The wife and I have been making homemade Tamales and I got to thinking is these a way you can the Tamales? We just been sticking them in the freezer but we thought how this would be a good food to have on hand. I would just buy the canned store bought kind but the ones we make are 1000x better tasting and better for you no extra salt added or fat and we use lean meat like chicken breasts or pork loin. Anyway thanks for the help.

Yes, I've seen a recipe in one of the canning books.  Might have been the Kerr canning book instead of the Ball Canning Book.

I was going to try it the last time I made tamales but ended up freezing them in ziplocs instead because after I made and steamed tamales all afternoon I didn't want to mess with firing up the canner.

I put the still-frozen tamales into a crock pot and pour chili over them and let it run about 4 hours and they are hot at lunch time.

Found this from a post in 2002 on some other board:
" i also can tamales using a method found in a Kerr cookbook from pre-1955. pack into hot, clean pint or quart jars using two table knives to slide last one in. add two tablespoons hot water, seal and process at 15 pounds pressure for 60 minutes. (this is using a pork filling for tamales.) please follow instructions with your pressure canner, i've been canning a long time. they can be a weapon!! always, always steam for 20 minutes after opening to kill any botulism that may be present. never taste (after canning) before steaming!! "

you make tamales with no fat

you ain't making tamales then.

Amen!

Gots to have the manteca in the masa for it to taste right.

We add fat to the Masa that's about it. We have made them also with vegetable shorting in the masa and it tastes just as good. I know if I'm going to jar them I'm going to make them high calorie so I'm going to use the trimmed fat from the pork loin make some and use the fat and oil from that for the masa.

From Kerr canning book (don't know the date, lost cover, thought to be about 1980) :

Hot Tamales

(describes making the tamales), then

"Into a clean Kerr pint jar place 1 tablespoon hot water.  Pack tamales into pint jar.  To prevent difficulty in packing last tamale in jar place it between two knives and slip into center of pack.  Put on cap, screwing band firmly tight.  Process in pressure cooker 60 minutes at 10 pounds".

They sell them in jars in the store, have for at least 40 yrs.