Canning meat

[NH Homesteader]

Hey I'm going to revive this thread. I have a minimum of 4 and up to 9 chickens to butcher soon that I want to can. My mom has a pressure canner and I have the Ball book. Silly question- how many qt jars will I need? I have some but not many. I want to cook, shred and can in broth so it's an easy soup starter. What do I need to know?

 

[Beekissed]

Hey I'm going to revive this thread. I have a minimum of 4 and up to 9 chickens to butcher soon that I want to can. My mom has a pressure canner and I have the Ball book. Silly question- how many qt jars will I need? I have some but not many. I want to cook, shred and can in broth so it's an easy soup starter. What do I need to know?

Depends on how big your chickens are but you'll want to have on hand at least 3-7 jars, depending on if you do 4-9 birds, if you concentrate your broth and how much meat you wish to put in each jar.

For large, meaty chickens I allow one jar per bird and that's raw packing the meat, off the bone, when it's cut into bite size pieces and packing that jar tight. So, canning shredded and precooked chicken with broth in it, you can put as much in each jar as you wish but it will usually work out to a jar a bird when talking of large, dual purpose breed birds.

Smaller breeds/birds will likely only fill a pint when off the bone, but adding broth can help you fill a quart jar with a soup starter.

Here's a little short cut I like to use....it's an all natural broth base from Orrington Farms that has all the seasoning I'd use in broth anyway, but can get you there faster and you can concentrate it easily without cooking it down forever. I still cook down all my bones and organs just like one would do with making broth, but I skip adding the fresh ingredients of garlic, salt, parsley, onions, etc. as this seasoning has it all.

I used to get it at Walmart but they stopped selling it. Now I can find it at Rural King but here's a list of stores that usually carry it:

Food Fair
Foodland
IGA
Shop n Save

 

[NH Homesteader]

Oh great, I will have to look for that online. We don't have any of those stores locally.

We have some big NH's and Jerseys, and a couple smaller mixed breed birds, but they're younger so might not can them.

I see the chicken soup recipe in the Ball book- have you ever pre-made soup and canned that?

Thank you canning guru!

 

[Beekissed]

Oh great, I will have to look for that online. We don't have any of those stores locally.

We have some big NH's and Jerseys, and a couple smaller mixed breed birds, but they're younger so might not can them.

I see the chicken soup recipe in the Ball book- have you ever pre-made soup and canned that?

Thank you canning guru!

I've canned the premade chicken soup but didn't care for how mushy the ingredients were, so never did that again. Makes for a pretty jar, though. Nowadays I just can the chicken and the broth, then add fresh ingredients as I like them so that no pot of soup ever comes out the same, but all taste as fresh as I can make it.

One year I did all the broth ingredients and canned them along with the broth, but they came out on the other side kind of tasteless and mushy, so I didn't do that anymore. I'd rather add the onions, garlic, taters, carrots, celery, etc. fresh and still have some flavor and texture to them when the soup is done.

Some folks prefer the mushy chicken soup texture from canned chicken soup...my grandma really liked that texture and I guess most canned soup from the store has that texture too, so it's more what folks are used to, but I never did enjoy that taste/texture profile.

Unfortunately, the OF broth base is more expensive on Amazon than it is from the store, which is a shame. I can get it for under $3 at the store and each one goes a long way. I usually stock up(no pun intended)when I find it so I won't run out come canning season. I've also used the beef broth base when making deer stock, just a tad, as I don't want it to taste beefy but more like deer.

 

[lcertuche]

I love soup base although it cost about twice what Bee pays for it. A little bit goes a long way for a little more flavor. I'm thinking of making chicken and noodles this week for supper. I have some chicken canned but I want to use what I have in the freezer. I gotta clear some space in the freezer before gardens start producing. I'm hoping for some good deals. I like to cold pack boneless chicken best of all. It does have a soft texture but is good in Mexican casserole which DH and the Wildbunch love so much. Saves time boiling down chicken if I'm in a hurry. I'm thinking about canning some ham and white beans soup for the winter this week.

 

[NH Homesteader]

We looove ham and white bean soup around here!

 

[lcertuche]

6 and a half quarts in the canner.