Category: canning

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.

You might also like:

Canning Apple Butter in Quarts

Chas Asks:

I successfully made and canned 11 quarts of Apple Butter, I an now realizing that what the heck am I going to do with Apple Butter in such large jars? I mindlessly followed the recipe, but now I am realizing that I needed to can in smaller jars…. would it be safe to open the jars, dump into large pot, bring back to a boil an can in smaller jars?

Chas, Yes a quart of apple butter is most definitely a LOT of apple butter. :0) You can do these in smaller jars now. Be sure and bring to a boil fill clean jars and use new canning lids. Another option is for you to go ahead and leave them in the quarts, when you open one to use it you could freeze half of it, when the first half is gone thaw the second half. That way you would not have to go to the work of re-canning.

Sharon
SimplyCanning.com

You might also like:

These past few days have been tomatoes and pepper filled. I turned this

green bell and pimento peppers

fresh picked tomatoes from my garden

Into this:

19 quarts - stewed tomatoes (green peppers and tomatoes)
4 pints – stewed tomatoes (pimento peppers and tomatoes)
7 quarts – stewed tomatoes (pimento peppers and tomatoes)
24 1/2 pints canned pimento peppers

Plus not pictured – dried peppers and dried tomatoes

Other stuff on my counter:
9 pints dill pickles
2 quarts – Dill Pickles
8 pints apple butter

You might also like: