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deerhunter
01-29-2006, 06:34 PM
Anybody tried canning game meat,tried some moose from Newfoundland the other day and it was to die for.My mom has a canner and want to try it any tips would great.Thx Rick

BCKID
01-29-2006, 06:50 PM
My Brother and Uncle did it for years. Just follow the tips in the canning book. BCKID

bsa30-06
01-29-2006, 06:58 PM
i tried some that my uncle did about a year ago, pour it out and add some potatoes and veggies makes a great stew.

Ozone
01-29-2006, 07:00 PM
Yup I do it couse I live on a sailboat with no reefer so i do burger and cubes. I have a freind who does half a moose every year in the field for the same reason. The way I learned was from mom couse she did it to. Just be carefull and follow the instrutions carefully. Ask mom for the recipe, thats what she's there for.

dizzydan
01-31-2006, 10:19 PM
I have done both moose & venison.Only problem is a Qt. sealer is to much for 2 people with spuds & vegs..DAN>>>:lol: :wink:

MichelD
02-06-2006, 11:47 AM
Posted this above under Bear hunting, but if you missed it there, here it is again:

I didn't get a bear last year, but a buddy just gave me half a bear he had frozen in quarters. Tasty tender beast too!

Well what do you do with one-quarter of a thawed out bear?

Can it.

My wife thawed it out, cut it up into roast sized chunks, browned it and and roasted it in the oven until it was 1/2 done, then cut it up into one-pint portions, put it into jars and canned it.

She took the nicer stew meat and browned and half stewed that too and put it in cans.

Now we have twenty jars of canned bear meat to take camping and hunting.

It is real convenient, you get back to camp at dark exhausted and hungry, and instead of having to worry about taking the time to cook anything that takes a while, put on some rice or pasta, open the jar and heat it in a pan and there 's dinner!

echo
08-09-2006, 08:33 AM
I have canned stew and it is fantastic -- done it with beef and elk--both were deliscious--I just followed the recipe in a canning cookbook by Jean Pare--the lady who does the Company's Coming Cookbooks! When you open the stew you just have to thicken it and heat and enjoy!!! Also thickening with rice flour is much easier than with wheat flour---because rice flour has no gluten so does not clump up like wheat flour tends to :wink: ---so surprise your family with lump free gravy or sauces! :shock:

Marc
08-29-2007, 02:25 PM
Awesome, I just looked in my freezer and I've got 4 packs of moose/deer stewing meat that was put in there in 2005 on my last hunt to the mainland :shock:. I still have a deer roast that willyQ gave me from a deer he shot back in 2004:eek:. I'm in the process of thawing this meat out and bottling/canning it for my trip to the mainland this fall. We'll see how good a job wrapping paper does. I hope it ok I hate o waste wild game. It was burried under a bunch of bear and deer meat taken afterwards.

It's very possible I'll be alone on this hunt so the easier I can make things for myself now the better.

Hilgy
08-29-2007, 02:32 PM
all the Newfies I work with out here in the patch bottle all thier deer. I am more of a roast and steak guy but some of the stuff they make is pretty tasty. It is nice when it is -40 and you can heat some up on a burner box on an N2 pump and have a nice hot meal to warm you up.

Wildman
08-29-2007, 02:53 PM
Awesome, I just looked in my freezer and I've got 4 packs of moose/deer stewing meat that was put in there in 2005 on my last hunt to the mainland :shock:. I still have a deer roast that willyQ gave me from a deer he shot back in 2004:eek:. I'm in the process of thawing this meat out and bottling/canning it for my trip to the mainland this fall. We'll see how good a job wrapping paper does. I hope it ok I hate o waste wild game. It was burried under a bunch of bear and deer meat taken afterwards.

It's very possible I'll be alone on this hunt so the easier I can make things for myself now the better.

Jeesh, I dont want any of that.......talk about well aged.

Wildman
08-29-2007, 02:54 PM
I have canned lots of salmon.......never meat though. My old man keeps bugging me about bottling him some meat but....maybe this will be the year.

NEEHAMA
08-29-2007, 03:02 PM
yes i canned up some moose, just love it.

cube up some moose, and chunk or two of onion, little olive oil, seasoning salt and a little garlic.

couple drops of hot sauce and it's the best!

we cut our prime steaks and roasts first then the little tougher pcs get canned or pepperonied

highcountry88
08-29-2007, 04:24 PM
Our family has canned for years....just three notes of caution:
1. Follow the recipe
2. Get yourself a good thermometer.
2. Watch your temperatures and times like your life depended on it.

