Let's Can Hamburger and Sausage Patties

I have lots of hamburger and sausage canned up - all of it in the crumbled form.  But let's say that whatever is going to happen has happened, the stores are empty and my freezer is now just a place to store blankets.  Beans and rice have been consumed for the past three weeks and more than anything in the world I really, really want a cheeseburger.  What do I do?

I go to my shelves and grab a jar of hamburger patties that I canned.  And if I want a sausage patty with my eggs for breakfast, I have those in jars, too.

I got 4 lbs. of bulk sausage and 6 lbs. of hamburger with my grocery order this time.  I shaped all of it into patties, using a wide mouth jar ring to get them the right size and thickness.  To do this, turn the ring upside down on parchment paper, fill the ring with ground meat and press it down to fill the ring, skimming off any excess so the meat is level with the edge of the ring.  Turn the ring right side up and the patty will pop right out.

I put the patties, both hamburger and sausage, onto parchment lined cookie sheets and put them into a 375 degree oven, baking them just until they were somewhat browned on the outside and firm enough to handle.  They don't need to be completely cooked as they will cook in the pressure canner.  They can be fried in a frying pan or on a griddle, too.

I drained the patties on paper towels, blotting the tops of each with paper towels to sop up any excess grease.  Then they were packed into wide mouth pint jars.  The sausage didn't shrink much so only three patties fit into each jar - the hamburger was packed four per jar.  They could be packed into quart jars if desired.  I made up some beef bouillon and added that to each jar up to one inch from the top.  The jar rims were wiped clean, lids and rings added and into the pressure canner they went.  I still had room in the canner and I had made more broth than I needed, so I jarred up four pints of the broth and canned that, too.  I will have beef broth for the next time I can meat patties or it is good in soup.

The pints were processed for 75 minutes.  Quarts are processed for 90 minutes.

I had one jar that didn't seal.  I haven't eaten those hamburger patties yet, but I did check them to see how well they held together, and they were just fine.  When I go to use them, I think I will just put them in a frying pan with just a bit of fat and heat them through.  I don't season the hamburger but will add seasonings when I heat them up.

I will can up more of these meat patties.  In an SHTF situation, or even on a day when I really don't want to cook, I think these sausage and hamburger patties will come in really handy.