How to Can Chicken

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When I'm pregnant, I don’t handle raw meat very well. Yuck. I luckily canned some chicken earlier this fall. It's been a life saver, and the only reason Pat’s had a meal every now and then. 

This chicken is just like the canned chicken in the store, and fully cooked. We use the chicken for soups, casseroles, fajitas, chicken tacos, enchiladas, chicken salad, etc. 

I began looking for a good sale on chicken, and was referred to Zaycon Foods. I was super impressed with my experience. Zaycon sells chicken for $1.69 per lb, (super cheap) and in 40 lb boxes. (They sell other meat as well.) If you watch for sales you can get it even cheaper. My last order of chicken was $1.39 per lb. 

You place your order online, and then on a certain date they deliver your chicken to a certain location. The pick up was incredibly easy, I pulled into the parking lot, followed the cones into a drive-thru, popped open my trunk and they placed the boxes inside. I never got out of my car. Smooth.

My mom and I both ordered two cases, 160 lbs all together. (A whole lot of chicken right?) We both canned one of our boxes, and froze the other.

To freeze them, we cut the fat off with scissors and placed two chicken breasts into Ziploc freezer bags.

I've really been impressed with the quality of chicken. I honestly don't think I'll buy my chicken anywhere else from now on.

I've had people ask how to can chicken, so here goes. If you have any tips, feel free to leave a comment, I'm still a beginner in this area.

   

Raw Pack-Chicken

1. Wash jars in dishwasher to sterilize
2. Rinse chicken and trim off fat with scissors
3. Stuff chicken in jars leaving 1 1/4" headspace (bottom lip)
4. Using canning salt or real salt, add 1/2 tsp. into pints or 1 tsp into quarts
5. DO NOT ADD WATER
6. Wipe jars rims off and add hot lids and clean bands
7. Put bottom rack in canner and fill with 2-3" of water (about 2 quarts), add 9 pint jars, put on middle rack, add 9 more pint jars OR you can pressure can 7 quarts
8. Put lid on securely and turn heat to high
9. Let steam come out of petcock or vent pipe for 10 minutes and then shut petcock.
10. When pressure gauge hits 15 lbs, start timing. Make sure pressure stays at 15 lbs and NEVER goes below. (Different altitudes may differ) If you go below 15 they say you need to bring your canner back up to 15 and start timing all over again...
11. Pressure cooking time: 90 minutes for Quarts, 75 minutes for pints.
12. When finished, shut burner off and let it cool down naturally. Don't do anything to speed up this process! It takes about 45-60 minutes.
13. When at 0 lbs of pressure open petcock for 10 minutes- then take lid of away from face.
14. Put jars on towel or cooling rack- don't let wind get to jars
15. Let jars set 12-24 hours before touching.

Note: We borrowed my Grandma's canner, with two canner it went really fast.
For a small family I prefer to can the chicken in pints, if you had a large family I would use quarts.
If you have any questions ask away. My 80 lbs of chicken will last us quite awhile, but I promise 1 day of canning/freezing was well worth it. 

Happy Canning!

P.S. If you do order from Zaycon, and want the write "Sullenger" in the referral line, I wouldn't mind at all :)