How to Can Ground Beef

Did you know that meat lasts longer on the shelf than any other food you can home can? It's true! (In fact, the oldest known good can of food was roast veal processed in the 1820s. It was opened in 1938, and was still perfectly edible; it even had most of it's nutrients in tact.)

But even if you don't need your meat to last 100 years, home canned meat is incredibly convenient. There's no need to defrost it, you don't have to worry about the electricity going out, and when you open the can, it's already cooked.

One of my favorite winter canning projects is ground beef (or hamburger, as my mother would call it). I purchase the beef when it's on sale, or I purchase small amounts and freeze it, then thaw it and can it all in one day. You can use this ground beef in any recipe you'd use freshly cooked ground beef in; I like to dump it into a pan and crisp it up a bit first.

(Before you begin, you may wish to review the general instructions for pressure canning.)

What You Need:
Ground beef

Pressure Canner
Canning jars, rings, and lids
Jar lifter
Lid lifter
Plastic slotted spoon
Cooling rack or bath towel


How to Do It:

1. Brown the beef, cooking it until it's no longer pink. I like to use at least two large skillets to do this, since it makes the cooking go faster.
2. Remove the browned beef from the skillet using the slotted spoon. Allow each spoonful to totally drain before dumping it into a large bowl. Be sure to drain off the excess fat before adding more beef to the pan to brown.

3. Pack the cooked beef into a clean jar, pressing down firmly until a 1 inch headspace is achieved.

4. Pour hot water into each jar, maintaining the 1 inch headspace. Remove bubbles with the plastic handle of the spoon.

5. Wipe down the rim of the jar and place a lid and screwband on it. Place the jar in the water-filled canner.

6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 until the canner is full or the beef is used up.

7. Process pints and quarts for 90 min. in a pressure canner, using 10 lbs. pressure.*

Note 1: 1 pint equals about 2 cups of ground hamburger.


* NOTE 2: If you live at a high altitude, read this important information about adjusting canning times.

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