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Pressure Canning Chicken - it's Ugly!
Some call it ugly chicken. Some call it raw packed chicken. My family calls it delicious. I call it a budget friendly pantry stockpile staple.
Call it what you will, having jars of ready to use chicken on the shelf saves money, time and energy.
This week I was able to get chicken fillets for $4.99/kg. That's a stock-up price for me; it's been over 12 months since I could get them locally at that price. So stock-up I did. I ordered 25 kilos and today 27 kilos was delivered.
That meant I had to get going and get it all canned.
Canning chicken isn't hard. There are no special skills involved, just regular kitchen prep and then a few safety steps to ensure your final product is safe to eat.
For safety, in other words so you don't get botulism and die, chicken (and any other meat) needs to be pressure canned. To do this you need a pressure canner. I have a Presto 23 quart pressure canner with two racks. Having two racks means I can stack the jars and save on processing time.
When you are pressure canning you don't need to sterilise your jars. You do however need to make sure that they are clean. I always wash them in hot soapy water, give them a rinse and their good to go.
Always make sure you use new lids. Canning lids cannot be reused, doesn't matter what those canning rebels tell you. It simply isn't safe to reuse them; once they've been used the seal won't hold and while the jar may look sealed, air will be getting in and encouraging those botulism spores to multiply. You'll eat the food and get sick; very, very sick.
New lids - better to be safe than sorry.
Here's how I pressure can ugly chicken:
1. Skin the chicken and dice it.
2. Add the chicken to clean jars. Push it down to get the air out, you'll hear it squish, squash and squeak.
3. Wipe the rims of the jars with a paper towel dipped in vinegar. Don't skip this step, it's important. Wiping the rim ensures that any food residue or grease from your fingers is gone and it is spotlessly clean so the lid will seal; it also shows up any little chips or cracks that you may not see but will feel. If you find a jar with a chipped or cracked rim, use it for a vase. Or a pencil jar. Or to hold something that doesn't need to be sealed. Don't try to pressure can with it - it will shatter and break and make a huge mess.
Put the rings on and do them up finger tight - do not over tighten them, just finger tight is perfect.
4. Load your pressure canner. Remember: pressure cookers are not pressure canners. There are some dubious brands of pressure cookers around claiming they can be used to pressuer can. They can't.
5. Remember: cold jars, cold water in the canner. Hot filled jars, hot water in the canner. Again, it's a safety thing - hot jars into cold water on the stove will shatter. No one wants to clean up that mess and lose that food.
6. Put the lid on. Turn on the heat and wait for the canner to vent. You will see a steady stream of steam coming from the steam vent. Let it vent for 10 minutes. I use the oven timer for this.
7. When venting has finished, drop the jiggler on to the canner and bring it up to the recommended pressure for your area. For me, to pressure can raw pack chicken, the canner needs to come up to 11lbs of pressure.
8. Once the canner reaches pressure, start the timer again. For pint jars of raw pack ugly chicken cook for 75 minutes (1-1/4 hours). For quart jars of raw pack ugly chicken (or a mixture of quarts and pints) process for 90 minutes (1-1/2 hours).
9. When time is up, turn off the heat and let the canner come down to zero pressure naturally. Don't try to rush this process, you'll end up with jars that won't seal.
10. Remove the jars from the canner and leave them to cool and seal. You'll hear the pop as they seal. Don't move them once they're out of the canner, it could stop them from sealing properly. Once they are cool, take the rings off (never store your canned food with the rings on), wipe them over with a clean cloth in vinegar, label and put them away in your pantry.
And there you have it, raw packed ugly chicken that is shelf stable for year.
How I use ugly chicken:
Mexican Chicken
Chicken enchiladas
Sweet'n'Sour Chicken
Honey Mustard Chicken
Chicken Salad
Hot chicken and gravy rolls
BBQ Chicken French Bread Pizza
Chicken tacos
Chicken fried rice
Grandma's Chicken Soup
Chicken & corn soup
Chicken noodle soup
Chicken Recipe File
Call it what you will, having jars of ready to use chicken on the shelf saves money, time and energy.
