Pressure Canning

[MTBighorn]

Hi guys, I was wondering if many of you canned any of your meats??? Any receipts/thoughts to share??

For me pressure canning is a delicious way of preserving meat. Turkey, Chicken, Rabbit, Venison, and Fish... They all come out of the canner ready to eat and totally delicious!!

Each pint holds about 1lb of meat...so the 1/2 pts are nice for trail snacks and after school treats for the kids.

It can take some experimenting to get the salt/garlic right. But you just can't go wrong having your meat shelf-stable for 2++ years!

Something that I believe most of you reading this will really like... Is a couple hours of cold Hickory smoke in the smoker, followed by canning will make Salmon unbelievably GREAT!...mmmmm My friends call it Crack!

Canning is my main foundation for meat preservation. Diced Turkey breast is so nicely cooked in the jar.

Add some Turmeric to poultry and you will have everyone looking. Can your chicken thighs and legs whole.. the stringy meat, mixed with BBQ sauce will have everyone telling you that you make the best pulled pork and Sloppy-Joe's!

Venison is perfectly ready for any outing. From eating cold right out of the jar in the blind, on the trail, at camp, or heated on bread in the ice-house..mmm or added to your favorite dinner dish at camp.....Canning is such a nice way of sharing our bounty! (and enjoying it!..lol)

Nothing beats some cheese, crackers, and canned elk meat, while setting against a big tree with a good friend and your bow!
Pressure canning is so simple too!

Canning is such a delicious way of preserving our blessings!! Anyone else putting up there success in jars?
Wes

[janesy]

There was a great canning thread for a year or two back. I have never gotten into it, but it catches may attention each time a thread pops up

[BrotherRon]

Canning is my favorite method for preserving venison.
I do freeze the tenderloins as well as a couple packages of back straps, but 90% of my venison is canned.

[vixenmaster]

Yup we can venison, chicken, pork, fish. Using diff seasonings, makes fer some easy to fix great eats. One thing we do is brn our ground venison n we mix pork n pork fat about a 3rd ratio

[deadeer]

Super easy recipe is 1 bullion cube per qt, 1/2-1 tsp canning salt for deer. Simple and tasty.

I have always heard not to eat cold right out of the jar. Say to warm up as it will smell if it didnt seal and goes bad. Never had one go bad yet, about 15yrs worth.

[paulaboutform]

I love this stuff....I've never done it but would like to learn how to one day. Thanks for bringing it up. I'd love to read some of your recipes.

Paul

[BrotherRon]

Lots of info on the internet. Here is one I found last year.


Ingredients
Pressure cooker
Clean canning jars I prefer wide mouth pint jars for canned venison.
Rings and new lids
½ teaspoon of non-iodized salt per pint jar
Black pepper
Cooking Instructions
The most important step in canning anything is to get to know your particular canner. I use a 22 quart Mirro brand pressure cooker, and have based these instructions on that model. Read the instruction booklet for your canner and tailor the amount of water and weight placement to it.
Begin by washing your jars, rings and lids in hot soapy water, then rinse well to make sure all soap residue is removed.
 Trim your venison into approximately one inch square chunks. Try to get as much fat and fascia (silverskin) off of the meat as possible.
Pack the jars tightly with meat, leaving ½ to 1 inch of headspace above the meat. If you notice any large air pockets along the side of a jar, work a butter knife down the pocket to release the trapped air and then push the meat down to fill the space.
To the top of each jar full of meat, sprinkle on ½ teaspoon (for quart jars, use 1 full teaspoon) of non-iodized salt
. Add a shake of black pepper and that’s it. Done. Finished. Nothing else is necessary for basic canned venison; the meat will make its own juice as it cooks.
After filling the jars and adding the seasoning, wipe the rim of each jar clean with a damp paper towel to make sure the lid is able to make full contact with the rim. Place a clean lid on each jar and screw the ring on finger tight.
Pour the recommended amount of water for your canner into the pot (for my canner, 3 quarts). Add one tablespoon of white vinegar. Gently place the jars into the canner; it is ok if the sides touch each other.
Start with your burner on high until you see steam escaping from the lid vent of your pressure cooker. Once the steam starts, wait ten minutes in order for all of the air inside the cooker to reach an equal temperature. Venison cans at ten pounds of pressure close to sea level, fifteen pounds for high altitudes. For my canner, that means I place a ten pound weight over the vent. Follow the instructions for your canner, as methods may vary from brand to brand.
Once your weight starts to jiggle and release a little steam, reduce the heat to between low and medium. You want just enough heat to maintain a boil inside the cooker. When you are at the correct temperature, you should see a bit of steam or a wiggle from your weight every ten to fifteen seconds.
If using pint jars, set a timer for 1 hour and 15 minutes. For quarts, go 1 hour and 30 minutes. Once time is up, turn off the heat and walk away. Let the temperature inside the canner slowly reduce until steam no longer escapes from the vent and the lid of the canner is loose enough to remove.
Using a jar lifter, carefully move the jars from the canner to a folded towel on the countertop. Continue to let the jars cool for several hours to overnight. As they cool, the lids will sound off with a “pop” as they seal themselves to the jar. Once the jars have cooled, you can test the seal by pushing down on the center of the lid. If the lid sinks then springs back up, the jar did not seal. Simply place that jar into the fridge and eat it over the next few days. Sealed jars will have a concave appearance to the lid and will not move if you press gently on their lids. At this point, the ring is no longer necessary to hold the lid on. If you have a jar with a questionable seal, just remove the ring and see if the lid remains tightly sealed to the jar rim. If it does, then that jar good to go.
Store canned venison out of direct sunlight. A cabinet or pantry is perfect. Don’t allow the contents to freeze, as the resulting expansion might break the jar. I like to mark the lids with the canning date in black permanent marker. Keep your jars rotated with the freshest ones at the back of the cabinet.

