Chapter 11

Don’t Forget the Meats!

IN THIS CHAPTER

Bullet Why canning meat is so important

Bullet Selecting the best cuts

Bullet Instructions and recipes for canning beef, pork, poultry, and seafood

Bullet Combining meats and other ingredients for complete canned meals

RECIPES IN THIS CHAPTER

Cubed Meat

Wild Game in Broth

Canned Ground Beef

Never-Fail Canned Fresh Chicken

Canned Freshwater Fish

Canning meats is an often-forgotten area of home canning, which is a shame. Canning a variety of meats is a great way to add a protein component to your pantry and build up a quantity of the most expensive part of your grocery bill in a way you can afford. In this chapter, you discover how to safely can meat, game, poultry, and fish and seafood. These items will add variety to your pantry and give you delicious dinner foods that your whole family will want to eat.

Preparing for Pressure Canning Meats

Canning meat results in a tender product. Because canning meat draws out, but keeps, the natural juices, the meat is succulent and delicious naturally. Often, no additional seasoning is necessary, meaning you can rest assured that your family is eating only healthy food, and not flavor-enhancing additives and preservatives.

Without fail, canning meat, as well as poultry and seafood, means using the pressure canner. These are low-acid foods and are unsafe to can using the water-bath canning method. Meats cannot be successfully canned using any method other than pressure canning, regardless of stories you may have heard to the contrary.

Canning meat and poultry can be done using either the hot pack method, where it is lightly cooked and then put into the jars while still hot, or the cold pack method, where it is placed into jars raw so the canning pressure cooks the meat thoroughly (refer to Chapter 5 for more on these techniques). As a rule, cold pack recipes are generally for delicate meats like chicken and seafood that may fall apart from too much handling (think chicken and fish). Hot pack is usually used for partially cooked meats that are a bit firmer and won’t fall apart so readily like cubed meats. You can, however, find both hot and cold pack recipes for any type of meat. Each results in a different end product. You may find that your family likes the results from one method over another.

Be sure to follow the directions of the recipe carefully. Making changes can result in serious illness.

Tips for safety and efficiency

Meats need to be cut and canned as quickly as possible. Because bacteria can grow quickly in meat and poultry, your goal is to can the meat before it reaches room temperature, and not to allow your cut-up meat to sit out for any length of time between cutting and canning.

If you find that you have more meat cut than you can possibly process in one day, keep the extra in a refrigerator at 32–38 degrees Fahrenheit, and can that meat first the next day, before cutting more. Keep canning all the meat until finished, even if it means working for more than one day. (Although you can freeze meat as soon as you purchase it for canning later, you risk canning an inferior product. Better to buy it the day you plan to can it.)

Usually when canning meats, you will be processing a large portion at a time. To can meat in the safest and quickest way possible, follow the advice in the following sections.

Practice first

Every time you can — and no matter how many times you’ve canned in the past — set up all the necessary equipment and supplies and do a dry run to be sure you have everything ready and in the right place.

Be sure that you know how to close the pressure canner properly and quickly; do it a few times if you need to. Once it’s filled with steaming-hot water and filled jars, closing it is a bit harder. If your canner isn’t closed properly, you may not know it until after it’s been filled and is coming to a rolling boil, at which point the canner may leak steam, hiss, and spit hot water. Then you’ll be forced to wait until the canner cools and the pressure gauge returns to normal before you can reopen and reclose it. This wastes valuable time during which your raw meat is not being processed.

Stick to the plan

Canning meat is not the time to experiment with a recipe. Follow the recipe to the letter, making notes on your experience, so you can then see how to change your technique, if desired, the next time.

Check everything twice

Make sure your pressure canner is in excellent condition (refer to Chapter 9 for what constitutes “excellent condition”). Before using the pressure canner, be sure to check its safety valve. You can do this with a string or fine wire. A sure way to know that the safety valve is clean is to hold the lid up to the light. When it is clean, you will be able to see light through the hole. Check the safety valve whenever possible. Check it between loads of jars during a single canning session as well. It only takes a couple of seconds and can eliminate any major accidents.

Also make sure to check all your jars for nicked rims before and after sanitizing (glass jars with lids and bands are recommended). Sometimes a jar will be perfect when coming out of storage but will get a small nick or crack in the cleaning process. A nicked rim won’t keep a jar sealed.

