Canning Pork Sausage

[hillbillygal]

This will be my first year canning pork sausage. I need to know if I need to add any liquid to the jar or just ball the meat up and seal the jar. Thanks for any advice and help.

[docjered]

This is a good "Ask Jackie" question, but I think she has addressed it somewhere in the archives. When she cans meat, she does not add water unless she is doing stewing meat or chicken: then she has a broth to work with when she opens the jar.

[hillbillygal]

I canned 20 lbs. of the sausage last week. I didn't add any liquid and it made plenty of juice itself. It is SOOOO good! I processed at 10 lbs. for 75 minutes and had 27 pints.

[AuntJenny]

canned sausage is great! We plan to purchase a hog from a farmer this year and I will be canning up alot of sausage..yum!!

[whitewolf]

Did any of you add sage to your sausage? I remember reading somewhere that if you canned sausage, not to put sage in it because it took on a strong taste during storage??? Really would like to can some, but I like sage in mine. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[hillbillygal]

Our sausage came already seasoned from the ham house so sage was included. Every can has been very good and I have no complaints about the flavor! I'm already down to one can and am planning on canning twice as much next year.

[whitewolf]

Thanks hillbillygal!!!! I am trying to get AWAY from my freezer as much as I can. So I am going to give this a try.

[whitewolf]

OOOOPS! Forgot to ask: is there anything I need to do before canning it. Do I just make the patties and put in hot jars or do I need to brown first....?

[hillbillygal]

Okay, officially all the books say to brown the sausage first. That said, my mom taught me how to can my sausage by balling the sausage up and putting it into the hot jars without browning. I would say to use the method that you feel safest with.

[whitewolf]

Well, I think I will try it both ways and see which I like the best. Thanks again hillbillygal!

[sbemt456]

If you were to use ground pork and add sage then process, I would recommend you use a little less sage then normal due to the fact that sage cooked in any dish for a long period will get slightly bitter. Especially if you use home grown from the garden as it is more potent then the store bought product. This I learned from my own mistakes.
Good luck.

stella