I decided to go ahead and try my hand at canning chicken while I was able to get the skinless boneless chicken breasts for $1.19lb.I trimmed the chicken, cut it into chunks and packed it raw into pint jars with no salt or water.
I was able to get about a pound of chicken into each pint.
I canned 18 pints. But one didn't seal, so I examined it to see what I would think of the texture and such. Looks pretty decent. It appears to be a lot more moist than canned chicken that you buy at the store. I didn't taste it since this was a jar that didn't seal and had sat out on the counter all night.
I will say this about it tho....it does look sort of like the floaty things in bottles that you might see on shelves in science class.We'll see how it tastes sometime soon.
I plan to freeze the rest of that 40 pound box until I'm sure that canned chicken is something we will like and use.
3 comments:
So it was raw when you put it in the jar.... is it cooked now?
I remember reading a long time ago that canning meat was more difficult than canning fruit or tomatoes.
Fruit and tomatoes are real acidic and that helps with preserving.
My hat is off to you. I think that canned chicken would be much more user friendly than the frozen variety.
We wrapped one 40# box last night to freeze it and need to do the other one this afternoon.
I can't wait to hear how it goes. What is the expected shelf life on your canned goods?
The chicken is cooked now. 75 minutes at 13 pounds of pressure took care of that.
Meat and veggies require a pressure canner. Fruit and tomatoes can be done in a water bath canner. There are 4 elements to spoilage and, in the absence of acid, only 3 of them can be eliminated in a water bath canner. Therefore, they need to be pressure canned. I can't recall the details right now, it's all in my canner manual.
The local extension service says my canned chicken is good for 18-24 months. My manual says that it will not spoil for many years but the quality will begin to deteriorate after one year.
I think it will be great for some recipes. Like chicken enchiladas. Or chicken salad for sandwiches. Etc.
It still looks like cat food to me :)
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