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Canned Vension, How to can Vanison

Do you have a hunter in your family? You can use venison in more ways than just freezing it.  Canning your venison is going to give you a great tasting meal for any season and for any occasion. If you are the mom on the go, this is one of the easiest meals that you can prepare.

Here is what you are going to need: fresh deer meat, sharp knives, cutting board, two or three dozen quart canning jars (depending on how large the deer was), lids, rings, water, pan that is deep enough to hold enough water that is going to cover the jars, and a few hours. The meat that you will get from the deer can be from any portion of the deer. While many think that making hamburger, chipped steaks or cubed meats should come from certain portions of the deer, when you are canning you can make even the toughest meat parts taste great.

You will need to take a piece of meat and cut it according to how you like to use it in a meal. You can cut long thin strips for steak sandwiches, cubes for easy beef and noodles, or you can cut large pieces for meals where you like to have meat that you cut up and eat with mashed potatoes, and so on. Cut the meat up so it fits in the jar according to how you like to eat it. Put enough in the jar to fill it to the shoulder, leaving the rim of the jar open. You will find that the meat does shrink some while cooking so going a little over will be ok.

Now you will have a few options here. If you have the time you can add water to cover the meat, you can add spaghetti sauce to the jar, or any type of marinade that you might like. You don't have to put anything in the jar at all besides the meat, as the juices will be enough to cook the meat.  If you like, you can add hot peppers, onions, garlic, pepper, salt and so on, what ever you would normally use when you are cooking your steak, beef or cubed beef.

After you have six or eight jars filled, however many are going to fit in your pan of water, you can put the lid on and then the ring. Don't over tighten the ring, just tighten it enough to hold the lid on in the correct position.  Filling your pan with water, put the jars filled with meat into the water and then turn the heat on.

Once the water in the pan begins to boil, you will need to time this for three hours. you most likely are going to need to add more water to your pot of water while the canning jars filled with meat are cooking for three hours so you do need to be in the house somewhere while this is cooking. Adding warm water to the pot, it will come to a boil with the other water quickly.

After the jars have cooked for three hours, you can turn the heat off and leave it sit to cool off or you can put them on a rack to cool slowly on your counter. Be careful not to put the jars directly on a cold surface or your jars will crack or burst open.

You can use this meat anywhere from a day to a year later. You will find that you can use your canned meat beyond a year when you keep it in a cool dry place.

When you are taking the venison out of the canning jar, you only need to reheat it for about five minutes. Don't over cook or it will get rubbery like, and it won't be as tasty. Cooking it for a few minutes to heat it will speed up your dinner cooking time and you will have great food fast. Tastes just like beef, no gamey taste!