# Canning meat, and roasted peppers?



## Silverstar7337 (Feb 10, 2012)

My husband wants me to venture into canning meat... I'm a bit nervous and don't know where to start or what meats work or how to use them after canning. Any tips, recipes, meats that work or don't? 
I also have a huge amount of bell peppers each year and would love to roast them and can them like at the store. How do you do that? How long do they keep? Thanks!


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## MichaelK! (Oct 22, 2010)

Hello SS

If you want to can any kind of meat, even chicken broth, you MUST use a pressure canner (not a pressure cooker). Here's an example of a presto canner.

http://gopresto.com/products/products.php?stock=01755 

A canner is different from a cooker in that the pressure is generally higher, 10-15psi, and larger in height, to accomodate large jars.

You'll also need canning jars (buy those at your grocery store) with self-sealing lids. Canning jars are made of stout glass so you can wash used jars and re-use them over and over.

For roasted peppers, what you are talking about is probubly a low-acid product, so that might have to be pressure canned also. Recipes and canning times/pressures will come with the canner instructions. Alternatively, you can find them at http://gopresto.com/recipes/canning/index.php 

Please note though that acidic products (pH less than 4.5) can be boiling- water canned. Things like pickles, jellies/jams, sourkraut, ect. If you buy the pressure canner, you can simply boiling-water can acidic recipes with the canner lid off.

The quality of anything you can is checked by pressing down on the lid. The lid will "click", sort of like the lid of a babyfood jar. Clicking means there's air inside and the contents are NOT shelf-stable. If there is a vacumn seal on the jar the lid will not click and you know it is still air-tight and safe to store. If you can anything by either the pressure canning or the boiling water methods and the jar-lid clicks after it cools down, that means the product is NOT air-tight and must be refrigerated immediately. If at some later date you find a jar who's lid will click, that means the air seal has broken and the jar contents should be discarded.


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## Canning Girl (Jan 13, 2010)

I can diced chicken and whole chicken breasts. I use the diced chicken in soups, casseroles and chicken salad. The whole chicken breasts shred apart easily and are good for barbecued chicken sandwiches or fajitas/enchiladas. I also can beef chunks and use them to make beef and noodles and beef stew. I can meatballs and use them for spaghetti and meatballs, meatball sandwiches, or Swedish meatballs. I can ham and use it in soup. I hope this gives you some ideas. Having canned meat is a HUGE time saver. You don't have to wait for meat to thaw out and you reduce the prep time on recipes because the meat is already cooked. I have canned browned ground beef before, but I didn't care for the mushy texture of it. I prefer to brown the ground beef and freeze it in one pound portions.

As for the peppers, you cannot can them in oil like the ones you buy at the store. You may be able to pickle them or to can them in water, but I haven't tried it. They would have to be pressure canned since they're a low acid food, and I've always suspected that the pressure canning would turn them to absolute mush.


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## arrocks (Oct 26, 2011)

How to can meats: http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can5_meat.html

How to can roasted peppers: http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_04/peppers.html


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

I have canned roasted peppers. They must be pressure canned.


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

we can chicken and beef all the time, venison occasionally if we have an overabundance. We raw pack the stuff.
After canning is simple, use them in anything. We mostly heat and eat the beef, works well with potatoes, rice, on slices of bread just about anywhere.
The chicken works well in chicken salad of if you want Chicken Helper.


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## Packedready (Mar 29, 2011)

Canning Girl, I am interested in canning ham. Do you just chunk it and cover with water? How does it taste?


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## Canning Girl (Jan 13, 2010)

I have covered it with water, and I have canned it without added liquid. Both ways work fine, and the end product is just well-cooked ham, a little softer than the normal texture of ham, but still good.


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## InHisName (Jan 26, 2006)

About the roasted peppers- canned them last year, and dried them. LOVED them dried! So easy to crumble into a taco soup, they are great in everything. It is on my MUST DO list for next year.


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## Packedready (Mar 29, 2011)

Thanks Canning Girl, I will wait until Easter when the hams are on sale and give it a try. I am thinking it would be nice to open a can and maybe make a sandwich.


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