ok, I disagree with much of what was posted above. Fat/sinew cook out of the meat when you can and make a waxy type ring on the top that can be easily picked out. I've canned tenderloin, backstrap and roasts along with lower leg shanks full of silverskin and sinew and can't tell the difference it all comes out delicious.
here's how I do it, I do on average 60-80 jars a year (210 is my personal best) for the last 6 years or so. pints and quarts. ALWAYS USE WIDE MOUTH or you end up with a "ship in a bottle" when it comes to removing it, you can get it out, but its a royal PITA.
if you have an electric coil or gas stove you're good. if it's a glass top it won't work.
I use a Cabela's brand camp stove and have diffuser plates for it so the flame doesn't go directly onto the canner, this will ruin it otherwise.
start with putting about 2-3" of water in the bottom of your canner, some may say this is too much, BUT you definitely do not want to run it dry or it will be ruined and could fail.
I start by washing the jars with soap and hot water. I preheat them using a crockpot, mine holds about 2-3 jars and every time I take one out, I replace it with a new one to preheat. heat lids in a small pot or pan on the stove, use the magnet style grabber to take them out one at a time, don't boil them, just have em hot.
I drop in one beef bullion cube into the jar (or a little salt if desired) and pack with meat until it's just about touching the thick ring on the jar neck below the threads. If you forget a bullion cube or salt it's fine, they aren't required but I like them to help preserve and flavor the meat a little bit. Put a lid and a ring on it, and tighten just enough until you feel resistance, not snug tight. place in canner (on top of a boiling plate) that should already be preheating on the heat source. repeat with each jar until the canner is maxed out, if you do two levels of jars make sure there is a plate separating them if you can, not critical but it is good to have.
place the lid on the canner and lock it into place, turn up the heat to about 3/4 of max, personally I don't like to put it on high but I have in the interest of time, I've found it boils water out faster without coming up to temp yet. DO NOT PUT THE WEIGHT ON IT YET
Once you have a steady stream of water vapor coming out of the vent, start a timer for 10 minutes as the stream is steadily going. after 10 minutes put the weight on the vent and the canner should lock almost immediately. watch the gauge, the pressure should start to increase slowly after a couple minutes. Double check the recommended lbs of pressure for your altitude, I'm guessing for you it will be 13lbs but verify that. once you get pressure up to the recommended setting start your timer. 70 minutes for pints, 90 minutes for quarts. even if there is one quart jar in there and the rest are pints do the full 90 minutes. if they are all pints then 70 is fine. your weight shouldn't be chattering at this point, if it is your heat is a little high and you should dial it back just a little. it's ok if it chatters some or even the whole time, but to me it's like running your pickup at full throttle in 2nd gear, there's really no reason to, it just means you're using more heat than required and losing a little bit of water from the canner. don't let the pressure get below the recommended cooking pressure, if it does, stop the timer until you're back up to operating temp/pressure then start it again where it was.
once you have reached the full canning time (70 or 90 minutes) then lower the heat or turn off the burner completely. let the canner cool naturally until it hits zero. DO NOT REMOVE THE WEIGHT. do not let a breeze or wind blow on it to cool it down. just let it slowly cool with ambient air temp until gauge reads 0 psi. I usually wait another 5-10 minutes until the locking mechanism drops showing that there is no pressure left in the canner. If lock doesnt drop it's because there is still a little pressure in the canner and could burn you when you remove the weight.
once weight is removed and the lock drops, twist the lid off and be careful because it is still very hot inside, I usually wear a sweatshirt and ovenmitts to be safe, I've done it bare handed but you have to be careful.
Lift jars out using Jar tongs and place on a bath towel on the counter, make sure there is no breeze or wind blowing on them from a fan or open window. DO NOT TIP JARS TO GET WATER OFF THEM. I will often roll up half the towel and place it at the back of the counter or table where I am placing the jars, then gently roll it over each row as I place the jars on the counter from the canner to allow them to cool slowly. DO NOT WIPE WATER FROM THE TOP OR PRESS DOWN ON LIDS TO MAKE THEM SEAL. you can wipe them down after they are cool if you wish. the jars will still be bubbling inside as the water is still boiling, it's pretty cool to watch.
leave jars in place under the towel until cool, I usually leave them 24 hours to be safe. once they are cooled, then you can wipe them down, write the year and contents (I can elk, buffalo, antelope, venison and goose).
I put them back in the box they came in and try to keep the plastic in a way that it holds them in when I open it and stack the flats in the pantry ot basement on heavy duty shelves. When I open a new box of jars I cut the plastic in a line around the center of the lids of the outside jars and sometimes fold it in so it water proofs the cardboard somewhat, or keep it in it's original position so it holds the jars more secure for moving the flat.
I use canning as a way to utilize the meat I don't want to put through my grinder and is otherwise often discarded by a lot of people. I keep a gallon bag of shanks, bloodshot meat and scraps in the freezer and add to it until full when I butcher, then start on another bag. my canning is usually done at the end of the season when all of my processing is done for the year. I'll often have several gallon size bags full of scrap to can. I thaw it in the bathtub in warm water when I'm going to can. if I find roasts that have been in the freezer a couple years, I'll usually can them just so they don't freezer burn and go to waste. I've canned meat that is lightly freezer burned and mix it with new meat and can't tell the difference. feel free to hit me up if you have any questions. other people might have their own way of doing things but this works best for me. I've tried shortcuts to make it go faster and it always ends up in a mess. if try to speed the process up it will lead to juices cooking out of the jars and you'll spend a lot more time cleaning and the jars look like [bleep]. the meat is still fine in them, but it's a pain.
