Canning Venison

How many quart jars did that fill Muir?

I think its more an American tradition,as I've never heard of others doing it.
It's a great way to store venison & its tasted great too, when I've been lucky enough to try it.

Do you add any flavours when canning or just salt.

When I see those quart jars though, I cant help but thing of the other "product" they are famous for.lol

I think I might have to get me some mason jars for this, empty of course.lol

Cheers Sharkey
 
Hey Sharkey.
You may be right about canning meat as an American tradition but it doesn't get a lot of press. You can process it with absolutely no spices at all but adding at the outset insures good absorption. I used a Montreal Steak commercial mix. A level tsp added to a jar full of cubed meat. It takes about 3 pounds of loosely packed meat per jar. The sealing lid is put on, the retaining ring put on just tight enough to hold the sealing lid in place, and it's pressure cooked at 14 PSI for 90 minutes. (My personal cooker can do 5 quarts at a time.)Let it cool for 24 hours and check the seal. If the lid is still vacuumed on tightly it's good to go. The toughest cuts will end up tender and tasty; and an unopened jar will last indefinitely without refrigeration if kept in a cool, dark spot. I had some with mashed potatoes tonight. It was excellent. I'm canning another 30 pounds of stew meat this weekend. A couple of the jars will get red chile powder, green chilies, onion, cumin, salt, and garlic in an attempt to can some chili-ready meat. Should be interesting. My hunting partner's wife has two pressure canners and he wants to take all the leftover meat from last year's elk and can it to make room in the freezer. Sounds like a plan. Elk is delicious when canned with just a pinch of salt and pepper.

Let me know if you have a go at it. It's easy.~Muir
 
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Better. I'll post this link...

http://www.gopresto.com/downloads/instructions/0174510.pdf

(Presto Co. is a major manufacturer of pressure cooking utensils.)

It will give you an idea of the way it works and why, and how. Pressure canners here are about $80US for a good one. Jars are cheap and reusable. Only the sealing lids are required to be new every time and they are very inexpensive. The manual depicted is for a very basic unit~Muir
 
I canned another 13 quarts of meat yesterday. I used two cookers and it took about 2 hours from start to finish. Earlier I said they last "indefinitely" but that was a little bit of a misspeak: they will remain safe to eat for years, but after a year, chemical changes in the meat will alter the taste somewhat I am told. It depends on the spicing, if any, and the meat. It is certainly delicious. I opted to finish off an open jar of venison last night instead of grilling a thawed elk steak I had ready. No regrets.~Muir
 
Ah. By canning you mean you're cooking it in a pressure cooker and putting it in glass jar? I rather understood canning to mean putting food into metal tins like below.

Heinz_Baked_Bean_In_Tomato_Sauce_415g.jpg

English English and American English dictionary required maybe!
 
Almost. It's actually very similar except that the raw meat is placed in the jars and then the jars with the lids in place are pressure cooked. This kills the bacteria, cooks the meat, and vacuum seals the jars all in one shot. The meat is excellent. I'd never done it until this year tho I bought the pressure canner two years ago in anticipation of planting a garden that a flood wiped out. With low acid veggies and fruit you must "can" under pressure to get the temperature up to what is needed to kill off bacteria. Doing meat really hadn't entered my mind until I ran into a surplus of meat this year. I'm glad I did.~Muir
 
G'day Muir.
I've always wanted to can some but we cant get mason or bell jars down here very easily.Every so often some do appear in specialty stores but are sold with the lid & replacements aren't avaliable as a seperate item.

No doubt I could try the interweb but I'm still behind with this eletrickery stuff.
Canning venison is something I'd do for sure.
A credit card or net banking? Not so sure.

I'll keep looking for a good source of jars.

Cheers Sharkey
 
Well I hope you find some. It's hard to imagine that Australia is short of Mason/Bell jars. That they are sold with the lids in place is the norm. I bought two cases of them at the WalMart store in that same shape. I simply dunked them in boiling water and set them on the counter to dry and cool while I trimmed the meat. I made some with simply a half tablespoon of salt and same in black pepper. Delicious. Tender, too.

Do you have 2nd hand shops in your area? As the older folks die off the younger set donates their canning gear to the charity shops... at least in our area. I can buy cases of 2nd hand jars for a dollar or two. Might be worth a look. Or course, here there is still a strong interest in canning vegatables and such. Meat, not so much but for the really rural folks.

Jist as an aside, you can google "USDA Home Canning and Preserving Guidelines" and find lots of good stuff. Hope you have some luck.~Muir
 
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