Meat Packing Methods for Canning: Part 4 - Cubed Steak

Cubed steak. You know that really chewy tough meat that gets fried up and no one wants to eat ever again because it's similar to eating leather? Not when you pressure can it! The meat is very tender, moist and delicious. You can use it soooo many different ways too.
I ended up doing another 150+ lb canning night. Thankfully I have adult children at home who help with the prepping of the meat and sometimes they babysit the canners for me too. But on this night I did 12 packages of pork sirloin steak that I bought for 88 cents per pound (amazing sale!), each package weighed in at 6-8 lbs. Then 7 large packages of beef stew meat. 8 very large packages of steak meat (sorry, I forget the actual cut name!). And then my 8 large packages of cubed steak, 64 pieces total. One large package holds 8 pieces of cubed steak - and - 1 package fits it a quart jar! How simple is that! You can even preplan how many jars you need when you are purchasing your cubed steak.
From beginning to end I show you how to prep and can your cubed steak...
Enjoy!
Rebekah ~ Everything Homestead
/ 350433035410815

[@jcrich-ho9ot]

Cubed steak is one of my favorite cuts of beef! I have never canned it, but now I am going to try it! Thank you for sharing this information!

[@danniemcdonald4903]

I remember my grandmother buying round steak and tenderizing it at home (before "cubed steak" was a thing LOL). She would coat it in flour and brown it along with onions. Then make a gravy out of the drippings and cook it for an hour over low heat, adding water as needed. It was so tender and delicious served over rice. The first time I cooked it, I only simmered it for 15 minutes and it was inedible! I realized the why she cooked it for so long! Another 45 minutes and it was perfect. I haven't cooked any in a while. I may have to try canning some.

[@everythinghomestead9222]

My father cooked cubed steak like that. He grew up in the great depression and had lots of great ways of cooking things. Yes, cubed steak is so so so tough normally, but it just flakes and falls apart when canned ;)

[@user-ln9wn8jg1t]

I didn’t know frying the beef cubes would keep it together versus raw packing, I’m going to have to try canning it this way. I like the idea of the tiny little jars of beef to add to ramen soup for the kids

[@sandrataylor8966]

Looks delicious. I love the ease of cubed steak but it is tough. Good to know canning tenderizes it. Congratulations on your pantry additions.

[@everythinghomestead9222]

Thank you - I loving having so much available when I have busy days!

[@Stephenrsm7600]

WoW, this looks Great!!! I have to try this myself!!!!Thank you for sharing!!!

[@everythinghomestead9222]

It's very easy :) I hope you enjoy it. Lots of uses for it too!

[@debragriffith6628]

I've never canned cube steak. I will definitely try it! Thanks

[@everythinghomestead9222]

It is very easy - and lots of uses for it too :)

[@laurasgarden49]

Wow!!! Great ideas. 🎉

[@sewpretty13]

Thank you for this great video on all the different and many ways you canned meat. It is so nice to have it on the shelf. Thanks also for explaining why you browned the meat beforehand as that does add a lot more work but is worth it in the end. Have you ever canned pints of cubed steak? We are a small family.

[@everythinghomestead9222]

Yes - I actually like to do most of my meats in pint jars. But since the pandemic hit in 2020, our rural area doesn't have a great selection of jars. So I can with what I can buy or have used jars that are empty and ready to refill :) For pints you will process for 75 min, quarts are 90 minutes, once the canner reaches pressure. You can also flavor them any way you want too. I like putting au ju flavoring in so when I open a cubed steak jar I take out the meat and pour the liquid into a pot, turn it into gravy and can have steak and gravy for breakfast or over toast for dinner or....endless possibilities. I've used canned enchilada sauce from the store and used that as the liquid in the jars, and then chopped up the meat after I open it and heat the sauce and meat and have quick meat to make enchiladas or casseroles with. I don't add thickeners though as it can interfere with the inside of the jar reaching 240 degrees temp and possibly not destroying any botulism in there...I add thickeners when I open the jars. Other things I've done is add Montreal Steak seasoning and then water - excellent broth for soups or gravy. I've mixed chopped precooked cube steak with potatoes, onions and celery and added seasoning and then water to make a soup in a jar and canned it - excellent, and if you want stew you simply thicken it as you heat it to eat :) Possibilities are endless...and this is with all meat too, not just cubed steak. I like to use crock pots to cook roasts (pork or beef) and I can that meat with pan drippings and extra water. Mouth-watering goodness and makes an excellent sandwich spread when mixed with mayo. Ask me any questions :) I love to share what we do or will help people find answers if I don't know.

[@sherrycraft6557]

I make up a beef base OH Lordy its good!!

[@everythinghomestead9222]

That sounds really good!

[@letsstartahomestead]

I have siphoning almost everytime I can meat I don’t know why

[@wj-s4378]

I must ask if you can crisp them up after removing from jar.

[@everythinghomestead9222]

Yes, you can fry them but make sure it's in a pan that won't stick or you use oil and get it hot first. It's really good. We sometimes make hot sandwiches this way and melt cheese over the patties before putting on bread.

[@sarahs7253]

So how do you know if it gets botulism or something like that? This is the thing that im scared of.

