How To Can Chicken Breast
Guest post: by Christine Coburn
Home Canning Protein: Chicken Breast
Canning protein is one of the most feared things to home can. It is actually very easy, more nutritous and cheaper than buying it. For example a 6 oz tin of canned chicken at Wal-Mart is $3 I canned 13 pint jars (16oz) and I spent $30 on Boneless Chicken Breast (it was on sale). My jars, rings and lids are reuseable so there are no other costs other than a few pennies worth of salt. This makes it $2.31 for each 16 oz jar. Also if you read the label on the chicken you buy canned at the store there are many chemicals, fillers and preservatives. They sometimes even have artificial flavoring. The ingredients here are simple: Chicken and Salt.
Begin by cutting your boneless chicken into chunks then pack them raw into the jars, leaving about 3/4th of an inch headspace
Next add 3/4 tsp of salt to each jar
Wipe the rims with a damp clean rag and then place the lids and rings on the jars. Remember if you are using Tattler lids to back them off 1/4 inch. After you get the lids and rings on then place into your canner with the needed water for a long processing time. You do not want it to boil dry during processing. Use the racks in between levels of jars.
Place the lid onto your canner and then bring it to a boil. You want the steam to vent out of the stem for about 10 minutes. Then place your weight on the canner and set to 15lb (or the recomended pressure for your elevation). Once the canner gets to the correct pressure then time for 75 minutes for pints and 90 minutes for qts.
Once the time is up then slide your canner off the burner to a cool spot. Do not try to rapidly reduce the pressure you can have jar breakage and seal failure. After it is cooled sufficiently to have no pressure left remove the lid carefully (the steam can burn you) Then using a jar lifter remove the jars and place them on a clean dry towel. The jars are very hot at this point and may still be boiling inside the jar. If you are using Tattler lids then now is the time to tighten the rings down. Once again use oven mits as the jars are very hot.
Leave the jars undisturbed until they are fully cooled.
After they have cooled then place a piece of tape on the lid and mark at least the date also the contents if you so desire. Chicken prepared like this is great for many dishes but our favorite is chicken salad for sandwiches.
Chicken Salad
1 jar canned chicken
6 hard boiled eggs
Mayo
Relish
salt/pepper to taste
Chcopped green onions
chopped celery if desired
Place into a bowl the drained chicken broken up, the cut up hard boiled eggs, the chopped onions and celery. Then add relish to taste and Mayo to desired consistency, salt and pepper to taste. Put whatever amount you want on bread or crackers and enjoy. It is beautiful served on a lettuce leaf.
Christine’s website:
http://flamingphoenixfamilyfarm.blogspot.com/
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Good Information Christine, I’m glad to see your instructions include the use of a pressure cooker. I have seen other articles on canning meat where a water bath canner is utilized. Just not safe to do it that way, the tempuratures needed can not be attained that way. Thanks Christine!
Roger, I prefer to use a pressure canner with anything that I can utilize it for. The only things I use a water bath on is pickles, jam, jelly, and some fruits. Pressure canners are safer and I can put way more jars in it. For example 7 pints in a water bath versus 20 in my pressure canner. It is a lot faster and easier that way. There are some things that have to be water bathed though.My poor old canner was made in 1980 my grandmother used it for 10 years before she gave it to me and it has been used by me non stop all year round for 22 years since then. I can not preach enough that it is safer to use a pressure canner for home canning…..
@christine, Given that your pressure canner has been used so much over all these years, I’m curious to know which brand it is – since it is obviously very reliable for you…
It is a Mirro Model M-0522 It is a good one. They changed the gasket style in 83 and I have to special order gaskets but they last several years as long as you use it regularly. Not using it will cause the gaskets to fail, the rubber gets hard and then does not seal right. I have extra gaskets stored just in case though……
Those old Mirro’s are great! I have my grandma’s Mirro and I order 3 gaskets at a time to make sure I always have at least one or two good ones on hand.
