The Beginner's Guide to Canning Meat at Home (Yes, You Can Do It Safely)

Why a Water Bath Canner Will Never Work for Meat

Meat, poultry, and game are low-acid foods, and low-acid foods require pressure canning — there's no version of this where a water bath canner is an acceptable substitute. Boiling water tops out at 212°F, which isn't hot enough to destroy the bacterial spores that can survive in a low-acid, sealed jar. A pressure canner reaches 240°F or higher, which is what actually makes the food safe.

This isn't a matter of preference or a "better safe than sorry" suggestion — it's the entire reason pressure canners exist. If you don't have one yet, this is the one piece of equipment you can't work around for meat.

Raw Pack vs. Hot Pack: The Two Methods

You'll choose one of two packing methods, and both are safe when processed correctly.

Raw pack means the meat goes into the jar uncooked. No liquid is added — the meat releases its own juices and creates broth as it processes. This is the simpler of the two methods and works well for cubed meat, stew meat, and ground meat.

Hot pack means the meat is partially cooked first — browned, roasted, or simmered until about two-thirds done — then packed into jars hot and topped with boiling broth or liquid. Hot pack isn't safer than raw pack, but it often produces better texture and a clearer broth in the finished jar, since less protein ends up clouding the liquid or sticking to the jar walls.

Whichever method you use, trim off excess fat before canning — fat left on the meat can interfere with getting a good seal on the lid.

Processing Times: The Numbers That Matter

This is the part beginners want a simple answer for, and the good news is the numbers are mostly consistent across meat types. For a dial-gauge pressure canner at 11 pounds of pressure (or a weighted-gauge canner at 10 pounds), the standard times are:

• Pint jars: 75 minutes

• Quart jars: 90 minutes

This applies to beef, pork, venison, and most other meats, raw or hot packed, at sea level to 1,000 feet elevation. Leave 1 inch of headspace for meat and poultry, and remove any air bubbles before sealing.

For poultry specifically, the headspace recommendation is slightly different at 1¼ inches, since poultry tends to expand more during processing.

Adjusting for Altitude

If you live above 1,000 feet, you need to increase your pressure, not your time. Tested processing times stay the same regardless of elevation — what changes is how much pressure is needed to reach the correct internal temperature, since water boils at a lower temperature the higher you go.

A simplified version, using a weighted-gauge canner:

• 0–1,000 feet: 10 lbs pressure

• 1,001 feet and above: 15 lbs pressure

Dial-gauge canners use smaller, more gradual increases as elevation climbs, so check a verified altitude chart for your specific elevation rather than estimating. If you're not sure of your exact elevation, a quick search for your town's elevation or a tool like a topographic map app will get you close enough.

The Steps, Start to Finish

1. Prep your meat. Trim excess fat, gristle, and bruised spots. Cut into pieces sized for your jars — cubes for stew-style meat, strips for some cuts, ground for sausage-style.

2. Pack your jars. For raw pack, fill jars loosely with raw meat, leaving the correct headspace, with no added liquid. For hot pack, partially cook the meat first, then pack hot and cover with boiling broth or water to the correct headspace.

3. Remove air bubbles and wipe the rims. Any residue on the jar rim can prevent a proper seal, so wipe with a clean, damp cloth before adding the lid.

4. Load the canner and vent. Place jars in your prepped, preheated pressure canner. Before sealing, allow steam to vent continuously for 10 minutes — this clears air from the canner so it can build true pressure rather than trapping air pockets that throw off your internal temperature.

5. Bring to pressure and start timing. Once the canner reaches your required pressure, start your timer. Maintain steady pressure for the full processing time — don't start the clock early, and don't let pressure drop and have to climb back up, since that resets your processing accuracy.

6. Cool naturally. When time is up, turn off the heat and let the canner depressurize on its own — never run it under cold water to speed this up. Rushing the cooldown can cause liquid loss from the jars and even breakage, and it cuts short part of the safety margin built into the gradual cool-down.

7. Rest and check seals. Let jars sit undisturbed for 12–24 hours before checking that lids have sealed properly.

What's Normal (And What's Not)

If you raw pack meat and the jar looks half-full once it's cooled, that's expected — raw meat shrinks as it cooks and releases liquid. The top layer of meat may look slightly gray if it wasn't fully submerged in liquid; this is still safe, it's simply a difference in cooking, not a spoilage sign.

What's not normal: a seal that didn't take, liquid pushed out beyond what's expected, or any off smell when you open a jar. When in doubt, the safety rule that applies to all home-canned low-acid food still applies here — when you're ready to eat it, boil canned meat for 10 minutes before tasting, even if it looks and smells fine. This step destroys any toxin that might be present even when nothing seems wrong.

Ready to Start Canning Meat?

If you're past the basics of canning and ready to move into meats, soups, and complete meals in a jar, my Advanced Home Canning guide walks through exactly this — seven tested recipes built specifically for pressure canning meat and complete meals, with the safety reasoning explained at every step.

Get the Advanced Home Canning Guide →

New to canning altogether? Start with Water Bath vs. Pressure Canning: Which One Do You Actually Need? before jumping into meat.