[Deaf jeff]

i have never tried to do any seasoning/recipes(but look forward to reading some ideas), i just pack pint jars then use the oven for my cooker rather than a pressure cooker since i do not have one. dagriz and his wife gave me the instructions and works well for me. usually do a dozen jars at a time

[wabi]

Super easy recipe is 1 bullion cube per qt, 1/2-1 tsp canning salt for deer. Simple and tasty.

I've been doing it this way for several years now.
Lost 2 freezers full of food in 3 years (2 different freezers quit working and I didn't catch it until the contents were ruined).
I went to pressure canning and haven't lost any food since!

[MTBighorn]

I don't really have many "in-jar" recipes. So I am reading eagerly, every post, to see if I can learn a great new flavor addition to my jars.

I just use good salt (non-iodized) I currently use Himalayan salt. Raw meat in the jar with salt and garlic..that's it. Minced Garlic pairs well with most meats and adds a nice flavor. One year I canned some elk with some onion powder in the jars and it was kinda gross. This year I think I'll try lightly browning some meat before it goes into the jars.

At the risk of turning the thread into a debate...I just want to say, It doesn't matter how many 1,000's of lbs of meat your grandma or good friend has successfully canned. Or the position you hold your tongue as you open a jar. A pressure canner is the ONLY way to safely can meat! It is not "just" about the jars being sealed...The lack of oxygen in the jar is actually part of what causes the botulism spore to grow.

The heat has to get high enough in the jar. And it cannot do this if the juices in the meat boil at +/-200*F...the pressure from the pressure canner raises the boiling point heat way up in degrees. This cannot be accomplished in an oven or water-bath canner.

Funny story;... I was just talking to a 87 year old woman that was telling me stories of her Grandmother water-bathing deer meat. The rule in there house was to open a jar and heat it to a boil. They figured it made the meat safe. We now know that it takes 10min, and more like 20minutes (at my 5,300ft elevation) at a full rolling boil to remove the botulinum toxin...seems like the water-bath must have worked.

And since Jeff has been successful with the oven canning method. I am even more trusting in the safety of my pressure canned meat being safe. And don't forget that Botulinum Toxin can be present with NO ODOR!

One important thing about jar sealing...Always remove the bands before storage and never stack your jars on top of each other. If something goes "south" inside your jar it will pop the lid-seal if the lid is free to do so. From my research, smell is not and indicator of the botulinum toxin's presence. But it's formation will pop the lid if it is free to do so.

Thank you for the nice responses everyone! Please keep them coming!

[Deaf jeff]

"At the risk of turning the thread into a debate...I just want to say, It doesn't matter how many 1,000's of lbs of meat your grandma or good friend has successfully canned. Or the position you hold your tongue as you open a jar. A pressure canner is the ONLY way to safely can meat! It is not "just" about the jars being sealed...The lack of oxygen in the jar is actually part of what causes the botulism spore to grow"

finally found something im lucky at, thanks for the info, ill look for a small canner

[FORVOLS]

I have canned lots of vegetables, but never meat. I'm interested in doing this, could someone post some pictures of their canned meat (fish, deer, chicken). I know it works, but always figured the end dish would be tacos, chili or a beef stew type dish. Funny I even buy canned chicken, salmon and tuna..you know for salad type recipes. I cant hunt/catch salmon or tuna here..but I gots deer/turkey/chickens/wild pig/squirrel/rabbit and fish wise all fresh water - trout/bass/bluegill/crappie/catfish..just wondering how the end product is for that after pressure canning vs freezing.

[janesy]

So to risk sounding like a complete Newb...

Does the meat cook from the heat during the canning process? Or is it the salt brine process?

Talk to me like I'm 5. I'm very intrigued.

[flightattendant100]

So to risk sounding like a complete Newb...

Does the meat cook from the heat during the canning process? Or is it the salt brine process?

Talk to me like I'm 5. I'm very intrigued.

Oh, it’s the heat! Major heat and steam pressure! Have done a batch a few years ago. Meat is so tender that if you put in stews later it will be shredded up by the time you get it stirred in and heated. A pint holds approx. pound meat. Been going to do some with taco seasoning in them. I bet they are good, but haven’t done it yet.

[paulaboutform]

Wow, I'd forgotten I even replied to this post. I recently purchased a 21 quart All American Pressure Canner. What an amazing, quality piece of equipment! As is appropriate, I checked with our resident chef, Ironnoggin, and learned he uses the same model (as did his Momma). That was good enough for me and I hit the 'but now' button. So far I've pressure canned some salmon, chicken legs, chicken breast, turkey vegetable soup (from the Christmas turkey carcass), and have a thawed 25lbs turkey I'll be breaking down and canning today. I want to try doing a dry pack with some wild boar ground...maybe seasoning with taco seasoning mix then canning. ??? Thoughts from the pros please.

Paul