I guess you can do other stuff besides drink out of them. Who knew?
Beef, fat trimmed






Smoke and brown for flavor






Other ingredients






Sterilized






Flavored






Ready for the bath






Bring on the heat






Step 2: Post pics while waiting for pressure cooker to make cheap meat delicious and tender


 

1st batch out, next batch in. House smells like a prime rib that was cooked like it was supposed to be







Lots more jarring (canning) to go. Next up; Chicken.... for enchiladas and such. Maybe tomorrow, or maybe next week....

This is our maiden voyage canning beef. I've always wanted to try canning it, and Chelleshooter likes stew. (should cut down on stew cooking time considerably)





We're thinking casseroles and other baked dishes will make the pre-cooked beef pretty handy to have around, but we haven't really figured it all out yet. Dunno if a)we'll like it, or b)it will be as useful as it seems like it should be. My thoughts are that it will be awesome, but I've been plenty wrong in the past.







In my younger years, some of my friends parents canned venison regularly. That stuff was about as good of eating at I've ever had! One of our favorites was to mix it up cold with mayonnaise, (like many do with tuna), and make sammiches with it. Very hard to beat. This beef will be tried that way very soon. I'll report back then.





Chelleshooters aunt cans tuna, turkey and chicken every year, and it's great stuff. So that's what got her interested.





LCR1 treated a bunch of us LCRs to his unbelievable canned smoked salmon a few years back, and that's what got me interested back then. I went head first in to copying it, and it turned out beyond awesome, (that's what the smaller jars in the pics above are for. gave so many away as gifts that I needed to get more jars)..... but that's the limit to my experience with canning until tonight, save helping my parents do it as a kid.





So, we're both newbs really. Not sure we have a lot of expertise to offer.





The manual got me through the initial salmon project, so be confident you'll get all the basics from that book. (Marvs recipe is what made the day)





I'll post the measurements/instructions we used for the beef in another post. Partially to share the recipe, but also for the archives, so I can find it next time I need it







 

Looks way better than this shit tastes



This morning started with dehydrated apples. Yummy.






Later this afternoon, chicken will be on the menu.

Measurements and process for yesterdays beef (mostly for Dallas, but anyone is welcome to read)





Pressure canner will hold 8 wide-mouth pint size jars, per session. (Ours. They do sell larger and smaller pressure cooker/canners. This one will also hold 12 1/2 pint jars, double stacked. Perfect for smoked salmon.) Wide-mouth jars are a bit more expensive, but are much easier to fill and to clean.





We did 16 pints yesterday. 15 lbs of beef (we bought 6 '2.5lb' roasts on sale at Safeway for $1.89lb) was pretty hard to stuff in to 16 jars after trimming away plenty of hard fat before cooking. 12 lbs of trimmed/prepped meat should be about right. If you have a dog, he'll enjoy whatever doen't fit in to the jars.... a few ounces per batch in our case.





1 clove garlic per jar, or two little ones.





Three 32oz containers of broth were used. We ended up throwing maybe a cup or so of it away, that didn't fit.





According to the canning books and several other canning enthusiasts, the recipe isn't all that critical. The process of canning is. (disclaimer:) Pay close attention to the details in your manual, including headspace and sanitation methods. And don't be lazy about the pressure cookers warnings. If you're not the type to pay close attention to detail, stick to the pre-canned stuff at the store. Hate to see anyone get hurt or sick because OdT said this or that.





Some people can it raw, some believe in browning it first, some put 1/2 teaspoon of salt in each jar, others use broth instead of water, garlic is optional, smoke it first or not at all, trim all the fat off or leave it and it will form it's own wax-like seal at the top of each jar, throw a jalapeño pepper in each jar, etc.... The possibilities are endless I suppose.





We chose to use garlic and broth only, after grilling it briefly on the smoker. I'm not sure what it is about canning something that has been smoked, but a little goes a long way. It will have plenty of smoke flavor with as little as an hours worth of smoking. (that's all that I used for the salmon mentioned before, and it was better than perfect.... and it's just enough cooking time to allow the skin to fall off of the meat easily. But that's another post, for another day)





This beef was smoked/grilled on high (hot) for about 10 minutes per side. (20 min total). We haven't tasted it yet, but there's no doubt there's a solid amount of smoke flavor, as evident by the strong smoke smell when we opened the canner. Made my mouth water







The amount of actual time it took was roughly 3 hours per batch. The amount of time spent actually working was around 30 minutes per person (2 of us). The rest of the time is spent waiting on temps to rise and fall, and monitoring the pressure on the canner. Pretty light duty really, and fun too.





We're going to do chicken breast this afternoon, using the exact same recipe. (chicken broth instead of beef broth). I bought 12 lbs of boneless and skinnless this morning. Haven't decided how I'm gonna slice them yet, but I think against the grain, to facilitate shredding, to be used in assorted mexican dishes.





Hope this all makes sense. Just kinda rattled off what we did yesterday.



 

Chicken



Lightly grilled








Sliced






Insert cloves and chicken






Broth






1" headspace






Lids






Batch #1

Beef enchilamachidacos* tonight for dinner, fuggeneh!




*corn tortillas wrapped around said canned beef with cheddar and green chilies inside, baked under enchilada sauce and some more melted cheese. Served with sour cream and some other rice recipe that was to die for. (congrats Chelleshooter!)



