Canned Chicken?

I have canned chicken for the last couple years and I love it. You can leave the-bone in or take the meat off the bone. Whichever you prefer.

If you can get your hands on a Blue Ball Book (order online or at Book Stores) and that is the instructions that I have followed from the start.

 

Remember, chicken and other meats MUST be pressure canned, to be safe. You can't can them with a water bath canner. Makers of pressure canners have books with instructions and recipes that can be very helpful, especially when you're new to canning. I still refer to mine whenever I can.

I can chicken, venison, pork, or whatever. The question of whether it tastes better or worse than frozen isn't really applicable, because the ways you use the meat are completely different, much of the time. If you want fried chicken, you don't want it canned first. If you want to make chicken and dumplings, pot pie, or use cooked chicken meat in burritos or enchiladas, make chicken salad, or some such, then canned is great. A real time saver, to open a can of already cooked meat, and make something with it. Pressure canned meat will always be tender, so it's a great way to use any meat that's likely to be tough. You can also make soups and stews with meat, and pressure can them. A jar of homemade chicken stew or soup on a cold day, served with hot cornbread, biscuits, or even brown and serve rolls, is hard to beat.

I prefer to can chicken without bones, because the bones get so soft when you can, it's hard to get them out, they crumble, sometimes. This is less of an issue with pieces that have large bones, like the thigh. Of course, you probably get a some good minerals cooked out of the bones and into the meat and broth. It's a matter of personal taste, whether to can with the bones or without.

I like to use easy to bone parts, such as the breast and thigh, for canning, and freeze other parts to cook in the crock pot. I only can older birds that would be tough. Young birds I freeze.

Breast and thighs make nice ground chicken, too if you have a meat grinder. With ground chicken, I make patties, dredge in flour and fry. Salt and pepper just like I do fried chicken. It's the only way I know of to fry a tough old bird and have it easy to chew. If you freeze ground meat in patties like I do, it's another easy way to have a quick meal, as they thaw quickly. I place frozen patties in a plastic bag, and put the bag in warm water, to thaw in a hurry.

I hope you'll try canning, it's very satisfying to look at a shelf full of great open-and-heat foods you've put up yourself!

 

canned chicken breast is a wonderful thing to have on hand

we use a pint at least once a week

chicken salad
chicken burritos
chicken casseroles

i use boneless skinless breasts for that

if you can with the bone
the bones get nice and crumbly ( i feed that to the cats)

and while it does make it's own broth
i like it better with water to top off the jars


vi