Meat on the "do not home can" list?

RustBeltCowgirl

Found this on Morning Chores. Item #10 is meat. I'm curious to see what our more experienced canners have to say about it.

https://morningchores.com/what-not-to-can/

Torey

I am very surprised to see meat on the list.

If its not safe to can, someone should tell the people who write the canning books at the major canning jar companies; Ball, Kerr, Bernardin, etc. And the manual for the All American canner.

All these publications will tell you that it is perfectly safe to can meat and fish of all kinds.

I've canned a variety of cuts of venison, beef and chicken as well as salmon and trout and have never had any issues.

kbmbillups1

They had a class on canning meat at church. Teaching people how people in the past preserved meat. Very interesting.

vickeym

The National Center for Home Food Preservation also disagrees with her. Perhaps she should try a little research instead of gossip or family fears.

For anyone who has never read their site this is the section on meats...

https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can5_meat.html#gsc.tab=0

Michelle D

In the pressure canning class in the academy here at TGN she does say that for canning ground beef you want to cook if first to remove the fats and grease. Maybe that kind of idea is where the confusion is coming from. I agree it seems odd to have meat on the list.

JennyT Upstate South Carolina

My mom canned meet this year. She did cook it first. She also put up flour and rice. I believe she has a special book she's been using to help her put up food because of all the shortages. There are jars of tomato sauce, pizza sauce and pickles she's also done this summer.

I'll see if I can find out the name of the book she's using for reference for all she's done so far. 😊

LaurieLovesLearning

I know that the government here frowns on people selling home canned meat. The Hutterites here used to do this all the time with their chicken in particular, but their big & very popular public "yard sale" & food sale days were shut down completely over this specific issue even though they have a commercial kitchen. It was about "safety" & licenses.

dipat2005

As long as you have your pressure canner gauge checked and you are following one of the books mentioned before- it is safe to can.

I have had canned tuna-done for a church project and canned with vegetable broth. The tuna was out of this world delicious!

I also have eaten canned beef and it was very good!

JennyT Upstate South Carolina

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/915470#Comment_915470

So I talked with my mom and the information she had for canning the meat was in her Ball cookbook. The mixes, flour, and rice were from theprepperproject.com. It was under "oven canning for long-term storage."

I forgot the mixes she put together also this summer were pancake mix, biscuit mix, and soups using dehydrated veggies and such. All of those recipes came from the site also.😊

She canned everything, meat included, in her pressure canner.

VermontCathy

@LaurieLovesLearning The US government doesn't agree that meat should not be home-canned. The official USDA publication gives instructions for canning meat.

You can download the booklet for free at this site:

https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html#gsc.tab=0

The fifth chapter covers poultry, seafood, and red meat.

Michelle D

@VermontCathy do you know anything about the legality of selling home canned goods? I have always assumed that it would not be legal with licensing being all that it is here in the US.

LaurieLovesLearning

@VermontCathy It had to do with them selling it outside of their community, not canning it themselves. I believe they have a commercial kitchen too.

I think they have run into issues before with their kitchen being "public" because it feeds many families at once...even though it's their own people. None have more than a microwave (maybe) in their homes and I'm unaware of any having an oven.

Covid inspectors were also very hard on them because of their lifestyle (the community kitchens were not acceptable) when restrictions were brought in. People groups who do things differently from the majority are often an easy target for those controlling types. They came down on the communities pretty hard. Lots of open discrimination was seen. It was very cruel.

We have many overzealous inspectors in Canada and the rules are often so vague that it seems as though each one has their own interpretation. That makes things quite difficult for many people.

Owl

I have canned meat for years without any problems but I do remove visible fat and don’t raw pack it. If I’m making spaghetti or chili to can I cook it and refrigerate overnight so I can remove the fat. I also use rice instead of noodles because THERE IS NO SAFE WAY TO CAN FLOUR! Something about the way it creates areas of thickness that the heat can’t properly penetrate it, I think, but (of course) me being me had to try it and (wow) they knew what they were talking about!

Some spices and garlic and onion tend to intensify over time in the jar so take that into account. My family loves the flavors of both so they appreciate it. I haven’t ever done fish but I recently read a recipe for making sardines and I would LOVE to try that!

water2world

@RustBeltCowgirl Thanks for posting. It was interesting to read others views!

Thanks also to JennyT Upstate South Carolina I will have to look for a Ball canning book!