Canning meat

[sumi]

@Beekissed I was hoping you'd chime in, I remember you posting about canning meat before. Thank you for the info!

@frustratedearthmother thanks for the links!

@Hinotori I haven't thought of canning fish… You're giving me ideas now.

 

[Hinotori]

You will never go back to store bought tuna after canning it yourself. I ruined my parents as well. Mom complained about the mush in cans so I took her some I did up.

I use the 10 oz oyster jars. cheap to get around here and enough fish for meals

 

[waretrop]

sumi, I am sort of new here and really don't know you. So tell us if you water bath can things and if you have ever pressure canned anything. When you say from start to finish could mean a large amount to teach. All the above comments give you great advice if you have canned "something" before.

 

[sumi]

@waretrop I've done neither before. I am fairly new to canning and completely new to the concept of canning meat, which interests me, so I'm asking on behalf of myself and whoever is reading this forum, for info, tips, tutorials etc. I'd like to give this a go sometime. Freezer space is limited here too and this sounds like a wonderful alternative to preserve meat and listening to the "reviews" from the canning members, a yummy way too!

 

[waretrop]

You need to begin with reading the Ball book from front to back. Keep in mind when you are reading how you get temperatures to be high enough to kill off certain bacteria and other bad things in certain foods. Also pay attention and learn what foods are low acid and hi acid.

You can get the same info on line but if you know nothing you don't know if what you are reading, is correct. A company like Ball must teach you correctly and must teach you all the rules about foods and safety.

Once you have learned the very basic stuff, if you see a recipe on line you will know if it is safe or not.

It is very easy to can meat. You just have to do it correctly. Learn the basics first and all the other pieces will fall into place for you.

I guess what I am trying to say is, you are talking about 2 different subjects. How to can and why, and how to can meats.....it must be learned in that order....

So hear it is. You can raw pack chicken of all kinds. With or without skin and bone, you can add flavors, you can do it with or without liquids.

It may not look pretty but it is a nice thing to have on the pantry shelf along with what you have in the freezer. It is great for a quick meal as well as a very special but easy meal.

 

[lcertuche]

Guidelines are everywhere including the web. Make sure there are no nicks in the jars. I feel like you can raw pack meat chunks tighter than cooked but the only meat I have canned was cubes of venison. I raw packed it poured boiling water with a 1/2 tsp. salt per pint jar. I only used this for gravy in the morning on biscuits because I had a lot in the freezer for other purposes. If I had know how much we loved it I would have tried canning most or all of it. It would have made great hash, soups, stews, chili or with sour cream stirred into it and served over noodles to name a few things.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Wow you're doing the impossible here... Making me lose interest in your beautiful country!

Seriously I'm curious what you find out. We would never live where we couldn't butcher our own meat at home.

 

[sumi]

NH Homesteader, I will let you all know what I find out here. I discussed this some with friends who live down in Cork, but it was more than a year ago and I forgot much of the conversation now, except that they warned me there are LOTS of regulations. But it's for safety. Not to be difficult, the EU is careful with food, diseases etc and Ireland is very careful with safety on farms. The dead animal etc disposal I believe is they don't want people to bury animals as a lot of houses and farms are reliant on well water and they want to keep the water clean for human consumption. With the amount of rain we get here, it's understandable that they don't want yucky things potentially polluting it, as it seeps through the ground.

Beekissed, there are people out there who believe cows get killed for their milk too…

A few years ago we raised a chick after it's mom abandoned it. We took the little thing everywhere with us and I mean everywhere. We bumped into a few (adult) people who really should've known better, who cooed over him as a chick and asked me "What kind of birdy is this?" Seriously?!? When I told them it's a CHICKEN, I could almost see their heads spinning. City people are so far removed from their food nowadays, it's unreal?

 

[Beekissed]

Me too. It's just basic survival and natural independence to not want to depend on the store for our meat proteins. I can't imagine trusting other people to raise, kill and process meat for me. I'm not a huge meat eater, but when I do eat it, I like it to be good for me and of good quality.

 

[waretrop]

Well, When I canned these things, I used to throw the water out, then I got to thinking that there are good vitamins and flavors. When you can mushrooms, you blanch them throw out the water, that is not good stuff, and boil them in new water for a hot pack. If there is any water left over, that is what I can. Also When I can whole tomatoes or even sauce, I syphon off all the liquid as it settles and can it. When I need any water to make rice, noodles or a roast or anything I use one of the liquids that match what I am making. I also have tons of broth and use that for rice water if I have chicken with it.

When I can pineapple, just in water, it's sweet enough, once you cut the outside away you heat the slices up in water along with the core....So if I have any of that liquid leftover from canning I put that up too. It is the sweetest pineapple juice and all natural..Most people throw that out.