Meat storage

[crashdive123]

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]

this is a great topic and thank everyone for the responses I seriously will be looking into this in the coming days!

[Rick]

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]

Rick that sounds like my wife!!!Not to mention McDonalds!!!

[oldtrap59]

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]

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

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

[shiftyer1]

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]

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]

damn i thought so...... but at least it was creative (silver lining)
-how long does meat sealed in the plastic vacum thingo last without refrigeration?

[Rick]

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]

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_nat...saltpeter.html

D.O.M.

[Old Professor]

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]

Canning hamburger is a snap. I have many jars of hamburger several of chicken and several of chicken broth. Good stuff.