This week I was able to get chicken fillets for $4.99/kg. That's a stock-up price for me; it's been over 12 months since I could get them locally at that price. So stock-up I did. I ordered 25 kilos and today 27 kilos was delivered.
That meant I had to get going and get it all canned.
Canning chicken isn't hard. There are no special skills involved, just regular kitchen prep and then a few safety steps to ensure your final product is safe to eat.
For safety, in other words so you don't get botulism and die, chicken (and any other meat) needs to be pressure canned. To do this you need a pressure canner. I have a Presto 23 quart pressure canner with two racks. Having two racks means I can stack the jars and save on processing time.
When you are pressure canning you don't need to sterilise your jars. You do however need to make sure that they are clean. I always wash them in hot soapy water, give them a rinse and their good to go.
Always make sure you use new lids. Canning lids cannot be reused, doesn't matter what those canning rebels tell you. It simply isn't safe to reuse them; once they've been used the seal won't hold and while the jar may look sealed, air will be getting in and encouraging those botulism spores to multiply. You'll eat the food and get sick; very, very sick.
New lids - better to be safe than sorry.
Here's how I pressure can ugly chicken:
1. Skin the chicken and dice it.
2. Add the chicken to clean jars. Push it down to get the air out, you'll hear it squish, squash and squeak.
3. Wipe the rims of the jars with a paper towel dipped in vinegar. Don't skip this step, it's important. Wiping the rim ensures that any food residue or grease from your fingers is gone and it is spotlessly clean so the lid will seal; it also shows up any little chips or cracks that you may not see but will feel. If you find a jar with a chipped or cracked rim, use it for a vase. Or a pencil jar. Or to hold something that doesn't need to be sealed. Don't try to pressure can with it - it will shatter and break and make a huge mess.
Put the rings on and do them up finger tight - do not over tighten them, just finger tight is perfect.
4. Load your pressure canner. Remember: pressure cookers are not pressure canners. There are some dubious brands of pressure cookers around claiming they can be used to pressuer can. They can't.
5. Remember: cold jars, cold water in the canner. Hot filled jars, hot water in the canner. Again, it's a safety thing - hot jars into cold water on the stove will shatter. No one wants to clean up that mess and lose that food.
6. Put the lid on. Turn on the heat and wait for the canner to vent. You will see a steady stream of steam coming from the steam vent. Let it vent for 10 minutes. I use the oven timer for this.
7. When venting has finished, drop the jiggler on to the canner and bring it up to the recommended pressure for your area. For me, to pressure can raw pack chicken, the canner needs to come up to 11lbs of pressure.
8. Once the canner reaches pressure, start the timer again. For pint jars of raw pack ugly chicken cook for 75 minutes (1-1/4 hours). For quart jars of raw pack ugly chicken (or a mixture of quarts and pints) process for 90 minutes (1-1/2 hours).
9. When time is up, turn off the heat and let the canner come down to zero pressure naturally. Don't try to rush this process, you'll end up with jars that won't seal.
10. Remove the jars from the canner and leave them to cool and seal. You'll hear the pop as they seal. Don't move them once they're out of the canner, it could stop them from sealing properly. Once they are cool, take the rings off (never store your canned food with the rings on), wipe them over with a clean cloth in vinegar, label and put them away in your pantry.
And there you have it, raw packed ugly chicken that is shelf stable for year.
How I use ugly chicken:
Mexican Chicken
Chicken enchiladas
Sweet'n'Sour Chicken
Honey Mustard Chicken
Chicken Salad
Hot chicken and gravy rolls
BBQ Chicken French Bread Pizza
Chicken tacos
Chicken fried rice
Grandma's Chicken Soup
Chicken & corn soup
Chicken noodle soup
Chicken Recipe File