I’ve told you before that one of my favorite Youtubers to watch is Whippoorwill Holler. The other night I sat down to cross stitch and turned on the television. Typically I turn on Youtube to see if any of the channels I subscribe to had new videos. If I find some I want to watch, I watch them. If I don’t, I move on to another channel.
Well, Miss Lori from Whippoorwill Holler had a new video for Canning Italian Beef. I am not experienced with canning meet but it sounded interesting to me as I have quite a few beef roasts left in the freezer and I have beef scheduled to come in May. Hmm. I was going to watch the video and see what it was all about.
So I clicked play. Miss Lori came on and I about died laughing. She was telling how they had bought a 1/2 of beef and she was working to make room in her freezer. She had a bunch of beef roasts in her freezer and she was going to use them up by making and canning Italian Beef with the roasts.
What a coincidence that we were both thinking about the roast in our freezers. Well, I knew immediately I was going to watch the video to the end. If you push play, you can watch the video too.
I was bummed for about 30 seconds thinking I couldn’t make it as I needed a big pressure cooker…then I remembered that I had gotten one free on a curb alert. You can read the post HERE.
I had been on Facebook and someone posted a curb alert that everything sitting outside was free. I messaged it to Karl as he was on his way home from work and would be driving right past it.
I took this picture from the posting and wrote to Karl, if you can, pick up this…
Karl did and I got a brand new pressure cooker.
Anyway…I took out four roasts and made them into the Italian Beef that Miss Lori was making. I followed her recipe but did add in the salt she suggested at the end of the video.
I had seven jars from the four roasts. I was listening to an audiobook while I was prepping everything and forgot to take pictures.
You can see six jars…all sealed nicely. You’re probably wondering why I made seven jars but only six are pictured.
Well, just as the jars were coming out of the canner, Karl came in the door. I asked if had supper and he said no. I asked him if he wanted to try the meat I had just processed. He said yes, so I opened a can. I made some potatoes in the instant pot and we ate the meat over the potatoes.
Karl and both LOVED it. I’ll definitely do this again.
I’m new to canning meat and it’s the first time I used this pressure cooker. I had a little trouble keeping the pot at 11 pounds of pressure. Because of that, I think the meet got a little overdone and didn’t stay as chunky. It doesn’t bother the taste at all but I think I might want to watch that a little better when I do it again.
Seriously though, Karl and I both LOVED it. It will be so handy having this on the shelf for a quick supper. Thanks Miss Lori for a wonderful recipe!!
I know a woman who cans all meat, she buys it on sale at the grocery store. I have never eaten canned meat other than the chicken and tuna from cans. Glad you got some use out of the canner.
When we were milking cows and a cow needed to be processed, usually an older cow, I always requested canning meat from the locker. They would cut it into chunks and then I would pressure can it. This became my quick meal, thickened over potatoes or noodles, BBQ sauce added for on buns, etc. I did not grow up with it, but my husband did. It is so easy to can and so handy to have on the shelf.
PS it never stayed in chunks; it was always more of a shredded texture.
Jo…Thank you for the heads up about lightbulbs. Des Moines is under a tornado watch. My daughter lives there. She just sent a text. Lightbulb is working. I laughed as they all thought I was nuts, but I’m not
Growing up we used to butcher our own meat. Mom would can some meat in jars. It was not Italian beef. I think I would of like it better if she had. But your right it is a way of having a quick meal ready.
OMG those 2 tubs and the milk can would be awesome in the garden!!!!
Yea for the FREE pressure cooker. Lucky lady and great eye girl!
GEEZ!! I wish people around here would have curb set outs like that!! I’ve never seen so many things that I think I’d nab like in that picture. My niece is pretty heavy into prepping so I bought her a harvest Right freeze dryer for Christmas. That’s what she’d do with those extra roasts but canning is great as well.
This sounds like a great recipe for my first foray into canning meat. Glad you shared!
I watched the video. I have never canned meat, but it would be good to have on hand. What she made (and you too) really sounds good. I fix a roast with some of the peppers on it with a packet of both ranch dressing and aus jus and it is so good. Thanks for sharing.
For several years, we canned up meat as a Christmas gift to my husband’s parents. They went through it like a hot knife cuts butter.
We farm and raise our pork and beef. We’ve canned 100 quarts of pork in the past year. The freezers are full of beef. We share it all with family, but if enough beef isn’t used up by our September appointment with the butcher, I may have to can some beef too. It sure makes for a speedy meal…cook potatoes, heat up the canned meat and green beans, and it’s ready.
