How to Store Meat

The electricity will not always go out in an emergency. Many use their food storage when they are laid-off from work or are injured. You have more flexibility with recipes if you both can and freeze your meat. We like to do both.

Chicken: Purchase boneless, skinless chicken breasts in bulk, and then repackage the chicken, two chicken breasts to a package using a vacuum-seal food system. Using a good sealing system, meat can be stored in the freezer for a year without freezer burn. Half of my year’s supply of chicken is frozen, and the other half is bottled in a pressure cooker for soups and casseroles. Canned chicken can also be purchased, however, home-bottled chicken tastes much better. The recipe for bottling your own chicken can be found in the canning section of this website. When I run out of canned chicken and don’t have time to can more, I purchase fresh chicken breasts and cook them in a crock pot with a cup of water. Then I shred the chicken and divide it into freezer bags and store them in the freezer. Two cooked chicken breasts can be substituted for one bottle of chicken in this cookbook.

Hamburger: Purchase one pound frozen hamburger packages and store them in the freezer. Half of my year’s supply of hamburger is frozen and the other half is bottled in a pressure cooker. The recipe for bottling your own hamburger can be found in the canning section of this website. When a recipe on this blog calls for one bottle of hamburger and onions, you can substitute one pound of hamburger and one and a half tablespoons dehydrated onion flakes. Brown the hamburger, add the onion flakes and continue with the recipe.

Ham: Purchase a large, boneless ham and cut it into ham steaks with an electric knife. Seal two ham steaks to a package using a vacuum-seal food system. Smoked, canned ham can be purchased in the canned meat section of the grocery store and is very good in soups, casseroles, and breakfast foods. I usually store two frozen hams in the freezer every year for holidays and funerals. After cooking the ham, I use the ham bone for making navy bean soup. Diced ham and deli ham can also be frozen.

Beef: Canned beef can be purchased at the store; however, beef can also be bottled in a pressure cooker. The recipe for bottling your own beef can be found in the canning section of this website. Beef roasts and steaks can also be stored in the freezer using a vacuum-seal storage system.

Bacon: Packaged bacon bits and canned, precooked bacon are ideal for food storage. One pound packages of bacon can also be stored in the freezer.