Meats for longer term storage.

As the evolution goes from new prepper to prepper elite, you feel more comfortable with things we are not as accustomed to these days. For some, that may be farming, for others, raising livestock. For me, it happens to be canning meats. We use this all the time in tuna and spam like foods. For some reason, the idea kind of grossed me out when I was younger. I knew a guy who had a lot of canned squirrel, and it weirded me out.

As I have been prepping, and grown more accustomed to prepping type things, canning meat became a need. Things I prep for are power outages, blizzards and aliens. Ok, maybe not so much aliens, but regular things that happen. I had a freezer die that that had 2 freshly butchered pigs in it. That was a lot of meat and a lot of money lost. Had I canned the sausage, I would have saved some of that value.

We tend to buy bulk ground beef and sausage when it is on sale. This usually takes a lot of room in the freezer, my wife complains about freezer burn, which to me is like global warming, and when you need it, you realize you need to thaw it out. All of this makes it kind of a burden to use when the day is long and busy. Easy fix? Can it. The directions seem easy enough. Brown the meat, drain the fat, can the meat, add water pressure can it, sealed and good to go.

The benefits? Non-refrigerated longer term meat storage, easy to use in recipes right out of the can, and it is already cooked, so there is no thawing, breaking apart, having to cook before the meal. The down side? You cannot make burgers or meat loaf. I can survive like that. In the good times, you can have easy quick meals, and in the dark times, you have food that will be good sitting. Plus, prep what you eat right? Get the family used to eating canned meats, and you will be set. Turn your beans into chili, turn your rice into… meat and rice? It will add some important flavors into food.

The other side of this is that, in prepping with canned meats, you will then have jars, lids and rings stockpiled. This means that, in longer emergency situations, you have the ability to can things, like new garden harvests and wild game. Is it nice to have smaller preps that will also work well if you need long term preps? Absolutely. Plus you end up saving money because if you learn to can meats, when it is on sale, you will buy more at the reduced price. I know I will.

Some will say yeah, but freeze drying is better. I would like a freeze dryer, but I cannot spend $2K on a freeze dryer. I already have jars, lids, rings and a pressure canner. Freeze dried will last longer, and I will get one, but for now, I will start canning meats and see how that ends up going. That is all I have to say for today, so stay prepped, and look ahead as life comes at you.