How to Can Ground Beef | A Step-by-Step Guide to Pressure Canning
Learn how to can ground beef with this simple step-by-step process. Whether you want to use it for Tex-Mex stuffed shells, sloppy joes, or nachos, it’s a great staple to have on hand when you need dinner on the table, and pronto.
Why Canning Ground Meat is Worth It
Convenience
The meat will already be cooked so it saves time when preparing meals later. Simply dump and go.
Long-Term Food Storage
Like any pantry staple, canned meat can help build a reliable long-term food supply for your family. Less trips to the grocery store!
Money-Saving
If you find meat on sale or buy it in bulk, pressure canning is a great way to preserve it without having to tie up room in the freezer.
When you don’t have to rely on just a freezer you can easily buy meat in bulk and store in on your shelves too. Having ready-to-use meat on hand makes feeding your family significantly easier because we all know how quickly evenings can change and you might need something on the table a lot faster than you had thought.
Example: We buy part of a cow every year and pressure canning helps reduce how much freezer storage we need.
Important Safety Information for Canning Meat
Meat is a low-acid food, which means:
- Meat must be pressure canned
- Water bath canning is not safe
- Processing times should always come from tested sources
This recipe follows tested pressure canning guidelines for safely preserving meat at home.
Always follow tested pressure canning guidelines and adjust pressure based on your altitude. See the table down below in this post.
Equipment Needed for Canning Meat
- Pressure canner or Electric Pressure Canner
- Canning jars
- Bands and lids
- Jar lifter
- Debubbler/headspace tool
- Towels or cooling rack
- Electric Kettle (optional)
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How to Can Ground Beef
Learn how to can ground beef safely using a pressure canner. Follow the step-by-step process, understand processing times, and stock your pantry for easier meals.
Materials
- 6 pounds of ground beef
- water for pressure canner and for adding to jars
Tools
- Pressure Canner of choice
- Jars, Lids, and Bands
- Canning Accessories (funnel, jar lifter, de-bubbler)
Instructions
1. Cook the meat until it is cooked or very nearly cooked through. Drain of excess fat. Keep hot.
2. While meat cooks, prepare your pressure canner according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Always refer to your manual. When using the Electric Pressure Canner, follow those instructions for the whole canning process.
3. Wash jars, bands, and lids thoroughly.
4. Boil enough water to add to the meat once it’s in the jar. This is dependent on how many jars you're going to be canning.
Why I recommend Electric Kettles
- Bring water to a boil quickly
- Quickly and easily heat additional water if needed
- Free up valuable stove space
5. Once meat is cooked, fat is drained, canner and all parts are prepped, it's time to fill.
- Using a jar lifter, remove a warm jar and dump out the water (not into the canner).
- Fill jars loosely with meat, leaving enough room to maintain 1 inch of headspace after adding boiling water. I go to about 2/3 full with meat, then add water.
- Optional. If you want to add a little bit of salt, feel free. 1/2 tsp per pint and 1 tsp per quart. Note that you should opt for canning or pickling salt because regular table salt can make the liquid cloudy. If the cloudiness doesn't bother you then use table salt.
- Add boiling water. Leave 1 inch headspace.
- Remove bubbles.
- Re-check headspace.
- Wipe rims clean with a lint-free cloth. I dip my cloth into vinegar to help cut any fat that may be on the rims but water is fine too. Wipe around all rims to help ensure a tight and safe seal.
- Put the lid and ring on and twist it to fingertip tight.
6. Process jars
- Place jars back into the pressure canner.
- Repeat for all jars until the canner is full.
7. Process at 11 pounds pressure – Pints 75 minutes and Quarts 90 minutes. For processing above 2,000 feet altitude, see chart https://www.ballmasonjars.com/adjust-high-altitude-canning.html
8. Once jars have processed, turn off stove and let the pressure come back down to zero naturally. Do not force.
9. After pressure is fully released, remove the lid, wait 10 minutes, and pull jars out onto the counter. Let sit for at least 12 hours undisturbed. Remove bands and wash all parts of the jar before storing.
Notes
Additional Time includes getting canner to vent, venting time, time to bring canner up to pressure, time to bring canner pressure down naturally, and time to remove jars.
Ingredients for Canning Ground Beef
- Ground beef
- Water
- Vinegar (optional, but highly recommended to use when wiping the rims)
Step-by-Step Guide to Can Meat
Cook the Meat
Cook the meat until it is cooked or very nearly cooked through. Drain of excess fat.
