How to Can Chicken Breast

If you have never tasted home canned chicken breast, you are in for a treat. It is tender, delicious, moist, and usable for many types of stews, soups, chicken salads, or hot dishes. It also makes excellent pet food. Having plenty of canned chicken in your pantry saves a trip to the store and having to pay retail for it, as well as having a handy, convenient source of meat for cooking a quick meal.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pressure canner
• Jar lifter
• Tea kettle or pan to heat water
• Skinless chicken breasts
• Water
• Salt
• Canning jars, lids and rings
• Cutting board
• Sharp knife
• Fork
• Hot pads

Getting Ready

1. Buy chicken breasts on sale. It is fine if they have the bone in, but if you can get them without the skin, you will save yourself the trouble of removing the skin from the breasts. As a rule, one pint jar takes about 1 1/2 medium to large chicken breasts. Most pressure canners will hold 8 pints. Chill the meat until you are ready to start canning.

2. Wash your jars, rings, and lids in the dishwasher. Since the temperature inside the pressure cooker is going to get to 235 F, there is no need to sterilize the jars first. They have to be completely clean, however. Make sure there are no nicks or chips on the jars. Anything that will interfere with the vacuum seal will result in spoiled food.

3. Get the pressure canner out, and add two quarts of water to it. Make sure the rack is sitting in the bottom of the pressure canner. Set aside.

4. Get the chicken out of the refrigerator, and unwrap. Wash the chicken breasts thoroughly, and remove the skin and all visible fat. When you pressure cook meat, the meat must be lean. Otherwise, the fat can interfere with the seal.

5. Fill the tea kettle with water, and start heating it.

6. Put the pressure canner on the stove, and turn the heat on to medium.

7. The meat should be packed hot. Put the chicken breasts in a large pot or frying pan (using NO oil), and add a bit of water, and cook it until it is nearly done. Remove from heat, and let it cool a few minutes.

8. You will need to work quickly to keep the meat hot. Using a fork and sharp knife, take each chicken breast and cut it into portions that will fit into the jars. Some pieces can be large, some can be small. Place the chicken breast pieces into a jar, and set it aside while you fill the next jar. Do not pack too tightly. Leave a one-inch head space.

9. When all your jars are filled, put a half a teaspoon of salt in each pint (optional), and evenly distribute the liquid from the precooking into the jars. If you are going to feed your pets this canned chicken, do not use salt. Salt does not contribute to the preserving process at all.

10. Take the hot or boiling water and fill each jar to the one-inch head mark. Do not add too much liquid. Use a spoon to make sure you get all the air bubbles around the chicken meat.

11. Take a damp cloth or paper towel, and wipe the tops of the jars clean. There must be no fat, no bits of meat or broth on the jar tops, otherwise the jars may not seal properly. Put the lids and rings on the jars. Do not overtighten the rings.

Pressure Canning the Chicken

12. This is the easiest part of home-canning meats, but the most critical. Put the jars inside the pressure canner so that none of the sides are touching each other.

13. Put the lid to the pressure canner on, following the manufacturer's instructions. Let it vent for about 10 minutes, once the steam starts escaping from the vent hole.

14. Once it has vented, add the weight or vent cover to the pressure canner. The pressure will now start to build inside the pressure cooker. If you live between sea level and 1,000 feet, you will need to keep the pressure steady at 10 pounds. If you live at a higher elevation, you need to increase the pounds of pressure inside your cooker. Add one pound for every 2,000 feet over sea level that you live. For example, if you live at 6,000 feet, you would pressure cook your chicken at 14 pounds. If you live at 2,000 feet, you would cook it at 11 pounds.If your pressure canner is a weighted gauge type, you have to cook at 15 pounds for all elevations over 1,000 feet.

15. Once you have reached your required pressure, adjust the heat to sustain that pressure. You will need to keep a close eye on the gauge to make sure it is steady. Under processing meat results in spoilage, and overcooking degrades the texture and flavor.

16. Continue cooking the jars for 75 minutes. Turn the heat off, and let the pressure drop naturally. Sudden decreases in pressure inside the canner can cause breakage.

17. Remove the jars from the canner when the pressure drops, and when the jars are cool, wipe with a damp, clean cloth, and store in a cool, dark place.

18. When using the canned chicken, boil it for 10 minutes before you taste it. If you open a jar that has an off smell, discard it. It's not worth getting sick from bad food.

Tips & Warnings

• You will need a pressure canner for this. You cannot can chicken in a hot water bath. Pressure canners online are priced from $75 to $150, depending on what you want. It's an expense, but once hooked on home canned chicken, you will save lots of money on chicken and other meats down the road by taking advantage of good sales.
• These instructions are for chicken breasts with bones. If you buy chicken breast fillets, you will need more breasts for each jar.
• Use the home-canned meat within six months of canning.
• Never taste canned meat without boiling it for 10 minutes first.
• Make sure you use jars free from nicks and chips.
• Only use regular canning jars for pressure canning. Salsa, mayonnaise, and other jars will not stand up to the high pressure inside the cookers.
• The times given for this article are for pint jars. If you want to use quart jars, up the cooking time to 90 minutes, and use the same pressure as for pints.

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Resources

• Preserving Food Safely