How to Pressure Can Ground Beef

This is a short picture tutorial on how I pressure-can ground beef.  

I have been reluctant to post any tutorials on pressure canning because if you don't do it correctly you can die.  If you do not follow the recommended guidelines, you can die.  

Here's what I know about BOTULISM, in a nutshell: the organism clostridium botulinum is a spore that thrives in low-acid low-oxygen environments.  In those environments it produces the botulinum toxin.  It is the botulinum toxin that causes BOTULISM, the deadly disease.  

When you pressure can low-acid foods, like meat, you create the low-oxygen environment in which clostridium botulinum thrives. If even ONE SPORE survives the canning process, it can produce enough botulinum to kill you.  To kill the spores, you must maintain a temperature of at least 250 degrees for a minimum of 3 minutes.  Pressure canning guidelines are designed to insure the center of the jar meets those conditions. 

The botulinum TOXIN can be destroyed by boiling for 5 minutes, so it is advisable to boil all pressure canned meat for 5 minutes after you open the jar to use it.  

Please, follow the instructions that came with your canner, after reading ALL the instructions in the links below.  If you do not follow the recommended guidelines, you can die.  

MEAT (beef, chicken, lamb, and pork):

1. cook ground meat, then can
2. can stew meat raw
3. can chicken breasts raw (DO NOT CAN GROUND POULTRY)
4. make broth and can it

The links above don't have many photos, so here's how I do it.

My pressure canner is a small, 15.5-quart size All American that holds 7 quart jars, or 7 pint jars.  I have never used another brand, and I would never recommend another brand, so I cannot tell you if other brands behave differently.  I LOVE this canner!

It's possible to process fewer than 7 jars but I rarely do.  If I do process fewer than 7, I will add jars filled with water to reduce the amount of space inside the canner.  I also can ground beef in pint jars, which hold 14oz, because they are better for things like sauces, stuffing, and fundito where I only need 1 pound. I use wide mouth jars because they're easier to clean, and easier to get the food out of once it's canned.

One quart jar holds about 28oz beef, either ground or stew.  If you're canning stew meat you just put it in the jars and process them.  Ground beef requires one additional step because if you fill a glass jar with raw ground beef you (1) cannot guarantee it's fully processed, and (2) will not be able to get it out of the jar once it's cooked.  It will be a solid chunk of meat! 

OK!  Here we go!

STEP 1: I defrost 14 pounds of meat overnight in my 16-quart Le Creuset.  I like this pot because of the light interior, and because it is short and wide which enables easy stirring.  You can use a stock pot if you don't have something similar.

Defrost ground beef overnight in a large (16qt) pot

 

STEP 2: The next morning, I will add about 2 quarts of water to the pot and mash the meat into it creating a slurry.

Create a slurry with enough water to cover.

 

STEP 3: I cook the slurry on medium heat until the meat is cooked, stirring often.

Cook the slurry over  medium heat, stirring often, until most of the pink is gone.

 

STEP 4: Once the meat is cooked, I use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked meat to the jars, and add some of the broth to the jar, leaving 1" headspace.  I use a wide-mouth funnel to insure the rim of the jar remains clean, I de-bubble, wipe the rim with vinegar, and then add the lid and the ring/band.  If I have broth remaining after filling the jars, I save it and use it the next time I need "broth".  

Some people add salt to the jar, I do not.  I also don't add seasoning because that limits how I can use it.

Use a slotted spoon and a funnel to fill the jars.

 

Follow the instructions on THIS PAGE regarding how to clean and secure the lids,  

STEP 5: I put the appropriate amount of water into the canner (3" for my canner), load the jars, and process them according to THIS PAGE. In the photo below, you can see that the buttons in the centers of the jar lids are sticking up.

Load the canner with the jars and the appropriate amount of water.

 

STEP 6: Process the jars according to THIS PAGE.  Do not forget to allow the steam to vent for 10 minutes before putting the weight on the lid.  If you forget, you will never get up to pressure.  I always add 5 minutes to whatever time they recommend as 'insurance'.

 

STEP 7: After the recommended amount of time, turn off the heat and allow the pressure to drop naturally.  My canner takes 25-28 minutes to drop to zero.  Remove the lid and carefully remove the jars.  Place them gently on a TOWEL so they don't crack.  Don't leave the jars in the canner once the pressure has come down or the seal may fail several months later (don't ask me how, but I found several sites confirming this).

One load of quart jars and one load of pint jars.

 

STEP 8: Let the jars cool overnight.  In the photo above, you might be able to see that the buttons in the centers of some of the jar lids are now concave.  This means the lid "sealed".  After the jars are removed from the canner, and as the jars cool, a vacuum will be created inside the jar pulling the lid down.  When the button in the center of the lid is pulled down, you will hear a ping/pop indicating the lid has sealed.  This sound is music to a canner's ears!

 

STEP 9: The next morning, remove the rings/bands and insure the lids are sealed by lifting each jar BY THE LID.  If the lid holds under the weight of the jar, it's sealed and can be stored in your basement or another cool dark place.  If the lid comes off, the seal wasn't strong enough and you will need to store that jar in the fridge and consume it within a week.

 

STEP 10: Store the jars WITHOUT THE RINGS!  If you store the jars with the rings, you will not know if the seal fails.  Without the ring, if the seal fails, the contents will bubble up and out of the jar.  It might make a mess but you won't die from eating contaminated food.  For this same reason, do not stack the jars - only one row of jars per shelf.

I label both the front and the top with the date, the source, type and amount of meat, and the processing time/pressure.

Label with date, source-type-amount of meat, and processing time+pressure

 

The reason I add the processing time/pressure is to reassure people that it was processed properly, and to alert myself if recommendations change.

I find that ground meat processed this way is tender, flavorful, and easy to use anywhere you don't need 'rare' meat.  I use it for meatballs and meatloaf, tacos, curry, chili, pasta sauce, fundito, casseroles,