{"id":1706,"date":"2011-09-29T03:00:28","date_gmt":"2011-09-29T07:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/?p=1706"},"modified":"2011-09-29T03:00:28","modified_gmt":"2011-09-29T07:00:28","slug":"q-and-a-canning-meats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/2011\/09\/29\/q-and-a-canning-meats\/","title":{"rendered":"Q and A: Canning meats"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canning sausage patties<\/strong><\/p>\n

I processed 17 pints of sausage patties. I browned them and then put 4 Tbsp. of water and fat from the pan (as you suggested in an article I read) into each jar, which contains 4 patties. However, I did not fill the jars up with any additional water or other liquid. I thought that fat would render out from the patty and it would be sufficient. I processed the jars in my pressure canner at 11 lbs. pressure for 75 minutes. Everything sealed perfectly, but only the bottom patty is covered with liquid the other 3 are not. My question is are the patties good or should I throw them out?<\/em><\/p>\n

Angela<\/em>
\nVero Beach, Florida<\/em><\/p>\n

Your patties are still good. Most people cover the patties with broth to keep them soft, but I prefer them without it. When they are heated, you can add a little water while heating, if you wish, then let them fry down, evaporating the water. — Jackie<\/p>\n

Shelf life of canned meats<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’ve been successfully canning meat for years but with money being tight, want to determine the best financial avenue for storing meat. Cans of meat from grocery stores have a 3-4 year shelf-life. What is the approximate shelf-life for properly pressure canned meats kept in a dry, 70 degree storage?<\/em><\/p>\n

Ruth Knutson<\/em>
\nBroken Arrow, Oklahoma<\/em><\/p>\n

Who says store meat only has a 3-4 year shelf life? I’ve kept it for a dozen years or more and it does nearly as well as home canned foods. Home canned meats will remain good for as long as the lids are solid; the most common cause for them going bad is rusted out lids (often caused by damp basements or leaving the rings on during storage).<\/p>\n

In my opinion the “freshness dates” stamped on store cans are a marketing ploy meant to make people fearful and throw away perfectly good food and go buy more. It is true that foods stored for a lengthy time may lose a little of their nutrition, but they are still good tasting and definitely good to eat provided that the container is solid and store cans are not dented or bulging on the ends. — Jackie<\/p>\n

Flavor of canned meats<\/strong><\/p>\n

It seams that all my canned meat — beef, pork, lamb, etc. tastes the same. Can you give me suggestions to help improve the flavors of the various meats or is there a different way to process the different types of meat?<\/em><\/p>\n

Teresa <\/em>
\nGrover, Colorado<\/em><\/p>\n

You process most meats the same, but you can certainly vary the flavor by using different flavorings and spices. For instance, we like our venison canned with a little powdered beef stock added to each jar. I add black pepper and onion powder to my pork, and beef gets nothing but salt or a combination of seasonings such as onion, garlic, black pepper, basil, etc. Flavorings do not alter the time or pressure necessary for safe canning but can dramatically alter the flavor of the canned meat. Be a little stingy on using the spices at first as some really get strong during storage.<\/p>\n

Once you open a jar of your meat, get creative in using it. I don’t just dump my meat out into a saucepan and heat it up. I make such things as sweet and sour chicken, orange beef, tamale pie with Mexican seasonings in the ground meat, casseroles, stews, soups, and much more. (Check out my new book, Jackie Clay’s Pantry Cookbook for tons of recipes for using your home-canned meats and hundreds of other yummy things from your pantry shelves and home garden.) — Jackie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Canning sausage patties I processed 17 pints of sausage patties. I browned them and then put 4 Tbsp. of water and fat from the pan (as you suggested in an article I read) into each jar, which contains 4 patties. However, I did not fill the jars up with any additional water or other liquid. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,11,13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1706"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1706\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}