PRESSURE CANNING (RAW PACK)
EQUIPMENT NEEDED:
Pressure cooker/canner with gauge or weights
Wide-mouth pint canning jars with two-piece lids
1 pound meat, fish, or shellfish meat per pint jar
MEATS:
Beef, veal, goat, pork, ham, lamb, corned beef, hamburger, chicken, or game.
Tough, lean cuts are preferable.
METHOD:
Trim off fat and gristle. Cut meat into 1-inch chunks. Remove skin from chicken; leave bone in. Shape hamburger into 1/2-inch thick patties. Pack raw meat into hot, sterilized jars, leaving one-inch headspace. Add 1/2 tsp. Salt or 1 bouillon cube (optional). Add no liquid. Screw on sterilized lids hand tight. Fill canner with 3 inches fresh water. Place jars on rack in canner. Secure cover, but leave petcock open. Heat, letting steam escape for 10 minutes to evacuate air from jars. Then close petcock and process for 1 hour, 15 minutes at 10 lbs. pressure. Remover cooker from heat and allow pressure to release naturally. Cool jars 10 minutes in cooker. Place jars on cloth away from drafts until cool. After 24 hours, test seals by checking that lids are concave and do not pop up and down when pushed with finger. Remove screw bands, label lids with contents and date, and store indefinitely. Before using, check seal, smell contents, and if in doubt, throw it out!
CLAMS, MUSSELS (LIVE):
Scrub, then steam just until shells are open, reserving juice. Remove clams from shells and drop meat into weak brine solution (1/2 cup salt to 2 quarts water) to cleanse. Use pickling salt, kosher salt, or uniodized table salt. Do not use halite or seawater. To make brine solution, dissolve the prescribed amounts of salt in boiling water. Use hot or cool. Then drop shellfish into 1 gallon boiling water containing 1/2 tsp. Citric acid. Boil 2 minutes. Drain. Pack clams into sterilized pint jars. Pour natural juice or boiling water over, leaving a 1-inch headspace. Adjust caps. Process for 1 hour, 10 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.
LOBSTSER, CRAB (LIVE):
Scrub live shellfish bodies, then boil 20 minutes in 1 gallon boiling water, 1/4 cup lemon juice or white vinegar, and 2 Tbsp. salt (see note above re: salt). While lobsters are cooking, make cool brine solution (1 gallon cool water, 2 cups lemon juice or white vinegar, and 2 Tbsp. salt). Drain and cool shellfish, pick the meat and rinse in cool brine. Drain. Pack into hot, sterilized pint jars, leaving a 1-inch headspace. Adjust caps. Process 1 hour, 10 minutes at 10-lbs. pressure.
SHRIMP:
Remove heads from fresh shrimp. To 1 gallon boiling water add 1 cup salt (see note above re: salt) and 1 cup white vinegar. Drop fresh, washed shrimp into boiling brine. Boil 6-8 minutes, then drop into cool water. Peel shrimp and remove veins. Rinse. Pack into hot, sterilized pint jars and cover with boiling water, leaving a 1-inch headspace. Adjust caps. Process 45 minutes at 10-lbs. pressure.
FISH:
Fillet freshly caught, thoroughly bled fish. Cut into jar-length pieces. Soak for 1 hour in a cool brine solution of 1 cup salt (see note above re: salt) to 1 gallon water). Drain. Pack fish into sterilized, hot pint jars. Leave 1 inch of headspace. Fill jars with a hot brine solution of 1/2 cup salt to 1 gallon hot water. Air must be exhausted through tissue of fish as follows:
1. Fill canner with 3 inches fresh water.
2. Place open jars in canner.
3. Boil 15 minutes with canner cover loosely in place and pet cock open.
4. Remove jars and drain out all brine.
5. Wipe jar rims, adjust caps, and process 1 hour, 40 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.