Oh my gosh Jo, my mother raised a family of 11 on wild game (in WY) and she put up many many quarts of meat every fall. It was the best! My dad was always finding someone in need of a meal (last minute of course) and this was mom’s go-to. We had many meals of canned meat & gravy over homemade bread for dinner. Thank you for the warm memory.I’ve often wondered about canning my own, thanks for the hookup with Miss Lori’s video! I love reading your blog but rarely comment. I think you are an amazing mom and grandma. Thank you for being so open, God bless!
You are so lucky in finding things. I would not be. Enjoy the meat.
That brings back fond memories of growing up. My parents raised our beef. My mother sometimes canned some of it. She also sometimes canned chicken. We had a huge garden and canning was a big part of August.
Jo, canning is one of Judy Laquidara greatest accomplishments, Meat is something she cans. You might want to have a chat with her. I’m sure she can give you lots of pointers.
When my husband used to hunt, I canned venison. I used my mother’s old pressure cooker that was as old as I was until my mother-in-law gave me her new pressure cooker. Canned venison stays in chunks and makes the best gravy for over mashed potatoes.
We have raised our own chickens and I would can several pints each year. It was wonderful to come home from work and use a jar for chicken and biscuits or casserole! Yummy! I have also canned venison and our son would eat a pint himself!
Welcome to the wonderful world of canning meats! You did a great job!
I have always made fruit jams, applesauce, canned nectarines, pears and other fruits. My grown daughters and I started canning meats about 8 years back after a power outage that lasted a couple of days opened our eyes to the fact that other than a few store bought cans of tuna and the canned chicken breasts from costco, we had no access to protein or to all of the meats in our freezers because we didn’t want to open them and let the cold air out! So I set out to learn how to safely pressure can meats.
IMHO, the very best investment you can make is to pick up a $15 weighted pressure regulator. Once it comes to pressure, you can hear it rock back and forth and you will learn to know when the pressure is creeping up too high or if it is slowing down too much. Then you won’t need to babysit the pressure gauge with your eyes because you can listen for it as you go about your work. Fluctuations in pressure can cause voiding of the liquid and possibly cause seal failures as well as reducing the quality of texture. It is important to note that if the pressure falls below the recommended pressure for your altitude, you MUST bring the pressure back up and re-start the timer.
This is the pressure regulating weight that we all have for each of our presto canners. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HMBVQ8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
With supply chain interruptions, it is also a good idea to buy an extra set of replacement gasket and release valve. Cheap insurance for keeping the work flowing without having to chase down replacements when you are neck deep in meats or produce! Besides the manufacture’s website and amazon, you can usually find replacements at local hardware stores like Ace or TrueValue.
YouTube is a wonderful resource for learning to can! I follow several and have learned many great things and lots of delicious recipes! Leiza at Suttons Daze hosts “Canuary” every January and several other YouTubers join her in sharing what they are putting by.
Here are a few I follow:
https://youtube.com/c/SuttonsDaze
https://youtube.com/channel/UCGlnnV1P-cUPZ-laIOL62_Q
https://youtube.com/c/MelissaKNorris
Another resource is the National Center for Home Food Preservation. It gives all the latest, safest (tested) recipes. A lot of practices considered safe 40 years ago when I started making a home, are no longer considered safe.
https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html
Gosh, sorry this got so long…can you tell how enthusiastic I am about the subject? My daughters and I often work together and it makes it more enjoyable!
I can’t believe the luck finding the canner on the curb…looks like an electric roaster right behind it…I’ve been looking for one. Canned meat is awesome, try chicken. Makes great stew, soups and chicken salad.
Its a good thing that you have Karl to feed and a large family. I can’t imagine what I’d do with 6 jars of canned meat. But you made it happen! Spaghetti sauce here we come. No more of that jarred stuff.
YUMMMMM !!!! I grew up on canned meat –Mom canned beef and pork –she fried pork sausage patties and stored in crock with fat over them to preserve!! So many things can be done with the canned meat–just like Ms Lori said in her video. One that I loved especially- mom mad a hash –with beef, left over gravy, added onion, some diced potato –and baked it in the wood cook stove–and ate it over mashed potatoes!!
Didn’t have dry Italian Dressing mix in those days–so it was salt and pepper only. Bet the garlic would be good added before canning. To find a pressure canner free on the curb??!!! I think –lucky!!! It keeps a long time too, really!!
Great article! I loved watching Miss Lori’s video when it came out bc both she and her husband just loved the meat. I have 4 roasts that I am canning up using this recipe today.
Just FYI: If you want meat to stay in the cube or chunk form, brown it a bit before putting it into the jars. This goes for beef and chicken. Of course, it is then considered a “hot” pack, not raw pack, so you definitely have to add liquid (water or broth or tomato juice… depends on what you are canning up) to cover the meat/poultry. The meat will still easily fall apart, but it will retain its shape more this way :-)