Pressure Canning Meat for the Beginner

Pressure Canning Meat for the Beginner

This past month, a relative decided to downsize his homestead. As a result, I was given some meat from an old dairy cow. The keyword here is old. You don’t get tender succulent steaks from an old cow. However, the meat is not worthless either. You just need to know how to cook it! Even the oldest, toughest dairy cow can produce the tastiest beef you ever ate. All you need is a pressure canner.

For winter meals, canned meat is hard to beat when added to home-canned tomatoes and vegetables. For me, pressure canned meat brings back wonderful memories of Grandma’s house with her fall-apart-tender home-canned meat. I can’t count the times that as a kid I looked forward to shoveling my grandparents drive. Solely because I knew Grandma was sure to have a large pot of beef or venison vegetable soup simmering on the back of the wood stove! As a mom, I love having it on hand for when I have limited time to throw a hearty meal together. Plus it comes in handy in emergencies and power outages.

For this week’s blog, I thought I would show you the process I use when canning meat. As with anything, I encourage you to do your own added research. Canning with a pressure canner can have dangers and as with any canning process you want to make sure to do it properly to ensure a safe food product. However, don’t be intimidated. The process of pressure canning is actually very simple although it may seem overwhelming at first. Because low-acid foods (which includes many vegetable and all meats) must be pressure canned, this skill can greatly help you in expanding your panty and making your garden last well in to the winter or even longer.

The reason low acid food such as meat and veggies must be pressure canned is they are an inviting environment for the growth of bacteria. The pressure canning process works by raising the heat high enough to kill off any bad bacteria, then creates a vacuum seal to ensure nothing can enter the
jars.

A water bath canner cannot achieve a high enough temperature to kill off the bacteria to make a safe food product with low acid foods. At sea level water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, which is not hot enough to kill off all the organisms that cause food to spoil. Once boiling, water evaporates rather than rises in temperature. If you live above sea level, the elevation lowers the boiling point further, resulting in even less bacteria killed. Since a presser canner is a sealed unit, it allows the steam pressure to build to a set point, typically 10lbs in most recipes. This increases the ambient boiling temperature of the water to 240 degrees Fahrenheit at sea level (if set at 10lbs), instead of the former 212 degrees Fahrenheit. This rise in the temperature causes all the bacteria, yeast and molds to be killed off, thus insuring a safe, preserved and sterilized food product.

On the other hand, with high acid foods such as tomatoes (especially with recipes that add lemon juice or vinegar) this is not an issue. Water bath canners work well because the environment is already not as favorable for the bacteria. Without any microscopic nasties to reproduce and cause the food to spoil, it keeps for an extended time. Most canned meat is said to have a shelf life of about a year, the same as meat in your freezer, but in my experience I have found that to be a conservative figure.

Lots of people recommend browning the meat first and hot packing it in jars with the broth. They argue this gives a better flavor and product. I find it does not made enough difference to justify all the extra steps and clean up needed. I choose to raw pack my meat and let it make its own juice, as this variation is only a “taste and preference” thing and not a food safety issue.

You will need:

• Boneless Meat: Beef, Venison, Pork, Chicken, etc. (If canning venison make sure to remove all fat, otherwise it will affect the taste of the finished product.)
  
• Canning Jars (DO NOT try using alternative jars such as spaghetti sauce or jelly jars!)
  
• Canning Lids (new) and Rings
  
• Pressure Canner (DO NOT use a water bath canner)
  
• Kosher/Canning Salt (optional, but highly recommended for best flavor. Do not use salt with additional additives, like standard table salt with iodine)

Be sure to use clean non-damaged jars. While sterilizing the jars is not required with pressure canning, always inspect your jars for hairline cracks and chips. There is nothing more disheartening than doing lots of work only to have a jar break during processing from a missed hairline crack.

You can pressure can in either quarts or pints. Two-quart jars are not considered safe to use for pressure canning by the FDA. They cite a lack of research and concerns with the changes in the density causing the processing to have more room for failure.

Follow the directions on your lids, some call for being preheated in a warm water bath to soften the rubber and create a better seal. Prep and inspect your jars, lids and rings and set aside.

I start by trimming all the excess fat off of my meat and cutting it into stew meat size chunks. Don’t worry about removing every bit of the tough silver on the meat; this is where pressure canning works miracles.

Then simply pack your clean jars with meat chunks, leaving about 1 inch of headspace on top.

Use a silicone spatula or handle of a wood spoon to help remove any air pockets in your jar. The meat will cook down and you want full jars.

Add in your salt. I use 1 teaspoon of salt per quart of meat.

When raw packing meat you do not add any liquid as the meat will form its own liquid during the cooking process.

Wipe off tops of jars to ensure a nice clean sealing surface.

