bocephus You should be able to get the gauges checked at the county extension office, or they will know where to go. I use Presto canners, and have converted all of mine to weight types, much easier. The weighted jiggler keeps the pressure steady without me fooling with changing the burner to keep the gauge set.

If the old canners are All Americans, they don’t even have a seal, just make sure the mating surfaces of the pot and lid aren’t chewed up.

Jonathon No, I stuff by myself, but I aslo mostly do 32-36mm hog casings, not sticks. I plan to try some snack sticks in 16-19mm sheep casings soon, I’ll update when I do!

YooperDog said in Canned corned beef hash:

SupplySergeant those things are a fire and gassing hazard. Nothing more exciting than having a fire on your plane at altitude with limited options, makes for a real exciting time for all. I can laugh about those times now. LOL

I can only plead the ignorance of the E2 Private! I’ve long since learned that lesson!

I’ll second the recommendtion to go higher, and even suggest 10 feet for at least part of the ceiling. I butcher hogs regularly, and my hanging rail is at 7’6". I ALWAYS wish it was at least a foot higher, and two feet would be better. It makes it easier to get to the carcass to cut it down, or get it on a table for butchering.

Couple of good resources here: https://nifa.usda.gov/sites/default/files/resource/Canning Meat Poultry and Game.pdf

And: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_05/ground_chopped.html

I can chicken, beef, and vegetable stock, and plan to can some pork shoulder next time I butcher a hog.

I haven’t used a vertical yet, but plan to buy one. My horizontal is a pain to load. As far as actual stuffing performance it’s great!

OK, the hams look well on their way to delicious, but I spotted the shaper in the background of your third photo, and was wondering if you butcher in your machine shop? I would kill to get my hands on a shaper for my shop, I run into the need to make custom splines from time to time, and you cant beat a nice little Atlas or South Bend benchtop shaper for that!

marzig20 said in Cold pack canned beef:

SupplySergeant thank you for the great links! There is all the info that anybody needs to start. Have you had trouble finding supplies? I have all the jars and bands I need but was having problems getting lids earlier this year. I found some off brand lids on amazon, probably from china. They all seal but kinda distort or wrinkle.

I was lucky, I have plenty of jars already, and bought a pack of 1200 lids a couple years back. I will have to buy more for the 2022 caning season, but got through the really dry time just fine.

Tex_77 said in Vertical vs. Horizontal Stuffers - merits of either?:

Jonathon I’d disagree with that statement, it is much easier even with two people to have the horizontal stuffer we used clamped down, I guess if you aren’t using a water stuff, then the hoses pulling on it, it might now be as big of an issue.

My horizontal is just a 5lb, it dosen’t need clamped to stuff, but when you tilit it up to load it would be nice.

Nice machines! I hear you on the too cold bit, I don’t spend any more time outside than necessary right now.

I can watch a shaper cut for hours. That’s good, since it takes hour to get anything done! But, when a shaper is the right tool, nothing else will get it done at the same cost and especially with the minimal tooling it needs.

This link explains it well: https://www.healthycanning.com/presto-pressure-canner-3-piece-regulator-weight/

Basically, you replace the safety weight on your gauge style canner with the jiggler set, then as long as you don’t have the stove set too high, the jiggler rocks back and forth and lets out excess steam.

I wet cure my bacon, then cold smoke over a mix of hickory and oak, then store it cold for 2-3 days before I slice it. Bacon is my most successful cured meat by far, sausages are still a work in progress!

Great deal! I missed one just like it by $50 once, bid went at $750, I only had $700.

marzig20 No worries, this stuff is critical for your safety!

Looks delicious!

Man, this makes me REALLY regret missing out on one at the auction I DIDN’T go to! Gorgeous machine

marzig20 A good intro to canning meat products is to make chicken stock. Chicken leg quarters are the cheapest meat at the store, just boil down a few pounds in a couple gallons water, with carrots, onions, celery and garlic till it reduces by half, strain everything off, and you have a stock that you control the salt! Follow the USDA guidelines on canning it, it lasts about a year in a cool dry shelf. I use it in any savory dish that calls for water, SOOOO much more flavor!

Gorgeous old school cold smokehouses here!

marzig20 I have far too little patience to watch the little dial! Glad to make someones life easier.

If you want to stick to the instructions, you could wet cure the ground beef. It would likely fully cure overnight, being ground meat. Then drain the brine and can per USDA ground meat process. Or you could use pink salt and make your own spice mix, dry cure and can in one day. Or you could do it with solid pieces of meat, making a broth from this corned beef recipe: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/corned-beef-recipe-1947363 and use it as the broth recommended in the USDA booklet I linked in the thread on canned beef…

Dangit, now I want to try this!