Be as clean as a whistle

Wash all your work surfaces with hot, soapy water and rinse well. You may want to add bleach to the rinse water and let the surfaces dry on their own. This ensures that you have a sanitary work surface to set your jars and utensils on. Note: You don’t have to sanitize the entire kitchen, just the area that you will be working at (doing a trial run lets you know exactly where your work surfaces are). You also need to ensure that your jars, rims, and lids are sanitized (go to Chapter 4 for details).

Selecting and preparing the meat

When canning meat, use only the best meat you can buy. This means the freshest meat that has been raised and handled properly. Here are some ways to ensure that you are starting out with the best meat.

Raise your own food animals
Buy from a local small farmer
Buy from a local butcher

You can certainly use meat from the local big-chain grocery store, but note that they won’t have the freshest meat available, and the meat itself may be raised in a way that you may not want to support.

When preparing meats to can, you want to remove as much bruising, gristle, and fat as possible. You remove the first two because they’re blemishes that don’t can well. You remove the fat because fatty meat shouldn’t be canned; it increases the chance of spoilage and can lend an off flavor to the finished product. Too much fatty meat can also cause grease to be expelled as the pressure rises, which will keep the lids from sealing properly as the jars cool. You won’t be able to remove every trace of fat, but cut off as much as possible during preparation.

How you cut the meat — into cubes, strips, and so forth — depends on the type of meat you’re canning. You can find specific guidance for the various types of meats in the upcoming sections.

Only prepare enough meat for one canner full of jars at a time. You do not want meat to sit out at room temperature for any longer than necessary. Meat is more susceptible to bacterial growth than other foods and must remain as cold as possible until used.

Meat canning, step by step

Your equipment and supplies are checked and assembled, and you’re ready to begin. The following steps provide a general overview of the process for canning meat; for detailed instructions on canning low-acid foods, refer to Chapter 9.

Place the wire jar rack into the canner and add the water to the canner, following the manufacturer’s instructions.
Fill the jars following the recipe’s instructions and close them hand tight.

For information on preparing your meat, refer to the earlier section, “Selecting and preparing the meat.”

Don’t overtighten the jars. By hand-tightening them, you leave a miniscule amount of room between the rim and the lid, enabling the pressure of the canner to force air out of each jar as it becomes pressurized during the canning process. As the pressurized cans then cool, the lids will be sucked tightly onto the jars, providing an airtight seal.
Place the hand-tightened jars in the canner and then place the lid on the canner and fasten it, following the manufacturer’s instructions.

You can now begin processing. When the water comes to a boil, vent the steam for at least 10 minutes to ensure that the pressure gauge has an accurate reading.
After the 10 minutes venting time, close the vent and watch the pressure build; then maintain the pressure specified in the recipe for the recommended period of time.

Stay nearby because you need to adjust the heat source so that the pressure builds high enough but not too high. Read your particular pressure canner’s instructions to be sure of the technique the manufacturer recommends for your unit. If at any time your pressure falls below the recommended level during the canning process, you must bring it back up to the correct pressure and start timing all over again.
After the specified cooking time has elapsed, allow the pressure to return to 0. Then remove the jars from the canner, allow them to cool completely, and then store.
Before tasting or eating, boil the contents of each jar for 15 minutes.

The following sections provide specific instructions for various types of meat.

Canning Meat Cut into Cubes or Strips

Meats such as beef, pork, goat, and sheep that have been cut into cubes or strips are easy to can and often serve as the main ingredient in many delicious dishes. Cubed meat is tender and delicious and is guaranteed to be one of the first things you reach for when you need a fast meal maker.

Canning is an excellent way to use the less expensive cuts of meat and still end up with a delicious meal. When you preserve meat this way, your family will never know that you started with a tougher cut of meat, and children often prefer canned meat to the noncanned version because it’s so tender.

Preparing the meat

Before placing the meat into the jars, cut it into bite-sized pieces, about 1-inch square, and cook it in a frying pan on high heat until it’s about half-way done and lightly browned on each side.

You can also cut strips of your desired meats from roasts and steaks. If you do so, make sure that you cut with the grain of the meat so that it will fit the length of the jar. Cutting in this way results in a more tender and aesthetic-looking piece of meat. Cutting across the grain can cause the meat to fall apart and result in a stringy texture.

Meats that have a unique, strong flavor, such as wild game or mutton, can be soaked in salted water for an hour before cooking to draw out some of the blood, making the flavor milder. Or, consider canning these meats in a tomato-based liquid to achieve the same goal (as the Wild Game in Broth recipe does later in this chapter).

