How do you can your chicken?

[mommato3boys]

I am looking to can some chicken and I was wondering how you can your chicken...

 

with skin or without skin

 

with bone or without bone

 

do you can it whole or in pieces

 

do you can it raw or do you cook it first

 

Since I don't have my mom or grandmother around to ask I am asking y'all

Edited January 12, 2021 by mommato3boys

[Ambergris]

Raw pack. Use the instructions on the UGA site.   Boneless breast, boneless thigh with one thigh bone per quart for extra gel, but bone-in leg if the legs are dinky enough to fit into the jar. (You know the dinky baby chicken legs they sometimes put in those ten-pound leg quarter sales.)  (Edit--I have only done this once, and it was pure laziness.  Thighs are much better canning material than legs.)  Cut the breast up.  The thigh is pretty much chopped up by the process of boning.  Take off the skin and pretty much all of the fat (do not obsess over getting every last molecule).  I make broth the way I usually do, with lots of fat, and can the broth without defatting. 

When canning chicken, DO NOT FORGET THE SALT.  Yes, that is the shout of experience.  Don't work at cramming in every molecule of meat that will fit into the jar, because that is not what the instructions are assuming.  Remember to use vinegar to clean the rim of the jar.  Remember to leave your one-inch clearance.  Label any jars you spice up.  Since you will be making broth/soup with all the hip/back portions, remember to cook the bone broth part of it waaaaay down to a gel in your slow cooker, and bottle that up, since the water takes up so much room on the shelf.  Label that carefully, because it looks funky, and your kids might throw it away for looking too dark to be good chicken broth.

Edited January 12, 2021 by Ambergris

[Littlesister]

I can mine raw and don't add anything. Can't use the salt with DH. But it has been really good. I can chicken breast skinless, the legs are fair size and I can get 4 to 5 bone in with the skin in a quart jar. DH loves them with barbeque sauce. I do not add any water as the chicken will make it's own juice. Been doing it that way for years with no problems.  It is also how my grandmother did it. 

[Jeepers]

I'm too picky about my meat. I don't care for a lot of it. I have major texture issues with fat. I only eat chicken breast and I have to remove the skin and bones and then put the meat on my plate to eat it. I know that is crazy but believe me, if I was hungry I'd devour a leg in a heartbeat. Don't judge.   But since I don't have to do that right now, I can my chicken breasts cooked. I also don't like that white stuff clinging to the side of a jar that you get with canning raw chicken. What's that stuff called anyway?

 

I run them through the insta pot for about 20 minutes, shred them, put the cooked meat in a jar, salt and add water or broth and can. I end up with a can of cooked shredded chicken that I can use in cooking. Sometimes I chunk the meat instead of shredding it. It's nice to use with some bar-b-q sauce for dipping or as a bar-b-q sandwich. Or in a casserole.

[snapshotmiki]

I always raw pack.  How it is divided or cut is determined by how I want to use it.  I do add salt and sometimes homemade taco seasoning if it is for a Mexican dish.

[Littlesister]

Got 14 quarts of chicken thighs and legs canned today. My granddaughter in CA sent us some spices called ManSmith's salt free ones. One of them was for chicken, so decided to add some to each jar since I don't use salt.  That stuff taste great. So hoping the jars will have good flavor.  I use the legs and thighs for barbequed chicken and the breast I make chicken salad and chicken dumplings. I also use it for chicken soup.

[Dee]

I'm a little late in responding but I cook the chicken first in large kettles of water, with onions, celery and whatever I have like that, that needs using up.  

 

I put it on cookie sheets to let cool enough to handle.  Tear it in pieces, put it in jars, use the broth from cooking it and can.

 

I cook down the broth and can or freeze it AFTER I enjoy a cup of  first.  So YUMMY! 

 

Cooking it first let's me control the amount of fat, usually as little as possible.  Removing skin and bones before canning uses less jars.

[Jeepers]

Sounds about like what I do Dee. Only I never thought about adding onions etc. to the pot. 

[Dee]

14 hours ago, Jeepers said:

Only I never thought about adding onions etc. to the pot.

