Venison must be canned in a pressure canner — never a water-bath canner. Following USDA and National Center for Home Food Preservation guidelines, cubed venison is packed into jars with 1 inch of headspace and processed at 10 lbs pressure (weighted gauge) or 11 lbs (dial gauge) for 75 minutes for pints and 90 minutes for quarts, with pressure increased at higher altitudes. Meat is a low-acid food, and only pressure canning reaches the 240°F needed to destroy botulism spores. Done correctly, the reward is shelf-stable, fork-tender venison that’s ready for dinner in minutes.
Canning is the old-school answer to a full freezer, a power outage worry, or simply the fact that a deer produces a lot of meat — see how much meat you get from a deer. It also happens to be one of the best things you can do to tough cuts: the processing time braises shoulder and neck meat into something you can shred with a spoon.
The Non-Negotiables First
- Pressure canner only. Not a water-bath canner, not an electric multi-cooker with a “canning” button (the USDA does not consider those validated for pressure canning), and not the oven. Botulism is odorless, invisible, and potentially fatal; the pressure canner is the only home method that eliminates the risk in meat.
- Follow tested times exactly. The numbers in this article are the USDA/NCHFP processing times for strips, cubes, or chunks of meat. Don’t shorten them, and don’t invent your own recipe additions like flour, dairy, or pasta — thickeners interfere with heat penetration.
- Use real canning jars and new lids. Mason jars in good condition, fresh two-piece lids, rings finger-tight.
Equipment and Ingredients
- Pressure canner with a working dial or weighted gauge
- Pint or quart Mason jars, new lids, and rings
- Jar lifter, funnel, and a bubble-removing tool or plastic knife
- 4–5 lbs venison per canner load (roughly 1.5–2 lbs per quart), trimmed of fat, silverskin, and gristle
- Canning or kosher salt: 1/2 teaspoon per pint, 1 teaspoon per quart (optional — flavor only, not required for safety)
- Boiling water, stock, or tomato juice if hot-packing
How to Can Venison, Step by Step (Raw Pack)
- Trim ruthlessly and cube. Remove all the fat and connective tissue you can — deer fat goes rancid in the jar and clouds the broth. Cut the meat into 1–1.5 inch cubes or strips.
- Pack the jars. Fill clean, hot jars with raw meat, pressing gently to remove big gaps, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Add salt if using. In a raw pack, you add no liquid — the meat makes its own broth as it processes. (Alternative hot pack: brown the cubes first, pack loosely, and cover with boiling broth to 1 inch headspace; NCHFP validates both.)
- Clean the rims and lid up. Wipe each rim with a damp cloth — a speck of meat or fat can break the seal — then center the lids and screw the rings finger-tight.
- Vent the canner. Load the jars onto the rack with the amount of water your canner’s manual specifies (typically 2–3 inches), lock the lid, and let steam vent in a steady column for a full 10 minutes before pressurizing. Skipping the vent leaves cool air pockets that undermine the process temperature.
- Process at pressure. Bring the canner to 10 lbs (weighted gauge) or 11 lbs (dial gauge) and hold it there for 75 minutes for pints or 90 minutes for quarts. Above 1,000 feet elevation, use 15 lbs on a weighted gauge; dial-gauge users increase roughly 1 lb per 2,000 feet — check the NCHFP altitude table for your exact number. If the pressure ever drops below target, bring it back up and restart the full timer.
- Cool naturally. Turn off the heat and let the canner return to zero pressure on its own — forcing it cool siphons liquid from the jars. Then remove the weight or open the petcock, wait a few minutes, and lift the jars straight up onto a towel.
- Check the seals after 12–24 hours. Lids should be concave and shouldn’t flex when pressed. Any jar that didn’t seal goes in the refrigerator to eat within a few days. Remove the rings, wash the jars, label, and store in a cool, dark place.
Using and Keeping Canned Venison
Canned venison comes out of the jar fully cooked and falling-apart tender, sitting in its own concentrated broth. It drops straight into gravy over mashed potatoes, tacos, barbecue sandwiches, soups, and quick skillet dinners. For best quality, use home-canned venison within about a year — properly sealed jars stored cool and dark remain safe beyond that, but flavor and texture slowly decline. If a jar ever shows a bulging or unsealed lid, spurting liquid, off odor, or mold, discard it without tasting. Canning complements rather than replaces the freezer — the tradeoffs are covered in how long venison keeps in the freezer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you can venison without a pressure canner?
No. Water-bath canning tops out at 212°F, and destroying Clostridium botulinum spores in low-acid foods like meat requires 240°F — a temperature only achievable under pressure. Old family methods like oven canning or long water baths circulate online, but no amount of extra time in boiling water makes meat safe to can. If a pressure canner isn’t in the budget this year, freeze the meat or make jerky instead.
Is canned venison already cooked?
Yes — 75 to 90 minutes at 240°F cooks it thoroughly, which is why canned venison is so tender. You can eat it straight from a sealed, properly processed jar, though most people heat it through in whatever dish it’s joining. It’s essentially shelf-stable pot roast waiting for instructions.
Can you can ground venison?
Yes, with one change: brown ground venison before packing so it doesn’t compress into a dense, heat-blocking mass in the jar, then cover with boiling broth or water to 1 inch headspace and process at the same pressures and times as cubed meat — 75 minutes for pints, 90 for quarts. Shape it into crumbles or patties, not raw-packed loose grind. It’s a solid use for trim you’d otherwise grind for burger when the freezer is already full.
