Canning Meats at Home

Canning Meats at Home

Meat, poultry and fish are low acid foods. They must be processed in a pressure canner to assure safety. Use the processing time and pressure (PSI) that is specified for each type of game.

General tips
1. Can only good quality meat, poultry, or game.
2. Chill home produced meat at 40°F or below soon after slaughter to prevent spoilage.
3. Keep all meat clean and sanitary. Rinse poultry thoroughly in cold water, then drain.
4. If meat must be held for longer than a few days, freeze it for maximum quality retention, store frozen meat at 0oF or lower until canning time.
5. Thaw frozen meat in a refrigerator at 40°F or lower until most of the ice crystals have disappeared. This may take several days for large cuts of meat.
6. Trim gristle, bruised spots, and fat off meat before canning. Excessive fat left on the meat will melt and rise to the top during processing. If the fat comes in contact with the sealing edge of the lid, the jar may not seal.

MEAT, STRIPS, CUBES, OR CHUNKS (Bear, Beef, Lamb, Pork, Veal, Venison)
Procedure: Choose quality, chilled meat. Remove excess fat. Soak strong-flavored game for 1 hour in brine water containing 1 tablespoon of salt per quart and rinse. Remove large bones. Cut into 1 inch wide strips, cubes or chunks.

Hot Pack: Precook meat until rare by roasting, stewing, or browning in a small amount of fat. Add 1 teaspoon 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 1 teaspoon of salt per quart to the jar, if desired. Fill jars with raw meat pieces, leaving 1 inch headspace. Do not add liquid. Adjust lids and process.Recommended Processes (Hot and Raw Pack)1) Dial-gauge Pressure CannerPints—75 minutes 11 PSI Quarts—90 minutes 11 PSI2) Weighted-gauge Pressure CannerPints—75 minutes 15 PSI Quarts—90 minutes 15 PSI

POULTRY (Chicken, Duck, Goose, Turkey, or Game Birds)
Procedure: Choose freshly killed and dressed, healthy animals. Strong flavored game birds, especially water fowl, may be soaked for 1 hour in brine made of 1 tablespoon salt to 1 quart of water. Rinse. If game birds are soaked, omit the salt when filling the jars. Dressed chicken should be chilled for 6 to 12 hours before canning. Remove excess fat. Cut the poultry into suitable sizes for canning. Can with or without bones.

Hot Pack: Boil, steam, or bake meat until about two-thirds done. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt per pint or 1 teaspoon salt per quart to the jar, if desired. Fill hot jars with pieces and hot broth, leaving 1-1/4 inch headspace.

Raw Pack: Add 1/2 teaspoon salt per pint or 1 teaspoon salt per quart, if desired. Fill jars loosely with raw meat pieces, leaving 1-1/4 inch headspace. Do not add liquid. Adjust lids and process.Recommended Processes (Hot and Raw Pack)1) Dial-gauge Pressure Canner

Pints
Quarts
Without Bones
75 minutes 11 PSI
90 minutes 11 PSI
With Bones
65 minutes 11 PSI
75 minutes 11 PSI
2) Weighted-gauge Pressure Canner


FISH (Blue, mackerel, salmon, steelhead, trout, and other fatty fish except tuna)
Clean and gut fish within 2 hours after catching. Keep cleaned fish on ice until ready to can.Note: Glass-like crystals of magnesium ammonium phosphate sometimes form in canned salmon. There is no way for the home canner to prevent these crystals from forming, but they usually dissolve when heated and are safe to eat.Procedure: Remove head, tail, fins and scales. Wash and remove all blood. Split fish lengthwise, if desired. Cut cleaned fish into 3-1/2 inch lengths. Fill pint jars, skin side next to glass, leaving 1 inch headspace. Add 1 teaspoon of salt per pint, if desired. Do not add liquids. Adjust lids and process.Recommended Processes1) Dial-gauge Pressure CannerPints—100 minutes 11 PSI2) Weighted-gauge Pressure CannerPints—100 minutes 15 PSI