lard, and keep it in cold places. Or salted, but I'm less sure about how that worked.

 

 

 

 

[westbrook]

can the meat. Dehydrated meat or jerky though will last for years and years .. but needs to be dried out to a point of being hard as a rock... is just that... dried out meat!

 

you can only eat it or make a soup out of it but it will never be plump meat again!

 

canning offers you so many options. You can can it raw or cooked, shredded, in sauces, with recipes in mind or using recipes!

 

How long does canned meat last? I am not the one to ask! why not? because I push the envelope on everything. For us, it the lid isn't bowed out, it doesn't spew when opened, the lid is still sealed and clean.. I am eatin' it! yes even if it is 20 years old.

 

I told you not to ask me!

 

here is my rotation plan... it varies but you get the idea...

 

each fall when it is time to fill my freezer again with fresh meat, I can what is in my freezer. the fresh meat usually gets used for things like BBQ in the spring or Oven roasts and so on in the winter.. but we can't eat everything we butcher in a season so what is left gets canned!

 

this doesn't count the meat sales I get..but it is treated the same way.

 

 

[westbrook]

p.s. we eat lots of soup so left overs also get turned into soup and canned.

 

you want the chicken feet soup recipe?

[Leah]

I do, please.

 

We want all those roosters next year, and each of them have 2 feet.

 

Waste not, want not.

----

I dehydrate my hamburger. Just toss it in the sauce, or some boiling water when we want it.

[ttruscott]

Besides general economic collapse, our local fear is that we are in an earthquake zone and, of course, the big one is due.

 

My Mom had a cellar (Prairies) full of jars on shelves with all kinds of preserves.

 

I can just see that surviving an earthquake out here! Do I need a dedicated outbuilding that is quake proof?

 

We dehydrate but not meat - I'll have to see about that. I soup up and render down every chicken or turkey we cook and I've heard about using the aspic to store meat but I don't know the process.

 

Thanks, all...

[westbrook]

earthquake zone...

 

I live 30 feet from the San Andres Fault.. what I have done to stop jars from falling.. was done in all of the homes way back when... not that I would remember or anything like that. ... after all I am only 21 (and that is the lie I am sticking to!)

 

What we did was place a strip of wood over the front of the shelves so that nothing would fall on the ground. It is a strip about 1/2" thick and 1" wide. It runs the length of the shelf or each section.

 

this stops the jars from falling off the shelf.. now this doesn't mean that the jars won't rattle together if not full.. and it doesn't mean that a jar won't fall and break on the shelf but they won't all fall down and they won't be a total loss.

 

I have to say that I haven't had the above happen yet.. jars moved around and so on but usually the epicenter isn't near me and I may get a 3.5 or there abouts. Usually they are rolling but from time to time they do get jerky.

 

If you have a garage? build shelving on the walls.. you can make them floor to ceiling.. now of course if the building falls down, you will loose your jars.. but storing jars in shelves attached to the walls works pretty good. To keep things cool... put up a trellis and plant peas or roses or something pretty and climbing on it.. this will also help keep the structure cool inside.

[ttruscott]

Thanks westbrook,

 

sounds good. Maybe a bit of cardboard between jars so they don't bump when they rattle.

 

We live on a valley floor so we expect liquefaction damage. Of course, if the whole house comes down, who cares about some preserves!

[Leah]

My grandmother used to put rubber bands around the jars to guard against bumping.

[CrabGrassAcres]

I can all the meat. I tried drying some, but in this humid climate it molded and I tossed it out. Didn't hurt the dog, he enjoyed it! LOL I think canning is less work than drying and the meat is more versatile.