I have been looking at the new gasketless cookers. I’m not sure how much I would like using a new cooker, but eventually the gaskets are going to become impossible to get.
Thank you so much for this article. It is a little bit of a challenge to overcome the fear of canning meat, especially when you have never done it before. The pictures and instructions are very helpful.
Great article Christine.
I like to add poultry seasonings (herbs from my garden-sage, rosemary, thyme & garlic) to some of the jars. Those jars make a good base for chicken soup.
How much water do you put in the pressure cooker? Do you fill it up over the lids or does it need to be below the lid? I am guessing the latter as you state that it is possible to have multiple layers of jars.
Also, getting a canning funnel would be a really good idea for this. The damp rag should remove the food, but may still leave a thin film of fat which may affect the seal.
You should test all the jars for a seal before putting them away. Like a regular can, the lid should be firmly sucked in.
We have been cleaning out the parents house and are finding canning jars that are 30 and even 40 years old and are still sealed. Some of the contents did not look too appetizing, but I am assuming it still would have been edible if necessary. The main problem was rust as the basement has been damp in recent years and some lids had rusted through.
a-nerd, The amount of water in a pressure canner does not need to cover the jars. You only need put enough so that it does not boil dry during the canning process. for 90 minutes usually about 4 inches of water is enough. Better to be safe than sorry and add a little more. If your canner runs dry it can break your jars and you will not attain the correct pressures.
I have a couple funnels but I have found that with this particular thing it is easier to not use it as you are having to pack it in quite tightly. You must just make sure that you wipe it well and of course try to be careful to not just smear the chicken all over the rims. I rarely have a jar that does not seal. I have been canning meat for about 20 of my 30 years canning and this method has always worked well for me. Yes you must always check your seals. I use tattler lids which are re-useable(No repeated cost of buying lids and also I will have them in a TEOTWAWKI situation when all the stores are empty). Also they are made of a type of plastic so there is no problem with lid decomposure from rust. You can not see the “sucked down” with them but instead you check for a seal by picking up on the lid if it stays and you can lift the jar by the lid then it is sealed. Otherwise the lid will just fall off.
While there is lots of good info in this artical, and learning how to can protien is a great idea, it’s best not to fudge on cost comparisons. 12.5oz canned chicken at Wal-Mart is $1.98. Name brand is $2.08. Of course you do have to put up with who knows what being added to it.
@AlexJ; Just checked Sam’s Club and they have 5/13oz (roughly 4#s of chicken breast) for $9.98 which is $2.50 a pound, sans shipping. Of course it may be that the prices vary somewhat by location, but that’s a VERY big difference and this is at the club price, not Wal-Mart. It may be that the chicken you saw was approaching the use by date or on special and was being sold below cost to remove it from inventory. At $2.31 for Christine’s 16oz chicken, it is still a bargain compared to the 13oz store brand cuz you know what’s in it and at least that it was fresh chicken at the store. When you buy canned goods at the store, you need to read the label to see WHERE your food comes from. And even then it may be misleading. Survive well. Enjoy.
No fudging intended at our Wal-Mart the only chicken breast they had was 2.98 and a small tin at that (The size of a small tuna can). They also add water to make it weigh more and a bunch of chemicals. There is no water and there are no additives by canning it yourself. Also you know how the food is handled. I have worked in a canning factory and a chicken plant both when I was 18. If you knew just how much bugs and trash is allowed you would never want store bought anything again. If you buy canned meat at a survival site or lehmans it is even more pricey. When you can get the meat on sale it makes it even cheaper to do it yourself.
And when you keep chickens, like I do, you pay even less for the meat, and you know exactly what went into that chicken, and you know how that chicken was treated during his life. Hell, he might even have a name. I’ve eaten plenty of my roosters that had names.
And the FLAVOR! Home grown chickens taste nothing like that bland stuff you find at the store. Store chickens are slaughtered at 8 weeks, kinda like chicken veal. If they live for a few months more they develop a lot of flavor and much more bulk.
