canned vension

[charby]

I was busy in the kitchen from 6:30pm last night until shortly after midnight canning several pints of tasty venison. Lot of work trimming the membrane and fat off of all the meat but when I pop one of those jars in the future all the knife work will be worth it.

The funny thing is at work a lot of us always ask each other what we got planned after work and I got a lot of weird looks when I said I was going to can the majority of the deer I shot on Saturday. Not that I shot a deer, I work with a few hunters and a lot "retired" hunters, just that I was canning venison.

So is canning that strange of an ordeal for a 31 year old male to do?

I can all year round, mostly salsa, preserves and jams, thinking about making pickles next summer. Growing up my father always did the canning in our family so I don't find it all that strange myself. I do have a hard time finding new jars after October, but I did find out Sunday that the grocery store up the street has a limited selection year round. I was happy to hear that.

If you want to know about the deer, little yearling button buck, not sure if you can call it a buck because it's package was extra tiny and had ovaries on the insides. (not undescended testicles because I located them too) When I first shot it, I thought it was a young doe, but when I flipped it over, behold the family jewels. The buttons were about the size of a pea on both sides of the brow. So at my best recollection I think I shot a hermaphrodite deer, joking around with a few of hunting buddies we can't decide between Boe or Duck as the proper term. Interesting field dress that turned into a dissection, I wish I had my digital camera with me to photograph it.

[mtnbkr]

So is canning that strange of an ordeal for a 31 year old male to do

No and it's a good skill to have.

I've never had canned meat before, how do you use it when you open a jar?  

I've been hearing more and more about hermaphadite deer in the past few years.  Are they getting more common or are we just hearing about it more frequently...

Chris

[SADShooter]

I'm interested in learning more about the whole canning process (and wishing I had cared to pay attention in my grandmother's kitchen....stoopid kid). Any suggested resources?

[charby]

mtnbkr

Canned meat usage. The meat is fully cooked inside the jar, but it is recommended that you bring it up to serving temperature before consumption just to be safe. I normally use canned deer as a meat in say deer and egg noodles, also sometimes i drain the juice from the jar and bread the meat chunks and chicken fry them. I have only canned chunked up meat, but I have read you can can everything from a whole steak to hamburger patties.

SSD Shooter

A good start is here.

http://www.homecanning.com/usa/

This is a good book

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486278883/002-5386327-6528064?n=283155

and if you can find it

Kerr Home Canning Book (I found mine at a garage sale)

My advice from a young canning sage, skip the water bath canner and just pressure can everything, you can pressure can high acid foods and fruits some much quicker and safer. A new pressure canner is quite an investment at first, but they last forver. I use one that is over 30 years old that I picked up second hand a garage sale for $5 then put another $10 for new seals and inspection.

Also best advice of all Cleanliness is Godliness, plus keeps the microbes in check.

Charby

[SADShooter]

Thanks! I'm already a homebrewer, so I've learned the value of sanitation, at the price of skunky beer rather than botulism...

[K Frame]

Glad to see that you're pressure canning. I agree that you can cut down on a lot of possible issues if you pressure can.

What a lot of people don't know these days is that tomatos are FAR lower in acid today than they were even 25 years ago. The new breeds, especially the ones designed for market shipment and machine picking, can be a big problem.

[charby]

I forgot to mention that Mike, after I wrote the post I needed to run off to meet with someone and thought about that along the way. I grow/buy heirlooms, but I still pressure can. 17 minutes at 10lbs is a lot quicker than what it takes in a water bath for quarts.

Also if you do plan to can look into using wide mouth pints and quarts, so much easier to get the product in and to get the product out. I do my jelly in normal mouth 1/2 pint jars because the jar is the same diameter as the lid.

I'm a brewer too, I'm going to brew a batch of Mai Bock right after Christmas, let it ferment all winter on my basement floor. Now I'll need to get another carboy so I can make a few batches of wheat while that one is perking away.

Charby

[Larry Ashcraft]

Sandy and I do our canning together.  It's a nice late summer family activity.  We do pickles, salsa, red beets, peppers, jellies, green beans.  Our pickle recipe is really simple and always gets rave reviews.  I can have Sandy post it here tonight (she makes the brine) if you want me to.

