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SemperFi
08-31-2011, 09:30 AM
I dont have any experience with this other than deyhydrating and smoking , but I know people have been using salt for centuries , can someone explain the other way to save meat products, by the way Im new here!

crashdive123
08-31-2011, 11:04 AM
Drying, freezing, refrigeration, vacuum packing, salt curing, sugar curing, smoking, canning, artificial food additives, pickling, lye, jellying, potting, jugging, irradiation, pulsed electric field processing, modified atmosphere, high pressure food preservation, burial in ground, controlled use of micro-organisms, biopreservation, hurdle technology. OK I cheated a bit....source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_preservation

Here are a few threads on the subject.

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?16687-smoking-for-long-term-preservation&highlight=preservation
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?16045-Cabinet-Smoker-Advice&highlight=preservation
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?14825-meat-preserving&highlight=preservation
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?12826-Putting-Food-By&highlight=preservation
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?4814-Meat-in-the-wild&highlight=preservation
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?10346-Salt-and-Sugar&highlight=preservation
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?11343-Manual-on-Simple-Methods-of-Meat-Preservation&highlight=preservation

There are more, but you kind of get the idea.

SemperFi
08-31-2011, 05:03 PM
cheat away , I love it , Will be looking into high pressure for sure , salt/sugar

Sourdough
08-31-2011, 05:28 PM
When it gets nippy we just dump a moose, wrap it in old sheets, and hang it all winter so the air can get to it. Need meat, just cut off a hunk.

crashdive123
08-31-2011, 06:43 PM
SD - can you cut it - or is a meat saw/hack saw the tool for the job.

SemperFi
09-01-2011, 09:27 AM
in a temperant climate like Alaska you might be able to get away with that , I dont believe I could swing it here in Oklahoma!

Sourdough
09-01-2011, 03:50 PM
SD - can you cut it - or is a meat saw/hack saw the tool for the job.

Clean Sharp "Thin" axe, like a Estwing, works best for cutting With the grain of the meat, Just tap it on the head with a clean log/stick thingie.

oldtrap59
09-21-2011, 08:39 PM
Another thread where my answer is canning. At this house we can alot of meat using a 12 qt pressure canner. Venison,wild hog,fish,beaver,rabbit and squirrel are among some of our favs. Most meats can be ready in 65 to 90 mins depending on the jar size.

Oldtrap

Rick
09-21-2011, 11:16 PM
I've never canned meat but think it would certainly be worthwhile. Do you rinse the fat off the meat with hot water or just drain the fat and can it? I've read both ways.

oldtrap59
09-22-2011, 02:17 PM
Most of the meat we can is browned before it goes in the jars. That seems to take care of most of the fat. Venison,beaver,rabbit and most small game don't carry much fat. As far as hog I trim as much as possible while processing the meat. We can the larger citters in cubes (deer,hog and beaver) so you can get rid of alot fat while cutting it into cube size. When canning fish fat isn't much of a problem. Most of our fish canning is suckers and if you like canned salmon you'll probably enjoy them.

Oldtrap

Rick
09-22-2011, 02:59 PM
Sorry. I meant after you cook it do you just drain the fat or do you rinse the meat under hot water.

oldtrap59
09-23-2011, 12:26 AM
Just drain it. What little fat that gets canned along with the meat doesn't seem to effect taste or storage.

Oldtrap

SemperFi
09-23-2011, 09:38 AM
how exactly do you (meaning you not the internet ) can meat , Im very interested and would like to try it!

oldtrap59
09-23-2011, 02:00 PM
SF, It really isn't to difficult. First thing you will need is a decent pressure canner. The one we use is a 12 qt mirro that I've had for probably 30 years. If you need to buy one instructions will probably be included with your new canner.
As far as how we do it here.

#1 venison, pork or other large critter.. We cube the meat to about 1" pieces(can also use strips of meat or grind and make into patties or meatballs whatever you prefer) As we cut the meat up we remove as much fat as we can.
If your working with small game or chicken you can do this with the bones still in or bone it out after you have precooked it.

#2 WE use a large cast iron pan to brown and precook ( to med rare) the cubes or strips we have cut from the large animals. As each pan full is finished we pour off the grease in the pan.
Again small game and chicken we boil till it's tender enough to pull off the bones. After it's finished again we pour off the water and grease.(this can also be canned as stock with some more cooking and additions for taste.)

#3While we are precooking we get our jars cleaned up and ready for processing in the canner.

#4Pack the precooked meat into your jars leaving about 1" of clearance. If your doing strips or patties you probably will want to use wide mouth jars. With cubes or meatballs a standard jar is fine. Fill jars by pouring hot water(we use boiling)to within 1" of the top.Top off your jars with clean and hot lids and rings.

