Canning meat/what Equipment is needed, how much canning is necessary

[Alana]

So far, I have canned about 120 half liter jars of bone broth. Most of the broth that I have made will have a bit of a residue of meat particles that get through the strainer, which I would think is normal (and good). But I'm wondering if that could be an issue when canning the broth because, as far as I know, broth is processed for 20 to 25 minutes and meat should be processed for 75 to 90 minutes. Could the "meat particles" in the broth be subject to bacteria because the process time was 20 to 25 minutes instead of 75 to 90 minutes? Should this be a concern? Any thoughts on this?

I don't think it's a concern, since in order to become broth it was cooked for many hours, and it's just meat particles now, no meat chunks. Fwiw, we started using our canned broth (from the end of 2011) which also has some meat pieces in it, and so far so good.

 

[zim]

My partner just built a shelf for all the jars in a dark and cool place in the basement. We are going to try to do 300 jars by the end of this summer. So far, we are doing pretty well. ;)

[/quote]

I was wondering about the right storage for the jars, my house is full of humidity I find fungus everywhere when is cold weather and all the things have a lot of fungus, in papers, woods, clothes, it is maddening ; so I wonder if the fungus could contaminate the jars?

Does the storage place must be dry, without humidity to avoid any contamination?
I have an incredible humidity here that I´m afraid that my jars get contaminated!

 

[nicklebleu]

My partner just built a shelf for all the jars in a dark and cool place in the basement. We are going to try to do 300 jars by the end of this summer. So far, we are doing pretty well. ;)

I was wondering about the right storage for the jars, my house is full of humidity I find fungus everywhere when is cold weather and all the things have a lot of fungus, in papers, woods, clothes, it is maddening ; so I wonder if the fungus could contaminate the jars?

Does the storage place must be dry, without humidity to avoid any contamination?
I have an incredible humidity here that I´m afraid that my jars get contaminated!

I don't think that humidity and temperature have any influence - as long as your jars have been properly sterilised and sealed. They are airtight after that and nothing should be able to enter the jar and there is nothing left in the jar with potential to grow. Again this applies only if the procedure has been done correctly.

I live in a very hot and humid environment too ...

:)

 

[Stoneboss]

So far, I have canned about 120 half liter jars of bone broth. Most of the broth that I have made will have a bit of a residue of meat particles that get through the strainer, which I would think is normal (and good). But I'm wondering if that could be an issue when canning the broth because, as far as I know, broth is processed for 20 to 25 minutes and meat should be processed for 75 to 90 minutes. Could the "meat particles" in the broth be subject to bacteria because the process time was 20 to 25 minutes instead of 75 to 90 minutes? Should this be a concern? Any thoughts on this?

I don't think it's a concern, since in order to become broth it was cooked for many hours, and it's just meat particles now, no meat chunks. Fwiw, we started using our canned broth (from the end of 2011) which also has some meat pieces in it, and so far so good.

Ok... Thank you Alana.

 

[fabric]

So far, I have canned about 120 half liter jars of bone broth. Most of the broth that I have made will have a bit of a residue of meat particles that get through the strainer, which I would think is normal (and good). But I'm wondering if that could be an issue when canning the broth because, as far as I know, broth is processed for 20 to 25 minutes and meat should be processed for 75 to 90 minutes. Could the "meat particles" in the broth be subject to bacteria because the process time was 20 to 25 minutes instead of 75 to 90 minutes? Should this be a concern? Any thoughts on this?

I don't think it's a concern, since in order to become broth it was cooked for many hours, and it's just meat particles now, no meat chunks. Fwiw, we started using our canned broth (from the end of 2011) which also has some meat pieces in it, and so far so good.

We've started canning cooked roasts (beef/pig) with the jars of broths (like half and half) and would process them for 75min in the 500ml (1/2L) jars. When it's just broth, even with the meat chunks (the ones that fall off the bones) we would do the standard 20-25 since it was cooking in the broth for so long. Now, we haven't tried it yet so maybe we'll do a check next weekend to see if they are okay. There were some that were quite meaty so I'm hoping they turned out okay.

