Preserving meat in kilner jars

Latest Articles

Preserving meat in kilner jars

Downsizer Forum Index -> Recipes, Preserving, Homebrewing

Author

Message

monsieurpoule

Joined: 31 Mar 2006
Posts: 56
Location: The more exclusive Northern end of France

Posted: Sun Jun 11, 06 5:54 pm Post subject: Preserving meat in kilner jars
Apologies if this has been covered before. How do I preserve meat in kilner jars? Is it possible using a big pan with lid as my pressure cooker is a bit small. Thanks all. I'm trying to preserve stuff using all the jars I have rather than filling up the freezer.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45519
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Jun 11, 06 6:07 pm Post subject:
with great care

2steps

Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 5349
Location: Surrey

Posted: Sun Jun 11, 06 6:26 pm Post subject:
I believe it's best/safest done with a pressure canner

Naomi

Joined: 26 Mar 2005
Posts: 1945

Posted: Sun Jun 11, 06 6:47 pm Post subject:

Hiya.

I believe Hardworkinghippy preserves meat in Kilner jars, so she may be able to help you ?

I think (but I could be wrong) that she uses a big metal steriliser (which is like a massive pressure cooker specially made for the purpose).
There are safety issues with preserving/storing meat this way ,so it is important you get it right. You could PM her or maybe she has an article about it on here or on ACL?

Blue Sky

Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 06 6:45 am Post subject:

You need a huge pan.

Our butcher did our pork for us as we didn't have a pan big enough. He put all the jars (about forty of them) into the pan and stuffed the gaps with tea towels to stop them clattering about. Weight the top jars down with a heavy stone so that they do not try to float but don't put a lid on the pan. Just make sure they remain covered with water the full time. We boiled ours for approximately four hours. Asuming that you are using the type of jar with the rubber sealer always use a new rubber ring. We get different types for veggies and meat here but i'm not quite sure why. (Red for meat, orange for other food). The butcher didn't seem you worry about this.

What are you preserving?

Veggies would obviousely need alot less time than the meat does.

Hope this helps.

Simon

hardworkinghippy

Joined: 01 Jan 2005
Posts: 1110
Location: Bourrou South West France

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 06 8:15 am Post subject:

That's a real "potted" version Simon...

Dpack's right though, it should be done strictly according to the rules because there's a risk of contracting the disease caused by the toxin of botulism which can be very nasty or even fatal for very young children.

As 2steps says, it's now recommended that non- acid foods such as meat are bottled in a pressure cooker to take the temperature up much higher than boiling point to kill the toxins.

I don't use a pressure cooker, I use exactly the system explained above by Simon and like my family and neighbours here, I've been doing that for a long time with no problems.

So, it's up to you what you do.

These are some of the precautions I take;

I always bottle precooked food in really clean jars and brand new tops and ensure that the temperature of the basin is over 100° for non acid foods throughout the whole period of the bottling - from 3 to 4.5 hours depending on the meat. (compare a curry with very little meat - a big pork joint in a 3litre jar)

High acid foods such as tomatoes, apples and stone fruit can be bottled without too much danger and left in the bath for 15 - 20 minutes. I usually add lemon juice to fruit and vinegar to vegetables.

Leave the jars to cool for 24hrs, then try to open the jars and if they're not closed properly, use the food straight away or reject the batch. Only if they are really closed well should they go into the cave with the seals keeping the jars closed (remove the lids or unhook the wires) so that if there's a problem it can be seen immediately.

The food tastes great (but can't beat fresh!) and keeps for a long time in a cool, dark place. Here are some photos of the process, but I haven't sorted out the set yet to show all the details.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/hardworkinghippy/sets/881202/

Monsieurpoule, have a look on the net - Google "bottling botulism" and you'll get lots of information about the various techniques used and the dangers involved.

Irene xxx

monsieurpoule

Joined: 31 Mar 2006
Posts: 56
Location: The more exclusive Northern end of France

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 06 9:10 am Post subject:
Thanks for all the help and advice folks. I fancy giving it a try as we've got 7 rabbits that are going to be ready to eat soon.

Blue Sky

Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 06 10:07 am Post subject:
You've got 7? We've got 50 We ate one last week but I hadn't thought of bottling them. Great idea. I'll have to make a weekend out of it. S [edit: p.s. Thanks for filling in the important bits on bottling Irene. ]

hardworkinghippy

Joined: 01 Jan 2005
Posts: 1110
Location: Bourrou South West France

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 06 11:44 am Post subject:

Simon,

I'm sure somebody will come in in a moment and fill in even more

!

Some of our neighbours (a lot of them in their eighties and nineties and still gardening their hectare - which is all they're allowed to keep if they want their agricultural pension of £220 a month!) have stores of food which could last several years. One day I'll ask to take a pic in the cave of our old pals Guy and Chantal - they've everything imaginable and their cave goes on and on....!

I especially like them because they call me a youngster!

Irene x

	Downsizer Forum Index -> Recipes, Preserving, Homebrewing	All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1

View Latest Posts