Make your Food Storage Awesome with Canned Meat!

I went to an activity at my sister-in-law's house (thanks Bryn!) where I watched a demonstration on canning meat at home.  I was surprised at how simple it was! 

Basically cook your hamburger, put it in a can, and process it in a pressure cooker (must use electric or gas stove)!  Easy peasy.  For chicken, you don't even have to cook it ahead of time.  Just cut it into strips and stuff it in a can.  The meat will cook while it processes.

The only trick is to make sure you are exact on processing times so you meat seals safely.  But seriously, how great would it be to have Taco meat (yes, you can add flavoring before canning) in your Food Storage?

Here are the notes my sister-in-law sent me on canning meat (Let me know if anyone is interested and we could possibly arrange a class out here!):

1. Clean jars (wash jars, boil lids and rings. Use tongs to handle the lids to avoid contamination)

2. Prepare meat (chicken can be sliced and used raw, strips of meat can also be raw, but ground meat needs to be cooked prior to canning)

3. Put 1/2 t. of salt in each jar, fill with meat leaving about 1/2 inch of space from the top. Add water to jars only containing ground meat. Place lids on top and screw on ring.

4. Fill Pressure Canner (it has to be a pressure canner) with 3 quarts of water, place jars inside (if stacking jars, place 2nd row staggered (not directly on top of the 1st row), and place & lock lid on

5. Turn on heat and wait for a steady stream of steam to be released from steamer (should take about 15 min)

6. Let vent for 10 minutes

7. Place the valve on canner

8. Let pressure get to 14 lbs (takes about 7 min)

9. Set timer for 75 minutes; making sure pressure stays at 14 lbs the entire time. You will do this by adjusting the heat. If the pressure drops below 13 lbs, you will need to start the timer over

Stay tuned next week for some great food storage recipes that use canned meat!