 

 

I freeze carrot peelings, carrots that are getting past their crisp state, onions, you know a couple of layer peelings on the outside that aren't good fresh (not the first couple layers that are papery), the leaves and tiny stalks of celery, pea pods, dried herbs I've grown, a garlic bulb or two, just anything like that until I'm ready to can chicken.  It give the broth a delicious flavor.  When I do can chicken, which I don't do much anymore, I try to get close to 2 canners full.  My canner hold 20 pints so I usually end up with 30-40 pints when I'm finished.  That's a lot of chicken but well worth the trouble.

 

My kids used to make fun of me for freezing the "garbage" but they never complained about the taste. 

[out_of_the_ordinary]

9 minutes ago, Dee said:

 

I freeze carrot peelings, carrots that are getting past their crisp state, onions, you know a couple of layer peelings on the outside that aren't good fresh (not the first couple layers that are papery), the leaves and tiny stalks of celery, pea pods, dried herbs I've grown, a garlic bulb or two, just anything like that until I'm ready to can chicken.  It give the broth a delicious flavor.  When I do can chicken, which I don't do much anymore, I try to get close to 2 canners full.  My canner hold 20 pints so I usually end up with 30-40 pints when I'm finished.  That's a lot of chicken but well worth the trouble.

 

My kids used to make fun of me for freezing the "garbage" but they never complained about the taste. 

I save the same type of things, but I toss them in the stock pot when I'm making broth/stock.   It looks like I'm simmering trash, but it smells wonderful!

[Dee]

I've done that too out of the ordinary but usually just in the winter.  Summer is for canning chicken, winter is for soup.  

 

It's just a good feeling not wasting those scraps, isn't it?  No matter when or how you use them.

 

When the kids were home and we had leftover green beans, corn, peas, carrots, etc. I'd put them in a Tupperware container along with the juice off the veggies.  Freeze them until I had enough and then made a big pot pie.  

 

It was one of our oldest daughters favorite meals.  When she married she asked for the recipe.  When I told her about freezing the little bits of leftover vegetables, she couldn't be bothered.  She's not a tightwad like her mother. 

 

 

[Annarchy]

Wonderful suggestions!  I love it!

 

Blue Jean Chef had a recipe for bone broth, months ago.  I save the “fingers” from our chicken wings, when we have hot wings or vinegar wings.  Brown them crispy with a touch of salt & freeze the batch, until there is enough to make a batch of bone broth.  I also save my withers - celery, I usually dry the withers & store, carrots and onions withers are dated & frozen in the section the fingers are in. 
 

When I make a batch, I usually wait until we have baked chicken (Air fried) & throw the bones into my pressure cooker with the rest of the ingredients.  I probably overcook everything, usually a couple of hours, just to insure everything has turned to mush.   Then, strain through cheese cloth, a thin layer to get some of the good solids in my broth.  Then, pressure can the broth.
 

The ‘strained’ contents are processed in a blender on purée, and made into a thick mess.    which I put into a glass & cool.  After cooling, it is almost the consistency of bologna, sorta, sliced, it makes a very nice chicken ‘soup’ sandwich. Well, at least that’s what I call it.  Waste not want not.....

[Dee]

On 1/14/2021 at 4:28 PM, Annarchy said:

The ‘strained’ contents are processed in a blender on purée, and made into a thick mess.    which I put into a glass & cool.  After cooling, it is almost the consistency of bologna, sorta, sliced, it makes a very nice chicken ‘soup’ sandwich. Well, at least that’s what I call it.  Waste not want not.....

 

Wow, that's interesting.  I've never heard of such a thing!   That's exactly right....waste not want not.

[mommato3boys]

On 1/14/2021 at 4:28 PM, Annarchy said:

The ‘strained’ contents are processed in a blender on purée, and made into a thick mess.    which I put into a glass & cool.  After cooling, it is almost the consistency of bologna, sorta, sliced, it makes a very nice chicken ‘soup’ sandwich. Well, at least that’s what I call it.  Waste not want not.....

 

I am going to have to try this. Because I too, use the back, neck and wing tips to make broth but picking those tiny bones out of the little bit of meat that is there is not worth it. But with this....well let's just say we are going to have chicken soup burgers. 

[Littlesister]

I also save any left overs and any carrot, celery, and onions that are left over. I use them in soups and such. Just don't can my chicken using those. I am going to start canning some dry beans within the next 2 weeks and going to use some of the onions in those. Can't use ham for seasoning due to the salt content. I have to do things a bit different and use no salt spices instead of salt.