Filling the jars

Pack the meat cubes or strips while still hot into hot jars. (When canning chunks of meat, use wide-mouthed jars; this makes it easier to fill the jars when you’re canning and easier to remove the foods later on.) Leave a 1-inch headspace (see Chapter 3).

Fill the jars until they’re full but not overly packed. By leaving a bit of room, you allow all the air to be driven out of the meat. If packed too tightly, some air may become trapped, and your resulting meat won’t be safe to use.

Pour your hot liquid of choice (tomato juice, boiling water, or stock) over the meat. This additional liquid fills in any air spaces that remain. (Don’t use thickened gravy because it becomes gooey or too thick during the canning process and you’ll end up with an unsatisfactory product.)

Using a plastic or nonreactive utensil (not metal), release any air bubbles and add liquid as necessary to maintain the proper headspace. Then hand-tighten lids and process according to the recipe’s instructions.

Canning Ground Meat

Canning ground meat makes this family-friendly staple even faster and easier to use. When canning ground meat, use any that your family enjoys. From poultry to red meat, all of it tastes wonderful when preserved this way.

Use canned ground meat in the same way as you normally would — in any recipe that calls for already-cooked ground meat. You may find that your family prefers ground meat cooked this way, as it is far more flavorful than cooking in a frying pan.

When canning ground meat, keep these points in mind.

Preparing the ground meat: Brown the meat just until it loses its pink color.
Filling the jars: Using a wide-mouth canning funnel, carefully fill the jars with ground meat, leaving a 1-inch headspace.

Pick Your Packing: Canning Poultry

Poultry can include chicken, turkey, and other birds. I (Amy) can chicken the most, so this section refers to chicken, but feel free to substitute whatever poultry you want to use – the processing is the same.

To can fresh chickens (those that haven’t been frozen), you use the cold pack method. To can chickens that have been previously frozen, you use the hot pack method.

Canning is the perfect way to use roosters and older hens. (An older hen, known as a stewing hen, is one that is older than 1½ years.) These traditionally tougher birds are made tender and succulent through the canning process. The younger chickens tend to become too soft and are better if frozen.

Canning fresh poultry: Cold packing

Cold packing is recommended for poultry that has never been frozen, and it makes a fast and efficient way to preserve poultry for your pantry.

Preparing the chicken: If you have whole chickens (and you’re up to doing it!), remove the breasts to freeze separately and can the remaining parts of the bird. Separate the leg pieces at the joint, so you have a thigh and drumstick for each leg. Place the pieces of cold chicken in a large bowl, only preparing enough chickens for a full canner load.

Make sure that the drumstick bone is not too tall for a lid to sit flush on the rim of the jar. If so, grab your favorite cleaver and chop off the excess bone, or refit.
Filling the jars: When canning chicken, fit one chicken per quart. Cold-pack chicken pieces into each quart jar. Place the pieces close together, but not jammed in, fitting them like a puzzle, working around the jar until no more room is left (see Figure 11-1). Add one bouillon cube into each jar before hand-tightening the lid. Don’t add any additional liquid to cold-pack chicken because the canning process yields a surprising amount of liquid.

The natural gelatin in the chicken bones gives the cooled liquid a jellylike consistency. Once heated, this jelly will liquefy and be full of flavor.

Canning previously frozen chicken: Hot packing

You may also can previously frozen chickens. Say you have a freezer full of chicken and your freezer suddenly breaks down. Now you need to process a large amount of poultry, and fast. You can successfully can previously frozen poultry as long as it’s not freezer damaged and you thaw it slowly in a refrigerator. (This is not a technique to use on old, forgotten chicken that you suddenly found at the bottom of your freezer.) A good rule of thumb: Can chicken that’s been frozen for four months or less.

Preparing the chicken: To can previously frozen chicken, you use the hot pack method (you may first want to shoo squeamish friends and family members out of the kitchen!): Cut up the chicken and separate the pieces at all the joints so that you end up with thighs and drumsticks. Save the more desirable breast pieces for a separate meal. Remove the skin if you like (doing so reduces the amount of fat in the jar). Then cook the pieces about two-thirds of the way through. The meat finishes cooking in the canner.
Filling the jars: Fill hot jars with hot chicken pieces, fitting them together like puzzle pieces, until the jar is full, leaving a 1-inch headspace.

Schematic illustration of fitting in the chicken pieces like a puzzle but not too tightly. — FIGURE 11-1: Fit in the chicken pieces like a puzzle — but not too tightly.

