Yes, You Can Easily Can Meat

Joi · May 29, 2009 at 8:16 pm

Thanks so much for your post! I’ve been tinkering with the idea of canning meat, but didn’t know if it would taste good/be 100% safe. You’ve now given me the confidence to jump in and do it! Thanks again!

JOY · May 30, 2009 at 12:54 am

Love my pressure canner! And I love your blog! I have a food storage friday on omy blog! I find I get a ton done if I consentrate on it one day a week! Thanks for the ideas!

Michael · May 30, 2009 at 1:40 am

My wife used the wide mouth jars, and made hamburger patties the same diameter as the opening. She put about 4 in a pint jar. She grilled them a little first then canned them like regular canned beef. Now we open the jar, and throw them on the grill for a few minutes. Quick and easy hamburgers and you don’t have to defrost them first!!

She also did some veggies this way to make chicken pie. The veggies are layered by type, and look cool while they sit on our shelves. Yes, I know my wife is awesome!!

Michael · May 30, 2009 at 1:41 am

Oh yeah! One more tip: My wife does cook the chicken in chicken broth and the beef in beef or vegetable broth. Also throwing in a chicken wing will help bring out the flavor of the canned chicken with the dark meat added.

Kris · May 30, 2009 at 11:46 am

This week I bought over 80 cans of chicken breast. Gourmetmamma had a post about a deal at Krogers. I got the hormel 5 oz cans for $.43 which equates to $1.40 a pound. The cheapest I find boneless chicken is $1.69 / pound, so I’m very pleased with this buy. I’ve never cooked with canned meat, so this is an adventure:)

Emily · May 30, 2009 at 8:48 pm

I’m sort of a slow study in the world of canning, but only because I’ve never done it, other than tomatoes in a water bath — and that I did only once. We purchased a large pressure canner and jars, etc. recently, but I’ve been putting off using it for some reason (OK, it scares me). This site is really motivating me, though, with all the great ideas and the testimonies of successful and safe canning.

I love this site and check it almost daily. It is so nice to know there are others out there who take this emergency preparedness seriously.

kelsomom · May 30, 2009 at 11:06 pm

Not quite sure how to ‘credit you’ but I did use your article today to get off my butt and finally can meat. It was SO easy, now I’m hooked! If I’m supposed to do something else, just let me know. Oh yeah, thanks for the push 🙂

Kellene · May 31, 2009 at 12:02 am

That’s SO wonderful to hear! That made my day!

Linda · June 1, 2009 at 1:08 am

For good meat deals for canning, be sure to check Sam’s or Cosco. They sell meat by the case at a really good deal. I really love the chicken, beef and pork that we’ve canned so far. Thank you for your site, I’ve really enjoyed it.
I also have done turkeys when they are cheap around Thanksgiving. You have to pressure the bird whole for an hour and then the bones slip off and you can use the meat and broth to process the meat.

amber · June 8, 2009 at 10:46 pm

Greetings from your newest fan 😉

Question about storage of canned meat. I live in S. Texas where it is incredibly hot during the summer. I don’t run the a/c during the day to keep the costs down so my house gets really hot (in the 80’s to mid-90’s in the middle of summer) so I can imagine that is hard on some canned goods. HOWEVER…I just discovered a crawl space UNDER my house that is accessible ONLY through a closet. I checked the temp and even when it was 86 in the house it was only about 77 under that space. I thought this would be a GREAT place to store food — both from a temp standpoint as well as thieves. My question is whether or not 77 (or even possible if it got up to 80 down there) degrees would be cool enough?

Thanks!

Thanks!

Kisha · June 25, 2009 at 2:25 pm

Hi!!
I love this site!!

I am a single mom of a two year old daughter and a four year old son. My son was diagnosed with autism last year. After running tests, his doc found that he is loaded with lead, mercury, and aluminum. I am now trying to buy organic where I can. Canning fresh foods without chemicals is the way I want to go for my family.

