Why Would You Want to Can Your Own Beef Stew
At the bottom of this article will be several questions and answers.
Are you one to can your own beef stew? Have you ever stopped and really acknowledged the number of options for canned soups and stews at a grocery store? I rarely go down any center aisle of a grocery store, but when I pass the soup aisle, I find it fascinating how they have an entire aisle devoted to soup and prepackaged foods. All of which can be made at home. Today, let’s talk about beef stew and why you may want to can your own beef stew instead of buying it. Here are just a few thoughts to ponder.
- the commercially canned ingredients may not be top quality; in other words the meat, if left whole, may not be quality enough to make it to the meat department, so it’s better hidden in a can
- the metal cans may contain BPA or other toxins including metals leaching from the can into the food
- the additives and flavor enhancers such as MSG, Did you know MSG has MANY different names?
- food coloring, This PubMed government website shows the results of a study showing the deadly effects of food dyes.
- and artificial, even natural flavorings, etc., are terrible for your health. Did you know that natural and artificial flavors may contain dairy, eggs, meat, and more? Did you know that even natural flavors can be highly processed and even contain chemical additives to where there’s not much difference between natural and artificial?
- by canning your own, you gain confidence in having the skill to can and knowing you can do it.
- you have a quantity of ready to go shelf-stable canned stew put back.
- the bottom line as to why you would want to can your own beef stew is so you can control not only the ingredients but the quality of the ingredients as well.
The Downfalls to Can Your Own Beef Stew
Even with all the benefits you receive when you can your own beef stew, as with everything, there are pros and cons. Let’s list off some of the cons when you can your own beef stew.
- it’s time consuming
- upfront cost
- storage space
If you’re new to canning, you may not have a freezer full of beef and a garden full of potatoes and carrots, maybe some onions and celery, or even a supply of empty canning jars waiting to be filled. If this is you then yes, purchasing the jars and ingredients in order to can enough jars to make it worth your time and effort, will be a decently sized upfront cost.
Not only do you have the cost to factor in, but once you have canned your jars, you’ll need a place to store them. They will last for years as they are, but if you can store them a cooler area away from light and heat, they will retain their color and nutrition longer.
When I say it’s time consuming…. that can actually vary on how you choose to can. It takes me longer because I have to cut up, which involves not only cubing my beef roasts but also deboning and cutting off any excess fat and all the tendons. I pull my carrots from the garden, which means, I must scrub them, peel them, and then chop them. The easiest thing I did with this round of canning beef stew is that I bought a 50 lb. box of potatoes from Azure, so all I had to do was scrub and chop the potatoes. You’re “supposed” to peel the potatoes. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. I have factors I look for when deciding.
One way to save time on this prep work would be to buy stew meat that has already been deboned, defatted, de-tendoned, and cubed up from the grocer and purchase bags of baby carrots. This will be SO much faster; however, this route will be more expensive.
How to Can Your Own Beef Stew Step 1: Gather and Prep
I am not going to spend time writing about all the equipment and other items you need to get and lay out for canning. If you are new to canning, I have an entire video devoted to just that, and its playlist may be helpful for you as well.
BUT, make sure you have read the instructions for your canner. Beef stew can ONLY safely be pressure canned. See how much water your canner requires in the bottom. My canner says between 2″-3″ of water. Yours may be different.
Ready your ingredients
Lay out your ingredients and get them prepared. You can see some of my carrots I pulled from the garden, a basket of potatoes, a vase of garden celery, and dish of some beef roasts.
Prep your ingredients
I have the potatoes scrubbed and chopped and sitting in water until ready to use so they don't oxidize and turn brown. I have a bowl of carrots scrubbed, peeled, and chopped. The celery is likewise ready to go, and the beef roasts have been cubed up.
How to Can Your Own Beef Stew Step 2: Fill and Fill
Fill your jars
Add 1 tsp. canning salt, optional, then fill your ingredients into each quart jar. Fill the jar leaving 1" of headspace. You can add however much of each ingredient you would like and in any order. I personally find that adding the meat first is easiest for adding the water later. I found that 2 c. of meat was too much. We now add 1 packed c. of cubed beef per quart, but once it's processed and you go to use it, the meat falls apart and shreds so easily, that you get quite a bit of meat, so my husband has suggested cutting down to 1/2 c. of meat per quart. I do pack the veggies in. Feel free to add onions, celery, or any spices or herbs you like. Adding bay leaves or sage is not recommended as the canning process will amplify the flavor. In these pictures, I only added beef roasts, potatoes, carrots, about 1 Tbsp. of celery, and the salt. The final taste was wonderful. You may use regular or wide mouth jars. Regular mouth jars are more affordable and easier to find, but wide mouth jars are much easier to pack and clean. Also, you can usually get an extra regular mouth jar in a canner load versus a wide mouth jar.
