Monday, September 6, 2010

Canning Beef

A friend called to say she had purchased 1/2 a steer and wanted some help canning it.  Joyce had not cooked with a pressure cooker before and needed to learn the steps and get comfortable with the process.

Most of the meat was turned into hamburger and stew meat by the butcher.  What lovely red rich meat!  It even smelled good.

We set up three pressure canners outside on propane stoves and went to work.  The hamburger was cold packed into quart jars and cooked at 10 psi for 90 minutes.  The stew meat was browned and packed in cooking liquid for 90 minutes at 10 psi.  What beautiful jars when finished.  The fat is rich and will either be scraped off or cooked into the meat for added flavor.  The first day we finished about 1/2 of all the meat.

The only challenge we faced was the breeze.  It seemed to interfere with the propane flame and we had to sit and watch the pressure cooker gauges to be sure they stayed true to 10 psi or a wee bit above that.  Cooking outside can present this problem but by just adjusting the flame it can be corrected.  So I am sure the steer is all canned by now and the family has enough beef to get them through the winter.  They did freeze a few steaks and roasts as well.  Yum yum.

8 comments:

Christine said...

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Unknown said...

I tried canning hamburger and cut up chicken breast and it was a disaster...all the jars leaked in the pressure canner and smelled very odd when they were done...what did I do wrong??

The Frugal Fraulein said...

Marcy,
Sounds like you may have not left enough head space and some of the grease leaked out soiling the water. The food should have been ok though. Did the jars seal. If not it was surely the head space.
As to the smell, the canner will have a slight smell but should not be offensive. Remember some grease is apt to leak out and would be ok. I usually change the water when canning meats.

Kids and Canning Jars said...

Oh my what a good friend you are. I love to can meat. It is so yummy and easy to use later.

Where you been?
Melissa

Abby said...

My great uncle used to raise pigs and make then can his own sausage every year. Some of the BEST sausage I've ever eaten! I miss it. But maybe I can do it myself! Great blog.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing this link, but unfortunately it seems to be down... Does anybody have a mirror or another source? Please answer to my post if you do!

I would appreciate if a staff member here at frugalcanning.blogspot.com could post it.

Thanks,
Harry

billi said...

just starting blogging and found this site. WOW!!! Thank you for simple explanation. I think I can try this.

Chef Jay said...

Canning beef is interesting....like any form of preservation of a food product it is very important to know the ins and outs of the entire process to ensure that you are completing the procedure correctly. For more info on canning foods please check out my website.