PRO-TIP! Do this RIGHT NOW if you have a freezer. Take a small solo cup, fill it half way with water and place it in the freezer. Check in a couple hours, it should be frozen solid. Now, place a coin on top of the ice in the cup and cover with plastic cling wrap (just to prevent it from spilling accidentaly...). Now, if you have a freezer failure, the coin will no longer be on the surface of the ice. Thank me later... I take starbucks and Omaha Steaks gift cards.
My directions are for venison, but you can do the same with any meat (poultry should be hot packed, not cold packed...ask later if you really want to know), even fish. I've read that some less than palatable critters actually come out pretty good when canned. Ground hog and beaver are two such critters that supposedly take well to cold pack canning.
This is just a guide...feel free to ask questions in the comments below. I'll address one small topic again later, but feel it's important enough to address from the beginning. The USFDA lists only a pressure canner as an acceptable means to canning meat. I personally have consumed meat canned in the water bath method. I know many people have. I also know folks who have oven canned meat before. that said, I simply will not do it again. Any time someone offers me a jar of canned venison, I ask if it was pressure canned, and at what pressure and for how long. Botulism spores can ONLY be killed at a temp of 240 or higher. To achieve this temp, a pressure canner must operate at 10lbs (at sea level to 2000 feet, higher, follow directions on YOUR pressure canner) so most canned meat recipes say to run at 11PSI or better. I personally process at 13-14 psi and I process a few minutes longer than required as well. it's hard to overprocess meat, to a degree. but UNDERPROCESSING is always a concern. If in doubt, process longer. Botulism is the hardest to kill of all foodborne illnesses, and unfortunately it's kinda like rabies. Noone recovers from it once you get it, death is certain, and I simply will not take a chance with this. Get a pressure canner to do your meat...they don't cost much. Note that all pressure canners are also pressure cookers, but not all pressure cookers are pressure canners. A canner has the means of determining and regulating pressure at a certain level, whereas most pressure cookers operate only at one noticable pressure, usually 10 lbs. The inaugural trip for my pressure canner was 2 5lb chickens from frozen in 23 minutes at 15psi, and the meat was falling off the bones - used for chicken pot pie, chicken soup, chicken gumbo, chicken creole, chicken salad...i know ever'thang there is to...wait, wrong movie. we had alot of leftover chicken. I was amazed how fast it cooked from frozen to DONE and tender in the PC.
Okay...now to the "meat" of this post:
First, sanitation is key. The purpose of canning is to kill the little nasties that live in our food. Freezing is another good way to preserve food for a long time when done correctly, but canning does not require additional electricity. It only takes having to replace a fridge/freezer full of food once to recognize the benefit of having some of your meat stored by this method. So...lets begin.
Wash the appropriate number of jars for the meat you have on hand. You can always put clean jars away, or cook up the extra meat if you find you don't have enough jars (like me...)
After inspecting the jars for cracks and rough rims which would prevent a good seal, then wash the jars, rings and lids in hot soapy water - as hot as you can stand the water. Some newer dishwashers have a "sanitize" setting...this should work just fine as well provided you start using the jars as soon as the dishwasher cycle is complete.
Once cleaned, then the jars need to be sanitized - a dip in boiling water will accomplish this. Keep the boiled water handy - you need to keep the lids in this until ready for use. Not BOILING water, but just below - about 180 degrees. Let the lids rest here until you need them for the packed jars. This pic shows the sanitized jars, rings, and the lids are ready for thier dunk.
I will now begin to pack my jars. What you put in them is entirely up to you. The proven recipe used by many people every year is simply a single tsp of
canning salt in a quart jar, packed with raw meat as tightly as you can get it in without breaking the glass. Table salt has fillers that will form a cloudy mass at the bottom of the jar. :barf:
Make sure to leave 1" of head space for cold packed meat. Do not add any liquid. You will see soon that the meat will make its own liquid very quickly.
My recipe is 1/2 teaspoon salt or beef bouillon powder, 1/8 of an onion, a grind of pepper, and one clove of garlic in pint jars.
Here are my jars ready for packing (minus the bouillon powder):
When packing the meat chunks into the jars, make sure to work clean, and be sure to leave the proper amount of headspace or when you open your canner, you will have glass and venison stew. I used a small sandwich bag with the bottom cut out to keep meat off the rim of the jars. Please go spend the 2 bucks to get a Ball funnel - I was too far into this when I realized I didn't have one.
I've read that batch processing when doing meat is not the way to go but I can't find any supporting evidence. So i find no need to lid each jar as it's packed, I lid them all at once. Here's all my jars, packed and ready for sealing. Note that the lids are ready for the hot water bath to soften up the seals.
Also note that there is more meat...It will get a fine dice and turned into street taco meat. Recipe to follow.
Here's all the jars in the PRESSURE canner, ready to rock. Water filled to the line as instructed in the manual for MY canner. Yours may/will have different levels of water to maintain during the canning process. An old tip to keep white reside from forming on the jars is to add a couple table spoons of vinegar to the canning water.
My canner suggests that you bring the water inside to a boil, then place the lid, and allow it to semi-pressurize before putting the pressure regulator on. Allowing the pre-seal to engage and letting the canner vent steam for 10 mins as directed in the manual is seen here:
Process at 11 to 14 lbs pressure (10 lbs will get you to 240 deg F) and process PINT jars for 75 minutes, QUART jars for 90. I did mine (pints) for 80. Do not quick cool the canner after the time is finished, just shut the heat off and allow the canner to cool on it's own. once the pressure vent and overpressure plug drop on their own, check for steam by tipping the regulator. DO NOT let the pressure gauge be your indication that pressure is gone. it will still read zero lbs and have a good degree of steam inside. My pressure canner typically takes about an hour to hit zero pressure.
Once the canner has cooled and pressure is gone, remove lid, and using a can lifter, remove jars to a clean towel and allow them to rest for 12-24 hours. You should hear the lids click within the first 10 minutes if done properly.
I found it interesting just how much liquid was in the cans after the cooking had completed. be careful not to tilt the cans until they are cool to the touch, this may prevent them from sealing. I also found it interesting that the liquid inside the jars would continue to boil for some time after removing from the canner.
You are on your own for recipes for the canned product. Some folks like to put some barbecue sauce into the jars before canning. I've heard that this is QUITE good. just be careful to NOT put any flour or gravy or any thickeners at all inside the cans. You can thicken after it comes out and you are preparing the canned meat.
As for how *I* use the canned meat - most frequently I just dump the can into a sauce pan, add some kind of gravy or thickener and serve over noodles or rice. another good one is to add some diced soup or stew veggies and make vegetable beef..er...deer soup or stew. I'm a sucker for a can of mushroom soup mixed in with a couple dallops of sour cream for some stroganoff served over noodles.
The canned meat is amazing in flavor and texture. IMO, it's the ONLY way to treat an old buck. yearling or 2 yr old does will go to the steak and jerky pile, but the old bucks are now going directly into cans.
Last note - the smell of spoiled meat might not be present when the product is cold. Be sure to heat the meat up prior to consumption just to be safe. Some folks also like to tell us that a pressure canner isn't necessary - that they've canned meat in with the water bath method for years - good for them. I won't do it. Botulism will kill you. PERIOD. It only takes once. I'm not big on Russian roulette.
Enjoy...this was easy enough that it is now a permanent part of my deer processing now that I have the pressure canner.
