Canned meat question

[HarboritE]

I see no one has posted on the canned meat thread in a long time so I figured I’d just start a fresh one and ask. I understand the ligaments and tendons will disintegrate during the process , but does it leave waxy taste in your mouth I’ve done deer and elk ribs in the crockpot that turned out good , but left waxiness in your mouth.

I’m asking because I read that someone just cut the lower leg meat off and canned it as is, most tendons and ligaments included . I love this idea rather than always just turning it into grind . Same with the rib meat . I like the idea of cutting the rib meat membrane included and maybe neck meat off of the deer right away before it has a chance to develop a crust and cool it down , and freeze it for canning.

I finally used my canner on some clams I had frozen with iceman’s recipe and now I’m hooked on reading about canning and can’t wait to do some deer meat when my wife fills her tag . Especially since we are running out of room in our freezer . I can’t wait to experiment with canned meat .

[O. Nerka]

For me I mostly can bears and have been getting lazier and lazier on my trimming and have yet to notice a negative.

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[jrebel]

Tendons and ligaments will turn gelatinous.  I have never noticed a waxy feeling / taste in my canned or slow cooked shanks.

[Twispriver]

I've canned a lot of shank meat and it always turned out great. I prefer searing the meat and using the hot pack method with some au jus.

[Bullkllr]

I think that waxy taste/feel you describe comes more from fat than tendons and ligaments. I get it with ground meat also. It doesn't bother me, but I know some people don't prefer it. Careful trimming helps prevent it.

Shanks can up well. There is next to no fat. Same generally with neck meat; any fat is usually easy to trim.

I don't have a good way of removing fat layers from rib meat so I don't can it. I will can any 'chunk' of meat regardless of tendons, but I try to trim as much fat as possible if it's going to be canned. If there is fat in canned meat a lot of it cooks out and floats to a layer at the top of the jar.

 

[Rugergunsite308]

 
My wife cans deer and elk meat for me whenever I'm successful, which thankfully has been quite often the last few years. I always remove all fat prior to her canning, but ligaments and tendons just turn to jelly. Absolutely delightful. No wax whatsoever.

[HarboritE]

Thank you guys for the replies. I’m looking forward to canning some here shortly 

[finnman]

Canned moose.
Canned pork.
All top notch products.

[finnman]

We only can what I would call basic stew meat. We chunk it from large cuts. All questionable cuts are ground for burger and sausage. Why risk a lot of work on using a bad cut?? Don’t go against the grain.

[RC]

Looks good, Finnman. Are you wet packing that or browning that before canning? Using any other type of seasoning besides salt?

[slavenoid]

Waxy sensation is from stearic acid in the fat. The other connective tissues when disolved is often described as a velvet smooth texture.

[finnman]

Looks good, Finnman. Are you wet packing that or browning that before canning? Using any other type of seasoning besides salt?

No. We do not brown or add water. We only add some kosher salt. This leaves the product tasty yet completely ready to modify into whatever you’re needing it to be.
For example the canned Pork can be used for a gravy, over rice or potatoes, in a burrito or enchilada. Just season it accordingly.

[HarboritE]

Well my wife filled her deer tag, so I set aside about 12 lbs of meat for canning. We have plenty more if we fall in love with it but what I set aside was mostly stuff I would usually turn into pepperoni. I’m going to try some with only salt, and some with taco seasoning. Thank you for all of the replies . I will be giving it a shot this weekend 

[HarboritE]

One more question. If I was to can some bear , would I follow the same recipe for canned red meat or would it require longer cook time ? I have some bear i would like to try at the same time.

[Bullkllr]

One more question. If I was to can some bear , would I follow the same recipe for canned red meat or would it require longer cook time ? I have some bear i would like to try at the same time.

Pretty much every direction I've ever found has all red meat the same on processing time. The standard is 75 minutes for pints/90 min for quarts for any whether it's beef, deer, elk, bear, etc. That process will kill any organisms in any meat. If you follow all instructions with care regarding prep, getting to pressure, keeping pressure and depressuring you should have no problem.

[HarboritE]

They all sealed but broke 2 half pints . I did a few half pints with my quart and 2 broke . I won’t make that mistake again ! Made a mess but all they cleaned up fine and are cooling down on the counter now . Can’t wait to to try it! Thanks for all of the input

[Magnum_Willys]

Step-by-step Canning Guide Post

https://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,12969.0.html

[GWP]

Why do you think the small jars broke?

[HarboritE]

I'm new to this so I don't exactly know, but I figured it was too long for those small half pints. I know pints calls for 60 minutes and quarts at 90 minutes , so I thought it was just too long. I did inspect the jars prior to using them but they all had been used prior. We made tacos tonight and they were great! I can see using this canned meat for many different applications.

[jrebel]

The smaller jars likely broke because they had too much room around them and they hit other jars with more force than if they all fit snuggly.  When your canning, you can hear the cans rattling together, which is normal....but too much room could cause more violent rattling / contact and failure. 

You can pressure can both size jars simultaneously, though you should always adhere to the longer pressure times.  I personally would not mix sizes....just do two batches. 

[HarboritE]

Yep , lesson learned !

[CoryTDF]

I just canned my whole deer from the late muzzy season. I have done this before with deer but mostly have experience with tuna. Here are somethings I learned and had to re-learn.

Make sure to let the canner steam for 10 minutes prior to placing the weight. I forgot to do this as I was in a rush. So, what to do now? Well after doing quite a bit of reading it was decided that I would pop all the jars, clean the rim, and rerun them the correct way to ensure that they are safe. there is a 24 hour window to do this and I was withing that time. So, two of my batches went 15lbs for 90 min twice. I am pretty sure nothing survived that. LOL

Sometimes they just won't seal. I had several jars that did not seal. No problem, I just dumped them into a strainer and then put the meat into a food saver bag and sealed it up then froze it. not exactly what I wanted to do but I didn't want to run them for a 3rd time. 

