# Texican - questions about canning pork....



## Sarabeth (Sep 14, 2008)

Texican - I have noticed that you can a bit of pork....I have not canned pork before, but am starting to can more meats.

Not a big fan of pork, but dh likes it.....so.....what kind of pork do you can? I am guessing it has to be fairly lean?? Do you add anything to it? How do you like to eat it? I am picturing cubed lean pork.....

I don't know....I'm just not a big pork eater, but I'm thinking it would be good to add to my pantry. 

Thanks!


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## Trisha in WA (Sep 28, 2005)

I would be interested in knowing how you like to eat it too...if you don't mind.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Obviously, I'm not Texican but I just canned up pork, yesterday. I found a loin on sale for $2 a pound. I'm not a pork eater, either, but meat for $2 a pound is hard to turn it down.

I just cubed it up and canned. Loin is rather lean so it worked well. The fat I did cut off I put in the freezer to mix with the deer DH plans to get to make sausage later. 

As far as how to use it... I use it the same way I do cubed beef. Heat in a pan, make gravy and pour over mashed potatoes, heat and shred for pulled pork sandwiches, shepherd pie, pot pie, etc


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## Sarabeth (Sep 14, 2008)

Thanks, Jen. That sounds good! I'm watching for sales right now...on pretty much any kind of meat, but I've never done pork.


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

I buy pork at the Cash & Carry when it is $1.19 to $1.29.
It comes in bulk cuts with no bones most of the time.
I'll just cube up the whole thing and pack the pints with it.
No spices or liquid added. I save the fat and part of the lean and make a bulk sausage with it.
I think it is 65 minutes in a pressure canner is right for the cubed meat. we freeze the sausage.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

I started out trimming as much of the white fat off the outside of the pieces... thinking I didn't want/need extra fat. A small film of fat would settle on top after the jar had set for a few days. After a couple of cases, I started thinking, if things got so bad that the system had crashed... my access to store bought meat would immediately disappear. We're blessed/cursed with wild hogs....... but, in a black swan golden horde scenario, all wildlife will get very scarce, including the hogs. Can only store oils for so long (outside of a freezer) without it going rancid... So I thought, I might actually need that extra fat, so I'd throw a fatty piece in each quart, so I'd have some 'fresh' lard available with each jar. Usually an inch of lard in top of each jar.... in a world without fat (several years into a system down world) or oil, the lard could be more important than the meat. Or at least that's my thinking.

My pressure cooker is on right now... replenishing the fresh eating pork... I keep cooking oil on hand, but I rarely use it, as there's a good solid inch of lard available on top of the small pressure cooker pot. Keep it all in the fridge, pull it out, cut (spoon) some meat out, heat it on the skillet for breakfast, sprinkle on some natural maple spicy seasoning, and have an excellent breakfast meat (less chemicals than bacon)... enough lard cooks off to cook the eggs. 

My butchers deal with two cuts of pork on a regular basis... front shoulders and loins. I've watched em cut the shoulders, they cut four slabs off each one, about two inches thick... one side had the bone with 90% meat. They square up the loins, the wings off two sides.

If a person was limiting their fat intake, they could always open the jar and skim the fat off. I can imagine most all of the fat is cooked out and rises to the top.

I did have some trouble in the beginning with jars sealing. I now check all rims for imperfections (using 30 year old jars has pluses [free] and minuses [sometimes bumpy rims]). Also had jars unseal in a few days... rechecked the 'rules' and I wasn't giving a solid 1" airspace in the top of the jars.

Breakfast... replacement for bacon.
Lunch... barbecue sandwiches.
Supper... Add to tacos, burritos, enchiladas, nachos, pasta dishes, chili... whenever I need 'meat', it's there.

I reckon whatever cut was on sale would be the ones I'd be canning, if I didn't have my current situation. My uncle recently wondered why I hadn't needed a hog... he traps a sideline... told him I was getting my meat already cleaned ready to eat... beats the hour or so butchering process by a long shot.


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## Sarabeth (Sep 14, 2008)

Thanks for the info, Texican. Today I will be meat shopping and we'll see what I come up with.


