I just canned 38 quarts of pears, a 2 day project. Now I have a question. I’ve got a pretty good amount of frozen deer meat, and I like the taste of canned deer. Is it OK to take deer meat out of the freezer and can it?

yes.

it'll cost you a few jars of those pears...

it`ll be fine an it will also last longer then frozen

should be fine . you can unthaw meat , cook it and refreeze it , so i don't see why you couldn't cann it.

i'm with you special K , canned deer meat is some awful good stuff .

mark

I've never tried using frozen but it should work. My recipe is pack jars with cubed venison and half a teaspoon of salt, place lids on and screw rings on just so they stop, put in pressure cooker, when you reach ten pounds of pressure cook fo 90 minutes and shut off heat. Let pressure come down on its own and your done.

Happy Trapping, Joe

my grandma wants a couple deer shot for mainly for canning, gotta fry them backstraps though

My recipe is practically the same as Big Joe's. Only difference is mom always used un-iodized salt when she canned hers, and put 1/4 of a beef bullion cube in the jar. If your meet isn't freezer burnt, can it!

if you are going to "unthaw" the meat wouldn't you just leave it in the freezer?

SK , Been there done that . Last spring I had some deer froze and I decided to bottle some up just to try it . It is beautiful stuff . I also done some bear in the bottles and that worked perfect to . I plan on doing a lot of jars of each this fall . I just done a few jars in the spring to see what it was like . It's deliceous stuff and it will keep a long time in the jars

JD a lot of western PA and Ohio guys say unthaw when they mean THAW.

I can’t find anything telling me to preheat the meat before I put it in the jars. Should I heat the meat or pack it cold?

The way I do it is to cook the meat first in big pots. Then put the cooked meat into the jars and cover with broth and put jars in boiling water bath for 15 minutes or so to seal.

Current recommendations for canning meat are to only use pressure canning, not hot water bath canning. I know lots of people have done and still do it using other than the currently recommended methods and times, but there are safety reasons for using pressure canning, rather than hot water bath for meat.

I'm going to pressure at 10lbs for 90 minutes.

I soaked the meat in cold water and a little salt to get out the blood . Then I rinsed it off and packed it in the jars . added 1/2 tsp salt to each jar .Don't have to add any water to the jars . Put the lids on finger tip tight and Place in a large pot . Fill with water to the neck of the jars and boil for 3 hrs . This is a lot slower than the pressure canning ,but it does work when you don't have the pressure canner

I looked it up in my "Ball Blue Book of Preserving", and it says to simmer meat in water to heat throughout. Pack hot meat into jars, leaving 1 inch headspace, cover with cooking liquid, again leaving 1 inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process pints 75 minutes and quarts 90 minutes at 10 lbs pressure.

Our home economics county agent said she often would take meat out of the freezer and can it, so it shouldn't be a problem, in answer to your first question.

Swifty

I think you should send me some of them pears

we tried some other spices in it. but always go back to just the salt. it seemed to have the best taste. also boiled the bones to make a broth to pour over it. before the pressure canning. i guess the bullion would work. i like the broth just above the meat when finished. so when i take it from the cupboard to prepare it i can just scrape the layer of grease on top off easier.

Last 2 I have left, bear on the left and deer on the right .