#5 Depending on your canner this step may vary but for the one we use we add 2 qts of water to the canner and 13 pints or 7 qts of meat. Put the lid on add the pressure control and fire up the stove.( if you haven't used your canner or not for a longtime you may want to make a dry run with no jars to see where you need to set the heat control to maintain the pressure you want.)

#6 Once the canner comes up to pressure start your time. 10 lbs pressure 65-75 mins for pints.. 80-90 mins for qts.

Believe me once you do this a few times it isn't as tough as it sounds.hope that this helps you and goodluck if you try it. Btw I know that boiled meat(as with the small game prep) kinda limits you but when you take it out of the jar just roll it in flour and fry till browned. Turns out pretty good.

Oldtrap

SemperFi
09-24-2011, 12:48 AM
thats the same thing as a pressure cooker? I dont follow with the jars in the canner?

crashdive123
09-24-2011, 06:57 AM
SemperFi - I thought this might be helpful for you.


Is It Safe To Use Pressure Cookers To “Can" Foods?

In a word - NO. Pressure cookers have less metal, are smaller in diameter, and use less water than pressure canners. The result is that the heat-up and cool-down times will be less than for the standard pressure canner. These heating and cooling times are part of the total processing time that was determinedin lab testing to establish a reasonable margin of safety for low-acid foods.

If the heating and cooling periods are shortened, then the process time at pressure may not be enough to destroy targeted microorganisms and provide a safe product. If the food is underprocessed, low-acid canned foods are unsafe and can result in foodborne illness, including botulism poisoning, if consumed.

Source: http://missvickie.com/canning/cookercanner.html

oldtrap59
09-24-2011, 01:31 PM
SF To can the meat it needs to be precooked. Fried boiled however you want to do it. Then it's put into mason jars capped and then put into the canner for a set processing time. We have a pressure cooker here also and in the directions for use it states not to use it for canning. I looked at the site posted here by Crash and saw the canners that were shown there. Nice canners no doubt but also very pricey if you need to buy one. Our local Walmart has one (16 qt size I think) which handles 7 or 8 qt jars at a time for around $60 or $70. I know a few people that have bought them and seem to be happy with them. If you are really going to get into food storage at home that's not a bad starting price.(these also include a good set of instructions) Also remember you will be using this same tool to can almost anything that comes out of the garden or from a local farmers market once you get the hang of it. Here at our house the canner is used for different things from late May till probably late Dec so it pays for itself many times over each year here.(our pantry probably has in the area of 250 jars now with the fall and winter hunting seasons to go yet) Hope this helps.Btw I see in the site posted by Crash that the USDA(sorry but not one of my favorite gov offices) that it's not safe to can mixed items. We have canned homemade soup for years now using our canner's instructions and never had any problems. Just can using the time for the ingredient in your soup that is the longest. We add meat to our soup so use the time for it.YES I'm a hard headed old F.A.R.T.

Oldtrap

crashdive123
09-24-2011, 05:47 PM
I would think that soup is a single item, but then again, I do not pressure can (yet). The purpose of the link I provided was to show that they recommended NOT using a regular pressure cooker for canning and the reasons why.

Rick
09-24-2011, 07:08 PM
This is probably the be all end all of canning sites. Anything you want to know about canning can be found here:

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/

oldtrap59
09-25-2011, 05:34 PM
I understood the reason behind your post Crash and I agree that you shouldn't use a cooker for canning. As far as the soup goes, it's a case of follwing directions. The book that came with the canner says always time the canning process for any mixed product using the longest canning time in the mix. In this case meat. If your soup was all veggies it wouldn't be a problem as most of them are processed at the same timing. Hope this makes my statement at bit clearer.Btw Crash. It kinda surprises me that you don't pressure can when you garden as much as you do. Here we freeze also but can much more and I believe meat especially stores better canned then frozen. Also some veggies I prefer the taste of the canned product better then frozen. JMO

Oldtrap

crashdive123
09-25-2011, 06:17 PM
For our garden, we dehydrate quite a bit and eat quite a bit. We actually give away more than we eat or put up. It's sort of our good will garden. If times were tougher we probably would put more up and hope for some good will from those that we've helped. We enjoy spreading the bounty from our garden to help out a few neighbors.

SemperFi
09-25-2011, 08:08 PM
this is a great topic and thank everyone for the responses I seriously will be looking into this in the coming days!

Rick
09-25-2011, 10:53 PM
Yeah, it's peaked my curiosity as well. This might be a bit goofy but I'm going to try to can brats next week along with some sausage and hamburger and chicken. My wife reminded me that the old folks invented refrigeration to get away from all the work canning. Honestly, some folks just don't understand about preps.

