Canning Smoked Pork

[bethiegirl]

Hi All,

First post here. Did a search and couldn't quite find the answer to my question... Got a couple of pork butts that I'd like to pressure can. My thought is to smoke them to around 160-170, cube the meat up, top with broth and can it. I considered cooking it fully and pulling it but I fear after pressure canning it would turn out mushy. Thinking if I partially cook it it should shred up nicely after the canning process. Anyone every canned a partially smoked pork butt and how was the result? Thanks!!!

 

[JLeonard]

Welcome from Mississippi! No answer to your question but I look forward to them.
Jim

 

[mike243]

Brother inlaws family cans deer meat, I would bet that smoked pork would be great, will be watching the replys

 

[kruizer]

Welcome to SMF from Minnesota.

 

[Brokenhandle]

welcome from Iowa! Never done it before either but sounds like a good theory. Hopefully someone will chime in with more knowledge

Ryan

 

[thirdeye]

Welcome aboard! You mean something like this ↑↑↑? (click on the photos to enlarge) Well, you have two choices, hot smoke and hot pack which is what you are thinking, and raw pack which is usually raw meat, but if you cold smoke the pork for an hour or two..... it's technically still raw. This would be called cold smoked and raw packed. This is not as colorful as hot smoked, and I like having more flavorful broth.... so I prefer hot smoked and hot packed.


Here is how I do it. First is the broth... you don't want plain broth on smoked pork.., so buy some pork neck bones, season them with Montreal Seasoning.

Smoke them for several hours until they look like this ↓↓↓.

Move them into your stock pot or a pressure cooker (your pressure canner will work for this) add the appropriate amount of water for either and make your smokey stock. When the stock is ready, and the meat is super tender, remove the bones and strain the stock.

The added bonus here is you will have some delicious meat, but you do have to pick out all the small bones, but it's worth it. You can make nachos or burritos with this meat.


Now for the canning operation. And you can buy a pork butt or country (butt) ribs. I cut the pork into 1.5" to 2" cubes, you want a lot of surface area when smoking and for the seasoning to stick to. I usually use Montreal for this too because it's coarse, a finer rub does not hold up as well when you process the jars.

Smoke the cubes until you get some good color, this may happen around 120° which is fine because you still want the inside of the cubes to be pink.

I'm assuming you know the routine with the jars, flats, rings, how to set-up your canner for your elevation, so I'll skip that. Have your broth warmed. I put a pinch of black pepper in the bottom of the jars, add the meat, more pepper on top and some salt. You want uniformity in the sizes of the cubes of meat, so have a cutting board handy. Fill the jar with broth leaving 1.5" head space. Normally 1" head space is recommended, but pork is 'fatty' and if some fatty broth siphons out during processing it could compromise the seal. Then process for the recommended time and PSI for your elevation.

BTW, I used some of my canned pork this morning for a Mexican breakfast dish. I'm going to make a separate post with that recipe in a few minutes.

 

[bethiegirl]

Hello everyone! Thirdeye this is amazing and is exactly what I was looking for! You went over the top with that smoky pork broth and I will def be doing that. Thanks for your informative post! I never raw pack meat only hot pack so I will use that method. I've done beef roasts, boneless chicken and bone in chicken but never pork roast since we don't like it much unless it is smoked. How long have you stored it and does the flavor maintain itself pretty well? Wondering if the smokiness would change over time. And excellent tip on the extra 1/2" head space. I wouldn't have done that but that was a gem of a tip!

 

[thirdeye]

Hello everyone! Thirdeye this is amazing and is exactly what I was looking for! You went over the top with that smoky pork broth and I will def be doing that. Thanks for your informative post! I never raw pack meat only hot pack so I will use that method. I've done beef roasts, boneless chicken and bone in chicken but never pork roast since we don't like it much unless it is smoked. How long have you stored it and does the flavor maintain itself pretty well? Wondering if the smokiness would change over time. And excellent tip on the extra 1/2" head space. I wouldn't have done that but that was a gem of a tip!

Thanks for the kind words. The USDA and the National Center for Home Food Preservation both say to try to use up your home canned goods within a year of making them. The newer flats made by Jarden and branded Mason, Kerr and a few other names say they are good for 18 months. I try to use 9 months as my rule of thumb and I use the jars with less head space first. The flavor and texture holds up well, and it takes less smoke than you think. As good of a pack job as I do, sometimes one or two jars in each batch just have more head space. I raw pack chicken breasts and raw pack jars typically have more head space. To compensate I'll add a tablespoon of bottled water, I know they don't recommend it, nor do they recommend brining chicken.... but the official guidelines were written when those things were not common and they simply have not been updated for years. Since you have done beef, corned beef is also good although I raw pack it. Some jars are seasoned with pickling spice, and some with pastrami seasonings.

And speaking of smoked canned foods, if you enjoy salmon, trout or steelhead, you might have a new adventure to try. I dry cure mine, then cold smoke for 1.5 to 2 hours then raw pack. I add some oil, water, jalapeno pepper rings and garlic pepper.

 

[Bearcarver]

I've been plenty happy with Vacuum packing & freezing Pulled Pork.
It keeps for years.