[@everythinghomestead9222]

You don't. This is why you have to process it carefully and correctly. You also keep the rings off of all finished jars - sometimes lids come loose. And if a lid comes loose but the ring is on, it can reseal and you would never know. A loose lid means botulism. You will often see mold growing on lids that are loose, even if they are still on. If in doubt or worried - always boil it for 10-15 minutes with the lid off of your pot. If you are very concerned about a jar, don't eat it. Processing from choosing the meat, to packing in jars, wiping rims of jars, putting lids on, putting in the PRESSURE canner (not water bath or steam canner) and processing for the proper amount of time for the contents of the jars and the size of the jars, is crucial. If you do that - it is safe. I have been canning for over 40 years now. I raised 8 kids on home canned foods. Never once had an issue because I am careful and if in doubt, I throw it out. With that said, botulism is extremely rare in home canned foods. The last time I checked was about 3-4 years ago, there were 6 people, and all had canned it wrong. One person not only canned it wrong but opened a jar of green beans, ate them, put them in the fridge for a MONTH, and ate them again - she got very very sick with botulism. Another man tried to can salmon a few years back by putting the packed jars in a crock pot overnight. It is the errors that get people. If done right, it is as safe if not safer than store bought.

[@randallcarver6950]

How long will canned meat last? I have heard 20-25 years. Not certain how true that is

[@everythinghomestead9222]

The official response, from the USDA, would be no longer than 2 years. However, scientifically, as long as the seal is good the food is good. Never leave the rings on the jars, because the lids can become lose and with the rings in place holding the lid tightly in place, the jars can reseal over time - the food in the jars would be dangerous to eat. If there is no ring in place, there is no way for the lid to reseal again if it became loose. Once the jars have been processed and have cooled completely, you can remove the rings forever. No need to keep them on, and it's best not to - besides the seal going bad and resealing, the rings can rust onto the jars making it very hard to open too. Over time, the food in the jars can lose color and flavor can be affected. In my own experience, we have eaten canned meat that was 10-15 years old and it was perfect. I do rotate my jars out (oldest used, newest stored) but sometimes things get wonky or when we moved it was hard to get it all organized. So old jars are discovered sometimes. If EVER in doubt, either don't eat it, or boil it without a lid on for 15 minutes to destroy any potential botulism. For me, I'm fine with old jars of meat as long as the seal is good. You want a tight seal and you want to hear the hiss and whoosh as the lid's seal is broken. Good question!

[@kennycrowder1146]

You may have but i don't recall if you told us how long you had it in the bath

[@everythinghomestead9222]

It MUST be in a pressure canner, you can't water bath meat because they are a low acid food. For this recipe it is 90 minutes for quarts and 75 minutes for pints - at full pressure. It turns out so tender and easy to use in soooo many different things! :)

[@shirleymatthews2980]

How long will it last in the jars?

[@everythinghomestead9222]

Generally the USDA says about 2 years, but as long as the seal is good the meat is good. It may lose some color if exposed to light, it may lose a little flavor over time. I can about 3500-4000 jars a year and 3/4 are meat. I both use it and store it for long term - rotating jars out and always increasing what I have on hand. I have eaten my canned meats when they are 10-15 years old and they are still execellent in flavor, like freshly canned. If in doubt, you can throw it out, or boil it for 10-15 min without a lid. Home canned foods, especially meats, are very safe if you follow the basic guides to safe pressure canning. YOU have more control over your food than any canning company that mass produces food. I worked with someone who worked at a massive cannery and she said she would never eat canned foods again after what she saw - she ate fresh or frozen, never canned. Anyway, that's my experience on it ;)

[@shirleymatthews2980]

@@everythinghomestead9222 thank you for getting back with me on my question have a great day

[@marilynhill6358]

Can you raw pack it

[@everythinghomestead9222]

Yes you can, but it will come out in one big lump. Raw packing it will cook each cubed steak piece together into one large lump. That's fine if you want to chop it up for chili or soup or whatever. If you want to have individual loose cubed steaks though, for a sandwich for example, you need to precook or at least brown the outsides so the meat won't cook together in a lump. Hope that makes sense?

[@tinamarion7022]

What is the shelf life of this meat?

[@everythinghomestead9222]

USDA states about 1-2 years. However, the meat is good as long as the seal is good. We have eaten canned meat and other foods that were 10-15 years old and with a good seal, they were fine and tasted like I had just canned them. Some jars can have damage to the color of meat because of light or sunlight, and if they are kept in a warm or hot garage they can degrade because of the heat. Otherwise, if kept cool and dark, they last as long as the seals do. If ever in doubt, boil without a lid for 10-15 minutes or discard.

[@churchbouiemcclendon2254]

Can I can meet with out a pressure cooker

[@everythinghomestead9222]

A pressure cooker is not safe to can meat with. You need a pressure canner. They are two different things. Some people do use a cooker, but even the manufacturers say not to, they cannot guarantee the jar's temperature will reach 240 degrees for the correct amount of time because the cooker is meant to cook food - not can it. Canning has more precision required. The internal temperature of the food in the jars MUST reach 240 degrees to kill botulism and other bacteria. Without that, the food can kill you or make you very ill. Water bath canners are not able to reach 240 degrees, they reach the boiling point of water which is 212 degrees. So not safe at all. Any meat or any food that is low acid must be canned using a pressure canner. There are people on youtube who will show you and say you can - but they don't understand the science behind canning and they are taking a huge risk. I was a former ER nurse and I cared for a patient who had botulism - they did survive but were crippled for life and it was very touch and go for several weeks on whether they would make it. Not something to mess with. High acid foods can be canned with a water bath canner because the higher acid level kills off the bacteria. So pickles, fruits and tomatoes with lemon juice added are safe to can with a waterbath canner. The USDA has a huge canning section and lots of online information. Here is their link. nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html#gsc.tab=0