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hey folks i have a question. does anybody have any information on canning meats. specifically the shelf life. i know how to can them i am just wondering if the shelf life would allow me to use it as part of my long term food storage plan. it seems to be a lower cost alternative to buying dehydrated meats. i know the shelf life will not be near the mountain house stuff. but i read about some canned venison that was eaten over 20 years later. i am speaking of mainly chicken, pork, and beef. any information would be very useful. thank you all.

The only thing I know about canning meats is how to open a can of spam. But some people wouldn't even call that meat.

Hopefully someone else here will actually be helpful. :-)

Hello bishopmarine,

bishopmarine wrote:... i know how to can them ...

like you put food/meat in cans yourself? I was looking for info about that here:
viewtopic.php?t=1168

Sorry, dont have info related to your question. Greetings, Nawt.

sorry let me clarify. were i live we put food in glass jars and put a lid on it that seals at high temp high pressure and put them in a pressure cooker/canner and cook the food inside the jar at high temp/pressure for 75-90 minutes. this process does several things it cooks the food, kills the bad stuff, seals the jar, seals out the bad stuff. i would just like to know about how long meat can be stored in a dark cool space when done this way.

"all righdy" now I know what you ment. Thank you for clarifying .

From our experience (on the farm) I can say up to five years. Could be more, but 5 years was the maximum period of time that we stored meat prepared that way. Fruits we kept for even longer. But you should keep it indeed dark. Especially meat is sensitive to de-/discoloration under the influence of sunlight.

(keep an extra eye on the 'tongue of the rubber band' it should be pointing down after preparation, when ppointing up, the process of preservation was not succesfull for that particular jar)

Kind regards, Nawt.

thanks nawt that is good info. so now i will proceed with this. i was hoping for at least three years. i am going to begin canning some different meats each payday until i get close to a years worth built up. then when some of it begins to get older i will eat it and can more. that way i can keep a good supply at all times.

im sorry what is the tongue of the rubber band. i will be using mason jars with a two piece closure. one piece is a convex metal disc with seal attached. when it seals it becomes concave it is does not go concave then is not sealed. the second piece is a screw cap that fits over the metal disc. we may just be using different materials.

Hi bishopmarine,

Finally I'd like to add that with pork meat we sometimes added a little lard/fat on top (1/4 inch) about 1/2 inch under the top of the jar. it also helps the proces of conservation. Prior to eating the meat we remove the additional amount of fat again.

I hope you will succeed and like it.
Nawt.

PS> Here we use a glass can and lid, in between we put a rubber, with a little 'extension'. Hang on I'll dig up a picture.

here we go,
additional info you can find here: http://www.weckonline.com/shop/home.php (also in English)

"tada":

I have some cherries in brandy, that my Grandmother put up in the 50's, still marvelous!
Cherrys aren't too bad either !!!

I was trying to post a pic, of my Grandmothers' canning jars. Yes, she canned plums, greenbeans, sausage among other things. I can't seem to upload a pic here. The Moon comes over the mountain, in 1/2 gallon mason jars.