Canning meats ....

[Olf Art]

When I was a child my grandmother used to can sausage for the pantry. On a cold Winter morning she'd get a jar of it out, finish fryin it up till it was nice and brown, and oh man .... I've never eaten any better since.

Is there anybody else on here that's put meat up in canning jars?

 

[lariat]

I know some old-timers that talk about it, but I don't know anyone that does it anymore. I've been telling myself for years to get one of them to teach me how to do it. I think it would be a very good piece of info to posses.

 

[newoldglory]

I still can it---in my stomach if I can. :toothy7:
It's not done today because it t'is much cheaper to buy it on the market. Canning was originally done because of the lack of refrigeration. It would now only be done as an expensive hobby.

Hi Gary; I see that you are on line.

 

[glades cat]

I just grind up a Boston Butt and freeze the links. It's quick and easy. I use beef for hot dogs.
I'm expecting an order of hog casing this week. 1 1/4 - 1 3/8 size.
I used to can. Still have a bunch of jars and lids. I'll make chutney, chow chow or jam and can those, but not meat.
With canning meat, you have to simmer it at pressure for 1 1/2 hours and jars take up more room than freezer bags. Plus, it gets expensive when you don't get your jars back when you give them away, cause everyone loves home made preserves.

 

[swamper2]

I can venison. Take some prep time but you have zero freezer burn to through out at the end of the year.
you can add garlic,onions, celery, ect. I pack them in pint jars. Make's for a nice quick meal at home or in the field.

 

[Olf Art]

With canning meat, you have to simmer it at pressure for 1 1/2 hours and jars take up more room than freezer bags. Plus, it gets expensive when you don't get your jars back when you give them away, cause everyone loves home made preserves.

When my grandmother canned sausage (they made their own) she'd cover their little dining table with waxed paper, put a big lump of that fresh pork mixture on the table and roll it out with a rolling pin. Then she'd take a ring from a canning jar and cut little circles like you were makin' cookies, put them in a big iron skillet and partially fry them (to just before they browned, both sides) and drop a stack down into a canning jar. When the top 'snapped' she'd tighten the lid and store them in the pantry sitting on their lids so that the grease would run down and improve the seal.

Gerald is right about a lack of refrigeration. They had an ice box on the back porch, a little round topped refrigerator in the kitchen, one old freezer outside in a shed, and other than that all the food they had from after harvest was either canned or 'hilled up' outside.

 

[zrackers]

We can venison as well. It is completely cooked, does not require refrigeration, and is delicious. It is also a good way to use meat that can't be made into steaks or roast without having to grind it up into hamburger.

 

[Whitebear]

Mom canned beef and pork and one time someone gave Dad a bunch of goats to pay a bill and Mom canned them too. I barely remember it though it was WAY before I started school. I do remember them putting up tomatoes and they went in the jars nice and red and by Christmas they all turned green and Mom threw the whole lot out. She didn't do any canning after that, that I can remember. We still country cured hams though and did so 'til I was nearly out of high school. I have had the interest in food preservation for most of my life and still put up dry goods in vacuum jars and I still dehydrate and pack in vacuum jars as well. The stuff lasts nearly forever it seems and the Ball Domed lids have a built in freshness indicator that when they pop up, they aren't good any more. I made some spaghetti Sauce recently with some dehydrated maters I put up when I got back to the States in 2006 and it was better than store bought for sure and for certain. I can see no reason not to can meats but like mentioned here, there is a LOT of prep time and as I remember the jars need to be sealed with the fat before tightening the lids. So that means a tight trimming and rendering the fat before cooking up the meats. I never did figure why they say fat doesn't can well but then to use fat to seal the meat in the jars. Still a bit of a wonderment to me. Fun stuff though and I love putting stuff back for rainy days. Guess I am kind of a Prepper-light. Fun stuff and good food though.

 

[Olf Art]

Bear, if I could I'd put up enough food to last 20 years. To me it's better than money in the bank ..... that may be worthless one day in the not so distant future, the power may be off, and we'll be watchin TV by candlelight ( ), but at least we'll have supper. There will be a lot of folks who won't if things get as bad as I think they could before too long.

