Very good point Odyssey. I'll check up again on the beginning of this thread. I think Laura may have mentioned something about it but I'm a bit stressed now so I'll got to bed and hopefully have a clearer head in the morning..
Thank you.
Canning meat/what Equipment is needed, how much canning is necessary
- Thread starter Cosmos
- Start date
Very good point Odyssey. I'll check up again on the beginning of this thread. I think Laura may have mentioned something about it but I'm a bit stressed now so I'll got to bed and hopefully have a clearer head in the morning..
Thank you.
Please, please can I have some advice. I did my first canning today after a trial run yesterday. It took ages for the pot to heat up to where the steam started venting. The venting was very faint so I held up a black piece of paper to see it better. After 10 mins I set the timer for 90 mins and placed the regulator. I maintained the pressure between 11 and 12 throughout so that went perfectly. I filled the jars to the neck curve but when I took the jars out the meat had shrunk by about -2 inch and the fluid from the meat (I didn't put any fluid in myself) doesn't cover the meat.
With the canner taking so long to reach pressure and the meat shrinking so much I was wondering if the meat is o.k. The caps have sealed.
With the canner taking so long to reach pressure and the meat shrinking so much I was wondering if the meat is o.k. The caps have sealed.
Debra
The Living Force
Hi @Tuatha de Danaan! Wow, sounds like you are having an interesting adventure in meat canning land!
You did great, it sounds perfect!
Pressure canning means that the foods in the jars do not need to be covered in fluid.
The food is "Sterilized" and sealed in the jar, and some juice at the bottom is fine.
I did hot dogs, dry, in the jar, and they are awesome.
You can see in the picture, some fluid, and a bit of fat cooked out while pressure canning them.
One trick I learned is to put your Canner on the stove, with the 3 inches of water in it, and start heating the Canner and water as you prepare your food and pack into the jars. Turn the burner up, and get that water going.
That way, when your jars are filled, the water is boiling, or near boiling, then carefully put the jars in.
The length of time to get to "Steam Venting" is shortened greatly, since the jars start to heat right away.
Does that make sense to you?
Oh Debra, thank you so much for getting in touch and soothing my nerves,.
That 21 ltr canner is so big on the stove I feel it's waiting to attack. Great idea on starting the canner warming the water. I thought of that but feared the jars would crack. Those ltr jars I've got are too big for two of us so I'll order some smaller ones.Those hot dogs look fantastic, have you ever done ordinary sausages.? I can't tell you how grateful I am for your expertise. really feel frayed at the edges at the moment. Watching that monster for an hour and a half was a challenge in itself but got all my ironing done.
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Congratulations on your first canning effort, Tuatha de Danaan. It will get easier with practice. As Debra said, the shrinkage is nothing to worry about. I did some chicken legs yesterday (raw pack) and when they were done it only filled half the jar. So I'm going to squish a lot more in the next batch now that I know how much space is left after processing. If you're worried about the meat being covered, you can always add some beef or chicken stock. Just remember to allow for how much fat will come out of the meat or poultry.
Ground beef is a good thing to have around, too. It's still relatively cheap here, and you can fit almost .6 to .7 kg into a 1l jar. I've been partially cooking it in the oven to drive off some of the water and shrink it down. You can put 7 kg divided into two baking pans at 150C for about 40 minutes. Let it cool a bit, then spoon into the jars with the appropriate amount of salt. When all the meat was in the jars, I divided up the juices in the pan between them, and put about 3cm beef broth into each one (from the store, I cheat
) , then poked the jars with a chopstick to squish it down and make sure there were no air bubbles at the bottom.I start my canning in cool water, because like you, I'm worried about the heat shock. By the time I've got the jars all ready, the meat has cooled enough to not worry about it. But you find the method that works best for you. As you get more practised, you'll find it easy to do a couple of batches a week!
Thank you herondancer. Your advice on chicken legs and minced meat also valuable information. The manual given with the canner is very very basic so all suggestions gratefully received. I've managed to get a bulk pack of bacon ( which is not organic) but I thought it was a good standby for family who are not into the ways of the Forum...if you get what I mean. I've also ordered smaller jars so when they turn up I'll have a go with that.
