Canning Wild Game

[grundy53]

Quick question. What is the difference in the final product between Raw pack vs Browning the meat?

[Fl0und3rz]

I just canned up meat for the first time.  I'm really happy with the way it turned out.  Plan to do more of it in the future.  I experimented with adding potatoes, carrots, onions, etc. to make a stew.  I added a few stems of rosemary and thyme to the jar.  Sure beats a can of stew from the grocery store!     

I just make the stew, add the potatoes and carrots last, bring up the temperature, and then put in jars.  The canning process will adequately cook the veggies.

[Fl0und3rz]

Browning will give it the flaver of browned meat; pretty simple.

[KFhunter]

texture is a bit different too, raw pack you can almost get the meat pasty.  Browned meat will stay together a little better.

it's been awhile since I've had browned canned meat

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Quick question. What is the difference in the final product between Raw pack vs Browning the meat?

Haven't browned the meat before. Only raw pack and reaaly can't see any reason to brown it? The process cooks it all completely and dissolves the tendens and stuff. No pasty ness to the meat at all. I'd try it both ways and see which you like best!

[Fl0und3rz]

Only reason to brown it is flavor. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction

[Stickerbush]

Like

[grundy53]

I have 16 pints of elk meat in the canner for my first attempt. Wish me luck .

[billythekidrock]

And? Did they all seal?

[grundy53]

And? Did they all seal?

All but one. Did another 10 pints with the rest of the meat that i had pulled from the freezer. Those all sealed. The meat turned out really good. The only problem is it needs more seasoning.

[Encore 280]

I'm a bit of a canning newbe and made a couple of mistakes


1)  use the wide mouth jars!  easier to dump the contents when cooked. The narrow mouth jars you have to break up the meat or dig it out with a spoon.
2)  leave a little more than 1 inch of headspace.  I left a tad less than 1 inch and boiled out a mess all over inside the canner.
3)  don't use reusable lids like tattler, they don't seal good with the grease that bubbles up.  Next time I'll just use the old standard metal lids/rings.



I'm right around 3k elevation so I bump the pressure up to 14-15 lbs for 90 minutes.


KFhunter, if you had left more headspace do you think the Tattler lids would have been ok?

[billythekidrock]

And? Did they all seal?

All but one. Did another 10 pints with the rest of the meat that i had pulled from the freezer. Those all sealed. The meat turned out really good. The only problem is it needs more seasoning.

I seldom season when canning. I prefer to season after, depending on what dish I am making.

Was there a reason you chose pints over quarts?

[grundy53]

I went with pints over quarts mainly for serving size. The person who usually cans our meat does pints and it works out perfect. I like to take a pint to work for lunch and it's the perfect serving size. If I'm making dinner then I just pop open two of them.

[billythekidrock]

I went with pints over quarts mainly for serving size. The person who usually cans our meat does pints and it works out perfect. I like to take a pint to work for lunch and it's the perfect serving size. If I'm making dinner then I just pop open two of them.

I hear ya. I used to do the same and still will once in a while, especially if I want to give a few away. But for our family of three we use quarts. Mainly for faster processing as far as filling jars.

Glad it worked well for you.

[stevemiller]

This is one of the best threads on the forum,Thank you for posting.I am reading this while canning bear.This will be the first for me with bear,Really hoping that the meat really does get tender like elk and deer. Doing quart jars and only added teaspoon of salt.I know I know why did I wait so long lol.I just did thats all. thanks again for this very informative post.