Ground or Chopped Meat

Bear, beef, lamb, pork, sausage, veal, venison.

Procedure:

Choose fresh, chilled meat. For venison, add one part high-quality pork fat to three or four parts venison before grinding. Season freshly made sausage with salt and cayenne pepper (sage may cause a bitter off-flavor).

Hot Pack - shape chopped meat into patties or balls or cut cased sausage into 3 to 4 inch links. Cook until lightly browned. Ground meat may be sauteed without shaping. Remove excess fat. Fill hot jars with pieces. Add boiling meat broth, tomato juice, or water, leaving 1 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, adjust headspace if needed. Add 1 teaspoon of salt per quart, 1/2 teaspoon per pint, if desired. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel. Adjust lids and process.

Ground or Chopped Meat in Glass Jars
Style of Pack	Jar Size	Process Time	Canner Pressure at "0" ft
			dial-gauge	weighted-gauge
Hot	Pints	75 min	11 lb	10 lb
	Quarts	90 min	11 lb	10 lb

For processing at above 1,000 ft, see Altitude Adjustments.

Ground or Chopped Meat in Cans
Style of Pack	Can Size	Process Time	Canner Pressure at "0" ft
			dial-gauge	weighted-gauge
Hot	2	65 min	11 lb	10 lb
	2.5 and 3	90 min
Raw*	2	100 min
	2.5 and 3	135 min

For processing at above 1,000 ft, see Altitude Adjustments.

* Raw pack is suitable only for cans. It is difficult to remove ground meat out of glass jars when packed this way.

Raw Pack - without forming cakes, pack raw ground meat solidly into cans level with top. Place cans in a pot with water about 2 inches below can rim. Exhaust (cook) at slow boil until meat registers 170° F, 77° C. Press meat down into cans leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Seal and process at once.