People are F'n crazy! I read a bunch of crazy recipes and even came across a few where folks were trying to say water bath canning is safe for meat  . Well, I try really hard to just stick to the Ball Blue Book or other proven safe methods. You can add whatever you want but you may regret it.

The Ball stew recipe is really good! I love it and I plan to make a butt load more with some of my last years elk meat. I would do half the thyme seasoning it calls for though as it's pretty strong.

My plan this week is to try my hand at venison spaghetti sauce. I will try and come back to report out how it goes.       

[HarboritE]

Let us know how the spaghetti sauce turns out . We’re making French dips with our canned deer for the first time this week. I’m looking forward to using it many applications.

[CoryTDF]

Let us know how the spaghetti sauce turns out . We’re making French dips with our canned deer for the first time this week. I’m looking forward to using it many applications.

Well, I am going to be honest... it's pretty dang good!

Here is the recipe I followed. It is from the Ball Blue Book and is a tested and safe recipe. I did sub red pepper for green pepper though as the wife hates green peppers.


Ingredients
Units: US
5
lbs ground beef
2
cups chopped onions
1
cup chopped green pepper
9
cups cooked tomatoes or 9 cups canned tomatoes with juice
2 2⁄3
cups tomato paste
2
tablespoons brown sugar
2
tablespoons minced parsley
1 1⁄2
tablespoons salt
1
tablespoon oregano
1⁄2
teaspoon pepper
1⁄2
teaspoon ginger
1⁄2
teaspoon allspice
2
tablespoons vinegar
Shop Recipe

Directions
Brown beef in a large stockpot.
Drain off excess fat.
Add onion and green peppers and cook slowly until tender.
Add remaining ingredients; simmer until thick.
If any fat remains, skim off top.
Pour hot sauce into hot pint or quart jars, leaving 1 inch headspace.
Adjust lids and bands.
Process in a pressure canner.
Pints for 1 hour, quarts for 1 hour and 15 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.

[brokentrail]

@CoryTDF What quantity in pints/quarts did that recipe make?

[CoryTDF]

@CoryTDF What quantity in pints/quarts did that recipe make?

It made 6 quarts and one pint.

Also, I used fire roasted tomatoes as I like the flavor. 

[brokentrail]

@CoryTDF What quantity in pints/quarts did that recipe make?

It made 6 quarts and one pint.

Also, I used fire roasted tomatoes as I like the flavor.

  Thanks!

[7mmfan]

This thread got me fired up to get back to canning. Haven't done much the last couple years. Finally decided to try my hand at stew. 15 pints today. Going to try chili this week.

[CoryTDF]

This thread got me fired up to get back to canning. Haven't done much the last couple years. Finally decided to try my hand at stew. 15 pints today. Going to try chili this week.

Heck yeah dude! That stew is going to be bomb!

[bearhunter99]

We got lax for a a few years with our canning.  I bought the wife a new digital pressure canner for Christmas as she wanted to get back into it and it is easy to just can a few quarts at a time.  Still need to dig the big pressure canner out of storage.

We can some with just salt and pepper but also canned some with taco seasoning (instant shredded meat tacos - just toss into the skillet and brown and yum!) some with Italian seasoning - makes excellent quick pasta dishes and canned some with onion and garlic.  Canned meat is so versatile and can make for some quick easy meals!

One note - that came from my grandma - When you open pressure canned meat try to let it sit for 10 minutes before cooking - it allows some of the juices to infuse back into the meat.  If you put the meat directly from the jar into the skillet it can be a little dry.

[HarboritE]

The French dips turned out awesome! I’m also looking forward to canning more razor clams without liquid smoke for chowder and dips, and maybe finding a good recipe for chanterelle mushrooms. The one can with taco seasoning we tried so far didn’t have as much taco flavor as I expected for a good tablespoon full in a quart jar, so we just added some when we cooked it . I can see using canned meat for pizza topping, pasta sauce , Philly cheese steak and all sorts of sandwiches too .  Yum !

[CoryTDF]

The French dips turned out awesome! I’m also looking forward to canning more razor clams without liquid smoke for chowder and dips, and maybe finding a good recipe for chanterelle mushrooms. The one can with taco seasoning we tried so far didn’t have as much taco flavor as I expected for a good tablespoon full in a quart jar, so we just added some when we cooked it . I can see using canned meat for pizza topping, pasta sauce , Philly cheese steak and all sorts of sandwiches too .  Yum !

Doooooooooood! Pizza. I never thought about that. I am going to try and make a Philly cheese steak pizza with some of my canned venison.

[7mmfan]

15 pints of venison steak chili con carne! Made yesterday, just cracked the first jar to test out. Better than Amy canned chili I've had from the store.

[CoryTDF]

15 pints of venison steak chili con carne! Made yesterday, just cracked the first jar to test out. Better than Amy canned chili I've had from the store.

Recipe?

[7mmfan]

I'll find it and report back later. Had a second jar a couple days later. Only thing I'd suggest is slightly more liquid in following batches. It turned out pretty thick, which isn't bad, just could have benefited from a little more liquid I think.

[Twispriver]

I've always canned chili without the beans and added canned beans (if I wanted chili with beans) when it was being re-heated. It's possible that the beans soaked up lots of the liquid during canning.

[CoryTDF]

I'll find it and report back later. Had a second jar a couple days later. Only thing I'd suggest is slightly more liquid in following batches. It turned out pretty thick, which isn't bad, just could have benefited from a little more liquid I think.

I am all ears!