I was chatting with a woman at Kroger a while ago and she has canned meat most of her adult life. As you said, it gets cooked during the canning process. I wonder how many quart jars it takes to can a side of beef or a good-sized deer.
I don't know anything about canning other than "water bath" or "pressure," and I've never done either. When my sister and I make jelly I just cook the fruit and fill the jars; she does the canning part. Here's one video I watched...
When we go home from Queensland in August I’m going to check my books ( Again ) about what they said about canning meat. thanks I’ll watch that video @Beth Gallagher
I didn't make it through the entire video, but she did say that pressure canning is required when using any kind of meat. Steam canning is a different animal altogether. It is a technique used mostly by the Amish to can pickles, jams and other things. Some of them may use steam canning for meats, but it is extremely hazardous to do so, as it can leave the entire canning batch as a culture medium for botulism.
It seems fine to me. She is pressure cooking the meat for 90 minutes, so the meat will be thoroughly cooked. The issue with canning meat is to kill the botulinum spores that can contaminate meat fish, or veggies. That is why they have to be pressure canned. The spores can survive in boiling water but the bacteria and toxin are killed/denatured. It would probably be safe to water bath can such things, then boil them for at least 30 minutes after opening the can/jar, but that is just a dangerous practice. Cooked meat in a sealed jar is how botulism is cultured, so keep that in mind.
I thought that steam canning is the same as pressure canning, which caused the confusion. As I said, I've only seen water bath or pressure canners in my limited experience, so now I know there are three types of canning. Thanks. Edit: Apologies to @Yvonne Smith for sidetracking the sauerkraut topic!!
We were just talking to daughter this week about visiting and us showing her how to can. Most we canned at once was 65;bs of chuck roast, it was on sale for %2.49lb's. about 10 years ago. What a job! We are down to just beans and carrots now no meat canned in about 4 years.
Its fine long as we don't keep it much over a year. Its delicious. Plus chicken makes cheap dog food and easy to do we cook bones and all canning softens the bones.
Similar to water bath canning, but it allows much larger batches to be done. That is why the Amish sometimes use it, but it is not accepted as safe by the USDA or other authorities.
Apparently not. You actually steam the jars. The USDA does not recognize it, but a couple of university extension offices testes it for fruits, jams & jellies. Everyone says to not can meat, tomatoes or veggies this way. image from the Utah State Extension. 1-10-2014