Not only am I looking for healthier alternatives, I am trying to save money where I can. I am currently trying to go back to doing things the old fashioned way (where possible). I line-dry my clothes to stop using my dryer. I hand-wash my dishes and only use my dishwasher as a drying rack. I recently lost my job because the daycare my son was attending terminated care stating that my son needs a personal assistant. I couldn’t afford one, and the only family members I would trust to keep my son all have jobs. My son is nonverbal and I have to be careful who he is with due to the fact that he cannont tell me if someone hurt him or touched him wrong. Saving money where possible is a MUST.

I had no idea that meat could be canned. I don’t have a pressure canner, but I plan to have one by August. That would be a great investment. I am totally new to canning. I’ve seen my grandmother can veggies and her homemade slaw, but I was just a child and I have no idea how she did it. I would like to can veggies, fruits too. Is it easy to do?

(sorry for such a long reply)

Kellene · June 25, 2009 at 4:28 pm

Kisha, welcome to our site. Sounds like you’re living through a crisis pretty much everyday. Good for you for rethinking how you do things in your life.
the good news is that canning really is easy. I believe that you should have no trouble finding a good canner for cheap on e-bay, your local classifieds, craigslist or at local “salvation army” type of store. It doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg. AND if you’ll use coupons like I highly recommend, you’ll be able to afford a whole lot more! Take care!

Connie · June 27, 2009 at 5:33 am

Do you have any suggestions on how to do ground pork sausage? We bought a whole hog and I would love to free up space in my freezer. I would think doing it precooked, drained then pressure cooked, like hamburger, but should the grease be something to worry about?

Kellene · June 27, 2009 at 4:54 pm

I would do it the exact same way that you do hamburger. Cook it up. Then run it under cold water. And then put it in the pint jars with just about a cup of water. Then pressure can it.

todd · July 17, 2009 at 12:27 am

I’m wondering why you say to not use a pressure cooker. I guess my real question is what is the difference? I have a pressure cooker that holds 3 quart jars. I think it was also called a pressure canner. So what is the difference?

Kellene · July 17, 2009 at 12:51 am

the difference is the ability of the tool to maintain sufficient pressure. There are some “cookers” that you can can in. Make sure that they can adequately maintain 10 -15 pounds of pressure if you’re going to can in them.

Crissala · July 28, 2009 at 12:54 am

Hello Kellene, I so agree I love to can meat, mostly beef. I remember my grandmother talking about meat ration cards and they had to have their own chickens to fill in. But I have a question for ya, I have not tried Salmon yet. How do you can fish so it does not turn to powder, and bacon I never thought of it. Thanks for posting this. I really hope that more people will try canning it is so easy.

Kellene · July 28, 2009 at 2:05 am

Crissala, I haven’t done much dehydrating primarily because about 90% of the nutrition is lost. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing. It’s just not my personal preference. Just curious- Wouldn’t the deydrator heat up your home less than the oven?

Kellene · July 28, 2009 at 2:07 am

You can can the salmon the same way you do the meat–raw. The only thing I haven’t really enjoyed the taste of is any kind of shellfish. But the salmon turned out GREAT.
The bacon I just roll into circles and stack them up in the jar. They are GREAT.

Crissala · July 28, 2009 at 8:18 am

Yes, it would but I can do 5 lbs in a little over 2 hours and it is much longer in the dehydrator. And my oven is a small “in the wall” kind, if I had a larger oven I could probably do all 10 lbs at once. There are other factors like metal pans verses plastic treys and humidity levels.
On the nutrition aspect, a dehydrator does not expose food to high temps. Meat would be the highest at around 150 degrees. So you would not lose any more nutrients than pressure canning at 240 degrees I would think.
But now that you’ve mentioned it I will look for a study for the quality of food nutrition for both forms of food preservation because it would be a factor in how much I do of one or the other.

Crissala · July 28, 2009 at 8:19 am

Thank you I can’t wait to try them both.

