I’ve been a canner for decades now and my love for preserving healthy, nutritious food has never left my soul. One of my favorite meals to make for my family is Sloppy Joes with meat. However, canning Sloppy Joes with meat is even more fun to do!
While the summer months are busy with the canning of fruit and vegetables from the garden, you’ll find me canning meats, broths and ready-made meals all winter long!
You might wonder why someone would go to the trouble of making Sloppy Joe’s, just to can it.
I mean, isn’t that kind of a hassle?
That’s a great question!
We raise our own beef and keep a freezer full of meat most of the year. This would include chicken that we raise as well, including fish that my husband has caught.
The BEST Canning Supplies for Your Homestead Kitchen
It’s critical to keep your freezers in good working order when you raise your own meat!
If one of them goes out, you will not only have a mess on your hands, but all of the work you put into raising that meat is wasted!
Actually, last summer, that exact thing happened.
One morning, when I stepped out into the garage, I noticed a large puddle on the floor.
Tracing the puddle visually back to the freezer, I already knew what had happened.
The freezer died.
Fortunately, it had just happened the night before.
The meat was still good, however, most of it was thawed.
Yes, that was a lot of raw meat!
And of course this happened while my husband was out of town!
For the next several days, I canned beef, day and night! I was so glad to have my stovetop pressure canners as well as my Presto Digital Pressure Canner, it made the job much faster!
This story is exactly why it’s important to not only know HOW to pressure can meat, but to make a habit of it.
Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket by completely depending on an appliance to keep your food!
Meat MUST be pressure canned!
This isn’t negotiable!!! Don’t listen to people who say you can just process meat longer in a water-bath canner, this is not true!
Meat is a low-acid food that must reach an internal temperature of at least 250 degrees to kill all food-born pathogens, this can only happen inside of a pressure-canner!
Water-bath canners only reach 212 degrees, which is the boiling point of water.
Longer processing times in a water-bath canner won’t make that water any hotter than 212 degrees!
Please don’t risk illness when canning, do it properly and you’ll have nothing to worry about.
Further, next month, our next beef will go to be processed and I need to free up room in my freezer!
So, I’m pulling out my beef recipes and canning up meals for the family!
I find it easiest to just double or triple my Sloppy Joe’s recipe, serve some for dinner and can up the rest! This method works well with just about any recipe that your family enjoys! Just check your Ball canning book and use the longest processing time for any single ingredient.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup catsup
- 1/2 tsp. yellow mustard
- 1/2 tsp. vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp. chili powder
- 1/2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- A dash salt
Instructions
- This recipe is so simple!
- Fry your meat with the onion until no pink remains, drain fat.
- Mix all other ingredients together in a large measuring cup or bowl.
- Add mixture to cooked beef and let simmer.
To Can Sloppy Joes with Meat
- Using a funnel, put sloppy joe mixture in wide-mouth jars, pints or jars, leaving 1" head space.Remove any air bubbles with a plastic utensil.
- Wipe rims with a clean cloth dipped in white vinegar, this will remove any fat from the rims that could keep lid from sealing.
- Place lids and rings finger tight.Pressure can pints for one hour and 15 minutes and quarts for one hour and 30 minutes, at 10# of pressure.
