Your canned beef looks beautiful and will be perfectly OK. Did you brown the meat before canning and drain off the fat? I drain the fat and it is also possible to rinse the browned meat in a colander, place loosely in jars and add broth.

Yeah, assuming you pre-cooked and then drained it well first it will be fine. I've never had quite that much show but we drain it well on paper towels for some time after cooking it.

Watch your headspace to be sure to get the 1". Which liquid did you use boiling meat broth, tomato juice, or water? Can't tell from the photo.

Dave

I browned the meat first. Well, as much as you can brown ground beef. Once all the juices release it seems like more of a poach than a brown. I drained the meat in a colander.

Once in the jars I added beef broth--water and powdered bouillion, not the broth from the frying pan.

Thank you for reassuring me I'm not going to open one of these some cold winter's night and kill my whole family.

7 quarts of raw pack chicken in the PC right now depressurizing. A rotten, rainy weekend has brightened considerably with two days of canning under my belt.

Dianne (patting myself on the back)

They will be fine. I do agree, though, about rinsing the ground meat before it goes into the jars. I often do that when cooking ground meats.

I've never canned ground beef, only beef chunks, but I always get a bit of fat on the top of the jar.

So what in the world would you use canned ground beef for? A quick supper if you forget to thaw a pound of burger?

And does it get "soft" when you can it? I canned chili one year and found the ground beef was softer than I liked.

Annie

So what in the world would you use canned ground beef for?

Good thing to do when you can buy bulk ground beef on sale. Yeah it does get softer but still works great for casseroles or fried up with diced onions and peppers. We make potato soup in the winter and add some to it for a little beefing up too. Can of cream of mushroom soup and a pint of canned ground beef, a bit of diced onions and a dollop of sour cream makes a good winter beef stroganoff to top noddles with.

And when you are old enough to need dentures Annie, that softer textured meat in spaghetti sauce, chili, cheesy mac, and smak-n-tackle won't bother you nearly as much. ;)

Dave

Ah, that's the trick, I NEVER buy ground beef on sale. Remember, I raise grass fed beef and burger comes to me in one pound tubes, a couple hundred at a time, LOL.

I'll bet my college aged daughter would love your idea with a can of mushroom soup, she likes hamburger gravy over mashed potatoes or noodles, it's quick college kid food.

Old enough to need dentures? Well, I'm 54 now, so hopefully not soon, but what is smack-n-tackle?

Annie

Smak n' Tackle

It's an old from-the-hills recipe for a skillet macaroni 1 dish meal.

1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
8 ounces macaroni, uncooked
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cans tomato sauce (8 oz each)
1 cup water
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 large tomato chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown beef in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Remove beef from skillet and sauté raw macaroni, onion and green pepper in the meat juices over low heat until macaroni is golden yellow. Return meat to skillet then add tomato sauce and remaining ingredients except chopped tomato; stir. Cover and simmer over low heat about 25 minutes, or until macaroni is tender. Top with chopped tomato at serving. Serve with a side salad. Variations: sub 1 pint stewed tomatoes or 1 pint salsa (Annie's of course) for the onions, pepper, and 1 can of the tomato sauce.

Serves 6.

Name comes from "smack your lips and tackle it". ;)

Dave

PS: 54 huh? Just a spring chick! I can't even remember 54. :^(

I made several more batches after the one pictured. I followed Shirley's advice and rinsed the cooked meat before processing. The rest only have fat layers about 1/8" thick on top.

Thanks for the tip and the reassurrances.

Dianne