Canning deer meat????

wabi · Post by **wabi** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 8:47 pm

I know at least a couple forum members have mentioned canning deer meat. How do you cut it for canning, and what type recipes/dishes do you use it in?
Thinking of trying it with the next one, since I found my chest freezer had died sometime in the past week when I opened it this evening. Luckily it wasn't full of venison! Lost a few pounds of beef, a turkey, several packages of fish, and some veggies. The good news is that I had a wild turkey in the other freezer, so Thanksgiving will still have a main course. Was able to get all the deer meat I was bringing home from the processor in mine & my mother's freezers, but if I kill another I may need more storage space. Canning might be a good option since I already have everything to do it. Good thing I broke down & bought a new pressure cooker/canner last summer

BOB VANDRISH · Post by **BOB VANDRISH** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 10:50 pm

Wabi,some friends of mine from Vermont used to do their own canning of the whole deer,and it was just a fantastic product to eat!
I cannot give you the exact recipe,but they would cube the meat like you would do a stew,put it into jars with an amount of water,some salt and alum as a preservative,and then do the canning process with the lids left loose,and then tighten them after they were taken out of the canner.
The meat would develop a gelatin,that would solidify when cooled,and all they would do is take the contents out of the jar,reheat in a frying pan and what a taste!
Sometimes they would combine the venison with vegetables to make a stew.
The meat would change colour to an off pink,and had a flavour unique to the process.
You would have to do some experimenting with the ingredients,until you found the taste that you liked,but I can tell you this is worth the effort.
They would debone the whole animal to get every edible pound of meat for canning.
The canned meat would keep for years.
If you want,I can contact my brother who has kept in touch with these people,to see if I can get a more precise recipe.
Bob.

beaglelvr · Post by **beaglelvr** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 9:03 am

i did moose meat this year,cut into small pieces add 1 teaspoon of salt,1 teaspoon margarine or butter and about 10-12 peapercorns and put down in pressure cooker for 90 min

DrDan · Post by **DrDan** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 1:31 am

This was an interesting article... Especially since my brand new freezer - bought in April 2007 started crapping out and I had to process lots of meat fast. Just finished up the last 6 pheasants tonight and back under control with another new freezer. It's nice to have lots of food that doesn't need electricity to store. Never know what's happening with the power companies anymore.

DrD

DrDan · Post by **DrDan** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 10:48 am

Hey - yah never know when some maniac is gonna blow the power grid off the face of the map. Electricity is not to be relied upon in my humble opinion.

Grizzly Adam · Post by **Grizzly Adam** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 11:43 am

Wabi,

I come from a real old timey home-canning family, and have canned mountains of meat. I could tell you exactly what to do, but I believe there's a better way for a novice than relying on anybody's advice. I'd recommend that you buy a canning manual and refer to it.

The old classic is: The Ball Blue Book of Preserving

You can find it on Amazon or from many other resources.

The Ball Blue Book won't lead you wrong. Well-meaning people might.

Fred · Post by **Fred** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 12:17 pm

I have a Grandson that loves canned deer and noodles

wabi · Post by **wabi** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 3:54 pm

I still haven't canned any deer meat, and I DO have a copy of the Ball blue book. Still in the procedure of moving, so I'd do good to even find the pressure canner right now.

Looks like I'll have to do some searching before deer season gets here!