SemperFi
09-27-2011, 09:29 AM
Rick that sounds like my wife!!!Not to mention McDonalds!!!

oldtrap59
09-27-2011, 01:23 PM
Good for you Crash. We give away and trade some of our goodies here also. I used to take alot of my extra stuff to the local foodbank. Now I just grow a smaller garden as I've gotten older.

Glad to hear that some of the members have decided to try canning as way to store meat. Goodluck with it.

Oldtrap

Cousin-IT
10-22-2011, 12:47 AM
problem with canning for me is.... where will i find a machine to do it that doesn't run on electricity? me being here for dooms day preps. the closest thing i can think of to that is preserving the meat in glass jars like you would jam..... but i'm thinknig that wouldn't end to well

quick jam making guide
#1 get very clean jars and lids
#2 cook up jam in pot (fuit pulp and sugar)
#3 when correct consistcy get real hot for 10 minutes
#4 pour into jars
#5 do up lid

...... :D .......once again doubt it'll work on meat/ curries/ or whatever

shiftyer1
10-22-2011, 01:46 AM
I grew up on canned foods, my favorite was sweetcorn. To this day I cut it off the cob in chunks:) I also have a couple jars of rhubarb jam that my grandma gave me in the freezer. I may have to dig one out. On special occasions with bigger gatherings grandma always had beef for sandwhiches in a crockpot. She used canned beef for this and it was wonderful, always moist and tender. I assume it was roast but i'm not sure. I really can't think of anything thats been stored in this manor as tasting bad. Except one batcg of applesauce that didn't seal.

I like to smoke meats or jerk them but this really limits your use of them. If I was living on jerky i'd just about kill for some canned beef:)

Rick
10-22-2011, 10:42 AM
Cousin-IT - A pressure canner only needs a heat source. A gas stove of any type can be used to regulate the heat. It doesn't require electricity. And no, the method you outlined with NOT work for canning meats or veggies.

Cousin-IT
10-24-2011, 01:02 AM
damn i thought so...... but at least it was creative :D (silver lining)
-how long does meat sealed in the plastic vacum thingo last without refrigeration?

Rick
10-24-2011, 12:39 PM
If you are talking about raw meat my guess is a few hours. Bacteria contaminates all food sources regardless of how careful or clean we are. The purpose of pressure canning is to kill the bacteria that is inevitably there. In addition, depending on the source of meat, worm, nematodes, eggs and cysts may also be present and vacuum packaging will not kill any of those. Pressure canning, of course, will if done properly.

If your reference is cooked meat then I'd add an hour or two. Again, bacteria will contaminate the meat and begin to grow even though it has been vacuum sealed.

Unless you've processed the meat in some way, such as smoking, dehydrating, salting, etc. the meat is going to be contaminated with bacteria between the cooking process and the vacuum packaging. Even though it is vacuum sealed it still needs to be refrigerated.

Durtyoleman
04-06-2012, 06:29 PM
While looking up ways to preserve some rabbit meat before I am overrun and eaten out of house and home, I looked into pickling. I found an interesting option to saltpetre for pickling.
http://www.ehow.com/list_7469436_natural-alternatives-saltpeter.html

D.O.M.

Old Professor
06-03-2012, 02:18 PM
My SIL and I are big into pressure canning. In the last two weeks I have pressure canned 24 pints and 6 quarts of spaghetti sauce and yesterday made and canned 22 pints and 6 quarts of vegetable soup. My SIL has made a connection with an egg producer to buy at a very low price, hens and the occasional rooster that he culls from his flocks. We get the birds live, slaughter and clean the birds and then simmer the cut up birds overnight in electric roasters with some vegetables and spices. The next day we strain out the chicken parts and remove all the meat and strain the stock. We can the meat with some stock but really focus on canning the stock. It sure beats store bought stock. I have canned venison in the past and want to do so this year again. I am going to try canning ground burger this year as well. I can for three reasons: canned goods do not take up freezer space, they last longer than frozen foods and I can't remember to take things out of the freezer to thaw! It is so convient to just open a jar! (Obviously I live alone and just cook for myself - mostly) We do have vaccum sealers which we use when butchering to put up steaks and such but even with two large freezers, there seems never to be enough freeezer space. I have a 12 qt and a 23 qt pressure canner and my SIL has a 23 qt as well. I have come to prefer wide mouth jars for solid foods like mear and vegetable soup and regular jars for broths and liquid type items.

Rick
06-03-2012, 07:06 PM
Canning hamburger is a snap. I have many jars of hamburger several of chicken and several of chicken broth. Good stuff.