By
September 6, 2024
Pressure-canned venison is one of the most useful products you can put up from a deer. Fully cooked, shelf-stable for two years or more, and ready to use straight from the jar in soups, stews, or any recipe calling for cooked beef. The process requires a proper pressure canner, but once learned it is reliable and repeatable.
Equipment Required
You need a real pressure canner — not an electric pressure cooker and not an Instant Pot. Those appliances cannot maintain the sustained, verified pressure required for safe low-acid food canning. What you need is a stovetop pressure canner with either a dial gauge or a weighted gauge, at least 23 quarts in capacity. Presto and All American are the two most common brands and both are reliable. Dial-gauge canners require annual calibration testing, which your county extension office often provides for free. Weighted-gauge canners are simpler and self-regulating.
For jars, use standard mason jars in pint or quart sizes. Wide-mouth jars are easier to pack with chunks of meat. Use new lids for every batch — the sealing compound is single-use and reusing lids risks seal failure. Rings can be reused as long as they are not rusted or warped. A jar lifter is essential; do not attempt to move hot jars without one. A canning funnel keeps jar rims clean during packing and is worth having.
The National Center for Home Food Preservation at nchfp.uga.edu is the authoritative source for tested processing times and pressures. Always use their current guidelines rather than old family recipes or handwritten notes from a grandmother's cookbook — processing science has improved and older recipes may not reach the temperatures needed to eliminate botulism risk in low-acid foods like meat.
Preparing the Meat
Trim the venison thoroughly before it goes into a jar. Remove all silver skin, connective tissue, and every visible piece of fat. This step is more important with venison than with beef because deer fat has a strong, waxy flavor that intensifies under pressure canning and can make an entire batch unpleasant. It also goes rancid faster than the meat itself, shortening shelf life. Take the time to trim well and the finished product will taste clean and mild.
Cut the trimmed meat into 1 to 2 inch cubes. Uniform size is not critical, but roughly consistent pieces pack more evenly and cook more uniformly under pressure. For raw pack — the simplest and most common method — load the raw, uncooked cubes directly into the prepared jars. Pack them firmly but not so tight that you are compressing the meat; leave 1 inch of headspace at the top of each jar. Add 1 teaspoon of canning salt per quart jar, or half a teaspoon per pint, if you want to season the meat. Salt is optional and affects flavor only, not safety. No added liquid is needed — venison produces enough of its own juice under pressure to fill the jar.
The Pressure Canning Process
Before loading jars into the canner, wipe every jar rim with a clean damp cloth. Any grease, meat fiber, or debris on the rim will prevent the lid from sealing. This single step prevents the most common cause of seal failure. Apply lids and rings finger-tight — snug but not cranked down hard. Over-tightening prevents air from venting properly during processing.
Load the jars into the canner on the rack, following your canner's instructions for the minimum water level — usually 2 to 3 inches of hot water in the bottom. Lock the lid in place. Leave the petcock or vent open and bring the canner to a full, steady stream of steam. Vent steam for 10 minutes before closing the petcock. This step purges air from the canner; skipping it results in uneven pressure and under-processing. After venting, close the petcock and let pressure build to 10 pounds (11 pounds if you are above 2,000 feet elevation). Start your timer only after the canner reaches full pressure.
Process pint jars for 75 minutes and quart jars for 90 minutes at the target pressure. Maintain steady heat throughout to keep pressure consistent — fluctuating pressure causes liquid loss from jars. When processing time is complete, turn off the heat and let the canner depressurize entirely on its own. Do not run it under cold water, tilt it, or try to speed the process. Wait until the pressure gauge reads zero and the safety lock releases before opening the lid. Tilt the lid away from you when you open it to direct steam away from your face.
Storage and Use
Lift the jars straight out of the canner and set them on a towel-covered counter, leaving at least an inch of space between jars. Do not tilt or press the lids. Leave them undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours while they cool and seal. You will hear the satisfying pop of lids sealing as the jars cool — most seal within the first hour. After 24 hours, check every lid by pressing the center: a properly sealed lid is firm and slightly concave and does not flex when pressed. Any lid that springs up and down did not seal; refrigerate that jar and use it within a week.
Label jars with the date and store in a cool, dark location. A basement shelf, root cellar, or interior pantry away from heat and light is ideal. Quality is best within 2 years, though properly sealed jars remain safe beyond that. Discard any jar whose lid has lost its seal in storage, whose contents smell off when opened, or that spurts liquid when opened.
Canned venison is extremely versatile. The meat is fully cooked and very tender — it shreds easily with a fork, which makes it ideal for tacos, sandwiches, and pasta sauce. Use it anywhere you would use cooked or braised beef: venison chili built on canned jars comes together in under 30 minutes. Add a jar to a pot of vegetables and broth for a quick stew. The liquid in the jar is rich concentrated broth; pour it in with the meat and do not discard it.