Canning for the first time
 

My wife bought me a 22qt canner for Christmas this year. I tried it out on some deer meat and goose this weekend and I opened one of the cans after I finished and WOW, I was really impressed. The meat was real tender and did not even have a hint of that wild game taste that my wife cannot stand. She even ate some.

I didn't try using any sauce or spices this time because I wanted to see how it would come out with just the meat by itself. But, next time I'm gonna try experimenting with that stuff and see how it affects the taste.

I wish I had started doing this years earlier, this seems like a real tasty way to eat deer meat.

RE: Canning for the first time
 

Smokepole
Not to make fun of you, what in the world is a 22 qt. Canner?

Biggest dang Canner I'd ever hear'd of.
You can put in 22 quart jars to Can. WOW!
More realistic, 7 quart jars, 9 pints.
nohunt

RE: Canning for the first time
 

Canned venison is very handy to have in the pantry. Try using it in place of ground beef in any Mexican dish. You will never use hamburger again!

RE: Canning for the first time
 

try a clove of garlic in some,and a shot of tabasco in the next.
got the reciept here some weeks back and it is real good.


I am not a hunter I am a whitetail population reduction specialest

remember keep your back to the sun, your knife sharp, and your powder dry.

RE: Canning for the first time
 

Nohunt, By volume the canner will hold 22qts of water, I guess that's why they called it a 22qt. Canner. But, you are correct, it will only hold 7 quart jars or you can stack the pint jars and it will hold around 16 I think.

RE: Canning for the first time
 

I usually take minced garlic, some rosemary, and pepper and mix them in a bowl, and then place a spoonful of this mixture on top of the meat before you put the lid on and can it.

RE: Canning for the first time
 

Smokpole,
Haaaaaa, didn't mean to get you or anyone on anything over Canner Size. Just funnin wid ya.

Did I read right, you did 'cans' in the canner??? Cans or jars???
Or is you blowin smoke?????

I ain't into cans. What I can't see, I don't trust. Plus cans are all throw away once you use them. May as well buy store-bought pricewise. Even a Widemouth Jar Lid, offhand I believe they cost me 22-cents each.
Use once and toss away. By the time I add up all the energy requirements used to put that jar into the pantry, not cheap!
no hunt

RE: Canning for the first time
 

I'm still tryin to pick-up on this Canning lingo. I used the glass jars.

For some reason I had one that didn't seal? after I removed all the jars from the canner and set them on the counter, I could hear them "pop" as they were sealing up. All but one of them made this "pop" so I checked and and sure enough, no seal. Are you really suppose to crank that ring down tight or are these lids suppose to seal themselves??

RE: Canning for the first time
 

Hey Smokey,
Just because they don't seal, don't fret. ! out of the lot one is not a bad number. Pretty good percentage. Crank that ring , by hand, as tight as you can. If they don't set, just use them within a week. One word of advice, CLEAN lids and rings and jars. good luck. Capt Brad.

RE: Canning for the first time
 

Smokpole,
Ahhhhhh yes, "Canning Lingo".
Well I didn't know how deep you were into it yet.
Cans versits Jars and so on.

Having a lid not seal, guess what goes to the fridge to be eaten first.<img src=icon_smile_cool.gif border=0 align=middle>

Maybe when a person first starts out, &quot;The book says,,, *.*&quot;. And you try to follow it to the letter. Me? I don't really preheat my lids - - - just hot water from the tap.
Preheating is to soften the rubber, not to germans kill.

Wiping the lip off with a damp rag just before putting the lid on???
If I have a clean jarfill without drips and spilage (I always look closely), I never wipe any jarlid. Slap the lid on. Be done with it! Trying to recall how I do it from automatic habits, my hands are usually wet. I'd say I dip my fingers into the hot lid water and run a wet finger around on the lip just to make sure.

Screwing the 'CAPS' on.
I suspect you cranked the caps on tightly and that is why your jar didn't seal.
Jusy twist it down until it makes good contact. not tight at all. The air inside that jar has to blow out and when cooling the lid seals and a vacuum is formed.
nohunt

RE: Canning for the first time
 

Smokepole,
I forgot to add,,,,,
The jar that didn't seal for you.
Try inspecting the jarlip after you've consummed the food and the jar is sparkling clean. Could be a baaaaaad jar lip???

U kno, all those Canning Jars can be frozen too. I'd advise just using Widemouth Jars for freezing. The Smallmouth Jars tend to break when food swells during freezing.
nohunt

RE: Canning for the first time
 

Why would I want to freeze the jar and contents? I thought one of the big advantages of canning is that I can store them on the shelf and save freezer space?

Again, I'm learnin here so any insight will be much help.

RE: Canning for the first time
 

smokpole
CANNING 101, in session again. Haaaa
hey Smoke, we just don't can everything we want to SAVE UP.
e.g. I got a friend picking up a ton of oranges in Calif., hand picked for me.
Can't Can Orange Juice. Freezing is the only way to save it for later. Those widemouth canning jars work perfect.

You make that big pot of stew or whatever and you guys eat all you want. Not enough left over to fire up Canning over. Freeze it. Put stew meat in jars while warm to hot , lids on and into the freezer it goes.
It will vacuum seal. Honest, it will. Stay fresher that way.

I jest tossed in freezing for alternative uses for all the jars you will acquire.

I run across a 1900 Canning Recipe Warning today at an old favorite web site of mine and it made me think of you just starting out and what other's comments about Canning were. Canning is not that old and there were a lot of deaths over Botulism.
The ole later 1800s & early 1900s Home Canning Recipes for meats were a NO NO to do.
Back then it was primarily 'Hot water Bath' method. Boiling at 212 degrees just will not kill out Botulism spores.
Rest easy, you run the temps up to 240-degrees in your Canning of meats.
nohunt

RE: Canning for the first time
 

My first year canning also. After all the reading, seemed we could only can the tomato products and pickles because we didn't have a pressure canner. Froze everything else. Seems you can get deathly ill if not done correctly. Be careful, this is where grandma comes in handy.

RE: Canning for the first time
 

Bud Light
If you don't already have one or two Canning booklets.
Next time you go shopping at some big store or to Wallyworld (Wal-Mart), there's always an aisle with Canning Supplies. Usually a booklet by Ball (Ball Jars & Lids) or a couple others is sold there too.
Quite a few things you can 'Hot-Water-Bath' Can without a Pressure Cooker.
nohunt