Worth the Effort: Canning Fish

Many people are surprised to know that both fish and seafood can be canned successfully. Doing so is great if you’re a sportsman or sportswoman and often end up with bags of frozen fillets you don’t know what to do with. You can add seasoned broth or tomato juice to the jars, and the resulting food is delicious as well as a unique addition to your pantry.

Both fish and seafood fall into the delicate category. Both should be cold packed, and you must follow the recipe closely and handle the food with care throughout the process. But because they make wonderful additions to savory pies and soups or stews, they’re worth the extra effort and care it takes to make a healthy and delicious product.

Fish and seafood differ from other meats because they are extremely low in acidity, which means that there is an even greater chance of error if you don’t follow the recipe carefully. Because of the increased chance of error, canning fish is not the best project for a beginner. Try canning some other foods first. When you feel proficient with canning easier items (like fruits and vegetables), move up to meats, and then to fish and seafood.

Picking your fish

When canning fish, use a mild-flavored fish from clean waters. With fishing being a sport that requires an inexpensive license and a worm on a pole, you may find that fishing can fill a pantry for little to no cost.

Check with your local health department for official warnings and recommendations about eating freshly caught fish in your area.

Preparing fish and seafood

To prepare fish for canning, you clean it by removing its organs and scales, but you don’t remove its skin. You don’t have to remove the tiny bones, either (they’ll become soft and edible when canned). Then you cut it into pieces long enough to fill the jar and leave a 1-inch headspace. If cutting chunks is desired, simply cut into pieces roughly the same size, again leaving a 1-inch headspace.

To measure how long to cut your fish pieces, place the size of jar you are using alongside a fillet of fish.

Filling the jar

Place the fish pieces into pint jars, skin-side facing out (for a prettier finished jar), and leave a 1-inch headspace, as shown in Figure 11-2. (Fish is not suitable for quart canning.)

Schematic illustration of placing fish skin-side out in the jar. — FIGURE 11-2: Place fish skin-side out in the jar.

Fish and seafood need to be canned as quickly as possible — preferably the day they’re caught. If you want to can either of these foods, make a plan that includes the actual trip out to catch them. That way, your supplies are organized and ready to use when you return to the kitchen. When you have a basket of fish waiting to be canned, that is no time to be looking for your canning tongs.

Including Meats in Other Canned Mixes

When thinking about your pantry contents, don’t forget to add a few canned dishes that contain both vegetables and meats. These complete meals in a jar not only taste better than convenience food that you buy in a store, but they’re also fresher and definitely healthier.

Canning a soup or unthickened stew gives you a little more breathing room for experimentation. Because you are canning based on the meat — the item that needs to be pressurized the longest — any other vegetable will be safely canned right along with it. When you are designing these soups and stews for your family, you can easily substitute vegetables or add more of another veggie that your family especially enjoys.

Here are some pointers:

When using strongly flavored vegetables, remember that a little goes a long way. Strongly flavored veggies, like those in the Brassica family (cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower, for example) tend to have an even more pronounced flavor after canning. If you are adding any of these vegetables, use a light touch. For example, you can add cabbage to any soup you make, but add only about half the amount you add of the other vegetables.
Leave out the noodles or rice when canning. Otherwise, your noodles end up overcooked and too soft. Rice seems to do fairly well; brown holds up better than white rice, but again, it may become too soft for your family to enjoy.

Because you are going to bring the canned product to a boil for at least 15 minutes before eating, that’s the perfect time to add your noodles or rice. The noodles can cook as the canned ingredients heat.

When you open a can of homemade soup or stew, you may find that it’s not the thickness that you like, or that the vegetables have gathered together at the bottom of the jar. This is harmless. After warming, it will thin and combine into the soup or stew you started out with. In the case of jars of stew, you simply thicken them as they are heating. For recipes that combine meats and other ingredients, go to Chapter 12.

Cubed Meat

PREP TIME: 1 HOUR | PROCESSING TIME: PINTS, 1 HOUR 15 MIN; QUARTS, 1 HOUR 30 MIN | PRESSURE LEVEL: 10 POUNDS | YIELD: ABOUT 8 PINTS OR 4 QUARTS

INGREDIENTS

6 pounds lean meat

Water, tomato juice, or broth

Canning salt or beef bouillon (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1 Cut the meat into cubes and brown lightly in a dry skillet until the meat is about halfway done (the canning process finishes the cooking). While the meat is browning, heat up your choice of liquid until it is boiling.

