Pressure Canning Meat at Home
PRESSURE CANNING MEAT at HOME
Venison and bear may be canned according to directions for canning beef, pork, and mutton, states the USDA Canning Guide. The following are standard guidelines recommended for successfully canning your own meat.
The flavor and texture of the final meat product depends on how the meat is handled following slaughter. Use only meat from healthy, disease-free animals. The meat should be chilled without delay to 40 degrees Fahrenheit (F) or lower to prevent spoilage. To hold longer than a few days, freeze at 0 degrees F or lower until canning time. Handle meat rapidly and keep everything that touches the meat clean. De-bone red meats. Trim off all gristle, bruised spots, and excess fat before canning. Any fat left on the meat may affect sealing. Remove all fat from venison as it has a strong flavor. Meat is a low-acid food and must be processed in a pressure canner for safety. Meat can be packed either raw or cooked. Pack meat loosely into clean canning jars. Keep precooked meat hot while packing and cover with boiling liquid. Salt adds flavor, but is not necessary for preservation. When ready to serve, boil canned meat and poultry 10 minutes before you taste it, even if it looks and smells all right.
STRIPS, CUBES OR CHUNKS OF MEAT
PROCEDURE: Choose quality-chilled meat. Remove excess fat. Soak strong-flavored wild meats for 1 hour in brine water containing 1 tablespoon of salt per quart. Rinse. Remove large bones.
Hot pack – Precook meat until rare by roasting, stewing or browning in a small amount of fat. Add 1-2 teaspoons of salt per quart to the jar, if desired. Fill jars with pieces and add boiling broth, meat drippings, water, or tomato juice (especially with wild game), leaving 1-inch headspace.
Raw pack – Add to the jar 1-2 teaspoons of salt per quart, if desired. Fill jars with raw meat pieces, leaving 1-inch headspace. Do not add liquid. Adjust lids and process.
Recommended process time for STRIPS, CUBES, OR CHUNKS OF MEAT in a dial-gauge pressure canner: At Juab County altitude, process pints for 75 minutes or quarts for 90 minutes at 13 pounds pressure (dial gauge) or 15 pounds pressure (weighted gauge).
GROUND OR CHOPPED MEAT
Choose fresh, high-quality, chilled meat. Avoid flavoring sausage with sage; canning may cause a bitter, off flavor. If desired, add 1 part high-quality pork fat to 3 or 4 parts venison before grinding. Shape chopped meat into patties or balls or cut cased sausage into 3- to 4-inch links. Cook until lightly browned. Ground meat may be sautéed without shaping. Remove excess fat and fill jars. Add boiling meat broth, tomato juice, or water, leaving 1-inch headspace. If desired, add 2 teaspoons of salt per quart. Adjust lids and process. At Juab County altitude, process pints for 75 minutes or quarts for 90 minutes at 13 pounds pressure (dial gauge) or 15 pounds pressure (weighted gauge).
MAKING YOUR OWN STOCK
Red Meat: Saw or crack freshly trimmed beef bones to help draw out flavor. Rinse bones, cover with water, cover pot, and simmer 3 to 4 hours. Remove meat from bones. Chill broth, skim off fat and return meat to broth. Reheat broth and meat to boiling. Fill jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process. At Juab County altitude, process pints for 20 minutes or quarts for 25 minutes at 13 pounds pressure (dial gauge) or 15 pounds pressure (weighted gauge).
HELPFUL HINTS WHEN CANNING MEAT
Raw pack – is faster, with no added liquid, but when finished processing, the jars are only ¼ to ½ filled with liquid, the upper half of meat is not covered with liquid, the meat shrinks and there is air space above meat which makes the exposed meat go darker faster.
Hot pack – takes longer, but you can fit more meat into the jar as it has already gone through the shrinkage process during cooking. Meat is completely covered with broth, is a better quality. You have to make sure and add the boiling liquid to jars immediately prior to processing as the prescribed time is dependent upon this initial boiling temperature.
FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS EXACTLY!!! If it says cut meat in 1” cubes, then do it. Don’t deviate, because the heat penetration is based upon the 1” cube size and if you use larger chunks, you make not have a completely processed product.
MAKE SURE TO PROCESS USING ALTITUDE ADJUSTMENT FOR YOUR AREA. At Juab County altitude, DO NOT GO BELOW 13 lbs. pressure or you have to start timing all over again. You have to maintain 240 degrees inside the canner for the entire time limit to prevent harmful bacteria from growing.
Liquid siphons out because of: too much liquid added, not enough headspace, or too much variation in temperature – cool down too fast or pressure is up and down too much. To avoid this problem, when you are processing and get to about 8 lbs. pressure, then turn burner down from high to medium and by the time it gets to 13 or 14 lbs. it stays there better, and is easier to keep constant. (Practice with your own burner and pressure canner with water only.) Old pressure canners retain heat more evenly. New canners have to be tended more during processing time to keep a constant pressure.
When finished processing and pressure is gone, remove jars from canner and place on cooling racks. When jars have sealed and are cooled, remove rings (prevents rusty rings) and store in cool, dark place (back in jar box is best). Never leave processed jars in pressure canner overnight!!! ‘Flat Sour’ occurs and ruins the taste of the food, and also the pressure canner lid can lock so you can’t get it open.
Meat products with less fat have a longer shelf life, but 9 months to 1 year is the maximum. When you open jars, watch for signs of spoilage: bulging lids, spurting, bad odor (but realize that botulism doesn’t have an odor). As an extra safety precaution, you can boil meat for 10 to 15 minutes before you use it. For the latest fact sheet on preserving venison, visit http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/FN_Harvest_2009-01pr.pdf
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