 

[Stoneboss]

So far, I have canned about 120 half liter jars of bone broth. Most of the broth that I have made will have a bit of a residue of meat particles that get through the strainer, which I would think is normal (and good). But I'm wondering if that could be an issue when canning the broth because, as far as I know, broth is processed for 20 to 25 minutes and meat should be processed for 75 to 90 minutes. Could the "meat particles" in the broth be subject to bacteria because the process time was 20 to 25 minutes instead of 75 to 90 minutes? Should this be a concern? Any thoughts on this?

I don't think it's a concern, since in order to become broth it was cooked for many hours, and it's just meat particles now, no meat chunks. Fwiw, we started using our canned broth (from the end of 2011) which also has some meat pieces in it, and so far so good.

We've started canning cooked roasts (beef/pig) with the jars of broths (like half and half) and would process them for 75min in the 500ml (1/2L) jars. When it's just broth, even with the meat chunks (the ones that fall off the bones) we would do the standard 20-25 since it was cooking in the broth for so long. Now, we haven't tried it yet so maybe we'll do a check next weekend to see if they are okay. There were some that were quite meaty so I'm hoping they turned out okay.

I did try some of the broth that I canned several months ago and it tasted just fine. But I was wondering if the meat residue was subject to bacteria (because it wasn't processed long enough), would it necessarily taste any different?... Then again, maybe I'm being overly concerned about nothing.

 

[zim]

My partner just built a shelf for all the jars in a dark and cool place in the basement. We are going to try to do 300 jars by the end of this summer. So far, we are doing pretty well. ;)

I was wondering about the right storage for the jars, my house is full of humidity I find fungus everywhere when is cold weather and all the things have a lot of fungus, in papers, woods, clothes, it is maddening ; so I wonder if the fungus could contaminate the jars?

Does the storage place must be dry, without humidity to avoid any contamination?
I have an incredible humidity here that I´m afraid that my jars get contaminated!

I don't think that humidity and temperature have any influence - as long as your jars have been properly sterilised and sealed. They are airtight after that and nothing should be able to enter the jar and there is nothing left in the jar with potential to grow. Again this applies only if the procedure has been done correctly.

I live in a very hot and humid environment too ...

:)

That´s a relief and a good news !!! I was so worry about that so I´ll can and see how it goes

 

[Chu]

I'm also considering and wondering if someone tried it so far canning butter? As Aragorn wrote there are different information on the web, one side says yes, the other no.
...

I canned ghee and it works fine. I made first ghee, and when it's ok, i put it in jar. There is no problem.

We have been canning a little bit of butter, and it comes out pretty good. Skimming the foam off the top, when you melt the butter, does indeed make it taste like ghee. Another trick is to raw-pack most of it, then just melt a little bit of butter to pour and fill in the jars all the way to the top before it starts foaming, process in the pressure cooker for 2 hours (with a 10 pound pressure cooker, it only needs 60 mins), and wait till it is cool enough to the touch. Then, you check that they a all sealed alright, you shake them vigorously, repeating this step every 20 minutes or so, and until the butter starts solidifying. The end result is closer to butter, although you will end up with a little bit of sediment at the bottom.

The woman who gives this tip has a video on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjpY3Kv5mRY

I agree with others about the propaganda. Fat CAN be canned, and it's safe.

 

[Breton]

I did my my first canning test with my system today. (All-American 15-1/2-Quart Pressure Cooker/Canner)

I put raw pork belly slices, with nothing more than a bit of salt, in one jar to test it out.

I guess I can pack the jars more full than I did this one since so much room was left in after the process.

Also, I suppose I did not need to use propane gas stove, but it sure was was easy to regulate the heat and pressure with it.

