It’s that time of year again—Deer Hunting Season! This is my favorite time of the year because it means Deer Meat Canning Time. And let me tell you, it’s sooo yummy!
Today, I received two large bags of fresh deer meat, roughly 10–15 pounds. Let me walk you through how I canned it, step by step, so you can enjoy some delicious deer meat, too!
Step 1: Prepping the Jars
The first thing I did was sterilize my quart jars. It’s important to ensure your jars are clean and ready before adding the meat.
Next, I rinsed and cut the deer meat into chunks, then packed the meat into the jars as tightly as possible. After filling the jars, I wiped the rims with vinegar to make sure they were clean.
For flavor, I added a teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon each of garlic and onion powder to each jar, though this step is optional.
Step 2: Preparing the Lids
I placed the jar lids in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes to sterilize them, then carefully placed them on the jars. Once the lids were on, I screwed on the rings, tightening them just to “finger tight.”
Step 3: Loading the Pressure Canner
Next, I placed the jars into my pressure canner. I poured cold water around the jars because I was using cold jars. (Remember: cold water for cold jars, hot water for hot jars! This helps prevent cracks.)
I added a splash of vinegar to the canner water to keep the jars from coming out cloudy. Then, I secured the lid on the pressure canner and turned the burner to high to heat the water to boiling.
Step 4: Venting and Building Pressure
Once steam started shooting out of the vent, I let it vent for 10 minutes to remove air. After that, I added the weight to the vent.
I turned down the heat slightly and allowed the pressure to build to 10 pounds. For quart-size jars, the meat needs to stay at 10 pounds of pressure for 90 minutes. I adjusted the burner as needed to maintain the pressure level.
Step 5: Cooling and Removing the Jars
When the 90 minutes were up, I carefully removed the pressure canner from the burner to avoid jostling the jars. You can also just turn off the burner and leave the canner in place.
I allowed the pressure to release naturally before opening the canner. Then, using my jar-lifting tool, I placed the jars on a towel to cool overnight.
Step 6: Final Steps
The next morning, I checked the lids to ensure all were properly sealed. (If a lid pops when pressed, it didn’t seal and should be refrigerated for immediate use.)
Finally, I washed any residue off the jars, labeled and dated them, and stored them for future meals.
Ready to Enjoy!
Canning deer meat is such a satisfying process, and the results are absolutely worth it. Now I have plenty of ready-to-use canned deer meat that will be perfect for meals all year long.
Stay tuned—I’ll be back soon to show you how to make deer jerky! 
Enjoy!
