I've been so busy that I haven't felt like posting lately. I have been canning though, I assure you. I've been keeping my eye on the price of ground beef for a while now and finally one of my grocery stores had it for $1.49/lb.

I hadn't ever canned ground beef before but I was looking forward to it since my chicken turned out to be so easy. 

Let's get started

Prep work. 

1. Get your meat. 

You don't have to brown your meat all the way, it's just for texture when you open the can. Some people don't like it really soft so the browning gives it some definition. As my meat was getting done, I would drain it, then stick it in a stock pot with a little water on low heat to keep it warm. 

Also, here's a little trick I learned about browning ground beef in Chemistry. If you stick a little water in the pan while it browns, the fat and the water don't like each other and the water keeps the fat from reabsorbing into the meat. Sticking the meat into the stockpot works the same way. That is why I wasn't too worried about using a fattier package of ground beef than usual. 

3.

When each batch of meat is almost done, dump some onions in the pan to cook a bit. You don't want them in there too long because they have enough time to cook in the pressure canner. You just want to mix them evenly in with the meat. I used about 1/2 and onion per pound of meat.

4.

Line up your clean jars and using a funnel, carefully spoon your meat into the jars. About 1 lb of beef fits into each pint sized jar. You need about 1 1/4 inches of head space because the ground beef won't expand like the chicken did since it is already cooked.

5.

But, because I'm not putting the meat in raw like I did the chicken breasts, the meat won't make enough of its own juice so I need to add some. This is some of the water from the stock pot that held the beef. It turned into a mild beef broth that I used to fill my jars with. I just used my gravy separator (which by the way, I love!) to make sure I didn't put any fat back in. Fill the jars to cover all the meat, keeping in mind your head space. As you pour, take a rubber (or non-metallic) spatula and work out any air bubbles that might be in the meat.

Option 2. 

On my second batch of ground beef, I used tomato sauce to fill my jars with. These jars I'm planning on using in spaghetti, sloppy joes, chili or anything that I would normally end up putting tomato sauce in anyway. This way the meat is already flavored. I watered it down by a ratio of 1:1 to make it easier to pour.

6.

If you want your meat seasoned a little bit more, put 1 tsp of pickling salt in each pint. The flavor will mix as it is in the pressure canner. Make sure only to use pickling salt. Regular table salt will make your jars turn foggy. You could also just put 1 tsp of  beef bouillon in instead.

7.

Make sure to wipe the rims of your jars really well with a hot, clean towel. You don't want any grease on the rim to prevent your lids from sealing.

8.

You are ready to put the lids on the jars. Use a magnetic lid lifter to avoid burning yourself. I've don't this one too many times when trying to just use a fork to lift them.

9.

Put your jars in your pressure canner, and follow the instructions that came with it for pressure and timing based on altitude. This is the Presto 1781 23-Quart Aluminum Pressure Cooker/Canner. For ground beef pints at my altitude I used 13 lbs of pressure for 75 min. For a step by step process in pressure canning check out my post on canning chicken. 

10. Ta Da!

So they might not be the prettiest looking jars of food, but believe me, it tastes fantastic. The tiny bit of congealed fat at the top is totally normal. I made tacos out of my first jar and no joke it was exactly like the taco meat you get at Taco Bell. Mmmm so good! I'm very happy with how it turned out. 

Don't forget to label your jars! This meat will stay good for a year or longer. If you have a jar that didn't seal, just stick it in the fridge and use it soon. It's fun to see how your meat turned out anyway.

As with any canned meat, the USDA recommends boiling/ heating the meat for 10 minutes once it is opened just to make sure all bacteria is killed.

Ground beef is one of the things I'd been wanting to try canning for a long time. I'm glad I finally did it and am happy to post about it. I'd love to hear some of the things you've been wanting to try too. 

Happy Canning

I put it off until one of my grocery stores had a deal on boneless, skinless chicken that I couldn't resist. I ended up buying 15 lbs.

I was surprised by how easy it was. You need to follow the instructions that come with your pressure canner. They can vary slightly, but sometimes it's nice just to see the process.

The nice thing about canning meat is that you can put it in the jars raw. They cook in the pressure canner for so long that there is no need to cook beforehand.

Directions

Prep work. 

1.

Get your chicken and cut off any visible fat. You can put the chicken in as whole breasts but I wanted to slice mine into tenders. That way I figured I could reduce air bubbles. I sliced my chicken and seasoned with a little pepper as I went. You don't need to season them if you don't want to though.

2.

Stuff your raw chicken into clean mason jars. 1 pint jar holds about 1 pound. Leave 1 1/4 inch head space. The chicken will release its juices as it cooks and you don't want it to touch the lids or it might make them not seal.

               

I put chicken base Better than Bouillon in my jars. It just intensifies the flavor of the chicken as it cooks.You can use a bouillon cube or powder instead if you want.

3.

Wipe all your jars with a hot towel to remove any chicken juices that might've gotten on the rim. Use a magnetic lid lifter to lift lids out of hot water and place on jars. Screw rings on til finger tight. They have to be able to release some air so don't screw them on ridiculously tight.

4.

Place lid on your pressure canner following directions from manual. I'm using the Presto 1781 23-Quart Aluminum Pressure Cooker/Canner. Turn to high heat. Vent steam for 10 minutes. Place on vent block and bring to pressure depending on altitude. Once pressure is reached cook for 75 minutes for pints. Slowly turn down the temperature as it builds pressure until it is just right. You need to babysit the canner to make sure that the temperature doesn't drop below what you are supposed to can it at or you will have to bring it to pressure again and start the time all over. It isn't as hard as it sounds. You can find a setting on your stove where it will hover around the right temperature without building or losing pressure. For me, it was on 4. If you have a gas stove it is much more precise.

6. Once the 75 min are up, remove the canner from heat and let it slowly release pressure. You do not need to do anything, this happens naturally as it begins to cool. Once the pressure gauge reads zero and the pressure indicator drops, you can take off the lids, and remove jars. Place them on a towel to cool. 

7. Don't forget to label your jars. Canned chicken will last for over a year, but I doubt you will be able to wait. I made Chicken Enchiladas with the chicken and my husband without knowing that I used my canned chicken declared them my best yet! He was nervous about me canning meat because he was afraid of how it would taste so I didn't tell him til he'd already eaten it. Tricky, tricky, I know.

ENJOY!

When I first opened the can, I tasted it to see how it turned out. It smell and tasted just like the canned chicken you can get at the store. I buy that usually just for making chicken salad sandwiches but with your canned chicken, you can use it to make anything you usually need shredded chicken or chicken chunks for. And it is so easy to shred. I basically just pressed my fork against it and it fell apart. 

It is recommended to heat/boil canned meats for 10 min after opening just to make sure that any bacteria is killed. If you are going to use it in a casserole or other dish that needs to be heated anyway, I don't bother with preheating, I figure it gets hot enough for long enough while cooking.