2 Prepare the canning jars and two-piece caps (lids and screw bands) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Keep the jars hot. (For detailed instructions on preparing your jars, see Chapter 4.)

3 Ladle the cooked meat and your choice of boiling liquid into hot jars, leaving a 1-inch headspace. Add a bouillon cube or ¼ teaspoon of salt to each pint jar or ½ teaspoon of salt to each quart jar, if desired. Release any air bubbles with a nonreactive utensil (refer to Chapter 3). Wipe the jar rims; seal the jars with the two-piece caps, hand-tightening the bands.

4 Process your filled jars in a pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure for 1 hour 15 minutes (pints) or 1 hour 30 minutes (quarts). When the processing time is done, allow the pressure to return to 0, wait an additional 10 minutes, and then carefully open the canner lid. (Head to Chapter 9 for detailed processing instructions for pressure canning.)

5 Remove the hot jars with a jar lifter. Place the jars on a clean kitchen towel in a draft-free area. After the jars cool completely, test the seals (refer to Chapter 4). (If you find jars that haven’t sealed, immediately refrigerate them and use them within one week.) Boil the contents of each jar for 15 minutes before tasting or eating.

PER 4-OUNCE SERVING: Calories 266 (From fat 115); Fat 13g (Saturated 5g); Cholesterol 115mg; Sodium 76mg; Carbohydrates 0g (Dietary fiber 0g); Protein 35g.

TIP: Serve this meat over biscuits in wintertime for a stick-to-your-ribs meal that really tastes great.

Wild Game in Broth

PREP TIME: 1 HOUR 30 MIN | PROCESSING TIME: PINTS, 1 HOUR 15 MIN; QUARTS, 1 HOUR 30 MIN | PRESSURE LEVEL: 10 POUNDS | YIELD: ABOUT 4 PINTS OR 2 QUARTS

INGREDIENTS

3 pounds game

Canning salt

Beef broth or tomato juice

Water

DIRECTIONS

1 Cut your meat into 1-inch chunks. In a large nonreactive bowl, cover the meat with a brine solution made up of 1 tablespoon of salt per quart of water. Leave the meat in the brine for 1 hour. Then rinse thoroughly. In an 8-quart pot, brown the game over medium or medium-high heat until it is about two-thirds done. While the meat is browning, bring your choice of liquid to a boil.

3 Fill the prepared jars with pieces of game and boiling hot liquid (broth or tomato juice), leaving a 1-inch headspace. Release any air bubbles with a nonreactive utensil, adding liquid as necessary to maintain the proper headspace (refer to Chapter 3). Wipe the jar rims; seal the jars with the two-piece caps, hand-tightening the bands.

PER 4-OUNCE SERVING OF VENISON: Calories 126 (From fat 51); Fat 6g (Saturated 2g); Cholesterol 63mg; Sodium 251mg; Carbohydrates 0g (Dietary fiber 0g); Protein 18g.

PER 4-OUNCE SERVING OF RABBIT: Calories 126 (From fat 46); Fat 5g (Saturated 2g); Cholesterol 50mg; Sodium 341mg; Carbohydrates 0g (Dietary fiber 0g); Protein 19g.

VARY IT! You can use this recipe for venison and rabbit, as well as any game that might have a stronger-than-normal flavor.

Canned Ground Beef

PREP TIME: 1 HOUR | PROCESSING TIME: PINTS, 1 HOUR 15 MIN; QUARTS, 1 HOUR 30 MIN | PRESSURE LEVEL: 10 POUNDS | YIELD: 8 PINTS OR 4 QUARTS

INGREDIENTS

8 pounds lean ground beef

Water, tomato juice, or beef broth

Canning salt (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1 Lightly brown ground beef in a dry skillet. While the beef is browning, bring your water, tomato juice, or beef broth to a boil.

2 While the meat is cooking and your liquid is coming to a boil, prepare the canning jars and two-piece caps (lids and screw bands) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Keep the jars hot. (For detailed instructions on preparing your jars, see Chapter 4.)

3 Ladle the ground beef evenly into each prepared jar and cover with boiling liquid, leaving a 1-inch headspace. Add ¼ teaspoon of salt to each pint jar or ½ teaspoon of salt to each quart jar, if desired. Release any air bubbles with a nonreactive utensil (refer to Chapter 3). Wipe the jar rims; seal the jars with the two-piece caps, hand-tightening the bands.

