Canning Ground Beef

This past summer I was invited to join my sister Alison and her sister-in-law, Doris for a day of canning.  Doris is a wonderful Christian woman who has been a wealth of knowledge for me.  Doris lives out of state, so for her to teach us she had to lug all her stuff here from Indiana.   Not only did we have a great time spending the day building friendships, but we also produced enough canned goods to get us started building up our stock of food.  There is such a sense of accomplishment that comes with canning.  I thank you Doris for taking so much time to teach Alison and me and for answering our numerous questions  over the phone.  You are a patient and kind teacher!


I thought I would start with showing you how I canned ground beef.  It is something I use quite often so it is what I needed to can anyway.  The grocery store had ground beef on sale, so it just made sense to start with it. 


What you will need:  10 pounds ground beef, 1 onion, 2 celery stalks, kosher salt, boiling water, pressure canner, approximately 12 pint size jars with lids and bands, can gripper, towel and time!


What I have found to be a very convenient way to cook 10 pounds of ground beef all at once is to boil it.  If you want to make beef broth in addition to canning the meat, add whatever you want to the meat when it is boiling.  I just added an onion and celery, but you could add a bouillon cube if you wanted.  Boil for 30 minutes.  I realize this looks like it is not going to be very good, but trust me, it will be worth the effort!

After the meat is cooked, drain the meat over a large pot to catch the beef broth (if you plan on keeping the broth).  Set aside the pot filled with broth and allow the fat to rise to the top before doing anything with it. After the fat is hardened on the top you can skim it off and flavor it more or leave it as is.  

Line up your clean jars (I wash mine in the dishwasher before using), and start spooning the meat into the jars.  It is convenient to have a canning funnel, but not necessary.

After your jar is filled to the top, use the end of a wooden spoon to push down the meat so that there is one inch between the meat and the top of the jar.

Pour 1 teaspoon of salt in each jar.

Pour enough boiling water over each jar so that there is still 1 inch head space.

Boil the lids for 2 minutes in a small pot.  While the lids are boiling, wipe the tops of the jars to make sure they are clean and free from anything that would prevent the lids from sealing.

Place a lid and screw a band on each jar.  

Place your jars in the pressure canner and fill your canner with the same temperature water that your meat is.  I fill the water to the maximum fill line.  Use your manufactures directions for your pressure canner.

Process at 12 pounds for 1 1/2 hours.  Do not start timing until until the gauge reaches 12 pounds.  Adjust your burner to keep it at 12 pounds.  I usually turn mine down to medium low to keep it consistent.

After the pressure gauge is totally released, open the lid and take out the jars, place them on a towel.  Leave them undisturbed until cooled.  You should hear the jars make a popping sound when they are sealed.  If you do not hear the sound you can look to see that the lid is indented slightly.  After the jars are cooled, push down on the lid to make sure they are sealed (you should not hear a clicking sound). It is very important that you wait until the jar is completely cooled until you do this. The meat will store for 2 years but I highly doubt you will have it that long!

Some helpful things to know:  I bought a canning kit that came with all the little things that make it easier to do this job.  It costs about $10 at Meijers.  The pressure canner I purchased through Amazon.  Make sure you are buying a pressure canner and not a pressure cooker, there is a difference.

After the jars have been sitting a while on the shelf, you will find that a layer of fat will form on the top.  Just skim this off before using and you have a pretty much fat free meat. This meat is great to use in tacos.  Just add your taco seasoning and you have a quick way to make tacos.  You can use this in any recipe that calls for cooked ground beef.  Each jar is approximately 1 pound.