Add your lids and rings making sure to not over-tighten your rings. You want to have them snug enough that you don’t lose your liquid, but not so tight that the air cannot escape. Tighten by hand as you would an olive jar lid when putting it back in the fridge for your grandmother; don’t torque it down like trying to keep your college roomie from eating your stuff! I find using the “finger tight” method does this best. (Use your fingers to screw on the band until it is snug, not your whole hand.)

It’s time to get your canner going. For those wondering, my canner is an All American canner made in Wisconsin.

I LOVE their canners and highly recommend them if you are in the market for a pressure canner. (I am not connected to the All American company in any way. I am just a happy customer!)

Pictured here is weight and bottom rack.

Fill your canner with 3 inches of water and add your bottom rack. I find a wooden spoon handle helps in checking the depth of the water.

Place your jars inside.

As you add the jars the water level will rise. The final depth of the water does not matter, as long as you started with around 3 inches.

Always check your vent hole to make sure it is clear before sealing the lid.

This only takes 2 seconds and is an important safety step. If clogged, instead of venting it will build pressure that will not release and will cause the canner to blow up. This is the source of all your canner horror stories. (And yes, my grandma did have this happen to her!) But as long as you have a clear vent so your pressure and steam release as they should during your cooking process–don’t stress! If in the very, very rare case of this happening, just turn off the heat and leave alone until the canner cools and pressure goes back down to a safe level. Modern canners also have an over-pressure safety plug that will blow so steam can be released making them much safer than grandma’s canner.

Seal the lid according to your canners instructions. (With All American canners you must oil the rim as part of this process because they are gasket-less. I like this feature because there are fewer parts to potentially fail and need to be replaced.)

Turn on the heat and bring your canner up to a full boil. You can tell when it is at a full boil because it will start to vent.  This is when steam comes out the vent hole reminiscent of an old steam
locomotive. (Remember—the hole in the lid you checked earlier.)  Allow your canner to vent for a full 10 minutes. This allows all the air to escape from the canner properly.
Then place on your canner weight to the proper poundage for your altitude.

In my case this is 10lbs of pressure. If your altitude is 0- 2,000 feet above sea level you will be setting your canner at 10lbs of pressure. If you are located between 2,000- 3,000 feet above sea level then you will set it at 15lbs of pressure no matter the recipe and change process time to 50 minutes. You will need to adjust your stove according to your canner instructions to maintain the correct pressure and temperature. With my canner I aim to have the weight jiggle around every 12-15 seconds while the gauge reads 10lbs of pressure.

If your weight is going crazy your heat is too high and you will be losing too much water from the escaping steam. If not moving enough the pressure will be too low to can the food properly and safety. Another plus I love with my All American canner is the double gauge system for added accuracy as it takes out some of the guesswork and stress.

Once your desired pressure is reached set your timer for 1 hour and 15 minutes if doing pints or 1 hour 30 minutes for quarts. If you have a double decker canner like mine and have a second layer of pints on top and quarts on the bottom always go with the longer processing time. Now it’s mostly up to the canner do its thing. Just check on the gauge and adjust the temperature as needed. You will find after a few uses you will learn your stove and canner’s sweet spot and this gets simpler. After the time for processing is finished turn off the heat and let your canner cool till the pressure drops to zero. DO NOT remove, or mess with the weight until the gauge reads zero! Also DO NOT try to open it before this point. Doing so can be very dangerous. Always follow your canners instructions on properly venting all the pressure and steam before opening. Not doing so can result in serious injury. If you open the canner before it has a chance to cool properly you will lose liquid out of your jars as well, so I recommend letting it cool.

Once it is safe to open your canner and it is no longer under pressure or hot, remove your jars and let them completely cool.

You will hear a popping sound as they cool indicating that a vacuum has formed and sucked the lid down. Once sealed the lid should not spring up and down in the center when pressed lightly. If only doing one batch and using a large canner that takes awhile to cool, you can leave your jars to cool in the canner overnight. (I don’t recommend this with vegetables though.) My canner is very slow to cool, and tends to still be warm by morning. If left in the canner you will not hear the popping. Just make sure the lids are sealed and the center is not springy. If you find a jar that did not seal right, put it in the fridge and enjoy it for supper. It is normal for the rings to be loose after processing. Once cool you can remove the rings or leave them on based on your personal preference. You should always check your jar seals a second time about 24 hours later and before moving the jars to storage. This lets you catch any weakly sealed jars that you might have missed earlier. Label and date your jars then store in a cool dry place till you are ready to use them. It is a good habit to always inspect the seal on your jars before using to ensure a safe product. There should be NO leakage, foam, bubbles or discoloration. (With one exception: any meat sticking out of the liquid at the top of the jar may have a slightly discolored appearance.) Before opening make sure the lid is still sealed with no bounce. The lid should not pop off with just your fingers, but need the prying power of a bottle opener. The meat should not have a bad odor. Although stressful when I first learned this skill, by my third time using a pressure canner it had become old hat. So don’t give up or be afraid to give it a whirl, you will find it well worth the effort. I really enjoy this canning method!

Enjoy and happy canning, the Homesteading Hen