Friday, July 5, 2019

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.

8 comments:

  1. I'm waiting until you try canning candied ants. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gorges...I ate a chocolate covered ant once - on a dare. I'm thinking ants won't be in any of my jars. They don't hold still long enough. :)

      Delete
  2. I keep meaning to can meat. Good job.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Linda...I like having canned meat on the shelf mostly because it makes fixing a meal really easy when I don't want to cook. And it lasts so long. I have chicken canned in 2013 that is as good today as it was when I canned it.

      Delete
  3. I was visiting someone the other day and she was using home canned ground beef from 2010. This makes me think that store exp dates are more hype than anything and I could be saving those for storage since I don't can much anymore. Carole. I am the person with 17 grandkids..thought I would ID myself

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Carole...I tend to take the exp. dates as a suggestion. Everyone has to decide for themselves how safe they feel in using outdated canned goods. I am still using spaghetti sauce bought 8 years ago. And there are lots of cans in my food storage that are outdated. Unless the can shows signs of rust or if the can lid is bulging or the can shows any other sign that the contents are bad, I won't toss it. The nutritional value may decrease over time, but I'm thinking that in a bad situation nobody is going to care as long as they have something to eat. I'm not canning as much as I once did either, but I won't hesitate to stock up on store bought canned food to fill in, even knowing it might be years before I will need it.

      Delete
  4. I read the last two posts. Don't have anything to add, just wanted to let you know I'm watching you.

    ReplyDelete