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## Charly (Feb 20, 2010)

Siesta Roast N' Beans
Adapted from Food.com

o 3 -4 lbs chuck roast (I used a pint jar of home-canned beef roast with the liquid)
o 2 -3 cups uncooked pinto beans (I used 2 C dry pinto beans)
o 1 cup diced tomatoes (I used Rotel)
o 1 cup chopped canned green chilies 
o 1 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
o 1 medium diced onions (I used 2 T dry onion)
o salt and black pepper, to your taste

1. Place roast in crockpot and pour beans on top of roast.
2. pour tomatoes, sauce and chilies on top of beans.
3. place diced onions on top.
4. Add enough water to cover all and salt& pepper.
5. put on the lid and cook in crockpot at least 7-8hrs, until roast is tender and beans done. (I just cooked 'til beans were done)
6. I never stir it during the cooking time.

We had these delicious beans for dinner recently served over whole wheat cornbread. Yummy! Just prior to being done, I ended getting involved in some yard work and forgot about it. Ended having to add a bit of some tomato juice I had in the fridge and bit more water so there was some liquid. Point is that even though I let it cook too long, it was an easy fix and still delicious. Loved that I can make this and the whole wheat cornbread all from pantry foods.


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## Sarabeth (Sep 14, 2008)

Charly said:


> Siesta Roast N' Beans
> Adapted from Food.com
> 
> o 3 -4 lbs chuck roast (I used a pint jar of home-canned beef roast with the liquid)
> ...


Yum-oh!! Thanks for sharing - I will be trying this!


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## Leister Square (Feb 7, 2010)

Yes, thanks for posting. That recipe sounds great all from storage foods. Ham, pork..when they go on sale I'm canning some. Texican, thanks for the info on how you use the pork you can and the heads up about head space. I have had cans not seal, also. The idea about the fat on top is a good one I never thought about. For now I scrape it off before dumping the can but later, you never know. (I read somewhere to keep olive oil in the freezer. I froze some and will pull it out and see how it is. Even so, freezers may not always be working.)


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Wipe rim with vinagar, to help with cutting the fat, for better seal.


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## ChristyACB (Apr 10, 2008)

Charly said:


> Siesta Roast N' Beans
> Adapted from Food.com
> 
> o 3 -4 lbs chuck roast (I used a pint jar of home-canned beef roast with the liquid)
> ...


Oh my...I'm at work (0430 is too early!) and forgot my lunch so now I'm really hungry! I think I'm going to have try this one for sure.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

more info for you about times,elevations etc.this is the do all be all canning site.



http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

7thswan said:


> Wipe rim with vinagar, to help with cutting the fat, for better seal.


Thanks! I've got lots of vinegar, I'll give er a try. Beats the heck out of going through the whole process, and then have it 'fail'.


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## Charly (Feb 20, 2010)

Folks, sorry, I just realized that the recipe I posted was for home-canned beef and this thread is about pork. Ugh! I have to read slower 

Now I can't remember if I used my home-canned beef or home-canned pork. I thought I used pork when I made it. I'll bet it works well with both. 

Sorry.


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## Charly (Feb 20, 2010)

I think my brain is on overload of late. Here is the pork recipe I made. It was really yummy too. This recipe calls for canned beans, but I'll bet you can do it like the first recipe posted. They are very similar. Thus, why I've got you all so mixed up! 

Crock Pot Mexican Roast Pork

o 1 lb boneless pork loin roast, cut into 1 inch pieces
o 1 (20 ounce) jars salsa
o 4 ounces chopped green chilies, drained
o 15 ounces black beans, rinsed and drained
o 1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

Directions

1. In a 4 quart slow cooker, mix together the pork, salsa, and green chilies.
2. Cover and cook on low heat setting for 6 to 8 hours or until pork is tender.
3. Stir in black beans.
4. Turn slow cooker to high and cook an additional 5 to 10 minutes or until beans are heated.
5. Sprinkle with Monterey Jack cheese.

I used two pint-sized jars of home-canned pork roast and broke it up. Since the meat was already cooked, it was just a matter of warming it up and letting the flavors meld. My husband had some on tortillas, and I had mine over left-over polenta and corn - yum! We even forgot the cheese, and it was still delicious. Try it over polenta. You'll love it!


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

We like to have pork chunks canned up as we really like to make chop suey with it. I watch for boneless pork loins on sale and do a canner load of pints when I find a good deal. DEE


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## Charly (Feb 20, 2010)

Please tell how you do your chop suey. Thanks.