Some people don’t care about draining a lot of the fat but I recommend discarding the fat to keep it out of the jars. There will inherently be some in there no matter what I just try to keep it as low as I can.
This creates
- More space in the jar for meat itself
- Less chance of the fat interrupting a proper seal
Add the Seasoning
- Optional. If you want to add a little bit of salt, feel free. 1/2 tsp per pint and 1 tsp per quart. Note that you should opt for canning or pickling salt because regular table salt can make the liquid cloudy. If the cloudiness doesn’t bother you then use table salt.
Boil Water
Boil enough water to add to the meat once it’s in the jar. This is dependent on how many jars you’re going to be canning.Why I recommend Electric Kettles
- Bring water to a boil quickly
- Quickly and easily heat additional water if needed
- Free up valuable stove space
Prepare the Pressure Canner
Prepare your pressure canner according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Always refer to your manual. When using the Electric Pressure Canner, follow those instructions for the whole canning process.
For example, I use the 23 Quart Presto Pressure Canner. It requires 3 quarts of water before use. It has a dial gauge that needs to be put in as well as a gasket.
TIP: Many extension offices will test pressure canner gauges for free.
Prepare and Heat the Jars
Wash jars, bands, and lids thoroughly.
If you are using a stovetop canner, go ahead and add the recommended amount of water to the canner and turn the heat on to medium-low. Fill your clean jars with at least half-way with water and put them into the pressure canner to start heating with the water. The water is added into the jars simply so they don’t try to float or get wobbly while heating in the canner. When you go to use the jar and fill it with the meat, discard the water down the drain or into a catch bucket.
The jars are being heated so that way there’s no thermal shock when adding the hot meat and water to the jar.
Have Boiling Water Ready
Use an electric kettle or have your boiling water on the stove ready to go once you begin filling the jars with meat.
Fill the Jars
- Using a jar lifter, remove a warm jar and dump out the water (not into the canner).
- Fill jars loosely with meat, leaving enough room to maintain 1 inch of headspace after adding boiling water. I go to about 2/3 full with meat, then add water.
- Add boiling water. Leave 1 inch headspace.
- Remove bubbles.
- Re-check headspace.
- Wipe rims clean with a lint-free cloth. I dip my cloth into vinegar to help cut any fat that may be on the rims but water is fine too. Wipe around all rims to help ensure a tight and safe seal.
- Put the lid and ring on and twist it to fingertip tight.
Process the Jars
- Place jars back into the pressure canner.
- Try to space all jars evenly.
- Repeat for all jars until the canner is full.
If the Canner isn’t Full
Fill a jar with water and put on a ring and band. This helps to make sure the pressure builds properly versus leaving the space empty. And as a bonus, if you fill it with clean/filtered water, you have a shelf-stable jar of water in case of an emergency.
Follow your canner’s instructions on heating the canner, letting it vent, building pressure, and monitoring the pressure.
- Ex for my 23 quart Presto Pressure Canner I bring it to a boil and let it vent for 10 minutes (no weight). Then I add the weight, bring it up to 11 pounds of pressure (for my altitude) via my dial gauge, and pressure can.
TIME:
- Pints: 75 minutes
- Quarts: 90 minutes
Altitude Adjustments for Pressure Canning Meat
Pressure can for 75 minutes for pints and 90 minutes for quarts at the pressure for your altitude.
If you are at an altitude higher than 1,000 feet above sea level, adjust pressure as indicated.
| Altitude Feet | Weighted Gauge | Dial Gauge |
| 0- 1,000 1,001- 2,000 2,001- 4,000 4,001- 6,000 6,001-8,000 8,001-10,000 | 10 15 15 15 15 15 | 11 11 12 13 14 15 |
Cooling and Storing Canned Meat
Once Time is Complete
- Turn off the heat
- Allow the pressure to return to zero naturally. Do not try to move the canner or force the release of pressure.
- Once the pressure is completely gone, remove the lid.
- Let the canner sit for 5 minutes, undisturbed.
- Remove the jars from the canner
- Place onto a protected countertop or strong cooling racks.
Don’t disturb for at least 12 hours.
After Jars Cool
- Check seals
- Label with contents and when it was made.
- Store in a cool, dark place
For best quality, use within 12–18 months.
There you go! Ground beef ready to be made into tex-mex stuffed shells, cheeseburger macaroni, nachos, tamale pies, casseroles and more.