LOL, I have about a 3 page ramble running through my head about the advantages of home grown chickens vs. store bought, but I’ll limit it to the 2 top reasons I prefer my own chickens. Flavor & size.
I really like this site.
I have’nt gotten into canning much at all yet, but I am thinking very seriously about propane powered freezers… Still a ways from being prepped properly but this site is godsend and the best I’ve found to that aim. Thanks MSB!
@StealthSurvivor The big drawback to a propane freezer is that if we go grid down for an extended period of time (say after a replay of the 1859 carrington event) then your propane will run out and you will not be able to replenish. If you have already learned the arts of other preservation like canning which can be done on a wood stove then when it does run out you will have a way to save your food. If you do not learn it now when the equipment and knowledge from others is available then you will be hard pressed to learn how in a pinch when it is not. Not telling you what to do I am only trying to be of assistance.
@christine; Miss Christine, I very much enjoy your posts, especially about canning and preserving. I would say though that propane could last for a few years, if rationed well and use is controlled. At some point there will be a probability of restoration of SOME services including LP delivery. But I do think you have to try. Refrigeration is THE difference between the 19th century and the 20th century and convenient food storage. I do agree you should KNOW how to do it (canning, drying, pickling etc.) and perform it on a regular basis, to maintain the knowledge and skill. You are absolutely correct about that. Survive well. Enjoy.
@tripod I totally agree with you and yes it would be my hope that they would get some services back soon. It is my worry that with the grid going down it could be a catch 22 in needing electricity to make the parts to repair it and needing the parts to make the electricity. I would hope that it would NOT be a world wide event and we could depend on another country to assist us, but at the same time I would be afraid to count those chickens either. Without electricity then fuel would be scarce. Which was exactly my point as you also said. Know how and do it so that IF you have to you can. Fumbling with a canner on a wood fire or trying to dry or pickle food when you have never done it under the stress of trying to survive may be too much….. Trust me I do NOT want to have to live without ice!!! I also have a propane fridge/freezer as back up but at the same time not depending on it in totallity. I want my eggs in many baskets so if one of those baskets fail I still have eggs… LOL
@christine; Best way to do it…have backups for your backups. Although my ‘meme’ canned on a wood stove and had no problems, though I’m sure it is an art. My mama learned to cook on a wood stove and had to keep one going until she left home. Wood and LP are the way to go. Survive well. Enjoy.
Hi there – just happened upon this site (and I love it!) I would like to do chicken in 1/2 pint jars, would the process time just be the same as pints?
@rox; If you have a pressure canner, the booklet that comes with it is as important as the canner itself. Regardless of what type of canner and recipe (screw lock down or twist down lids ) use the processing directions with the canner instructions. If it is a VERY unique recipe, not covered by the canner instructions, think it out and do your homework to verify the validity of the instructions. It is better to ‘over process’ than to ‘under process’. Good canning. Survive well. Enjoy.
Yes I process half pints at the same time as pints in the same canner. It comes out wonderful…
I have 4 canners plus a pressure cooker. I just bought an All American 30 quart liquid capacity (14 quarts capacity) canner. It is wonderful and a lot of money but it will be passed on to the kids, but only when i no longer need it! I got tired of taking all day to can so at least now i can do 14 in the time it used to take to process 5 or 7.
The gasketless All American is the only way to go, however i have spare gaskets in stock also for all the other canners and still use them for the “smaller” jobs.
I didn’t see this addressed so I hope I am not repeating a question but how long will the meat last canned like this? I am assuming that after that long of processing the meat is fully cooked and ready for use.
Your home-canned food, including meats will be safe to eat for many, many years as long as they maintain their seal and as long as you processed the jars for the correct amount of time.
Rule of thumb… “when in doubt, throw it out”. If you open a 5 year old jar of ‘canned’ meat and don’t hear that whoosh sound from the lid opening its vacuum seal, then don’t eat it.
Boiling the food prior to eating is a very good safety measure.