The beef hits 11/10 for flavor. Wicked good! Texture is 8/10. But there's also a standing rule in our family; 'We don't like lean meat'.



Next time we'll look for a little marbling in the beef, or trim it a little less conservatively.



But damn, that flavor seriously kicks some ass.
16 pints ain't near enough.

We've been enjoying the beef & chicken so damned much, we decided some desert was in order.





Trial run for apple sauce


7 lbs Fuji Apples


1/2 cup sugar


1/2 tsp cinnamon


1/4 teaspoon nutmeg


(we under-sweetened it on purpose.... personal preference)





Yield = 5 pints (canner holds 7 pint jars, we shoulda bought 11 lbs of apples)






Lemon water bath, to prevent browning










Under cook the apples










After pureeing, bring to 212 degrees










Boil filled jars for 20 minutes










Yum












 

 

I asked her to get either Fujis or Galas. The main objective was to avoid the Red or Golden Delicious apples that she usually buys, which are usually well past their prime by the time they make it to market, and especially at this time of year, (I won't eat them plain). Aiming for a quality product was my sole intention, even if only for a trial run. But you're right, anything probably would have been good if prepared right.





Later on in the year, we'll be picking them out of the trees in the yard, and we'll get quite an assortment of flavors. (we have dozens of apple trees here)





On the beef; No, the recipe is excellent in our opinion. She thinks the smoke may be a little strong, but she's not as big of a fan of the smoked flavor that many people are. Once it's cooked in to the meal, the flavors do blend in very, very well. So, no adjustments are planned.





I would like to try some better cuts of beef just to see if it makes any difference. But with the way we are cooking with it, it likely doesn't matter.











 

Just getting started with the canning really, and haven't decided where to stop at yet. We're not too terribly crazy about all the vegetables, (prefer frozen with most stuff), but we'll do some green beans and some tomato sauces later on, when they ripen. We'll also do some pears and apples then I think.



The vacuum sealer is a lot of fun. We played with that idea a little last year too.






 

Oooooooh. I hadn't even thought of pork yet. Excellent!




IBSSB (In before somebody says bacon)



Not sure what type of roasts they were. "Round" rings a bell. Chelleshooter looked hi & lo for the receipt for you, but it must be gone already. At $1.89 per lb, I'm sure it wasn't much. Definitely wasn't chuck roast. I would have remembered that.





 

1st batch of pork shoulder is in the canner now. Can't wait to try it! (didn't bother with any new pics...same as before)



We used the same recipe, but since they don't sell store-bought pork broth, we used chicken broth in it's place. Everything taste like chicken anyhow, right?




Thin sliced (3/4") chuck (beef) was on sale at SW today for $1.99#, so we're thinking of doing a couple more batches of that tomorrow. We seem to be going through the beef the fastest so far.



 

One of these isn't quite like the other. (beef, chicken, pork, happiness)






Dinner pics, as requested. Using beef.... my absolute favorite pastime.


Broth goodness








Moar






Spice, and sauté. Let 'm blend.









Her version. No rice, lotsa cheddar, mega olives, red tamale sauce.






My version. Onion, green chillies, rice, green & red tamale sauce, mozzarella... w/ BACON on top!








His and hers, pre-oven.







Served

No I haven't, but I did have intentions to do so when I bought the cooker.



To be honest, the Traeger Grill really takes over cooking most meats once you get one. Other methods always seem like a step down.



 

Canned Smoked Salmon (part 1)
Safeway has Sockeye on sale today, for $8.99 lb., so today, we can salmon. Normally I go down to the dock or fishery in South Bend WA for fresher fish, but this should work fine.













Cut and place in dish







Spices







Salt this much







Dont be shy







Garlic powder this much







Then add some more garlic










Heavy on the onion powder







Lots of dill weed. Lots!







Go heavy on the brown sugar







Allow to marinate 1 hour minimum.







Next stop: The smoker. In about an hour



Random details-



Fresh diced onion and fresh minced garlic is preferred, but this batch is meant to please even those who won't eat vegetables under any circumstance.
Some prefer to brine in overnight and then wash off all the spices before smoking. Same flavor more or less, but I like more






This way is faster anyhow.


 

Thanks maxdun, and all. We're having a lot of fun with it


After an hour or so of chilling










In to the smoker for an hour-ish










Skins peeled










Yum










Good lookin stuff










24 1/2-pints fit nicely










[placeholder for a finished pic, after a couple of hours of bacteria killing]






Odd how each jar has a different level of liquid. The one on the far right is fullest, while others have much less. Where does it come from?



Forgot to mention earlier, we bought 12 lbs. of salmon. That's about 2 lbs too much for 24 1/2 pints. (My parents should be enjoying the other 2 lbs for dinner.... about right now
)



FYI, you can taste this recipe without the canning process. Just season it the same, smoke lightly and then bake sealed in foil. I've been doing it for years now, and it's still winning seafood haters over.

Don't forget the apples




Yea. I should probably get back in to hunting again. Always enjoyed it and was always successful at it.



If the deer keep eating the leaves off of our new apple trees, we'll have a contest to see how many of the little fuckers I can fit in to the new freezer.