# Canning venison



## strawberrygirl (Feb 11, 2009)

Now that we have two hunters in the family I have been thinking of ways to preserve the food they bring home (God willing). We can freeze part of it, but due to limited freezer space I was thinking of canning some of the venison. My question to those of you who have is; does it can well? What about the flavor? I was thinking of making some venison stew (minus the flour) and canning it as well. 

Thoughts, ideas? 

Disclaimer: We already have more than one freezer so buying another one is out of the question. :gaptooth:


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

We can a lot of our venison by cubing roasts (~1" cubes), quickly browning the cubes (without cooking through), then packing in pint jars with a beef boullion broth. It is tender and delicious. To eat, we just heat to a boil and add some corn starch slurry to thicken the broth into a gravy. Just writing this is making me hungry.


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## mink (Feb 10, 2005)

i raw pack mine in pints leaving 1 inch head space. makes for a quick meal with potatoes or rice. makes some wonderful macaroni soup.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Cans up as well as beef. We love the flavor, texture, convenience and health-ful-ness of canned venison! I,too, raw pack.


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## Barn Yarns (Oct 7, 2012)

when i do can it, i cube it as Mink does. raw pack, but I put in a tsp of minced garlic before i put the lids on. process it either HWB or PC. Usually serve over noodles, and will mix in some corn starch to thicken the juices.

we also make our own hash, so that gets canned as well. but its a mix of pork and venison with potatos, onions, garlic and spices. hot pack and process. a batch takes care of about 15# of ground meat.


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## Jeepgirl86 (May 18, 2012)

I PC all my venison, brown first (not cooked thru) with a minimal amount of oil, add in boiling water or beef bullion (whichever you prefer). This makes the venison soooo tender that it falls apart. I use it in stroganoff and other meals like that, but stir carefully when heating thru as it breaks up easily.


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## Karenrbw (Aug 17, 2004)

We cut up the venison, pack with about 1/4 cup chopped onions, 1/2 tsp salt, and top with hot water to 1" headspace. Pressure can at 10 pounds for 90 minutes.


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## Island of Blueb (Sep 20, 2005)

I raw pack pressure can it adding a little salt.

The half-pint flat jars of deer meat are so handy for 2 or 3 sandwiches.

Pints are great for casseroles.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

strawberrygirl said:


> now that we have two hunters in the family i have been thinking of ways to preserve the food they bring home (*god willing*).


huh???


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## strawberrygirl (Feb 11, 2009)

suitcase_sally said:


> huh???


Hopefully it will be a good hunting season this year.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Any one crock venison. It is salted by layer in a crock, pushed down until covered with juices. Keep it in the springhouse. Best after about a month, very tasty. I have eaten it when it was green and just fell apart....James


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## Ciffer (Sep 13, 2010)

Raw pack is quickest but you'll end up with a lot of empty space in the jars. I found it takes about twice the jars to can a given amount of meat raw packing compared with browning.


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

jwal10 said:


> Any one crock venison. It is salted by layer in a crock, pushed down until covered with juices. Keep it in the springhouse. Best after about a month, very tasty. I have eaten it when it was green and just fell apart....James


Green, as in moldy? Hm. Hope you scraped that off... 

I've corned it, just like corned beef. Excellent! We've done goat that way, too. And now my mouth is watering and I'm not even hungry.:croc:


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

No, not moldy. Just well aged....James


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## Horsefly (Sep 17, 2009)

*Strawberrygirl,* I am right there with you. :gaptooth: Our freezer is already full with half a beef, half a pig, one deer and one mule deer. It is full right to the top. And our rifle season starts this saturday. So if hubby gets another deer, I will have to can it. I've done chicken and samon but not vension. I'm not new to canning but for some reason canning meat scares me. Probably because if I do it wrong we would have to toss it out. That is a costly mistake. Best of luck to you!


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## Jeepgirl86 (May 18, 2012)

Horsefly...just do what the pressure canner books say to do and you'll be fine.


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

I just raw pack canned most of the Venison out of our freezer. My goal is to have as little foods frozen as possible. All being canned or dehydrated, with few exceptions. I had the best results adding some organic beef broth, dried onions (fresh is even better), garlic powder (fresh is better), fresh ground pepper and salt. Since we picked so many Chanterelle mushrooms, added those, too. I packed fairly tightly, broth to one inch headspace. These jars didn't have the extra space.

A word on raw pack veggies, too. It is important to tightly pack, have proper liquid level, too. That prevents the extra headspace that can occur.


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## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

This encourages me to get both a deer and a used canner.


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

Bret said:


> This encourages me to get both a deer and a used canner.


I highly recommend you look for an All American, if you are able to find one. Get the biggest one you are able to use on your range or propane cooker (excellent to have). Also, no matter which canner you choose, be sure and get a pressure regulator, which is more accurate than relying on gauges.

Why AA? Heavy, durable, more energy efficient, and no gasket.


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## kandmcockrell (Oct 10, 2008)

Pony, did you corn and freeze or corn and can? I can venison, actually have some to do tonight. I also corn it, but always froze it. I would love to can that as well if possible.


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## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

lorichristie said:


> I highly recommend you look for an All American, if you are able to find one. Get the biggest one you are able to use on your range or propane cooker (excellent to have). Also, no matter which canner you choose, be sure and get a pressure regulator, which is more accurate than relying on gauges.
> 
> Why AA? Heavy, durable, more energy efficient, and no gasket.


Thank you.


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

No deer in AK, but I can moose. We normally seer off the roasts (cut to fit the jar) and then can without liquid. For stew meat, I normally can the cubed chunks in tomato juice since they're normally from tougher/gamier cuts and the tomato helps tone them down a bit. I also can "stew" putting meat chunks and rough chopped veg, all raw, and then covering them in beef broth with a little pomona pectin (as a thickener instead of flour). Venison/moose also makes AWESOME chili.


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

Bret said:


> Thank you.


Your welcome :goodjob:

Let us know what you score!


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