Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Canning deer meat

I’m wanting to try this. I’ve read where some say it’s necessary to use a pressure canner to kill bacteria and others who say a standard water bath is OK. What is everyone’s thoughts on this? Obviously not worth getting sick over but I also would need to go buy a pressure canner if that’s the only safe way to do it I guess.

Pressure canned is how I've always done it, for 25 years

Don’t fuuck with the water bath Ricky

Always do meat under Pressure.

Thanks everyone! Looks like I’ll be investing in a pressure canner soon. I’d like to try canning some venison and see how we like it ... I like the idea of freeing up some freezer space.

Great grandmother,
Grandmother,
Mother,
Used water bath canners
Not to play little prepper games with a deer,
But to store whole cows and the uncured parts of a pig.
Nobody died, nobody got sick.

It's a process that needs to be followed, cook time is set.
3 hours. You just can't decide you want medium well and
shorten time. Or just decide to quit early.

In today's world, everything has to be idiot/fool/crackhead/lazy proof.

I wouldn't be scared to water bath if I needed to.

That said,
We have, and use a pressure canned for meat and green beans.

If you want to do it right you have to use a pressure cooker.

Equally important to me is the need to sear the meat before putting it in the jars. It makes a huge difference in the finished product.

I have gone to Vacuum packing in retort bags rather than jars. You can process more meat per cooker load and the finished bags are easier to store.

If I already had a chamber type sealer I would maybe look into it but I couldn’t really justify buying a canner + a chamber type vac sealer at the moment to try this. Plus, jars are reused vs. bags getting tossed and needed replaced.

Agreed, but we use it a ton for moose and salmon and a ton of everything else. When the jars are overfilling a large closet it is time to get rid of jars...

Just put up 4 cases of venison. Love it. Quick meals.

canned venison is excellent

I grew up in the 50's eating canned deer meat that was done in a boiling water canner. There were no freezers around then. Sometimes we had to disregard deer season and put a few in jars when we ran out. Those surplus foods that USDA gave out to out of work coal miners only went so far. We also had yellow and green beans, carrots and several non acidic vegetables. There were six of us in the family and no one ever got sick.I remember my mother teaching several other younger women how to do it

+1 saddlesore....although I use a pressure cooker, ate a lot of water bath pork and beef as a kid, no problems. Also canning books tell us to avoid additives and not knowing any better, for years I have been adding a couple tbs of flour and a beef and/or vegetable broth cube...it kind of makes a tasty half fast gravy.

Well my Grandmothers & Mother used pressure cookers....
Maybe just how they learned.
I still pressure cook also.

We've been pressure canning elk for years, pint jars at 15 lbs for 75 minutes. Have come up with a lot of great recipes from fajitas to sandwich spread.

Saddlesore, an interesting thought popped in my head.

We water bath meat and non-acidic foods 3 hours.
How long does it take at your altitude? Or just the same?

Another question. Pressure adds 3°F/lb to boiling.
Does that hold true at altitude?
212+15x3 for 257? Or is it affected by atmospheric pressure?




Google! Duh!

Altitude affects pressure canners!

The farm I was raised in we used the bath system for the 12 years I was there and no problems... later when I was married my wife and I used a pressure canner mainly because it was faster for the 57 years we were married before she passed with no problems.. so I say it is up to you as to how much time you want to spend doing it.. never had any problems . excellent wife..

Sitting in my stand right now waiting for a doe to can. We can 2-3 deer a year. We bought a pressure cooker when I started, but like others have stated, my grandmother always used the water bath method without issue.

OK, we've got all these replies & I know how to can it, someone explain how to water bath it!!!

Dick

Google Lancaster Ohio botulism outbreak April 2015. I have a friend whose mother was very ill as a result of hot water bath canned potatoes used in potato salad at a church affair. It aint worth the risk to me.
I pressure can my deer and find it easy to do and I no longer have to worry about an extended power outage with frozen deer.
FYI-Found a nice pressure cooker on Craigs list for cheap.