Add boiling water
Once your quart jar is full of your raw beef stew, use a funnel to ladle boiling hot water over the top. Fill the jar up with boiling water to 1" headspace.
How to Can Your Own Beef Stew Step 3: De-bubble and Measure Headspace
Remove the bubbles
After you have filled your jar with the boiling water, the next thing to do to can your own beef stew is to remove any air bubbles that are in the jar. You may use a bubble popper green tool like I have or a chopstick or even a butter knife. You need to work your tool down around all sides of the jar pushing inward towards the center then stick your tool down through the center of the jar and push outward all around. Do not do this too fast as you may add air to the jar. Pay special attention to removing the air surrounding the meat as it is heavier and much more likely to contain trapped air between the pieces. If you don't remove most of the air, during the processing, the air will escape and take with it some of the liquid and bits of the softened veggies too, which can come between your lid and the jar mouth causing your seal to fail more quickly.
Measure the headspace
Now that you have de-bubbled your jar, be sure to measure your headspace. You want to make sure the water is still at 1" of headspace. If it's not, add more water.
How to Can Your Own Beef Stew Step 4: Wipe Mouth and Place Lid On
Wipe jar mouth
One of the final things to do when you can your own beef stew before placing the jar in the canner is to wipe off the mouth of the jar. This is an important step. Once your jar is filled to the correct headspace, you need to wipe the jar mouth with a clean cloth. Make sure there are not spices, fat, or bits of food on the jar mouth. If any of this is on the jar mouth, it prevents the lid from making a solid seal with the jar mouth. For beef stew, we need to use a cloth that has been dipped in straight white vinegar as the vinegar will cut any possible fat that came from the beef and could be sitting on the jar mouth.
Place lid and band on jar
Here's the last thing for you to do when you can your own beef stew. Just before placing your jar full of goodness in the canner, you need to take a clean lid and place it on the jar then screw the band on JUST until fingertip tight. If you click on the caption, "place lid and band on jar" under the picture, you'll be taken to a video showing fingertip tight if you need a visual.
How to Can Your Own Beef Stew Step 5: Process and Let Cool
Process jars
Way to go, you're in the home stretch now! Now that all your jars of beef stew are filled and in the canner, go ahead and place and lock the lid on the canner. Allow the canner to vent steam for 10 minutes. Then place the weighted gauge on or close the petcock screw depending on your canner style. Wait for the canner to come up to the pounds of pressure required. My elevation is below 1,000 ft so I must process my beef stew quarts at 10 lbs psi for 90 minutes; a dial gauge would be 11psi. Above 1,000 ft elevation the required weighted gauge psi should be 15 psi for 90 minutes but be sure to check your elevation. Slowly bit by bit adjust your temperature on your stove/range if the pressure is too high or too low. Once the required psi is met either with a dial gauge or a weighted gauge, start your timer for the 90-minute processing time. Follow the instructions that came with your canner. If you click the picture's caption, "process jars", you'll be taken to my video showing how to use a pressure canner.
Remove from canner to cool
Once your 90 minute timer has gone off, turn the heat off but leave the canner on the stove. Do NOT move the canner. Wait for the dial gauge to return to ZERO on its OWN. Do NOT do anything to cool the canner down more quickly. Let the canner naturally cool down to zero on its own. Once the canner is at zero and it's quiet then remove the weighted gauge or open the petcock screw. Then wait 2 minutes. Once the 2 minutes are up then you may remove the lid from the canner being sure to turn the lid away from you. Depending on your canner's manufacturer's instructions, you may need to wait 2-10 minutes after removing the lid before removing the jars. Using the jar lifter and a thick towel, carefully remove the jars being careful NOT to tilt the jars as the contents inside can cause the seal to fail if any liquid or food particles seep between the lid and jar mouth when tilted. The water on top of the lid will evaporate. Place jars on an elevated rack or a thick towel and allow to cool on their own completely undisturbed for 12-24 hours. After 24 hours, check the seals then label and store your jars. By clicking the caption, "remove from canner to cool", under this photo, I show you how to test the seals. There you have it folks! This is something you are more than capable of doing as well. It is a wonderful comforting feeling to have jars of this nutritious and fresh quality food put on the shelves for your family.