Of course, pickles don't need to be pressured, nor do beets (or anything pickled, I don't think).  Peppers, salsa and green beans get pressured.  I guess peppers especially can really make you sick if they are not pressure cooked.

[charby]

Canning is a fun/rewarding activity, if swmbo is over when I am canning she usually just does her own stuff in the other room. He sewing machine seems to spend about as much time at my place than it does at hers. (She is a quilter) She actually turns up her nose at helping me prep and can but she likes to eat the rewards of my toiling.

Do you do your pickles in a crock or by the jar? I have a 5 gallon crock that my dad used to make pickles in. Its a newer crock that was produced in the 80's from Western Stoneware in Monmouth, Ill.

Your are correct on the pressure canning pickled stuff. I had a water bath canner for one summer I picked up a garage sale for acid foods and got rid of it after doing a batch jelly in a pressure canner, because of how quick it was, easier to heat up 1-3" water than a water bath canner. Plus I only need to have store one big pot for food preservation. I already have enough big stuff for brewing.

I have seen procedures for water bathing low acid food and meats, but its like 3-4 hours of boiling and I'd be scared because you can't get the temperature up to 240-250 degrees. Need that temp for a certain duration of time to kill the deadly microbes.

Charby

[Larry Ashcraft]

We can in jars, wide mouth quarts.

[Azrael256]

Did you happen to make any jerky?  I LOOOOOVE venison jerky.

[charby]

Did you happen to make any jerky?  I LOOOOOVE venison jerky.

Not yet, but I did happen to stay in a Holiday Inn express sometime in my life.

[kudu]

I haven't deer hunted for several years, but the last 3-4 deer that I shot went through the grinder and I cold packed the meat in pint and quart jars.  Some I added a little taco seasoning for ready made taco meat, some had BBQ seasoning and sauce added for a quick BBQ sandwiches.  All had salt added as standard for canning meat.  Just a few things that make quick easy meals that you might try.

A little taco seasoning goes along way in jars.  1 packet that you get at the grocery that says for 1 pound of meat needs to be spit between 5-6 pints or it will overpower the flavor.

[Larry Ashcraft]

Just a pretty picture of some of our canned goods this summer:



Since you didn't ask, I'm going to give you our pickle recipe anyway:

Ashcraft Dill Pickles:

Brine:

1 quart cider vinegar
3 quarts water
1 cup pickling salt

Boil five minutes - keep HOT!

Wash and cut ends off pickles.  Cut large ones in half or quarters lengthwise.

Drop:

1 clove garlic
1 piece dill
1 little red pepper (the dried kind you buy at the grocery store).
Into bottom of sterilized jar and pack pickles upright.  Place in hot water to heat jar.  Fill with hot brine.  Heat lids and jars.

1/2 bushel cucumbers + 2 batches brine = 16 quarts pickles.

My notes:  I grow my own cucumbers (and dill and garlic).  I plant a 50' row with plants spaced about 8".  The first couple pickings aren't worth putting up.  It makes just as much mess to can 6 quarts as 24.  Just slice and eat the first couple pickings.  When I'm getting a half bushel per picking, we start canning.  Pick, water, wait 3 or 4 days, repeat.  Our pickles don't require any brine soaking, in fact, they are usually in the jar within two hours of coming out of the garden.

50' row of pickles sounds like a bunch, but we put up as many as we need, and then offer cucumbers to whoever wants them, seeds and water are cheap.  When everybody is done, they get tilled under.

[stevelyn]

We can (real metal cans) and jar salmon all the time. Nothing like jarred, kippered red (sockeye) salmon mixed with sour cream and cream cheese for a delicious dip.
I grew up eating canned deer meat in WV. Trying to convince the gf to can some moose meat. Canning meat especially the tough cuts eliminates tenderizing issues-it pretty much falls apart.

Edit to add:

For those who are unfamiliar with the canning process or didn't pay attention in Grandma's kitchen, information can be obtained from your local Cooperative Extension Service.

[charby]

Larry,

Thanks for the recipe, I'll give it a try this summer. Steve rants and raves about your pickles doesn't he?

Charby