# Canning meat-what to look for if it goes bad



## Tammy1 (Aug 31, 2011)

I'm a huge research geek but can't seem to find what I'm looking for and hoped someone here could help.

I started canning last year and want to try canning meat this year. In my research I have found a lot of scare tactics but not a lot of good information on what signs indicated something is wrong.

Here's my questions, if anyone can help that would be great.

1) If I can meat and wait 6 weeks before I eat it will it blow the lid within that six weeks so I will know if it is bad?
2) If my meat has botulism and I cook it for 15 min. (for soup or in the oven) will that take care of any problem.

I did try chicken soup but when I took it out of the pressurer cooker the jars had grease all over them. The jars appered sealed but I didn't see how they would stay that way with grease between the lid and jar.

I also canned chicken that day and it seems fine. I removed the rings and but them in the basment to store for the 6 weeks.

I ended up tossing the chicken soup.

I'm really new at this so please don't laugh :hysterical:no one in my family cans meat but I did the numbers and it can save 1.25 for every meal we switch from store purchased can meat to our own canned meat.

Has anyone ever had canned meat go bad?


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

My jars often come out greasy. I put vinegar in the water in the caner and that helps keep the grease from sticking to the jars. I have only had one jar go bad and that was because I knocked it over and never "checked" it months after I caned it (it was chili).....in it's decent down it banged it's lid and popped the seal. I will spare you what it looked like when I found it 4 months later...lets just say we had lots of flies later. So the failure was cause by human error long after the canning process.

If the lid is "sucked down" and you followed the directions correctly (canned it at the correct pressure for the correct length of time) it should be fine. I always re-heat my meat to boiling and let it boil about 8-10 min before using it......just to be sure.


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## fetch33 (Jan 15, 2010)

you will know when a jar goes bad. It smells rotten. I have only had one go bad and it also was human error. It got knocked as I was stacking some jars in a cupboard. It was so nasty I threw the jar away without opening it further.


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## kenworth (Feb 12, 2011)

Question #1 that you will be asked, are you using a canner or cooker? 

Why did you discard the soup? Was the recipe from the BBB? 

All in all, meat does not look pretty after it's pulled from the canner. But it's still good. 

Sometimes it's got a thick layer of grease in it, or looks otherworldly. It's still good to eat.

I find that jars that may go bad have had a chip on the edge where the seal lays. Dump the food, check the rim, find a flaw. <sigh>


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## Canning Girl (Jan 13, 2010)

If a jar of anything goes bad, it is fairly obvious: fuzzy mold, horrible smell, etc. The exception is botulism, which is odorless and can live in a sealed jar. If you have properly pressure canned your food, botulism shouldn't be a concern. Nevertheless, boiling it for ten minutes should take care of any worries. Do be careful about cross-contamination. i.e. laying the lid from a jar on the counter, spreading germs that can touch other food that is not boiled for ten minutes. 

Greasy jars happen because some liquid seeps out during processing. Leave the sealed jars on your counter for 24 hours; remove the rings, wash them off, and check the seals. If I'm in doubt about whether something has sealed, I shake it upside down and see if the lid pops. Every time I go to my storage area, I check lids to make sure they are still sealed, especially the meat. You can avoid scary looking jars of greasy meat by hot packing it.


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

The only time I have had meat go bad the lid unsealed, so it was very obvious it was bad.


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## rancher1913 (Dec 5, 2008)

This is moldy - same advice with one addition. When you go to use it, check the seal - is it down? Do you hear or feel an audible 'pop' when you pull the sealed lid? and smell - bad meat smells BAD!


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## Tammy1 (Aug 31, 2011)

Thanks for the replies. I never thought about cross contamination on the lid. I have been reusing my lids (after washing) for other things, not recanning. I have a vaccum sealer and they work great at sealing trail mix and spices/powders I purchase from a bulk discount. In future I will dispose of all meat lids!

The chicken soup recipe was not in the BBB book it was in a different canning book that I have noticed is a little light on instruction. To be honest I think I was running scared more then anything else.

So if I'm hear correctly, there will be strong evidence that something is wrong for most things except botulism and if I cook the meat for 10-15 min. before eating it I should be fine.

Do you can it and then eat it the next week? or do you wait a while?

Thanks for all your help.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

I think it's pretty cool that you figured out how much you save by canning meat. When makeing soups, you could cool down the broth overnight(in the refer) and skimm off the fat, before makeing the soup. Also wipe the rim with vinagar before putting on the lid and band.


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## Canning Girl (Jan 13, 2010)

No need to toss the lids. I'm just saying don't take a lid off of anything, set it on the countertop wet, and then put other food there. As long as you are washing the lids, especially in the dishwasher, then you can reuse them for dry storage. Canned food is safe to eat for years, as long as the seal is good. Nutritional content (vitamins) will deteriorate after a year or two, but the food does not go bad or become poisonous. We eat canned food 2 or 3 years later all the time.


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