Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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I am interested in preserving meats. Pemmican and Jerky are fine short term, but I'm looking for long term, no refrigeration type preservation. Has anyone canned meat without a pressure cooker? Does anyone have any pickling recipes that don't make everything taste like a garlic Dill pickle? What about salting/curing? Is there a way to do that without nitrates and sugar? Thanks in advance. Mike

edited Mar 10 2010 at 0:57

Bread-Eating Beelzebub
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asked Mar 5 2010 at 10:55

Mike Opteris
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How long do you plan to store the preserved meat Mike? I know salmon can be canned in a water bath, but have never done meat. I imagine you'd need to be very careful and not let it get off the low boil. Even canned food has a shelf life. – henny Mar 5 2010 at 16:28

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Why wouldn't you consider desiccation, e.g. pemmican or jerky long term? – Durandal Mar 5 2010 at 21:21

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I'm talking at least a year, if not more. We just got a 1/4 of a grass fed beef and it's just my wife and I. We don't want any freezer burn to take place so I thought of canning. – Mike Opteris Mar 8 2010 at 11:25

Bread-Eating Beelzebub · Answer 1 · 2010-03-05 19:00:10Z UTC

Also, can't forget confit. The latest WAPF newsletter had a letter where someone described how people in Greece used to preserve meat in fat with salt. "Sealed and stored in a cool place, confit can last for several months." If I were storing it outside the fridge, I would make sure the meat is absolutely buried in the fat. When I would go to eat it, I would discard the top layer of fat because it's probably oxidized.

Bread-Eating Beelzebub · Answer 2 · 2010-03-05 13:12:50Z UTC

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I just saw this is in a local blog and it might apply: Chinese meat drying.

answered Mar 5 2010 at 13:12

Bread-Eating Beelzebub
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Thanks. That sounds like making jerky and the article says it has a 6 month shelf life, I'd like to go longer than that. – Mike Opteris Mar 8 2010 at 11:29

rht · Answer 3 · 2010-03-09 21:25:44Z UTC

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Boiling water is 212 degrees botulism spores die at 240 degrees

More info here: http://pressurecookerrecipes22484.yuku.com/topic/1073/t/canning-meat.html

And here: http://www.foodsaving.com/canning_guide/

answered Mar 9 2010 at 21:25

rht
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Yep, that's what I've read. However, my question now is "how prevelent is botulism that you'd need to raise the temperature another 30 degrees?" – Mike Opteris Mar 10 2010 at 10:38

Not terribly prevalent. About 110 cases/yr. Most are infants infected from soil. Symptoms show in 3-5 days, mortality with treatment is 2%, but can require months in hospital with assisted breathing. How many eat low acid home canned goods? Boil for 20 mins before serving. – rht Mar 11 2010 at 2:58

Acton · Answer 4 · 2010-03-10 00:28:18Z UTC

For a quarter carcass, you should use a separate freezer that you do not open very frequently. You do not want the temperature to fluctuate much. Freezer burn comes from air exposure, so airtight packaging would prevent that. Properly packaged in a good freezer, meat should last for years.

Dried meat will literally last forever if stored in CO2 or nitrogen. When people say that confit or jerky will only last a few months, they are just avoiding lawsuits.

henny · Answer 5 · 2010-03-08 01:09:37Z UTC

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Also, you can use a pressure cooker with GREAT care. We once did a restoration clean-up of a meat canning job gone awry- the whole mess blew up and contaminated everything including the inside of the refrigerator.

answered Mar 8 2010 at 1:09

henny

	eeeeew. sounds not very tasty... – Bread-Eating Beelzebub Mar 8 2010 at 2:46
	Oh yeah, the perils of canning! Reminds me of some homemade root beer stories! – Mike Opteris Mar 8 2010 at 11:33

Canning and Preserving Meats

5 Answers