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Canning Meat, Fish, Poultry & Wild Game

Debbie Stolpa

Meat, poultry and game are low acid foods. They must be processed in a pressure canner to assure their safety. Most recipes recommend 11 pounds pressure with a Dial Gauge Pressure Canner or 10 pounds pressure with a Weighted Gauge Pressure Canner for required times.

Choose only good meat for canning, and handle it quickly and with total cleanliness, because bacteria grow rapidly in meat held at room temperature. If you have a large amount, store the part you're not working on in the refrigerator.

You can:

• Start with properly cleaned and chilled product.
• Can fresh meat and poultry within 2 days or freeze it.
• To can frozen products, thaw in the refrigerator until most ice crystals have disappeared, then handle as if they were fresh.
• Trim gristle and fat off meat before canning. Fat left on meat melts and climbs on the sides of the jar during processing and may interfere with the sealing of the lid.
• Salt is optional in canned meat and poultry.
• Fish should be canned immediately or frozen until processed.
• For large game animals (deer), follow beef processing times and methods.
• For small game animals and birds, follow poultry processing times and methods.

Hot packing or raw packing of product in canning jars is an option in recommended recipes - with a preference towards hot packing of meat and poultry. Poultry can be canned with bone in or deboned. For canning meat products,

always follow tested methods

from the USDA or University of Minnesota Extension. Do not substitute, shortcut, or guess. Botulism, which is the most severe form of food poisoning, is usually due to improper home canning. Processing times and pressures vary for meat, fish, poultry, or wild game. Check the University of Minnesota Extension publication "Safe Home Canning of Fruits, Vegetables, and Meats" available online or at some Extension offices for recommended processes.