Underprocessing (time or temperature) can kill you.....honest...

Otherwise have fun, the canned meat or stew is great to warm up in camp on a frosty day....enjoy

johnes50
08-29-2007, 04:34 PM
Add a little liquid smoke to your jar and it tastes real good.

Jagermeister
08-29-2007, 04:51 PM
How many of you use a pressure canner to process your foods?

highcountry88
08-29-2007, 05:22 PM
I would recommend a pressure canner for all meats and vegetables otherwise the processing time is verrrrry long for these foods and can sometimes make the meat mushy or overcooked.

Fruits can be be done in a boiling water bath.

One other tip to help the cooking process is I have one of those heavy duty propane burners (like the ones used for deep frying turkeys) and it brings the water temperature up within a few minutes instead of 40-60 minutes on the stove.....

Marc
08-29-2007, 05:55 PM
Well all I have is a normal canning pot. I've got 8 half quarts sitting in the pot right now waiting for the water to boil.

mapguy
08-29-2007, 06:55 PM
carefull don't put in green peppers may cause botulism
pressure canner is the only way to be safe

Marc
08-29-2007, 10:48 PM
Well I cooked it for 4 hours so if anything survived that then it deserves to kill me :mrgreen:

mapguy
08-30-2007, 06:42 AM
my memory is bad but i think it's supposed to be 8 hrs.you can probably find it online .usually taste pretty good .
we don't can it my wife cooks up stuff or i do and she puts it in a large freezer bag enough for 2 to 3 people we freeze it so that it is flat we fill a cooler with them and its usually good for at least a weak safer than the canned and not overcooked .
mind you i still enjoy the canned stuff

trapperdan2061
08-30-2007, 07:18 AM
I use a presure canner cut meat into 1in cubes fill jar leave 1in head space clove garlic teaspoon liquid smoke, 90min in pressure cooker at 10lbs let cool and your set.

trapperdan2061
08-30-2007, 07:19 AM
tthe boiling method that you did requires about 9 to 10 hours in the water with 1in over the top so one needs to keep extra water on the boil

Buchaneer
08-30-2007, 07:59 AM
I do it all the time. I am from NFLD and canned (bottled as we called it) moose (or caribou) was a regular meal in my home growing up. The process is very simple, cube your moose meat - usually the stuff the butcher takes for hamburger or the chuck cuts. Place 3-4 small pieces of salt pork 1/4 inch cubes- available locally at Save On Foods- in the bottom of your jar. Fill the jar with meat. Then add a litte onion if you wish, a few more cubes of salt pork, add a little salt and seal for the canning process. Deer or elk would work as well.

For canning in a hot water boil -hand tighten the lid - place in your canner (room temperature water), heat to boil and cook for 4-4.5 hours. If using a pressure canner (this is what I use). Add water in the canner so the lids of the jars are not below water level. Once the recommended pressure is obtained-I think 500- cook for 2-2.5 hours.

Once it is removed from the canner - let the jars cool undisturbed so they seal tightly. Before storing away, just tighten the lids again.

You can eat it cold. But my choice way of eating it, is to hat it in a fry pan and place it between buttered homemade bread. Others I know use it as soup base as well.

Hope this helps.

MichelD
08-30-2007, 05:53 PM
Others have given the canning instructions. I have to confess, it's my wife that does it at my place.

She uses a pressure cooker. I think she cans at 15 pounds pressure.

She started doing it in 1976 when I got my first bear and because of family prejudices at the time, my parents wouldn't allow bear meat in the deep freeze.

So she made roasts in the oven first, and when they were about half done, took them out, cooled them and canned them in pint jars.

We ate that bear for years. It was a pretty big bear. I never measured the skull or hide, but she rendered nine gallons of bear grease out of the fat. We had that around for many years too.

I like having canned meat around.

It's great for hunting trips. Come back at dark after a hard day slogging inthe bush or on the mountain and all you have to do is boil up a pot of noodles or rice, empty the jar of meat into it to warm up and there's dinner.

Marc
08-30-2007, 07:48 PM
Well I just tried a jar tonight that didn't seal properly as I used an old lid on that one. It was awesome, the meat was nice and tender and still tasty after being in the freezer for over 2 years.

