Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Canning Deer Meat

You got a pressure cooker?

Having two pressure cookers is a great way to speed up the process.

if you have an electric coil or gas stove you're good. if it's a glass top it won't work.

A glass top stove works just fine. We've done a bunch of them on one.

Having two pressure cookers is a great way to speed up the process.

I've never owned one but everywhere I've read and heard they don't work because of the way the elements heat and they don't stay consistent. good to know they can work. I stand corrected.

Thank you everyone, and especially you Colorado1135. Those details are what I needed. 👍

I can a bunch of neck and lower leg cuts every year. I usually just put a little coarse ground black pepper and a dash of canning salt. I did do some with fire roasted Hatch chilies but haven’t eaten them yet. I have tried numerous seasonings such as Taco seasoning and BBQ seasoning and find them to fade out on the trip through the canner. Much better IMO to apply your desired flavoring after opening.

I end up giving a bunch to my grandparents, they’re in their late 80’s and appreciate the simplicity of opening a quart and having more or less instant meals. Grandad’s favorite is to make a baked potato in the microwave and split it open and butter it. Then open a can of meat and dump it over the potato and microwave again for 30 seconds or so to heat the meat.

I also take half pints and eat them cold out in the field when on hunting trips. Few shakes of your favorite hot sauce and eat it over seasoned crackers, meal fit for a king.

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.

Tag....

This is great. I've never canned meat but there area ton of good tips in here. I think I'm going to start gathering supplies for this. Thank you to all. But especially Ryan, for typing all that out.

That would probably work if you got good contact between the flat surfaces. The only way to know is to try it. Downside is if it doesn't work you're kinda screwed. The camp chef flame tamer plates are relatively inexpensive though at around 12 bucks a piece. They weren't available when I needed mine so I had a metal shop make them for about double that or a little more even. But I needed them so I just got them.

Something I've always wanted to do but it's still on the list. I've enjoyed venison others have canned. Amish friends of mine can the whole deer. They say that, with the number of kids they've got if they put it on the table as steaks and roasts Mom and Dad would be so busy cutting meat for the little ones they'd never get to eat themselves. They can it up as what they call "bologna" although a little different than the cold cuts we think of as bologna. They get a specific spice mix for making it and grind the meat up thoroughly before canning it. It comes out of the jars as a loaf. I've sliced it up cold for sandwiches and also fried it up in a pan for breakfast.

if you have an exact recipe for it I'd kinda like to try it, save me a bunch on breakfast and sandwich meat!

Having had 2 glass stop stoves, I hate the things but they do work just fine with a pressure canner. They also work fine with a water bath canner for canning other stuff.

Jim I can send you some if you need, we have plenty and we're rolling into deer season

I've never owned one but everywhere I've read and heard they don't work because of the way the elements heat and they don't stay consistent. good to know they can work. I stand corrected.

I can deer meat as well a other stuff on a glass top stove. Not sure where you all are getting your info. Works fine for me.

I only put a pinch of canning salt in the jar, then jam pack raw venison into the jar getting rid of all air bubbles. Pack them as tight as I can leaving room at the top. Pressure can per instructions. The pressure cooking brings out more intense flavors then other cooking methods so just a touch of salt is all thats really needed.

My favorite way to prepare canned venison is to use one of these packets.

https://www.germangrocerystore.com/...Nxf3a7AIVj8DACh2pNAUoEAYYASABEgKnFPD_BwE

Plus some water as the packet will thicken it up quite a bit and add some frozen peas.

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there are lots of articles online of why you shouldn't can on a glasstop stove, it's not something we just pulled out of our asses. if it works for you, great. no reason to keep beating that horse. it is often recommended against though for several reasons.

Nope no difference between mule deer, WT, elk or bison. Seriously you could tell anyone whatever you want and there's no way to know.

I must add that this also works for beef, chicken and fish. When it’s on sale at SAMs I buy up to 20 lbs and can it. I love chicken breasts cubed and canned and especially salmon canned.

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.