Canning Venison

It's deer season already--archery starts in mid-September and goes through the end of the year. Hubby is involved in some metro hunts and has had one already as well as one for our oldest daughter. They haven't had the chance to shoot anything yet, because so far their hunts have been antlerless deer only. So the bucks got to just walk on by this time around.  And so did the turkeys.

However, on one of those hunts another guy shot 2 and then didn't want them because he still had meat in his freezer.  Guess he doesn't have 5 carnivorous kids living at his house.  He gave them both to hubby and he brought them home to process.

We are still not done cutting and packaging it up for the freezer, but I had enough stew chunks to pressure can a batch of 6 quarts.  I'm hoping for at least 6 more by the time we're done cutting.

Basic Directions:

Check the Ball Blue Book for more detailed instructions.

1. Cut meat into 1" chunks (venison, beef, pork)
2. In a large pot, cover meat with just enough water and heat through.
3. Add 1 tsp. salt to each quart jar, 1/2 tsp. to pints.
4. Put hot meat into jars--leave 1 inch head space.
5. Cover with hot water. (I usually heat up plain water instead of adding the liquid I used to heat the meat up in the first place.)
6. Remove air bubbles.
7. Place lid and ring on jar.
8. Can in pressure canner at 10# of pressure (adjust for altitude) for 1 hr. 30 min. for quarts or 1 hr. 15 min. for pints.

Usually we just open this up and add it to our soup starter for an easy winter stew--1 qt. of meat to 2 qts. of soup starter.  You can also add some diced tomatoes or a little bit of salsa to spice it up--both to taste.

Rachel over at Adventures of a DIY Mom also has instructions on how to can deer meat.   

She adds peppers and onions to her jars.  I might have to try that version and do a comparison with my family.