Canning Bear Meat

Canned jars of bear meat, cooking on a kitchen counter.

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Learn how to can bear meat for tender, tasty wild game!

Prep Time45

Cook Time5

Canning Time1 15

Total Time2 5

Course: Meat

Cuisine: American

Diet: Low Calorie

Servings: pint jars

Calories: 21kcal

Author: Autumn Rose

Cost: 5

Equipment

wood Cutting board
sharp knife
large bowl
12 inch cast iron skillet
tea kettle
pressure canner
jar lifter
7 pint (500 ml) jars
7 cannning lids and bands
cooling rack

Ingredients

10.5 cups cubed bear meat
1 cup lard (or favorite oil for sautéing meat)
2 cups diced onion
4 large garlic cloves
7 teaspoons salt
3.5 teaspoons paprika powder
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Take fresh bear meat and cut into approximately 1 inch cubes, trimming away fat or tough skin as you go.
Measure cubes as you go, until you have about 10.5 cups.
Peel garlic cloves and cut each one in half.
Roughly chop onions and set aside in a bowl.
Heat your cast iron skillet and add about 2 tablespoons of fat.
Add about 1 cup of meat to pan when it’s hot enough to sizzle meat.
Measure in salt, paprika and black pepper.
Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring often to flash fry meat on all sides.
Add 1/4 cup onions, and press half a clove of garlic into the skillet.
Stir and cook 1 minute more, or until onions begin to look slightly translucent, before they start turning dark brown on edges.
Empty the skillet meat into a bowl, add more lard to the pan and continue frying meat as outlined above, until all has been flash fried.
Add water to your pressure canner and start heating on the stovetop.
Fill a tea kettle or pot with water, and heat to boiling on the stove.
When water in tea kettle boils, set a funnel on the mouth of a jar and spoon fried bear meat into jars, leaving about 1 inch open space at the top.
Dip a cloth or paper towel in vinegar (it cuts through fat) and wipe jar rims.
Add a lid and fasten down with a metal band.
Set filled jar in your pressure canner, then fill remaining jars in like manner.
Once the canner is full, fasten down your lid, and can meat according to canner type and altitude.
Use a jar lifter to remove hot jars from canner, setting each jar on a cooling rack.
When jars reach room temperature, test for a seal.
Put sealed jars in your pantry, while unsealed jars should be refrigerated, or if you have more meat to can, go ahead and reheat the meat and refill your jar.

Notes

Tips for canning

Don’t overfill your cast iron skillet with cubed meat, or the meat will be tough, instead of tender. Fry 1-1.5 cups at a time in a 12 inch skillet.
Add onions and garlic 1 minute before the meat is done, so you don’t overook the onions or garlic and give the meat a bitter flavor.
Always use hot water to cover the meat, for canning safety reasons.
If a jar fails to seal and you have more meat waiting to be canned, empty the jar and reheat the meat, refill jar and pressure can again.

Weighted Gauge Canner for pint (500 ml) jars:

0-2,000 ft altitude: 75 min at 11 pounds pressure
2,001-4,000 ft: 75 min at 12 pounds pressure
4,001-6,000 ft: 75 min at 13 pounds pressure
6,001-8,000 ft: 75 min at 14 pounds pressure

Note: if canning in quart (1 liter) jars, the pounds of pressure remain the same as for pints, but processing time must be increased to 90 minutes for all altitudes.

Dial Gauge Canner for pint (500 ml) jars:

0-1,000 ft elevation: 75 min at 10 pounds pressure
1,001 and beyond: 75 min at 15 pounds pressure

Note: if canning in quart (1 liter) jars, pounds of pressure remain the same as for pints, but processing time must be increased to 90 minutes for all altitudes.

Nutrition