ok im new to this canning thing!

[pauldingbabe]

i grew up with my grandmother canning her behind off all my life and i have the basics (and her ball canning book) of canning fruits and veggies. but my family NEVER canned meat! i keep on reading about all the wonderful things y'all are making with meat and canning them and im flaberghasted! my grandmother would not can meat, corn or potatoes because the corn took too long, the potatoes would be mush and well....she just didnt trust canning meat.

now she would make vegg soup starter, chilli starter, spagettii starter, stuff like that that you would just brown some meat and add whatever to make whatever and called that good. but in a shtf situation who is gonna have meat unless you go kill it yourself and have an ice house ya know?

so i would love to hear some of your fav. meat canning projects. what worked for you and what didnt and some links if y'all have a mind to!

thanks for all the advice in advance! btw have i mentioned how much i love reading this thread? y'all are the bee's knees as my grandmother would say!

thanks.

 

[cipher]

In my family, we can salmon, tuna if we can get it fresh (albacore), and I have canned ham chunks, beef chunks, deer and chicken.

It's pretty easy, but you must have a pressure cooker to do it. The fish we cut into chunks and stuff in the jars and the meats we cook then stuff, the chicken I stuff in whole pieces. You can fit a whole chicken into a quart jar, but the canning process makes the meat really an odd consistency, like the chicken in the little tuna cans, if you have tried those, and I have found that it makes really nice chicken sandwiches, so the next time I can chicken, it will be only in small half pint and pint jars.

Deer and Elk meat are GREAT canned. Heat up a jar of my dad's deer meat, boils some potatoes for mashed potatoes, and some green vegetable and you have a meal fit for a king.

If you want to get fancy, you can always can up some chicken soup, or split pea soup. There's nothing quite like bringing a quart jar of homemade chicken soup to a sick friend.

Anyway, that ought to get you started. Chicken might be the easiest to start with, but start with any meats that you have that are plentiful first.

Good luck!

 

[Gingergirl]

Well babe,

Get yourself a pressure canner and start on a whole new adventure. My family's favorites from the meat department are BBQ pork and beef stew. Ground beef anything has been a failure...but then I haven't ground it myself so it may be the store used extenders. I've also begun to can the canadian bacon that I cure at home. Boneless chicken has been useful for quick meals like soups or chicken a la king or burritos. This year I'm hoping to try beef and chicken hash.

This year I put a much larger supply of beef in the freezer, so not much room for the veggies. I have been pressure canning the corn (DD2's favorite canned) and snap beans (good even to snack on.) Don't bother if the corn or beans aren't young and tender. The canner will not improve them. They will be different from canned goods from the store, fresher tasting. I'm thinking of trying to test can some of the jalapenos and chard this year. The potatoes that I've had good results with are the Yukon gold. Others have been watery and flavorless. I like to dice the potatoes for canning and later use them for a quick soup, salad, or hash browns. I've also begun canning some of my almost endless supply of dried beans. Quicker to use this way for salad, soup, or burritos. (Seems I always forget to soak them the night before.)

I hope this gives you some ideas.

 

[Dinghy]

I can a lot of chicken. I mostly buy the leg quarters when they're on sale. It's a lot of work to de-bone them, but the chicken is so useful that it's worth the effort. I use it to make chicken and bisquits, chicken salad sandwhiches, Chicken Helper, noodle soup, chicken tacos, chicken and gravy, hot wing pizza and any other thing that pops into my head!! I have canned venison, beef, ham, ground turkey, and some chicken breasts. I've done chilli, venison stew, pepper steak, and all kinds of soups too. It's so nice to be able to open up a jar of something and have a quick supper. My sister's family loves the canned ham. She makes ham and cabbage soup with it. I've taken it camping and fried it to have with eggs.
The ground beef was the only thing that I wasn't real happy with. We didn't care for the taste. Maybe if I had added some beef broth it would have been better. It was still ok to use in Hamburger Helper though. I just added some worchestershire and that seemed to help.

We'll get you going with ideas, and you won't be able to stop once you start. It's really addicting!

 

[Anjou]

What kind of stuff can you safely can without a pressure canner? (Seen some things about water or oven methods, would have to go read up.) Is just knowing you have a vacuum seal good enough for non-meat things?

 

[Dinghy]

Only high acid foods like fruits and jams and pickles can be water bathed. Anything with meat or vegetables has to be pressure canned. Things were done a lot different years ago, and aren't considered safe today.

 

[fruit loop]

Be not fearful of canning meat

My mom would never can meat because she was afraid of it, but the folks on the old Y2K Board gave me advice and taught me everything I know.

Canning meat is a breeze and it's SOOOOO convenient.

I buy hamburger on sale, brown it, drain it, and can it. Usually around ten pounds at a time. I also can my homemade chili.

This is GREAT. When you get home from work tired, or of course, when the power goes out, you just open a can of your homemade chili and you've got dinner. Or open a pint of the browned hamburger and throw it in with some hamburger helper.

Get a pressure canner. I bought the el cheapo Presto brand from Wal-Mart and it works great. If you want a bigger one, try Lehman's Non-Electric. They cater to the Amish and Mennonite communities.

Pack the jars just like you do for jelly, pickles, etc. leaving about an inch for headspace. Process in the pressure canner. The jars will be EXTREMELY hot and the stuff will probably keep boiling inside them for a good half hour or so after you take them out.

The pressure cooker/canner is good for other things besides canning, of course.. you can make wondrous custard in it.

 

[Gingergirl]

Anjou,

Just a reminder on the vacumn seal: vacumn packing (like with a food saver) is not the same thing as canning. The heat and preserving action of sugar, salt, and vinegar are important in water bath canning. The proportions of these with the fruit or vegetables are important in food safety. So look for tested recipes.

I agree with fruit loop, a pressure canner is a good investment for meats and vegetables. The noise can be a bit unsettling till you get use to it, but the ability to create "convience foods" is a real benefit. Give it a try.

Good Luck

 

[blueberry]

I canned cases of all kinds meat for Y2K, and like Dinghy, the hamburger meat was the only one I was unhappy with. It needed major taste disguises - like tomato sauce with LOTS of garlic, and I still was not happy with it.

I still can turkey and chicken on a regular basis. When I get chicken really cheap, or even free turkeys around Thanksgiving time, I cook them, take all the meat off the bones and can it in the pressure canner. I have found that pint jars work best for me - the amount is just right for a casserole or chicken & dumplings, or... darn it, now I am getting hungry

A pressure canner is a lifetime investment. You will not regret it.