Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Putting up meat......No freezer required

My mom and grandma would add some beef tallow to lessen the gamey taste of the deer and antelope that my dad would get in Wyoming when I was a kid. We loved it with gravy on bread. Dave

Do you screw the lids down real tight before boiling? Do you boil lids and jars first.

Its hard to beat canned peaches and pears.

We just washed the jars and lids before filling and cooking. As the lids go....we just tighten them up "finger" tight before cooking and re-check after they come out of the cooker.

When we cleaned out Mom and Dad's house in 1998, we found some green beans that she had put up a long long time ago. Finally found dates on a couple: 1944-1945. It looked good but none of us were brave enough to try it. 50+ years! Stored in closet in basement and never touched. I don't kn ow if she even remembered they were down there.

My mom canned everything. AS Ted mentioned, finger tight on the rings when you put the flats on. The flats should have a little dimple in the middle that is "up" before you cook them. The dimple should be "down" (vacuum sealed) when you take them out of the cooker. The flat should make a little snap or pop sound when you open the jar due to the dimple popping back up. IF the dimple is up, or, no "snap" when you open the jar, either it did not seal, or, it started to spoil. It gets pitched. With a good "snap", cook on...

Lets find out. This thread made me hungry.




If I don't report back tomorrow, you'll know 8 years was too long.

(BTW - that one on the left was actually pickles that are even older. The lid rotted out on it. All the others still look fine, but they probably need dumping.)

Are ya dead yet??

Can you cook it in BBQ sauce before canning so it opens up ready to go?

Yes. Ball even includes recipes in their canning book.

My Grandfather was 92 when he killed his last Wisconsin whitetail twenty some years ago. He canned the entire deer except the back straps. It made some mighty fine stew.

The real beauty of canning is that energy is put into the canning process once. Grandpa didn't care if the power went out for a while! He had his stew meat, and it wasn't going to spoil...

A friend used to can Thanksgiving dinner.

Use gallon jars i bet😄

I will have to get the Ball canning book. I always wanted to try canning meat but was told by the old folks that it was more dangerous unless you knew exactly how. Is there anything special to watch for other than sealing just like any canning.

I had the same fear RH, it's really simple and safe with a modern pressure cooker. Multiple relief valves. Just follow the simple directions for your altitude, cooking time and pressure. If you pull a jar off the shelf and you can pop the lid before opening chuck it. The thing I found interesting is it'll continue to boil in the jar after pulling them out of the pot for half an hour. Let the pressure drop on it's own before opening the cooker lid, I guess would be an additional tip, but it's really all in the booklet you get when you buy a cooker. Check out that link I posted earlier, pretty informative.

Zero danger.

No.

Amazing this thread popped up today. I spent the morning cutting up my Colorado elk and the wife just finished her canning. We love it. We'll grind the hamburger tomorrow. Steaks are wrapped and in the freezer. Going to be a good Winter.

Venison is good. Smoked salmon is really good too.

I ate some as a teen that my mom had canned several years before. 7 or 8 years? Just ate a jar of fish from '08. Wish me luck.

We only brine the salmon and smoke it about 1/2 done. Then can it and it finishes the cooking. Fantastik!!

We do a cold smoke. Makes the best and easiest salmon patties