# How many lbs of chicken per jar?



## PixieLou

Organic boneless chicken breasts are on sale at one of the local grocers this week. I was going to buy some for the sole purpose of canning them. My Presto holds 10 pints. So how many lbs of chicken should I buy?


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## laughaha

I usually just toss in one good sized breast per pint jar. I don't bother with slicing them up though (they shred very easily after cooking). If you are slicing and lightly packing them in you could probably get almost twice that in.


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## suitcase_sally

About 15 to 18 lbs. If you have a Ball canning guide, there is a section called "Jar estimating" (or something close) that tells you how many pounds of various foods fill pints and quarts.


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## Ode

I always figure on about a pound plus a little extra per pint jar raw pack weight.


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## Charly

I'm with Ode on this one - about a pound.


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## po boy

Me to on the Ode thingy.. I can in quarts and stuff all I can in them. Usualy put at least one whole breast and cram all the smaller pieces of various sizes I can get in.


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## PixieLou

suitcase_sally said:


> About 15 to 18 lbs. If you have a Ball canning guide, there is a section called "Jar estimating" (or something close) that tells you how many pounds of various foods fill pints and quarts.


Where in the Ball Book? I looked in my Ball Book and at NCHFP, but can't find the info there. 

Will head to the store and buy 15 lbs of chicken tomorow.


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## kkbinco

PixieLou said:


> Where in the Ball Book? I looked in my Ball Book and at NCHFP, but can't find the info there.


In the back of the book were the U.S. map is, as I recall. Part of the best times of year to buy veggies table.


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## suitcase_sally

My newst book doesn't have that information (why am I not surprised?), but two of my older books have it. 

My book with the picture of jam and bread on the front (circa 1995-1997) has the info on page 114.

My older book with the picture of jars of canned goods sitting in front of a wooden crate (circa 1987) has the info on page 9. Chicken with the bones takes 3-4 lbs per quart, which is 1 1/2 to 2 lbs. per pint. Since you are doing breasts which are boneless, I would get 15 to 18 lbs to do 10 pints, which is what I said initially.

Good luck with your canning!

edited to add: 

http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/mod01/01600481.html

from this link: 

http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/mod01/mod01c.html

Which came from this:

http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/mod01/master01.html

Hope this helps.


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## PixieLou

Thanks Sally. I was starting to think I was crazy since I can't find it in my latest Ball Book.

I've also bookmarked that Michigan site. Looks like there is lots of useful info there - lots of useful information that isn't on NCHFP.

As a side note - I never though I would have a use for canned meat - until I grabbed a can of boughten chicken to make a chicken pot pie. And all of a sudden the bells go off - I can can my own!


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## suitcase_sally

Makes good chicken salad for sandwiches, too!


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## Old Swampgirl

How many quarts or pints will 15-18 pounds of boneless chicken breast fill? I'm confused, as usual.


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## Old Swampgirl

Guess I just can't picture approximately 6 pounds of boneless chicken fitting in 1 quart jar?


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## PixieLou

I asked how many lbs to do 10 pints.


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## suitcase_sally

_For a 1-quart jar, you will need the following amount of 
ready-to-cook chicken: 
Canned with bone----------------------3 1/2 to 4 1/2 pounds 
Canned without bone ----------------- 5 1/2 to 6 1/4 pounds _

Old Swampgirl, my take is that you have 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 lbs of chicken with the bones, but after boning the chicken you will have approx. 3 1/2 - 4 1/2 lbs. for the jar.

According to http://www.angelfire.com/bc/incredible/weightmeasure.html, a 5 lb. chicken only yields 1 1/4 of meat. Remember, you will not only have bones, but the back section, which is very large proportionately. 

Legs only have a bite or two and the bone is 80% of the leg. Backs have a large portion of bone and very little meat. Chicken wings? You have to have 20 on your plate to make a meal, again, a lot of bones. Breast meat is the biggest portion of _meat_, but not the largest portion of _weight_ of a whole chicken. (Did I mention how much all those feathers weigh? LOL!)

I guess the thing to do is get what you think you need and let us know how it turns out.

You say you canner holds 10 pints, but it also holds 7 quarts, which is the equivalent of 14 pints.

Let us know how it turns out.

btw, I agree with Ode, for a pint jar I use about 1 1/2 lbs, which equals 15 lbs.

Another suggestion: use wide mouth jars if you have them. It will be much easier to remove the chicken after processing.


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## tinknocker66

I put 2 boneless skinlees breasts per qt and fill with boiling water,this makes the best broth ever.


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## Old Swampgirl

OK. Guess I just need to do it instead of trying to visualize it. Thanks!


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## PixieLou

Update. . . 

I went to the store today. They had the boneless chicken tenders on sale for only 20 cents more ($3.99/lb vs 3.79/lb) so I got the tenders. The packages were just over 3 lbs each, so I bought 6 packages. I cut the chicken tenders into thirds, and ended up putting about 3 tenders per jar. I ended up using just over 2 packages to make my 10 pints so I'm guessing about 7-8 lbs. I still have 3-1/2 packages of chicken tenders left - so it looks like I will get a second canner load. And then my husband will be forced to eat boneless chicken tenders for dinner this week.


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