Canning Meat

Canning meat…. it smells burned??

Mick asks this question…

I have canned beef stew and ground beef with no issue but my family complains about the smell when I open them. They it smells burnt and the hamburger smells like canned dog food. Am I doing something wrong?

Mick, the only thing I can think that might be making your meat smell burned is if you have browned it too much before canning. You should only be lightly browning the meat before filling your canning jars. Just enough to make it shrink a bit and not pack together.

The other possibility is you’ve simply over processed it. Be sure you are using proper canning times and pressure too. Depending on your elevation your pressure will vary. I’ve got processing directions on this page of SimplyCanning – Canning Meat. I’ve specified venison on this page but the instructions are the same for beef.

Hope that helps.

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