Canned venison is a method of preserving venison, elk, antelope, and reindeer. The meat must be freshly killed and all fat, gristle, and bones removed before being placed in mason jars and cooked in a pressure vessel. The process tenderizes the meat and reduces the gamey taste. Canned venison has a shelf life of up to three years when stored in a cool place.
The term venison originally referred to the meat of any game, but in the early 21st century it more commonly refers to the meat of venison, elk, antelope, and reindeer. Once hunters bag a deer and harvest the meat, canning is one of the methods used to preserve the meat for future use. Canned venison is cooked or raw venison that has been packaged and sealed in glass jars and stored using a pressure container.
Butchering a deer is the first step in processing venison. Any part of the meat is suitable for canning, but the deer should be wholesome and freshly killed. Before canning, you must remove all fat, gristle and bones from the venison. The canning process helps tenderize the cuts and diminishes the gamey taste of the venison.
Mason jars with special lids are essential for venison canning. A pressure vessel is also needed. While they look like regular pressure cookers, pressure canisters have racks, steam vents, locks, and safety fuses. They hold four quart mason jars (approximately 1,000ml) or eight pint mason jars (approximately 500ml).
The pots have a steam pressure monitoring mechanism. The most common types are weighted and dial. A weighted gauge sits on the top of the container and chirps at a rate that indicates the amount of vapor pressure. The dials have markings for the amount of pressure in the pot. One reads them by observing the position of an indicator or pointer.
Cold pack canned venison does not require cooking first. One places raw cubes, chunks, strips, minced or ground venison in a glass jar with a small amount of salt. Leaving about an inch of air, you seal the jar and place it in the pressure vessel to continue the process.
Hot pack corned venison uses the same equipment, but you cook the venison in the rare stage or longer before packing it. Leaving a 1-inch headspace in the jar, you seal the cooked venison and some of the cooking stock in the jar. The processing time in the pressure vessel is the same as the cold-pack method.
Canned venison has a shelf life of six months to a year when stored in a garage or attic. Storing in a cooler place, such as a root cellar, increases shelf life to up to three years. By comparison, freezing venison lasts between six and nine months.
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