 

[Afflicted]

I'm much younger than y'all fellows that have posted. But I've been around canning all my life, still to this day. Tomatoes, tomatoe juice, peppers, okra and all sorts of preserves and sweet things. I guess it's just the area you grow up in. We live out in the bushes I guess you'd say. But on the same note we've never canned any meat that I recall. Y'all guys grow up using smoke houses? In my life I never seen 1 used but I remember my dad or grandpaw pushing it over with a dozer when I was 8or 10. By the way I'm 27

 

[helicsher]

Did you old farts hull your caned meat around on your horse and wagon ?
Now days you just go up to 7-11 and get some microwave meat
Put it the oven for 2min and watch it come to life!!!
:stirpot: :stirpot: :stirpot:
:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[dudley]

Ken, you know that I'm older than any of y'all on this thread. I know how to live off of the land. lol
Since you do know me, you know that I can.

 

[Whitebear]

Did you old farts hull your caned meat around on your horse and wagon ?
Now days you just go up to 7-11 and get some microwave meat
Put it the oven for 2min and watch it come to life!!!
:stirpot: :stirpot: :stirpot:
:lol: :lol: :lol:

In wagons? Of course not. The wheel hadn't been invented yet !
:lol:

 

[blow boat]

Olf, I know exactly what you mean had
Kinfolk in west by god would go up for
Summer vac and come back with a
Sheet ton veggies, meats and jams
Man that brings back memory's but
The next best thing I've found is yoders canned meats
You can find it all over the pork sausage is a must
Try but all there stuff is A+ just try it
And it wouldn't hurt to have some put
Away for when the world ends also... :salute:

 

[Olf Art]

Ken, you know that I'm older than any of y'all on this thread. I know how to live off of the land. lol
Since you do know me, you know that I can.

Hugh, two ol' boys as gnarly as you and me could probably live in a cardboard box if we could get somebody to keep us in boiled peanuts!! :lol:

Seems like a man can get along pretty good until he adds a woman to the mix. After that the conversation seems to change to high thread count towels, all sorta decorator items, and scented candles. Where did I miss it here? :scratch:

 

[Olf Art]

But on the same note we've never canned any meat that I recall. Y'all guys grow up using smoke houses? In my life I never seen 1 used but I remember my dad or grandpaw pushing it over with a dozer when I was 8 or 10. By the way I'm 27

Some folks had smokehouses, and them that did used to put up some fine tastin' stuff ..... hickory smoked bacon, ham, and brisket is some of the finest meat a man can sit down to, but they'll still spoil if you don't do something else to preserve them.
Country ham on the other hand is unique ..... it's been so saturated in a salt brine that it can hang in a shed in the heat of Summer without refrigeration and actually cure that way and be edible ..... even good tasting if you know how to handle them. Honey Baked spiral cut hams that you pay big bucks for at holidays start out as a Country ham, and then they're baked in a solution that infuses moisture back into them and gives them their flavor and texture. At least they used to be .... that may have changed in recent years. You can do much the same thing with a Country ham at home. Put one in a baking pan with a good lid, pour in a couple of liter bottles of Coke, cover it and throw it in the oven for two or three hours at 350 deg. Yum!

 

[bkmail]

Canning is still very popular up here.....in Ak.
Put away cases of halibut, smoked salmon, and veggies so far this year.
Still have blacktail and moose in jars from previous years but will stack up more asa soon as we get our moose for the year......hopefully soon!

Bk

 

[Olf Art]

Canning is still very popular up here.....in Ak.
Put away cases of halibut, smoked salmon, and veggies so far this year. Bk

BK, what all is involved in canning salmon? Do you cook it first to kill bacteria?

 

[bkmail]

Either raw pack or smoke it first, then stuff in jars and can at 10psi for 90 mins. The canning process kills any bacteria.
Makes room in the freezer and is easier/cheaper to ship to family and friends. Plus it stores much longer in jars.
Everything is ready to eat when its opened. Often we'll pack some veggies in the meat jars, makes its own gravy. Just heat and eat. Great to keep at the cabin!
Bk

 

[dougeey]

I have canned meat fish and even frog legs and gator meat .it is not hard to do just have to have time . Ask Gerald he has some . You do need a pressure canner not a water bath canner .
Doug