How to Pressure Can Meat, Poultry, and Fish

Preserve Meat, Poultry, and Fish with a Pressure Canner

Pressure-canning meat, poultry, and fish is a great skill to learn. Not only will it save money and provide healthy food for your family but it also helps you prepare for lean times. Once the jars are safely sealed, you may keep your harvest for several years without electricity.

This post contains affiliate links for products you may find useful. I make a small commission if you purchase products through these links. Please see the disclosure below.

Pressure canning meat
Turkey and broth, pressure canned for the winter.

Hot Water Bath vs Pressure Canning

High-acid foods, such as fruit, pickles, and jam may be preserved with a hot water bath canner. The acid in the food, along with proper processing, prevents the growth of bacteria in the jars. Low-acid foods, however, need to be processed in a pressure canner to safely preserve them. Meat, poultry, fish, and many vegetables fit in this category.

Chicken soup made from my own chickens and vegetables.

How To Pressure Can Food

To pressure can food, you’ll need the following items:

  • Pressure canner
  • Canning jars
  • Screw tops and new canning lids
  • Food to can
  • Canning funnel – not necessary, but helpful

Before you begin, make sure you read the instructions for your pressure canner and check the condition of the canner. If the gasket is warped, cracked, or feels sticky, you should replace it. (Note – some pressure canners are made to operate without a gasket.) Be sure that the overpressure plug is in place and that the pressure vent tube is clean. Use a piece of wire threaded through the hole to clean the pressure vent tube.

The pressure canner will have an automatic pressure control that is either weighted or a dial. Either one is fine but it must be a selective pressure control, allowing you to choose the proper pressure for canning different foods. The weighted control should allow for 5, 10, or 15 pounds of pressure. If you have never used your pressure canner, or if you are concerned that it may not be in good condition, contact your local extension office. They may be able to check the canner and answer your question.

canning chicken soup
Getting ready to can chicken soup.

Preparing Your Food and Jars

Check to see how many canning jars your canner will hold. The jars may touch. My Mirro pressure canner holds 7 quarts or 9 pints. Once you know how many jars you can process at a time, you have a better idea of how much food to prepare.

Wash the jars thoroughly with hot, soapy water. Make sure there are no chips or cracks in your jars. Wash the screw tops and follow the manufacturer’s directions for preparing canning lids. (*Note – Ball lids are now made BPA-free and they should not be boiled ahead of time.

Prepare the food you will be canning. You may can beef, pork, venison, fish, chicken, turkey, or other poultry with a pressure canner. You may also can soups, stews, chili, and sloppy Joe mix as long you use the longest processing time with the highest pressure required for any of the foods in the mixture. For example, chicken soup containing chicken, broth, potatoes, celery, and carrots will need to be processed for 90 minutes at 10 pounds pressure for quart-size jars – the requirements for canning chicken, which has the longest processing time.

Beef, pork, venison, and lamb will need to be boned before canning. Chicken, turkey, rabbit, and duck may be canned with bones in, but I prefer to remove all bones prior to canning. Fish may be boned or canned in large chunks, bone-in.

  • Precook meats until medium done
  • Cut in chunks, shred, or dice and fill jars
  • Add stock or water, leaving one inch of headspace
  • Add salt – optional
  • Rabbit and poultry may be raw-packed – cut up, pack the meat in jars, and cover with water
  • Wipe rims with a clean cloth, place canning lids on jars and tighten screw bands by hand
  • Place jars in the pressure canner
  • Add the required amount of water to the canner (check the instructions for your canner)
  • Helpful Hint! Add a splash of vinegar to water in the canner to prevent mineral buildup if you have hard water.
Pressure canning turkey
Canning turkey broth.

Processing Times

Follow these processing instructions for the foods you are preserving. Begin timing when the canner reaches proper pressure (control begins to jiggle according to pressure canner instructions).

Process all of these foods at 10 pounds of pressure (15 pounds if your elevation is over 1000 ft).

Beef, Pork, Venison, Lamb
  • Process pint jars for 75 minutes, and quart jars for 90 minutes.
Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Rabbit – with bones
  • Process pint jars for 65 minutes, and quart jars for 75 minutes.
Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Rabbit – without bones
  • Process pint jars for 75 minutes, and quart jars for 90 minutes.
Fish 
  • Process pint jars for 110 minutes.
  • It is not recommended that you can fish in quart jars.
  • Salmon should not be cooked first. Pour hot water over the salmon and scrape any color from the skin.
Soup Stock
  • Process pint jars for 20 minutes, and quart jars for 25 minutes.
  • Skim all fat from the stock before canning.
Filling pint jars with Beef Chili.

Processing Procedures, Hints, and Tips

Once your jars are packed and settled into the canner, the water is added, and the lid is properly in place, you will need to heat things up. Turn the heat on (I find it works best to slowly heat the canner up, preventing liquid from escaping from jars from the uneven pressure caused by rapid heating) and wait for the lid to lock into place and steam to escape from the vent tube.

Allow the steam to escape for 10 minutes, then place the weighted gauge in place (if this applies to your canner). Wait for the pressure to build up, causing the gauge to jiggle. Begin timing at this point. The gauge should jiggle 3 times per minute or slightly more. If it is jiggling a lot more than this, slowly lower the heat.

Tips and Hints:
  • Do not use a smooth glass cooktop for canning. The burners are not designed for this purpose. You may purchase a separate burner to use for canning, or you may set up a propane burner outside.
  • Do not make big adjustments to the heat under your canner as it is processing. Swings in temperature will cause uneven pressure between the inside of the jars and the interior of the canner.
  • It is advisable to do a ‘wet run’ before you start canning foods. Put the recommended amount of water in your canner and process without any jars of food inside. This will allow you to get the hang of canning without potentially ruining any food or breaking jars.
  • It is normal for a small amount of steam to sputter from the overpressure plug as the pressure builds up in the canner.
  • If the lid isn’t locking into place, you may need to adjust it so that the locking mechanism lines up properly. Use potholders to protect your hands.

When Processing Time is Up

It is very important that when the processing time is finished, you allow the canner to cool slowly until the pressure has returned to normal. Do not put your canner in cold water, remove the pressure gauge, or try to open the lid. You may damage the canner, cause the liquid inside jars to bubble out, or you could scald yourself. It may take several hours for the pressure to slowly stabilize so that you may safely remove the lid.

What Went Wrong?

Sometimes things don’t go according to plan. Here are some common problems encountered when using a pressure canner:

  • The pressure never builds up – the gasket may need to be replaced, the overpressure plug may need to be replaced, the locking pin may not be lined up properly, or the burner may not be hot enough.
  • Pressure gauge stops jiggling – water inside canner may have all evaporated off (may cause burned scent), food may have stopped up vent tube. Turn the burner off, and allow the canner to cool and pressure to drop to normal before opening the canner to investigate.
  • Liquid escapes from jars, leaving larger head space than recommended – canner heated too quickly, cooled or pressure decreased too quickly, or heat levels were not stable during processing. If jars are sealed, the food should be fine to use. Freeze jars if you are concerned about safety, making sure that there is enough room in the jar for the liquid to expand.
  • Jars don’t seal. Review the instructions on the box of canning lids and make sure you are following them. Most lids need to be heated in water before placing on jars.

Do you pressure can your own meats, poultry, and fish? Do you have any helpful hints for the best results?

 For more information, visit the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

How to Pressure Can Meat, Poultry, and Fish - The Self Sufficient HomeAcre
.

24 Comments

  1. LaraKT
  2. tirtzah50
  3. Rebecca Smith
    • Kayla McElhannon

Add Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.