Canning partially frozen meat

My freezer went on the fritz, so I wanted to can up all the meat I had in there before it went bad. Now, because I had so much and was in a hurry I raw packed the chicken thighs (bone in), and pork loins that I had. These were still slightly to semi frozen when I packed them. I did not add any liquid as I had read for raw pack you didn’t need to add any liquid. I cut the loins into pork chop size pieces and long strips to fit into quart jars. I pressure canned them at 11 lbs of pressure. After doing more reading I processed them for 120 minutes since I was worried about them being still slightly frozen. I am worried that I somehow messed up canning them semi frozen. I also brought them up to a boil slowly since they were cold, so it took about 45 minutes to get a full boil and then another 10 to vent before starting to come up to pressure. If I boil all this meat at a hard boil or cook it in the oven for 10 minutes or more, is it safe to eat the meat? I know now to make sure they are completely thawed before canning, I just didn’t want them to go bad before I could can them.

Lisa
Maryland

Don’t apologize; you gave good information. Okay, here’s my opinion; even though you didn’t follow directions in packing and exhausting your raw meat (by placing full, open jars in a large pan of water in the oven and bringing the meat’s temperature up to 170 degrees, then putting the lids on and placing in your canner), because you processed extra long and took 45 minutes to bring the jars to a boil in the canner, plus let the canner steam for 10 minutes, I’d not be afraid to eat the meat if you took the regular precautions; look at the jars (is the jar sealed? does the food look normal?), sniff the opened jar (does it smell good?) then bring to a boiling temperature and hold for 15 minutes. Now this is just my opinion, mind you. Of course, properly canned meat is less chancy and I’m sure you’ll remember this next time you can. — Jackie

Double stacking jars in the pressure canner

I am new to pressure canning. I saw a picture in the recent BHM magazine of people hog butchering and canning the meat. In one photo they double stacked their full canning jars on top of each other in the canner. When you do this, do you have to increase time, pressure, amount of water? Please teach me how to safely do this.

Ginny Lowe
Falcon, Missouri

Double stacking jars in a canner is a great way to do more quickly. The only thing that is different is that you must place a rack between the top layer and bottom layer of jars to ensure proper steam flow around the jars. No, you don’t have to increase water in the canner, the processing time, etc. When I stack my jars, I also make sure to put the top layer so the top jars span two of the bottom ones so they aren’t directly on top of each other. I think this also helps with good steam flow. — Jackie