Bear

 

[jcam222]

Thanks for the kind words. The USDA and the National Center for Home Food Preservation both say to try to use up your home canned goods within a year of making them. The newer flats made by Jarden and branded Mason, Kerr and a few other names say they are good for 18 months. I try to use 9 months as my rule of thumb and I use the jars with less head space first. The flavor and texture holds up well, and it takes less smoke than you think. As good of a pack job as I do, sometimes one or two jars in each batch just have more head space. I raw pack chicken breasts and raw pack jars typically have more head space. To compensate I'll add a tablespoon of bottled water, I know they don't recommend it, nor do they recommend brining chicken.... but the official guidelines were written when those things were not common and they simply have not been updated for years. Since you have done beef, corned beef is also good although I raw pack it. Some jars are seasoned with pickling spice, and some with pastrami seasonings.

And speaking of smoked canned foods, if you enjoy salmon, trout or steelhead, you might have a new adventure to try. I dry cure mine, then cold smoke for 1.5 to 2 hours then raw pack. I add some oil, water, jalapeno pepper rings and garlic pepper.
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View attachment 460752

That looks excellent. Very good posts man.

 

[bethiegirl]

Thanks for the kind words. The USDA and the National Center for Home Food Preservation both say to try to use up your home canned goods within a year of making them. The newer flats made by Jarden and branded Mason, Kerr and a few other names say they are good for 18 months. I try to use 9 months as my rule of thumb and I use the jars with less head space first. The flavor and texture holds up well, and it takes less smoke than you think. As good of a pack job as I do, sometimes one or two jars in each batch just have more head space. I raw pack chicken breasts and raw pack jars typically have more head space. To compensate I'll add a tablespoon of bottled water, I know they don't recommend it, nor do they recommend brining chicken.... but the official guidelines were written when those things were not common and they simply have not been updated for years. Since you have done beef, corned beef is also good although I raw pack it. Some jars are seasoned with pickling spice, and some with pastrami seasonings.

And speaking of smoked canned foods, if you enjoy salmon, trout or steelhead, you might have a new adventure to try. I dry cure mine, then cold smoke for 1.5 to 2 hours then raw pack. I add some oil, water, jalapeno pepper rings and garlic pepper.
View attachment 460751
View attachment 460752

My hubby would LOVE that salmon! How long do you pressure can those tiny jars? Same as pints? I've never canned in anything smaller than a 1/2 pint.

Def going to can up some smoked pork here soon and will let you know how it goes! I generally roast my meats and hot pack them but I have found spices can change the taste of the meat as it sits in the jar over time. Didn't know if the smoke would do the same but it sounds like it maintains a nice flavor! I am so glad I asked here because you gave me such great step by step info! Thanks again, really appreciate it :)

 

[thirdeye]

Yes, please follow up. And don't be afraid to do a couple of varieties at the same time, so you can compare flavor profiles from jar to jar.

Those jars of salmon are wide mouth 1/2 pints, so roughly 4 ounces of fish per jar. The wide mouth jars are easier to fill than the jelly style, and you can use larger pieces. The canning rules for fish changed a few years ago, and home canning of smoked has become so popular in the last 10 or 12 years there is some good information out there, and some really bad information too. The main changes are an increase in time, and more water in the canner. Since the USDA's tests (from the 30's) on only used pints and quarts, 1/2 pint and 1.5 pints (like my jars of pork above) were sort of in limbo. Tell you what, I have several articles I need to revise and combine, and round up some photos.... so I will do that and make a new posting for canned fish in the canning section...., besides I have never put canning info on my website so this will be killing two birds with the same stone. Home canning falls into the same boat in my mind as home curing.... both are quite easy and safe... as long as you are a stickler for details.

I suppose certain spices can affect the products over time, but on my canned meats I stay pretty simple. I can always jazz up the product later. I don't can things like beef stew, chili or spaghetti sauce or things that may have a lot of spices. I think my pizza sauce has the most spices of anything I can.

 

[chilerelleno]

Thanks for the kind words. The USDA and the National Center for Home Food Preservation both say to try to use up your home canned goods within a year of making them. The newer flats made by Jarden and branded Mason, Kerr and a few other names say they are good for 18 months. I try to use 9 months as my rule of thumb and I use the jars with less head space first. The flavor and texture holds up well, and it takes less smoke than you think. As good of a pack job as I do, sometimes one or two jars in each batch just have more head space. I raw pack chicken breasts and raw pack jars typically have more head space. To compensate I'll add a tablespoon of bottled water, I know they don't recommend it, nor do they recommend brining chicken.... but the official guidelines were written when those things were not common and they simply have not been updated for years. Since you have done beef, corned beef is also good although I raw pack it. Some jars are seasoned with pickling spice, and some with pastrami seasonings.

And speaking of smoked canned foods, if you enjoy salmon, trout or steelhead, you might have a new adventure to try. I dry cure mine, then cold smoke for 1.5 to 2 hours then raw pack. I add some oil, water, jalapeno pepper rings and garlic pepper.
View attachment 460751
View attachment 460752

This man has skills.