Go Back
Print Recipe
No ratings yet

Canning Lamb (and Mutton)

Canning lamb is an easy way to preserve ready to heat and serve meat on your pantry shelf.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Additional Time1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Author: Ashley Adamant

Ingredients

  • High-quality and chilled lamb or mutton
  • Salt optional
  • Broth or tomato juice optional

Instructions

  • Remove any excess fat and soak any meat that might be particularly strong-flavored in brine water with one tablespoon of salt for every quart for an hour. Rinse it thoroughly, and remove any large bones that could interfere with the canning process.
  • For the hot pack method, precook the meat until it's rare to medium rare - you can do this by simply browning it in a little bit of fat. If you want, add a teaspoon of salt per quart to the jar. 
  • Fill the jars with the precooked meat and add boiling broth, hot water, or hot tomato juice (the latter is best for strong-flavored meats) - leaving an inch of headspace. 
  • For the raw pack method, add two teaspoons of salt for every quart, if desired. Fill the jars with the meat, leaving 1-inch headspace, and do not add any liquid, leaving 1-inch headspace, and do not add any liquid.
  • Put your sanitized lids on the jars. Apply the bands, then tighten until they're fingertip-tight. 
  • Load the jars into the canner and lock the lid. 
  • Turn the burner on high heat.
  • Let the canner release steam for 10 minutes, then put the weight on. 
  • Allow it to build pressure to 11 lbs of pressure (for a dial-gauge canner) or 10 lbs (for a weighted gauge). Process pints for 75 minutes and quarts for 90 minutes. (Adjust for altitude, see below)
  • When the time has finished, turn off the heat and leave the canner where it is. Let it return to zero pressure, then wait another ten minutes and remove the lid. 
  • Let the jars sit in the canner for thirty minutes, then remove and set them on a towel at room temperature to cool for 24 hours.
  • Check the seals on the jars, label, and store.

Notes

You'll need about 2 pounds of meat per quart jar, or 1 pound per pint for hot pack. Thus, a standard 7 quart pressure canner batch needs 14 pounds of meat.

Altitude Adjustments for Canning Lamb or Mutton

With pressure canning, the processing times stay the same at higher altitudes, but the pressures change.  Here are the altitude adjustments for pressure canning:

For dial gauge pressure canners:

  • 0 to 2,000 feet in elevation – 11 lbs pressure
  • 2,001 to 4,000 feet in elevation – 12 lbs pressure
  • 4,001 to 6,000 feet in elevation – 13 lbs pressure
  • 6,001 to 8,000 feet in elevation – 14 lbs pressure

For weighted gauge pressure canners:

  • 0 to 1,000 feet in elevation – 10 lbs pressure
  • Above 1,000 feet – 15 lbs pressure