Great preps. I haven’t starting canning, but I’m thinking about it. I need to start educating myself on canning. Botulism is my primary concern. Need to make sure I do it correctly.
As long as you use fresh materials, practice cleanliness, and follow a recipe (procedure) from a proven and trusted source, you eliminate most of the dangers of botulism. Kind of sounds like making bacon doesn't it?
The Ball Blue Book is a good general reference guide and has recipes for jams, vegetables and meats and covers water bath canning and pressure canning. In addition to the procedures which allow the lids (flats) to properly seal, canning recipes are designed so that the contents have ample time to heat through properly. For example there are tested recipes for canning pinto beans, but canning of refried beans is not recommended because they are much denser and might not heat through.
One thing you are bound to notice is that the USDA has approved procedures for canning "fresh" meat only, and that they do not have a "tested" process for cured meats like corned beef, ham or bacon. The National Center for Home Food Preservation has the opinion that the density of ham for example is different than the density of raw pork, and therefore
may require a different processing time. BUT... you see recipes all over the internet for canning ham or corned beef. Canning of smoked fish also fell into this "cured meat" category but the latest testing has resulted in a change in procedure (using more water in the canner, and longer processing times) to safely can smoked fish. "Smoked" was not really defined, so I cold smoke trout and steelhead for an hour or two which keeps the texture near-raw. I only process in 1/2 pint jars to avoid density issues.
So, there is plenty of information out there, just be cautious of the source.
Nice! Way to restock supplies. I've canned chicken, deer & sausage but never tried pork butt. Great idea on smoking before canning. How much broth did you add to the partially cooked smoked pork? Have to put that on my to do list.
Because I cold smoked some of the meat, and browned it along with the rest of the meat, I had to use the "hot pack" method. The browned meat is jarred and near boiling liquid (water, or broth) is added leaving 1" head space. I leave a little more since butt has more fat than pork loin. Bubbling of fats could interfere with the seal of the lid. I opted for using broth, and so I seasoned the blade bone and baked it 30 minutes. Next I used a pork soup base and simmered the bone in that broth for 90 minutes. I used the same broth for both the smoked pork and the regular pork.
Using the raw pack method works too, but the color of the meat is bland (think boiled pork), but it still has a good flavor and tenderness.