Canning Pork Tenderloin

I have wanted to can meat for some time.  I had just purchased 2 on sale and we had a large supply of tenderized sliced tenderloin in the freezer plus 2 whole ones frozen to make Canadian Bacon, out of.   I did can it two different ways and took the fat and rendered it into lard. 

The first way I canned it was what my canning book called hot pack.  After cutting it in cubes about 2 to 3 inches square, I heated it in a broth that I had frozen from a pork roast.  I did not cook it completely.  I had preheated the broth to a boil and added the meat.  I just stirred it for about 10 to 15 minutes then spooned it and the broth into hot sterilized pint jars (leave 1 inch head space) add 1/4 tsp of caning salt (to each pint jar) sealed it and processed it in my pressure canner for 75 minutes.

The second way I canned it was the cold process method.  Fill sterilized jars with raw cubed tenderloin (leave 1 inch of head space) add 1/2 tsp canning salt to each pint jar (Do Not Add Water To  Jars), seal and processed 75 minutes in my pressure canner. 




Hot Pack Method Finished Product

Cold Pack Method Finished Product

We have tried the tenderloin from each method and they are both good.  I am going to try canning beef next.  It is nice to have the meat ready for quick meals especially in the summer when it is hot and everyone is so busy.  Even in the cold winter months when you forget to thaw something or plan a meal it is already cooked. I always have frozen entrees in the freezer now I can go to the canning shelf also.


The 2 tenderloin I purchased were boneless and weighed approximately 9 to 10 pounds each.  I ended up with 20 pints of canned meat and approximately 22 ounces of rendered lard. 

How to Render Lard in a Crock Pot

I bought 2 pork loins this past week on sale of course.  Well I did not need them for the freezer so I canned them.  I will give details on the canning in my next post.

After trimming fat from both of the loins as close as possible, being careful to leave the meat on the roast,  I ended up with a large amount of fat to dispose of.  I always wanted to try and render lard from the fat.

 I put all of it in my crock pot(do not add water) and cooked it over night on low (8 hours).  The next day I cooked it on high for 6 hours.  Strained it and cooled it until I could pour it in a freezer container.  I ended up with about 22 ounces of rendered white lard. 

You will be able to tell (from the pictures) there was some meat scraps attached to the fat and it was just fine.  My memories from the butchering we did on the farm there were meat scraps in the fat before rendering.  The fat was always rendered on an open fire in a black kettle. 

For the small amount I made the crock pot works just fine.

The Joy of Gardening, Cutting Hay, and Fall Cleaning

Last week we received 5 1/2 inches of rain.  My garden is on sand and drains well, but this week we are getting more rain.  I am not complaining because we need rain now to have a garden and crops next year.  I will not even complain about snow and severe cold.  In short we need a normal rainy fall and a cold snowy winter.

I still have quite a bit to harvest in the garden, but I did manage to get all the potatoes dug before the rains started.  I do not think I will be making anymore tomato juice this year.  If I do get enough tomatoes to juice and can, then that will be wonderful.  There are still gourds, lima beans, peppers, and cotton to harvest.  Yes I planted cotton (in Southern Indiana) to see it grow.  It has beautiful flowers and I am still waiting to see the cotton to appear. 

My husband cut hay again last Saturday, rain was not in the forecast until Tuesday.  Well it is wet and will have to be picked up with a pitch fork.  We have two pitch forks so I guess I will be helping. 

All these little things make life interesting.  We definitely do not get bored around here.

Since it is cold and has been raining since Saturday afternoon, I have tackled fall cleaning.  I am thrilled to say I have 2 rooms done, from top to bottom, closets, drawer, and rotated clothes.  After all the house is cleaned I am setting a goal to deep clean one room a month so it doesn't have to take so long twice a year to get it done. It will make normal cleaning a lot easier and hopefully I feel like I am always behind.  Sounds like a plan to me, I will keep you informed if it works out.

The good thing about any type of cleaning and or organizing you find things you forgot you had or those misplaced items.  It's an a-ha moment when you find things.  I am looking for a land line phone I bought last spring to use when we loose power,  just a plain jane, no bells or whistles.  I know I bought two of them, but I can only find one of them, the one that is plugged in.  Its is here somewhere, along with a big flashlight.  Sometimes I put things up so my grandkids don't play with them and then I can't find them.  I found a stapler after six months of looking for it.  You just have to love grandkids, they tend to keep us on our toes.

 

Adding To The Harvest

My garden is still producing and today I picked tomatoes, peppers, and dug 15 pounds of potatoes. 

I still have more potatoes to dig.  I will get it all done in between everything else that is going on.

I have a ton of peppers to do something with.  I think it is time to start chopping and freezing them.  I  freeze them on cookie sheets then bag them in small bags.  I use my vacuum system so they keep in the freezer a long time, sometimes I have so many they will last 2 years.

I only cook for 2, but I cook every meal so anything I freeze and pressure can helps with meal planning.  It also saves a lot of money.  Grocery shopping is not my favorite thing to do so I stock up when I do have to go.

My intentions of starting fall cleaning are still there and I am making very slow progress in that area.
I am still in the reorganizing phase right now and am finding several items to be mended.  I am catching that up.

When I do get started cleaning my husband will disappear to his building and to the farm, he hates that time of the year.  I loose him at least two times a year, but he always shows up at meal time.