 

[Gaby]

I guess I can pack the jars more full than I did this one since so much room was left in after the process.

What I did for those was to ask for thinner slices, then I rolled them up and pack the jars full leaving the necessary head-space. With a spatula, I worked all my corners so no empty spaces would be left. I tried a batch a couple of months ago and it tasted great! It shredded though.

 

[Luis Miguel]

We have been canning for 6 months now, at the beginning we tried to get the fancy reusable canning lids , but we couldn't get them in any place in Mexico. So we did a little research and saw that some people also uses aluminum lids with plastisol - not reusable -, so we bought them, did a little experimentation and we have had great results so far.

With the heat of the pressure canner, the plastisol takes the shape of the jar's mouth and seals perfectly, they are also cheap. The only issue is that they are not reusable.

Of course we have had some cases when the lid didn't seal at all, but have been very few, just a couple. So far we have canned bone broth, meat, sausages, and bacon with no problem. I opened a jar from 5 months ago and it smelled and tasted as it were just made :), and it was completely sealed. Sometimes it's very difficult to open them because of the vacuum, but I make a little hole in the lid with a knife (it's going to the garbage anyways) and that's that.

 

[Carl]

Love the little thumbs up picture

 

[Nancy2feathers]

Hi logos5x5. I was wondering about the aluminum in the caning lid. Is there any aluminum exposed where it might seep into the food under pressure?

 

[Luis Miguel]

Hi logos5x5. I was wondering about the aluminum in the caning lid. Is there any aluminum exposed where it might seep into the food under pressure?

For what I have seen, the inside part of the lids have a very thin cover too, so the aluminum does not have contact with the food. Also, as far as I know, the suggested space (about 5-6 cm) between the top of the jar and the food, avoids any contact with the inside part of the lid.

Love the little thumbs up picture

 

[iagainsti]

Got my canner recently and did first run of meat canning yesterday, and It was a success! I went with pork jowls, as it is one of my favourites anyway; fatty, juicy and it's most affordable (around 3€/kg), it's quite similar in taste to pork belly, actually.

I raw packed the jars almost to the brim, and added some chopped garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper. I'm using standard "Euro" 750ml jars and lids, those described by Psyche way back. Processed them at 10psi for 80 mins, and all were sealed when I checked in the morning. Little fat did spill out, but the contents look fine to me, I havent tried any, as there's still some roast in the fridge to be finished :)

As for equipment, I found a cheaper alternative to Presto, it's a Mirro brand canner, and apparently the company has been producing them for quite a few decades. While weighing in pros and cons, this one won for me for several reasons; it's a weighted canner by default - no need for extra pressure regulator valve ("jiggler"), you get 3 weights (5,10,15 psi), white silicone rubber seal - some folks claim that's superior to black rubber seals, and it comes with 2 canning racks in 22qt version, not sure if that is the case with Presto 23qt? And all that at 30% lower price. (Got mine shipped to EU via ebay for 104€, import&tax incl. vs. 154€ for Presto with pressure regulator from Amazon.)

The cons are; no pressure dial gauge, I know, those ARE cool , not recommended for glass tops/ceramics (although there are reports of people using them on those with no issues). Most critique of the product is concentrated on somewhat lacky manual, which is true, but there is info on the net. (Jiggler weight has to be pressed fully down to properly seat, and jiggling 3-4 times a minute means 0,5psi above pressure, which they failed to mention). All in all I think it's a very straightforward and quality product worth considering, for those who still haven't bought one and plan to embark onto canning, fwiw.

Here are links to 22qt version on ebay, manufacturer's site.
_http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130765303714?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
_http://www.wearever.com/Mirro/Pressure%20Cookers%20and%20Canning%20Accessories/PressureCookersandCanners/Pages/PressureCookersandCanners.aspx

P.S. I'm in no way affiliated with either seller nor manufacturer, just pointing to alternative product for those willing to spare themselves few tens of euros. ;D