Michigan State University Extension
Preserving Food Safely - 01600628
10/13/97
Use only good-quality meat or poultry-- home-produces
or purchased from a farm or store.
Chill home-produced meat immediately after slaughter to
prevent spoiling and to permit tenderizing. Meat is easier
to handle when it is cold. For thorough chilling, keep meat
at a temperature below 40 degrees Fahrenheit until time to
prepare it for canning; can it within a few days after
slaughter.
If refrigeration is not available and if the maximum
daily temperature is above 40 degrees Fahrenheit, process
the meat as soon as body heat is gone.
If meat must be held for longer than a few days, freeze
it. Store frozen meat at temperatures of 0 degrees
Fahrenheit or lower until canning time. Then cut or saw
frozen meat into pieces of desired size.
If frozen meat is thawed before canning, thaw it in a
refrigerator at a temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit or
lower until most of the ice crystals have disappeared.
Keep all meat clean and sanitary. *Rinse poultry
thoroughly in cold water, then drain. To control the
bacteria that cause spoilage, keep everything that touches
meat as clean as possible.
Keep all meat as cool as possible during preparation
for canning. Handle it rapidly; process it as soon as
containers are packed.
To insure the safety of canned meats and poultry, jars
or cans must be processed in a pressure canner to get a
sufficiently high temperature for a long enough time to kill
all bacteria that cause spoilage or food poisoning.
Pack meat loosely in containers. Work with one glass jar or tin can at a time. Keep precooked meat hot while packing. Use boiling liquid- broth, meat juice or water- if directions call for added liquid.