Would You Rather Watch a Video on How to Can Your Own Beef Stew?
If you would rather watch the video on how to can your own beef stew, you may do so here.
QUESTIONS
Q: Do I have to add salt?
A: No, you do not have to add salt. Salt just helps to flavor it. Canning or preserving salt is regular, plain, pure, and finely granulated salt that dissolves easily and leaves a clear liquid brine, but it does not contain any of the anticaking or iodine additives. You can use a sea salt if you’d like, but it may not dissolve fully. Using iodized table salt may turn your canned food a grayish color or create a cloudy liquid in your food, but it’s not harmful in any way.
Q: May I can in any sized jar I want?
A: Yes, while I do recommend canning this beef stew in quart jars, you may can in any sized jar you would like. I find that a quart jar is enough for 2 meals. The thing to note is that if a recipe you’re following only shows processing times for pints then you can ONLY can in pints or half pints, but NOT in quarts. If a recipe you’re following only shows processing times for quarts, you CAN process in pints or even half pints, BUT you MUST give the smaller jars the same processing time as was called for the quarts. What this means is you may can in smaller jars than what the recipe says, but do not decrease the canning time. However, you cannot go up a jar size than what the recipe says and no, it may not be safe to do so even if you added extra processing time.
Q: Besides your own, are there any canning websites you recommend?
A: Absolutely! Aside from using recipes from the book that came with your canner, the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, and the Ball Guide to Preserving, I recommend checking out the following websites.
The All About Canning page on Pick Your Own
National Center for Home Food Preservation
Q: I see your process for this beef stew is different than what “they” say is “safe.”
A: The approved safe and tested recipes all say to precook your meat and veggies prior to canning. I rarely stray from the “tested” recipes, but I do on occasion and when or if I do, I definitely will let you know. For this beef stew, I personally felt it was safe to can it all raw and here is why.
1) I am not a new canner, so I have a better understanding and experience of how it all works more so than a new canner. I strongly suggest any new canner to follow the tested recipes to the T.
2) According to my canning book, you may can raw beef cubes on their own and process 90 minutes for quarts, so that alone is how I can justify not cooking the beef prior to canning.
3) Carrots can be canned raw and only need 30 minutes for quarts to be processed. By this, I can justify not pre-cooking the carrots.
4) Potatoes can be canned on their own and processed for 40 minutes in quarts. Now really the only thing that makes this “unacceptable” is not cooking the potatoes prior to canning, but here’s how I look at it. My potatoes were small cubes, and my canning book says I need to boil the cubed potatoes for just 2 minutes. Here’s why I’m not concerned with not boiling the potatoes prior to canning for this beef stew only. Please note when I can potatoes by themselves, I do boil them.
A) my quart jar only contains 1/4 of potatoes
B) potatoes only need to be processed for 40min, but I’ll be processing the beef stew for 90 minutes. Yes, I am aware this goes against what I said in the second question, but this is where “I’m not a new canner” comes into play. I have experience, I understand things, and I feel comfortable with this.
C) I’m pouring boiling water over the raw beef stew anyway.
D) It is recommended to boil your home canned food for a minimum of 10 minutes anyhow as this will help to ensure any possible c. botulinum toxin that has started to develop will be killed. Please note, using this knowledge does NOT permit you to pass on proper and safe canning practices.
Here’s just a tidbit of information, just for your own knowledge. When you can a combination of ingredients as in a soup or stew or such, you must use the longest processing time for whichever ingredient happens to have the longest processing time. For example, my beef stew has carrots, potatoes, and beef. Carrots require 30 min of processing time; potatoes require 40 min of processing time; and beef requires 90 minutes of processing time; therefore, I MUST choose to process for the 90 minutes.
Q: If I would rather follow a tested recipe, where I can find online?
A: Any of the websites I linked above should have a beef stew recipe, but here’s one.
