using pressure cooker to can raw food

[KCMartha]

Today my mother told me that when she was a kid (a long time ago!) they would make stew by putting raw meat, veggies and broth in canning jars, putting the jars in the pressure cooker/canner for a bit, and they were shelf-stable.

My Ball home canning book only has recipes for things that are already cooked when you can them and then pressure cook.

Do you think her way sounds safe? It sounds nice and easy but I don't know if I am ready to trust it.

[Elora]

my granny did. this might help... (sorry if it's not that useful but at quick glance it seems that it has safety precautions that might help ease your worries)

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/pdf/5330.pdf

[KCMartha]

Thanks, I will check that out.

[Lady TS]

I think the recommendations have changed a lot since our mom and grandma's time. We are more worried about our food now, so we want to make sure our food is good and cooked and any bad bacteria killed before we can it.

I don't think I could do it that way and feel ok eating it later. I'd be worried that maybe a larger piece of meat didn't get *quite* cooked through during the canning process...:shifty

[KCMartha]

Yes, I suspected that what is considered "safe" had probably changed, and when I looked at the guidelines the PP linked to, they said you could safely can raw meat without liquid or cooked meat with liquid - definitely not what my mom had remembered. So, I will not be trying that. I think I would feel safer knowing it was cooked before it was canned anyway.

[happyfamily]

I canned deer meat last year to keep for stew all this year and it was WONDERFUL! I used my grandmother's recipe, but as it turns out..it is the same recipe that is in the current Ball Canning book. I chopped my meat into stew size pieces, packed them into the jars up to the neck, used 1 T of salt and put the lids on. Put them in the cooker, bring to a boil, let out steam for about 10 minutes..the put the pressure on and get it up to 15 for 1 hour and 15 minutes...we have used it all year and it is REALLY good and has not made any of household sick so... ;-) I hope this helps!

[Mother of Sons]

My canned stews are all assembled raw. This is in accordance with current guidelines and it's perfectly safe. Remember that during pressure canning the stew is being cooked at very high heat for a long time. Nothing is going to come out raw. Just follow a tested recipe (ball or ncfhp) and make sure you use a pressure canner (not waterbath!) and it will be fine.

[The Tickle Momster]

I pressure can chicken and broth. I would not use a pressure cooker though. I'd get a pressure canner.

[Maedchen]

For shelf stable, you would need a pressure canner. (Not your stove top pressure cooker for a quick meal.)

It has a weight gauge.

If you use this type of canner, you can put raw meat in the jars following directions for weight and time depending on the altitude you are living at.

I cut up boneless chicken breast the size of 1inch cubes and only put 1 tsp of sea salt in the jar and when it cooks in the canner, it makes enough broth in each jar that it is not dry. Between heating the canner to a point and adding the time of getting it up to the pound of pressure needed with the cooking time and then the depressurizing time, it is thoroughly cooked.

You can do beef cubes...........Hamburger you might want to brown it so that it doesn't become a solid clump running the risk of not being done in the center.

I have added cut up veggies with the raw meat and made my own canned soup. Find the link to an agricultural gov site and it will have directions on how much pressure to set the gauge and the length of time.