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## KIT.S (Oct 8, 2008)

After reading about Texican canning his pork, we've begun canning our pulled pork instead of re-freezing it. People give me the "icky parts" of animals they sell pre-butchered, so I get a couple dozen hog's heads a year. The buyers don't know what to do with the heads and innards, so the farmer gives them to me. I boil them around 3 hours with some veggies, garlic salt and pepper, then take the meat off. Also, we bought someone's big breeding boar they no longer wanted for very little money, and butchered him. He was 350 pounds hanging weight (for $150) and had very little fat, but the meat was excellent, so I've been cooking him in soysauce and some sweet vinegar, then canning that meat. We use it for sandwiches, usually. Sauted onions, jar of meat, some BBQ sauce and buns. Excellent instant dinner.

The canned mutton usually goes for stew or curry. We also can chicken and rabbit legs on the bone. That's great for nearly instant fajitas. We're fortunate in that we raise these ourselves so we don't have to look for sales in the stores.

I need more pint jars, though...
Kit


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Kit, if your into boar hogs, you might locate a nearby sale barn that deals in hogs. One of my uncles raises hogs as a sideline (full time farmer/rancher/wild hog catcher).... the local auction houses shut out hogs, till now he'd have to make a six hour drive to sell them. So he doesn't... just sells to individuals (makes more money, no hauling, or commission fees).

To the point... he stopped carrying boar hogs to market a long time ago, after hauling and fees, he'd bring home maybe 5 bucks on a 500lb hog. They were going for 5c/lb back a couple years ago.

Some folks (myself included) shy away from boars, as there's a definitive odor issue during the cooking process. [Think boiled boar pee... mmmmm] Because of this, they're usually dirt cheap.


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## Sarabeth (Sep 14, 2008)

texican said:


> Some folks (myself included) shy away from boars, as there's a definitive odor issue during the cooking process. [Think boiled boar pee... mmmmm] Because of this, they're usually dirt cheap.


Ewwww....boiled boar pee? Ewww....


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## KIT.S (Oct 8, 2008)

OK, yes, taint is nasty. We were given a Juliani boar who had taint. I can't smell much, but boy, I could smell his meat. Interestingly enough, other people didn't have any trouble with him, either while he was cooking or when eating the meat, so we were fortunate that we could give him away again.
Our local sale barn doesn't "do" pigs. Really, all I see that they handle is cattle and horses. However Craigslist ( I Love Craigslist!) has sausage sows and various boars for $100 to $200 for up to 700 pounds. If someone were interested, it would be a great source. 
At this point, I'm full up with creatures. We raise pigs and have been given (mostly PBP & AHG) pigs, and raise sheep, rabbits and various fowl. I'm trying to can down the freezer so I can get this year's lambs into it.
When we get given too many creatures, we pass them along to friends, provide the saw, grinder and expertise, and then I don't have to put them in our freezer.
Thank you Texican, for the suggestion, but I've got 5 pigs out there to butcher this month, and 8 sheep. 
We did buy a big boar 2 years ago that was an active breeder, but didn't have any taint at all. He was just a mixed breed old guy with nearly no fat, but the meat is good, and I'm trying to get the last of him out of the freezer. I had problems using him up because I have no kettles big enough to cook his head and bones for broth. Going to have to give up and compost them.
My family and friends joke that I'll cook and eat anything, but boy, some of the stuff that sounds weird to the uninitiated certainly tastes good!
Kit


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## bee (May 12, 2002)

Just hit the Mor-for-Less dollar a pound sale on bone in pork sirlion roast. Bought 3 3lb roasts for about 10 dollars. I got 5 pints of meat and 5 pints of meaty stock plus 3 meals of fried boneless pork for the dog and me. Dog scraps and dog bones. Invested 10 for the meat, a dollar for the flats(have rings and jars) and my time. I figure I turned 11 dollars into close to 40. Now to can up all this turkey in the freezer....


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## MaVi (May 31, 2020)

I have a question about canning pork. I canned several quarts of pork shoulder recently and just opened a jar. We were so disappointed! It's tough. Have I done something wrong? Our altitude is 6,000 ft so I canned it at 15 pounds pressure for 90 minutes. Can anyone help me please?
thanks!


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