# Eat or not



## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

First time canning meat. Followed direction and the lid was sealed. Meaning it poped when I took it off. I had to use a can opener to get the lid off because it was sealed so tight.

Put meat in my chili and when my wife got home she had a cow so to speak and told me I have to throw it out because of the lid.

I disagree but what do I know. I think it looks like this because there was a little bit of air in the jar and the juice dried on under the lid.

Lets hear it from the experts on canning meat. Normal lid or not?


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## bow_dude (Aug 20, 2009)

I have canned/bottled a lot of meat over the years. If it is sealed, then it lasts forever. My guess is it is the "fat" or "lard" from the meat. I usually have a fair amount "floating" on the top when the bottles cool. From the picture, it looks to be the same. If it is fuzzy, then I would re-assess. Are other bottles the same?


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

When in doubt, nuke it for 10 minutes. Then it's safe for sure.......right?-----SS


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

They all look the same. The meat didnt have any fat because I cut all the fat off. It looks more like dried beef broth to me. Its not fuzzy and doesnt smell bad.


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## klbzdad (Apr 3, 2012)

Give some to Mikey. He'll eat anything.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

Maybe ill try and see if my wife will eat it. Her life insurance is better than mine. Lol she wont though so ill take one for the team.


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## 30-06-hunter (Sep 22, 2013)

I'd hit it.


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## SLCHunter (Dec 19, 2013)

Bad meat will smell .... bad!!! Eat it.


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## massmanute (Apr 23, 2012)

The main risk with home canned meat is botulism. However, if you followed safe canning procedures the risk is extremely small, one might almost say vanishingly small. If you followed safe canning procedures, and if the bottle sealed you should not have to worry about safety of the product.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

It's still good SW. When it's in the cooker it boils and foams up inside the bottle. It's just residue from the foam. If you heard the pop of the lid and you pressured it according to directions, it's just fine. I see this all the time in meat and fish. Enjoy! Chuck.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

The old way that my mom showed me on how to see if a bottle was sealed was to just push down on the center of the lid before you opened it. If it pops as you push it down and the release it it didn't seal. I have seen where bottles that didn't seal that you had to use a opener to get the lid off just from the residue that wasn't cleaned off of the lid before canning. 

She never did can meat that I know of but she did thousands of bottles of fruit so I can't help you on what you actually have.


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

Typically the smell test is pretty accurate on meat, if it smells bad chunk it, if it doesn't more than likely it's safe to eat. I would suspect that what you see on the bottom of the lid is just dried gunk from the broth. If there was no mold growing on it you "should" be good to go. I have a friend that's been canning meat for years and years and he said looking at the picture and what you describe he wouldn't hesitate to eat it.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

I ate some last night and this morning. Tastes good and so far no BU ha ha
Thanks guys


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

1st rule of canning:

Never show the lid to the wife. 


I would be careful. If the lid coating is corroded the meat may have a higher acid level than normal. If you put onions or peppers in the bottled meat you will see that, and it's OK, as long as the lid "pops" when opened and the jar of meat was processed for the correct time and temperature. But the corrosion it's not common in a jar that's only meat and store-bought dried spices.


I do bottled meat in big batches and we will use it for 2, sometimes 3 years. I've eaten bottled meat that was 7 years old and it was fine, but on the other hand I've had some that was a few months old and it was bad; jars were sealed, but it was bad.

There's been some great bottled meat discussions here. I would try the search engine and check some of them out.

.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

Goob I did put a jalapeno in some of the bottles so maybe thats the reason


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

swbuckmaster said:


> Goob I did put a jalapeno in some of the bottles so maybe thats the reason


yep, that makes sense

.


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