The other 7 jars are sealed tight and ready for travel.:biggrin:

Mr Cam
08-30-2007, 08:18 PM
I'd like to can some venison if I am fortunate enough to get one this year. I'll sear it in a cast-iron pan and add 1 teaspoon of salt. My experience with canning salmon is to pack the jars with little air gaps, leave some
"headspace" like a half an inch. No need to tighten the screw lid much. Bring the pressure up gradually, keep it at a minimum of 10 lbs. (once it's pressured I find the electric stove is on about 4) don't open doors or windows. Most importantly, after the 90 minutes at over 10 lbs., you can turn off the heat, but be in no rush to get the jars out. After the gauge goes down to zero, give it a while, the jars will still be bubbling, take them out and put them on a cloth on the counter, you will hear them pop (seal) for half an hour.

highcountry88
08-31-2007, 12:30 PM
Mapguy and trapperdan have some key points. The cooking time with a boiling water canner are really long as compared to the pressure canner.

We can short cut the time, but the risk of food poisoning (botulism, salmonella and staph) all increase when the processing time or temperature is shortened.

If the bacteria that causes the food poisoning is present in the food, it needs to be killed. Botulism is the most serious (kills easily) and is present in most soils (so any canning any vegetables are a risk, like meat is), salmonella (found commonly in poultry) can kill adults, but mostly children or elderly or sickly. Staph can kill adults, but again hits children or the elderly harder.
Staph is the most common and found in buffets where food is kept at the wrong temperature.

Highly acid foods (likely pickles, jam, juice, etc) is no risk and the worst you can have is it will go moldy or ferment.

To be 100% safe, we just need to follow a good canning books guidelines "by the book", which seems like a pain in the rear, but is has to be done.

I am like MichelD...my wife does most of the canning in the house...(I just happened to spend 25 years in the food processing business) so if I can help with any questions, just PM me....I will get the answer from my wife :)

johnes50
08-31-2007, 03:23 PM
The best gift I ever got for canning was a 25qt. "American" brand canner. The aren't cheap, $200-250.00 for a new one, but they are very high quality and have an interference fit so you don't have to replace rubber gaskets, and they have a proper pressure gauge. John

JAYDEE
08-31-2007, 03:27 PM
The best gift I ever got for canning was a 25qt. "American" brand canner. The aren't cheap, $200-250.00 for a new one, but they are very high quality and have an interference fit so you don't have to replace rubber gaskets, and they have a proper pressure gauge. John
I've got the same canner. Works great even after 20 years plus.

mapguy
08-31-2007, 03:49 PM
highcountry good answer my wife is the expert also

Ian F.
08-31-2007, 07:13 PM
If you did not grow up with a family that has bottled/canned as long as you remember, use a PRESSURE COOKER!

You don't get a second chance with botulism!

Very best,

ian

MRBucks
08-31-2007, 09:12 PM
I read a heck of a lot about canning in the last few weeks as I have been putting up a ton of veggies from the garden. From what I gather the reason for the pressure canner when canning certain foods, meat and fish especially, is to be able to reach a sustained temperature of 240f, or more, as botulism isn't killed at 225f (boiling point). It actually thrives in an environment without oxygen. Apparently dirt, when it comes to vegetables, is the source of it. I don't know where it comes from meat and fish though.

Canned moose is excellent, as others have attested to, and well worth doing.

Marc
12-22-2007, 05:33 PM
Well my wife bought me a pressure cooker for Christmas, it's now wrapped and under the tree so I'll have to wait until after Christmas to try it out on some of the deer I got this fall. I'm also going to give a bit of bear meat a try and see how that works out.

I received a bottle of moose from my wife's uncle in Newfoundland. He made it up with some onion soup powder mix and it turned out awesome.I'm guessing he just stirred it in with the meat chunks before bottling it.

I'm hoping to maybe do up some bottled duck if I get so lucky over the Christmas holiday.

M.Dean
12-22-2007, 06:59 PM
We have canned lots over the years, the water bath works but the canner is way better and safer! I would braze the meat at high heat and season the hell out of it before putting it in the jars, a touch of Liquid smoke in some of them, make sure every thing is clean and very hot when you put the meat in the jars!!! Keep the kids out of the kitchen!!! Do Not use old lids!!! Do not use any jars that are chipped or have any hair line cracks!!! Have fun, its very rewarding!!! Go on line for cook times and "elevation" levels, it makes a difference!!! I also canned smoked fish, went like Candy!!!