Raw pack vs hot pack meat canning
 

What is the advantage to each? I usually do the hot pack method where you cook the meat then and then add hot liquid to the jars. The last couple batches I did the raw pack method and the meat came out just as good or better and it was far less work. It was actually pretty easy.
You just dice up the meat, add salt, and can it for 90 minutes. The meat cooks in its own juices and it ends up with just the right amount of natural "broth". It doesn't get any easier then that. No cooking and barely any clean up at all. I'm glad I decided to try this method since I was a little reluctant at first, but now I don't think I would ever bother hot pack canning meat again. Which way do you guys can meat?

Re: Raw pack vs hot pack meat canning
 

Hi RC,

I am intrigued. Do you have a link to a guide for this by any chance please? I haven't done any canning and no one in my family knows how to it. It is also not widely practiced here anyway. That also makes local supplies hard/expensive to come by.

Still I have found enough supplies to give this a go. Just don't know the what or how.

Re: Raw pack vs hot pack meat canning
 

I just learned from the instruction book that came with the All-American Pressure canner I bought. Its just gives very basic intructions and cooking times. There is a .gov site with canning info but I can't remember what it is. If you search google you'll find it though.

Re: Raw pack vs hot pack meat canning
 

Hot packed meats/veggies can be packed more to the jar than raw packed. The cooked meats and veggies are more flexible/shrunk. Thus, you get more product packed in fewer jars. That seems to be to be the primary advantage. Disadantage to hot pack? The contents will be more processed, more over-cooked if you will. I'm leaning to raw pack because I view the end result as better, even if there aren't quite as many xxxx in each jar. I'm sure Tn_Andy has an opinion on this.

P.S., browning the meat affects the flavor. Maybe you want to consider that. Furthermore, with hamburger, for instance, cooking ahead of time allows you to drain the grease before canning, which I view as an advantage. Canned grease results in stronger flavor, reportedly.

Re: Raw pack vs hot pack meat canning
 

This is the classic guide to canning: http://www.canningpantry.com/ball-bl...k-canning.html

I didn't know anyone who canned anymore when I started canning (my elderly relatives who canned having long since passed away). I just grabbed the book and read the directions, and everything turned out fine. The directions are easy to follow. Try to have someone lend you a hand the first time you try it. It's much easier as a two-person job.

Re: Raw pack vs hot pack meat canning
 

well thank you all for your replies. I'll go off and research that link and leave all you experts to chat amongst yourselves. :biggrin:

Re: Raw pack vs hot pack meat canning
 

Here's a hint-- I've found that some supermarkets will sell the good ground beef out of the butcher case for $0.99/lb after 9pm. Usually if they don't sell it all they will wrap it and sell at a discount in the fridge.

Re: Raw pack vs hot pack meat canning
 

The only advantage I see to pre-cooking is if there is a lot of fat in the meat. The cheap hamburger at Wally World is this way. However, You might want, or need, that fat later and this is also a good way to preserve it.

sb

Re: Raw pack vs hot pack meat canning
 

If we can chili, spaghetti sauce, or beef stew, we brown the meat.....one to get rid of excess fat, and to improve taste.

But if we are canning meat only, we raw pack.

Re: Raw pack vs hot pack meat canning
 

The less cooking and heating the better. Heated proteins create strange compounds. Of course boiling greatly minimizes the effect. Canning certainly falls into that category of boiling or cooking in water.