Learning is fun.......... but a little advice along the way in priceless. Thank you again.
Hi Jenn, Yes the caps sealed which amazed me because I never heard them pop. This canning is the damnest thing ever. You understand the process but isn't it crazy how it works and how they found it worked all those years ago.
Doing my second run at canning today,....Carrots. I'm still having problems not seeing steam coming out of the vent pipe. I can hear a very faint hiss but it is very faint. The air vent/cover lock emits lots of water bubbles, should it do this before the vent pipe starts jumping. Any ideas how to time my 10 minutes if I can't see steam.
If I can sort this out everything else works wonderfully.
If I can sort this out everything else works wonderfully.
I may have missed it, but is your canner new or used? Does your canner have a little black safety seal button in the cover (American brand)? It's important that it be seated properly, as it seals before the venting starts. If your canner has a rim seal where is meets the pot (Presto brand) make sure that's seated properly and in good shape. It should be resilient, like quality heavy rubber. It would be a good idea to have a spare in storage, too. They do wear out.
It's normal for a little bubbling from the pipe as the steam pressure builds up, which should stop as the venting becomes stronger. If the bubbling is coming from the base of the pipe, as opposed to dripping down from the pipe opening, check to see the airlock vent (the stovepipe thing) doesn't have any cracks around it, though if the canner is new there shouldn't be any. That being said, your unit may just be slow to build up pressure. I have two distillers, same design, but one runs about 20% faster than the other, for no discernable reason.
Good luck with the carrots!
Thanks for replying herondancer. My canner is new, did two test runs and thought the pressure would be greater when I started to use it properly and when the 3 quarts of water were added. On my first canning spree with only 2 Litre jars I found it hard to find a steam flow. On the second run, with my carrots, I lost water level in the jars of about 1-2 inches. Would this water loss be associated with waiting longer than 10 mins for the steam flow. That's the problem I have. I really thought keeping the pressure at 11psi would be my main problem but that works wonderfully. I've checked all components and made sure there's no blockage in the vent pipe.
The carrots look good except for the water loss.
After a few attempts and failing to get a steady flow of steam I've gone back through this thread and found the below entry by sebbe. It sounds as if he gets the air vent/ cover lock up before the 10 mins venting. That's not the sequence in my manual. Should the air vent/cover lock be up first.??
No, it's important that all the air be exhausted from the canner before putting the weight on the vent.
What sebbe means is that he made the canner more airtight by oiling the rubber ring that lines the lid of the Presto canner. Then the steam flow from the vent got stronger.
He still waits for a strong steam flow from the vent, which means all the air has been driven from the pot and has been replaced with steam. This helps create the pressure in the pressure canner. So if you're still having problems, it could be your canner is not sealing well at the start, but then gets better as the pot heats up. Does that make sense?
You said the manual wasn't informative enough. Here's a video that may round it out.
Thanks for that herondancer but sebbe says WHEN THE AIR VENT/COVER LOCK IS UP he then looks at the vent pipe. see below. I haven't oiled my gasket as it's new but I'm getting a good seal anyway. Thank you very much for supplying the attached video which I will now watch and maybe, hopefully something will crop up. Thank you so much for replying. It's so frustrating as this is the last thing I thought I'd have a problem with.
When the air vent/cover lock is up, i look the vent pipe and i wait for 15 mn for a strong and continued steam, it is very important.
Ah, I see. Is he talking about the little cylinder that pops up that is opposite the vent pipe? I had to think about it for a minute, because I have an American brand canner, which doesn't have that little cylinder. It only has the rubber button safety seal and a vent pipe which the weight goes on.
In any case, you might try putting a little oil on the gasket as sebbe talked about and which is also mentioned in the video. My canner doesn't have a gasket, but I still put a little oil around the inner beveled edge of the pot, where it meets the bevel of the lid.
Keep practising. So long as you have the right pressure level throughout the processing time and good seals on your jars at the end, you're good.
