Well look who finnaly decided to show up, lol. I was begining to wonder what your name was over on this site.

Bear Bones you should post the story of the Bear hunt along with this. It's a good read!

This method is the Raw Pack. I have never tried the Hot Pack or cooked method so I can't comment on it.

With my method I have kept them for years. I just recently used a quart of bear meat from 2002 for sandwiches. I still have 4 quarts of bear and 3 quarts of venison from 2004.

Here is part of a post I put on another board about a year ago.

Why can?.......why not? LOL

Why? It lasts longer than freezing (I have had them after 5 yrs), takes up no freezer space, is already cooked and ready to eat......etc..

How? You need a pressure canner with instructions and quart jars. Very simple actually. No, it is not like spam or chicken "stuff". Makes a "GREAT" samich on any day of the week.

Any more on our bears we only take the backstrap for roasts and the hams/hinds/front shoulders are used for canning. You will need 13 lbs of meat for 7 quarts, which is how many quart jars a good canner will hold. I start with the best cuts hams/shoulders then work my way to the neck if needed. Usually I will can about 21 quarts (3 loads) every couple years.
I have used every part of meat in the canner and it will tenderize any piece of meat, tendon or grisle. If you want to have good cuts for stews and steaks, you can use any of the "grinding" meat for canning.You can use any meat, and if frozen it still turns out great.

Consult the instructions before trying. Here is the quick version of canning,
Cut meat into one inch cubes. Pack meat into hot jars, leaving one inch head space. Add one teaspoon of salt if desired to each quart. Adjuxt lids and rings. Process pints for 75 minutes at ten pounds pressure. Quarts are processed 90 minutes at ten pounds pressure.


We store ours in a pantry, sometimes in the same boxes that the jars came in. Keep them from freezing and the sunlight and they will last for years.

What can you do with canned meat? What can't you. Here are a few of the things we do. After opening a jar we pour it into a microwave safe dish and heat it for a couple minutes. Then we shred it will a couple forks. We do not pour off the liquid, we allow the meat to re-absord it.
Then we turn it into...
French dip sandwiches, hoagie sandwiches, tacos, etc.
If you want to use it in different ways you may not want to shred it.
Sometimes we will leave the piece whole and make homemade soup or stew. I even just add it to commercial stews.
You can also eat it right out of the jar. I have done pints and taken them on trips, put it on the dash or near the floor heater, open and eat.

Thanks for the info Bear Bones.

I love to can meat, chicken, fish, and homemade soup for later use out at my trap camp. As there is no refrigeration except the weather this works very well.

I always put a clove of garlic in the bottom of meat or chicken jars and add a bit of salt. A teaspoon of vinegar to each jar of fish softens the bones.

In the above instructions it says not to add water. Looking at the pictures it looks like fluid is in the jar. Did I miss something? If you do add liquid, is it just water?

different reipes have different instructions, some call for water, some don't. some have you pack then pour water, some have you use hot water, some use broth. it really depends

I brown my cubed venison with onion, salt, and pepper in some bacon grease. Then drain the juice into a sperate container to be added eaqually to the jars of browned meat. Other than that everything is the same as Bear Bones said. I will also tell everone to make sure that you follow the directions in the instruction manual for your pressure cooker. Canned venison is an excellent way to make use of some of the leeser cuts of meat. Alot of people throw away meat that is perfect for canning.
DELICIOUS!!!!!

No liquid was added to the jars in Bear Bones pic's. We loose packed the 1" - 1 1/2" cubes leaving 1" head space and put them in the pressure cooker. All that liquid you are seeing actually came from the meat.

The first 4 pictures in his how to post were taken at my house. The last pic was taken on his porch I believe.

I have canned venison for the last five years. Sometimes I will add some onions in the jars, and sometimes I'll put in some jalopeno peppers. This last batch (elk), I just canned plain. I have two deer in the freezer yet that will be canned as well. I keep the backstraps and tenderloins, and the rest gets canned, except for a few pounds that gets put aside for jerkey. I always bring a jar or two to the cabin when I go. It is the easiest meal to prepare, and tastes AWESOME!

Since my grandparents dont can anymore I am going to try to get their stuff. Since I am military and move alot this would seem to make more sence. When I left Alaska I left about 400 pounds of verious meat up there since I couldnt keep it frozen. Going to have to try that after this deployment.

canning is great. I usally add a small chunks of smoked jowl bacon to every jar, I put a 1/2 ts salt, 12/ts black pepper and 1/2 ts of garlic.

I usally take a few jars and add a bunch of chili powder. I use these jars when making chili. The meat has a good chili flavor.

Also add some taco seasoning to some jars. This make great venison fajitis.

With canning, once it is done adn sealed, as long as it is sealed it is good, right? I canned 20 pints, and am still worried about it.

As long as you follow the instructions that Bear Bones gave, you will be ok.
Yes if the seel isn't there throw it out. Or use as bait.

Great post Bear Bones.
There's nothing to add except canned meat or anything canned is a fast meal.
Great when you are hunting all day or on the trapline all day.

Canning meat has a long history . From before the days of no Freezers.
Pint uner the heater and small whole grain buns , make a day in the Dark House go well too.

i add a beef boullin cube and a slice of onion to the top of each jar.

A little late but thanks for the info Bear!

My great grandparents canned sausage they would put the patties in the jars after cooking and cover with water then move the patties around to get the air out put the leads on and pressure can and when cool too handle they would turn the jars upside down so the grease would go to the top so when you open the jar the grease would be on the bottom

I have two questions:

1) So unlike water bath canning, you aren't submerging the jars in water - just using a few inches of water in the pressure canner, right?

2) Any reason you couldn't use this for beaver and other meat?

Yes a pressure canner is using a couple inches of water, under pressure for your elevation.
The tempura is around 240-250+ under pressure.
Water bath will not get any higher than boiling point 212 degrees.

Probably the most important part of pressure canning is venting the canner before you start the canning process.

Other than pressure canning isn't a set it and forget it process.
You need to watch the pressure and time.

Venting is letting all the air escape the canner before sealing with a weight or turning a valve shut.
Watching the steam come out of the canner until it is a steady stream of steam.
About 10-15 minutes.
If not vented properly you won't be able to hold a steady pressure.


You can can any meat that is edible.

Beaver to say muskrat is canned the same way.

Just like squirrel and rabbit !

IMHO A pressure canner with a dial gage and a weighted gage are the easiest and safest to use.

This link will give you all the information you need.
I was always told to use the longest canning time for an ingredient for any soups , meaning meat would take 75 to 90 minutes where green beans are 25.
I see they recommend that with seafood but not meat.
Be safe in case of miss print, can meat in soup at recommended meat canning times.

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/foods/fn188.pdf

Try topping it off with sauerkraut wow its all I can say.