4 Process your filled jars in the pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure for 1 hour 15 minutes (pints) and 1 hour 30 minutes (quarts). When the processing time is done, allow the pressure to return to 0, wait an additional 10 minutes, and then carefully open the canner lid. (Head to Chapter 9 for detailed processing instructions for pressure canning.)

PER 4-OUNCE SERVING: Calories 261 (From fat 123); Fat 14g (Saturated 10g); Cholesterol 101mg; Sodium 99mg; Carbohydrates 0g (Dietary fiber 0g); Protein 32g.

VARY IT! Add a single bouillon cube per quart in place of the salt for a slightly different flavor.

NOTE: You may have to use a spoon to remove the ground meat from the jars. No worries — once it’s heated, it’ll again be the crumbly texture you know.

Never-Fail Canned Fresh Chicken

PREP TIME: 30 MIN | PROCESSING TIME: 1 HOUR 15 MIN | PRESSURE LEVEL: 10 POUNDS | YIELD: 7 QUARTS (EACH CONTAINING ONE 3-POUND CHICKEN)

INGREDIENTS

Seven 3-pound chickens

Canning salt or bouillon cubes (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1 Cut each chicken into parts, separating legs into thigh and drumstick pieces. Place the pieces in a large bowl, keeping them cold as you continue to cut. Remove the skin, if desired. Remove the breasts and use or freeze them separately.

3 Fill the prepared jars with the chicken pieces until full, leaving a 1-inch headspace. Add 1 bouillon cube or ½ teaspoon of canning salt to each quart jar, if desired. Release any air bubbles with a nonreactive utensil (refer to Chapter 3). Wipe the jar rims; seal the jars with the two-piece caps, hand-tightening the bands. (Note: Due to each chicken being a little different, you may find that you fit different numbers of pieces into each jar.)

4 Process your filled jars in a pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure for 1 hour 15 minutes. When the processing time is done, allow the pressure to return to 0, wait an additional 10 minutes, and then carefully open the canner lid. (Head to Chapter 9 for detailed processing instructions for pressure canning.)

5 Remove the hot jars with a jar lifter. Place the jars on a clean kitchen towel in a draft-free area. After the jars cool completely, test the seals. (If you find jars that haven’t sealed, immediately refrigerate them and use them within one week.) Boil the contents of each jar for 15 minutes before tasting or eating.

PER 4-OUNCE SERVING: Calories 214 (From fat 88); Fat 10g (Saturated 3g); Cholesterol 97mg; Sodium 85mg; Carbohydrates 0g (Dietary fiber 0g); Protein 29g.

VARY IT! If you are canning chicken that has been previously frozen and then thawed, cook it two-thirds of the way through before filling the canning jars.

TIP: This chicken is perfect for any recipe calling for cooked or shredded chicken. Once canned, the chicken falls off the bone.

Canned Freshwater Fish

PREP TIME: 1 HOUR | PROCESSING TIME: 1 HOUR 40 MIN | PRESSURE LEVEL: 10 POUNDS | YIELD: 12 PINTS

INGREDIENTS

25 pounds fresh fish

Canning salt

DIRECTIONS

1 Prepare the canning jars and two-piece caps (lids and screw bands) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Keep the jars hot. (For detailed instructions on preparing your jars, see Chapter 4.)

2 Clean the fish, removing the entrails, scales, head, tail, and fins. Leave the skin intact. Cut the pieces of cleaned fish to fit the jars minus 1 inch for the required headspace; see Figure 11-2.

3 Fill the hot jars with fish, skin side out (refer to Figure 11-2) and add 1 teaspoon of salt to each jar. Wipe the jar rims; seal the jars with the two-piece caps, hand-tightening the bands.

4 Process the filled jars in a pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure for 1 hour 40 minutes. When the processing time is done, allow the pressure to return to 0, wait an additional 10 minutes, and then carefully open the canner lid. (Head to Chapter 9 for detailed processing instructions for pressure canning.)

PER 4-OUNCE SERVING: Calories 212 (From fat 85); Fat 9g (Saturated 2g); Cholesterol 83mg; Sodium 788mg; Carbohydrates 0g (Dietary fiber 0g); Protein 30g.

TIP: This recipe is one that my family loves. I (Amy) use it primarily as the base for a quick fish chowder. On a cold night, it tastes wonderful with crusty bread and a canned fruit on the side.