Kellene · August 28, 2009 at 4:36 pm

Heck yeah! My Nana used to always tell me that it doesn’t matter how it tastes if it doesn’t look good. 🙂

pnjnva · October 6, 2009 at 3:34 am

Kellene-

I think I made a newbie mistake and would like your suggestion. I bought a canner for my birthday and excitedly followed the enclosed instructions to can my first bits of meat. On my first attempt, most of the liquid boiled out and my dh called a friend’s mom who suggested that I canned it for too long and that I should shorten the canning time. I listened and pressure canned the remaining precooked meat for about 20 minutes each.

I’ve started reading articles and they ALL say meat should be cooked for 75/90 minutes based on pint or quart, and now I’m concerned about bacteria. Do I need to throw all the meat I have canned out? I don’t suppose I can “re-can” it? Any suggestions you have would be appreciated.

Kellene · October 6, 2009 at 3:10 pm

I would recommend just cooking it normally and then freezing it. Yes, you do need to can your meat for 75 to 90 minutes depending on your altitude.
Yes, you need about 4 inches of water in the bottom of the canner.
I would say you could re-can it if you are meaning that you ran out of water in your canner. If you ran out of water in your bottles, then just cook it and freeze it and try again. If you stored the bottles in the fridge while you waited for a solution, then you should be fine re-canning them.

Willa · October 8, 2009 at 6:40 pm

can your bottle frozen meat? or do you need to thaw first. My husband can get frozen chicken breast at 60 cents a pound but it’s frozen. I want to do about 200 pounds and I have to order it all at the same time. thanks

Kellene · October 8, 2009 at 8:15 pm

I would definitely thaw it first. The reason being it with the meat being that cold of a temperature, it will take a LONG time to bring your pressure canner up to appropriate heat. And then when it does get to the proper temp. it will keep dropping as more of the frozen meat is exposed. So just thaw it first and then can it. I’m sure you can thaw it in segments, no?

patty · October 12, 2009 at 8:01 pm

Im so glad to have found this site.I’ve been wanting to can but I’m a city girl and no nothing about it. I wanted to buy mason jars but people keep telling me i cant can stews or meat.My question is can i cook the whole meal with seasonings like beef stews,homemade chicken soups,ect. also can i can cold produts such as bulk cheese or sliced or can any cheese be stored.I dont want to do them separet unless i have to.please be right to the point with my questions to much talk I’ll get confused. Im still learing.will the food taste the sameafter opening the jar. how long can you store these products for, crockpot food is important to no.thank.

Kellene · October 12, 2009 at 9:03 pm

when I can the meat, I don’t season it so that I can use it for whatever dish I want, such as chicken soup, stews, etc. I haven’t tried or even researched the canning of cheeses. Check my cheese wax articles for storing those.
The canned meat is tender and yummy right out of the jar!
Shelf life is 3 to 5 years depending on how cool, dry, and dark you store them.

barb · October 12, 2009 at 11:12 pm

Bless your heart, and your son. Look for the Ball on-line instruction site. Most agricultural universities have great sites on home canning. Real easy to follow instructions and suggestions.
Be sure to check Social Security for assistance with the costs of a challenged child.

barb · October 12, 2009 at 11:17 pm

Start by making sure you fill any fluid or broth in the bottle is only about half full. Bring the heat up on the caner a little more gradually, and let it cool naturally. Don’t hurry it. Let the bottles sit in the caner after it is opened for about a half hour. Most of that fluid loss (siphoning) happens from too quick of cool-down.

Kellene · October 13, 2009 at 2:30 am

Actually, I don’t put any liquid in the jars themselves except for ground beef.

Preparedness Pro - Kellene Bishop · February 12, 2012 at 11:03 pm

You can’t use “a pot instead of a pressure cooker” to can meats. They need much more than a water bath to be safe. There are great recipe books out there for various canning recipes like you’ve described.

I don’t put broth in with my meat because the canning process makes a great broth on it’s own when I add water to the meat in the jar. YUM!