Can you can venison after it has been frozen? also any one have any recipes

No problem.

I just cube up my meat Into 1" sized chunks. Try and remove as much fat as you can. I then freeze the meat untill I'm ready to can. Thaw and place In the jars. What I do is add a half a teaspoon of canning salt to a quart of meat and Two beef bouilion cubes. Then just follow the directions stated In your manual for pressures and cooking time.

Thanks Beav, that is what I wanted to hear.

what he said

I ain't too squeemish and I've skinned and gutted and eaten and all that, but when I look through the glass of a canning jar at "canned meat" I want to eat at Long John Silver's for about a month straight.

I enjoy canning meats and fish,...no freezer burn and canned meats won't go bad if your electricity goes off.

Just canned my deer last night. Great stuff ONLY way to eat deer meat.

what did you add to it?

I am only doing pints

I have been interested in doing that? How is the taste, i am assuming it tastes like beef with the boullion added, how tough is it?

I have had it and it is AWESOME. tneder and taste great

I always use beef broth and i also put potatoes, carrots, and onions at the same time in the jar. when i heat it up i pour it on a peice of buttered bread, cannot beat it. you have a meal in a jar!

i need to try that some day

What about Deer, Elk and, Bear Burger? Anyone ever can that.

A Buddy and I canned his Bear this year (1 1/2" cubes) in Pint and 1/2 pints.

He had his freezer go out a couple weeks ago and called me to ask if I had ever done it and did I have instructions. I didn't have any. Well needless to say he canned it but I am wonering how many of you guys do?

When you go to eat it does it break up easy or is it like one big meat ball?

Canning wild game meat using the “Raw pack” method.

First, for safety reasons, please read and follow the instructions for your specific pressure canner. This post is not meant to cover step-by-step instructions for every canner or every situation.

Canning is a great way to preserve your game and unlike freezing, it will last for years. Since it is already cooked you can make great meals at a moments notice without having to thaw and cook your game.

You will have some options as to what size jar you want and it will increase or decrease the canning time slightly. You can use quarts, pints or half pints or a combination of both as long as you cook to the time for the largest jars. I base my jar size on how much meat I have to can, how much time I have and how many jars of a particular size I still have in the pantry.

I prefer wide mouth jars as they are easier to fill and empty, plus they are much easier to wash. Most canners will hold 7 quarts and 16 pints with no problem. Some canners say they will hold more pints, but since different companies make different diameter jars you will need to experiment with different brands and sizes.

Because each canner load can take a couple hours from start to finish I try to only do full loads to maximize my time and output. Having done this for a while I have learned that I need 13 lbs of meat for 7 quarts or nearly two pounds per jar. I also use 13 lbs of meat for 16 pints, which equals ¾ lb per jar with a little left over. If I am doing less then 16 pints then I figure how many jars and multiply by ¾ lb then I add ½ lb just so I have enough meat prepared. With these numbers I know how much meat to set aside during the butchering process or how much to thaw out when I am ready to can.

I usually decide if I am canning during the butchering process and if I am not planning to make burger then I start with the low leg meat and work my way to the best cuts. This way when I am done with the canning meat I can make roasts or steaks out of the rest. If I am making burger and only doing a little bit of canning then I will start with the best cuts I have available after steaks and roasts. A great thing about pressure canning is that the ligaments and tendons in pieces like the lower leg are cooked away during the process and you are left with a tender meal from a very tough piece of meat.

I start by cutting the chilled meat into 1- 1.5 inch square pieces. If I am doing multiple canner loads then I only cut enough for the first batch. Once the first batch is cooking I will continue cutting for the next batch.



Now I place the canner on the stove and add a couple inches of water. I turn the stove to a medium setting to start warming the water.

Once the meat is cut it is time to fill the jars. I find it is easier to keep the rim of the jar clean by using a canning funnel. I fill ¾ of the way they with a rubber or plastic spatula I poke the meat around to remove air pockets. Then I add a little more meat. Do not pack the meat in and make sure to leave 1 inch of headspace. With the Raw pack method you can add a teaspoon of salt to one quart of meat, but do not add any liquid. I choose not to add salt or spices, as I don’t know how I will be preparing the meat later.

Now I place the lids in a bowl of hot water to set for a few minutes.

Once the jars are filled you will need to wipe the rims of jars with a cloth and then place a lid and band on the jar. Do not over tighten the bands, only finger tight.



When all the jars have lids I then place them in the canner. Make sure you have a rack to keep the jars from sitting directly on the bottom. If you are doing quarts you will have six in a circle with one in the center. When doing pints you may have a circle of seven with one in the center. Then you will stack another eight on top of those. Make sure to stagger them so the second row is not sitting directly on the jar below it. With the center from the second row you can often stagger it with a bottom one from the side.



Now I turn the stove up to high and put the lid on the canner. Make sure your seals are seated correctly and that the lid is on properly. Depending on the stove, it can take a few minutes for pressure to build and for the steam to escape. I let it steam for a few minutes before putting the weight on the vent. It may take a couple minutes for the vents to seal.
If everything is sealed it won’t take long for the pressure to rise. Once the pressure gets to about 8 lbs I start turning the stove down, letting it settle on 11 lbs pressure. I have instructions that state both 10 and 11 lbs so I use 11 lbs. Once it is up to pressure you will want to check every so often to make sure maintains throughout the process.



Timing will start once the canner is up to pressure. There are a few time variables based on Hot pack, Raw pack, size of jars and elevation. Here at basically sea level with a Raw pack I follow these guidelines.

Quarts – 90 minutes
Pints – 75 minutes

When the correct time has passed, remove the canner from heat and allow it to cool down. Do not manually relieve pressure as it can lead to bad seals or cause a jar to crack. After about 30 minutes, or once it has depressurized, I take off the weight to release steam. Once all the steam is released I open the canner and remove the jars. I use a gripper made for canning, but I know some use oven mitts or the like. I place the jars on a towel on the table to cook and finish sealing.

Now is the moment of truth. Did I put in too much meat? Did I clean the jar well enough? Will it seal? If everything went as planned you should start to hear the lids pinging as they seal. I try to count them, but sometimes I miss one so I need to manually check the jars. After a few hours I will tap the lids with my finger. You will quickly learn which ones sealed and which ones didn’t by the tone.

Once they have cooled over night I label the lids with the date and type of meat and then I put them back in the box for storage. Typically they go into a pantry, cupboard or closet that does not get too hot nor too cold.



Canned meat can be used in almost any recipe that calls for meat. It can be shredded for tacos, added to stews, used for French dip or Hoagie sandwiches, or even eaten right out of the jar. When hunting or especially steelheading in the winter it makes a great treat after warming near the truck heater.

Enjoy!


Here are a couple of good links to canning meat info.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/1983-09-01/Canning-Meat.aspx
http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/foods/he188w.htm

yuck i will stick to frezzer then cooking

Looks good, I add 1tsp of veg. oil, no salt or seasonings.

I thought it sounded nasty before too. I tried it and love it. I like to add some lipton onion soup mix to each quart.

Bear Bones, that is an excellent post. Thanks for taking the time to put that on here.

I've got a question for you meat canners. A neighbor of mine flour's and fries her meat before canning it. The finished product has a layer of grease on top.
Will the grease stay good or will it go rancid?
Also, whats the maximum shelf life of canned meat?

This would be a good post for the archives.

Thanks Bear that should be in the archives.

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.

I like to add a slice of onion and 1 clove of garlic to each jar (in addition to the salt or beef boulian cube)...does a great job of flavoring. I also add chilly powder to a few jars and mark them to use in chilly....a great change-up from ground burger.