Chicken in a Jar

I threw caution to the wind the other day and purchased three three-packs of chicken breasts with the intention of canning them. And can them I did! I broke out the pressure canner, read the instruction manual and recipe about 10 times and canned that chicken!

[caption id="attachment_595" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Chicken by the half-pint"][/caption]

I'll be honest and say that pressure canners scare the tar out of me. But we have plans for a large garden next year and I want to be able to store the extra we have. I thought it was probably wise to figure out this whole canning business now instead of when I have piles of veggies staring me in the face.

I found out it's not hard at all! With pressure canning, you don't have to sterilize the jars and lids AND you don't have to cook the chicken first - you can just chop it up raw, pack it into the jars, add boiling water to within an inch of the top of the jar, put the lids and rings on, and can it! I LOVE the convenience of cooked chicken and canned chicken is SO good, in my opinion. I love how tender and juicy it is. And I love the fact that I'm able to can organic chicken; something I couldn't find at the store.

I'm looking forward to more canning adventures in my future!