Q and A: canning meatloaf and pressure canning tomato paste

Canning meatloaf

We have a question about canning meatloaf. Or, fancier, canning terrines. We bought a slicer recently, and my wife said, “Why couldn’t we can the terrine fancy meatloaf) in a wide mouth jar and slice it when we pop it open?” I think this is a great idea.
 
So, we need food safety input of course. Canned hamburger is obviously OK. Adding spices would be the next hurdle. We don’t like high fat stuff, so our terrines are as low fat as they come. Second, do you have any recipes or experience canning meatloaf in a jar? All input welcomed!
 
Hope your recovery is going well, Jackie.

Tim Inman
Randolph, Iowa

Thank you. I’m slowly gaining on it.

We used to can meatloaf in wide mouth jars. But then the experts decided that it was not really safe as it’s a very dense product and it’s possible that the food in the center of the jars might not be heated high enough, long enough, for safe processing. So now we don’t can dense foods like meatloaf, refried beans, pureed pumpkin, etc. But you CAN make your meatloaf recipe into meatballs and can those with either a tomato sauce or mushroom sauce (not thick!). The steam and boiling liquid in the jars is able to freely circulate around the meatballs, rendering it safe to process. On opening, you can place your meatballs in a casserole dish and bake as you would a meatloaf. The taste is the same. You can find recipes for canning meatballs in my book Growing and Canning Your Own Food. — Jackie

Pressure canning tomato paste

I am curious why I can’t find any recipes for pressure canning tomato paste? I see recipes for pressure canning every other form of tomato, but nothing for paste. I would like to pressure can paste if possible because (I am assuming) it would can up a lot faster than in a bath canner. What are your thoughts?

Cathy Holcombe
Ault, Colorado

While we used to can tomato paste, it is no longer considered safe. Tomato paste falls into the “foods too thick and dense to safely process” category, along with meatloaf, pureed pumpkin, and refried beans. Experts feel that it is possible that the paste in the center of the jars might not get hot enough for long enough for safe processing as it is so thick. So now we can tomato puree and sauces but skip the paste. To get paste, just cook down a relatively thick tomato sauce before using as paste. — Jackie