Canning

Last night I learned how to can meat.

There is a sister in our ward, Christine Vicha, who recently moved here from Minnesota, and does this lady have a lot of know-how. She told me how she does raw-pack canning of meat. It sounded quite odd, but she reassured me that it was a wonderful thing. Because I like to learn new things and because my dad had some venison from a deer that my brother had shot I decided that I wanted to give this a try. Christine was nice enough to spend an evening with me and we canned some venison and a good bit of chicken. The above picture is of our finished product.

Here are a few reasons why I absolutely loved this:
1) Great for food storage. I usually freeze my meat, but now if the power goes out, I don't have to sweat is as much as this can be stored in my pantry.
2) It is handy for quick meal prep. I can just grab these pre-prepped jars and add it to meals in a snap.
3) With the chicken, we used some split chicken breasts and we used the bones to make broth. I loved that we used all parts of it.
4) No preservatives. We didn't add any liquid so all the liquid in the jar is from the meat.
5) I got to learn how to use a pressure canner. I want one. I really really want one.
6) This inspired me to can a lot more stuff. I want to venture out and learn how to can a lot more stuff. I am excited to do some pretty jellies and jams.

Thanks Christine!