P
ondering how to make that tough, long-
bearded turkey you shot edible? Have a
deer hanging in the shed and little freezer
space? Love catching hard-fighting carp, but
grimace at the thought of eating such bony fish?
If so, you might consider canning your harvest.
In the days before freezers, Nebraskans, by
necessity, were well-versed in the methods
of canning fish and game, as it was – along
with smoking and salting – their only way of
preserving meats. However, with the appearance
of home freezers in the mid-1900s, canning meats
became a mostly lost art, though a few old-school
hunters, fishers and their kin have maintained the
tradition. Canning meat in pressure cookers not
only conserves it, but also tenderizes tough cuts,
disintegrates bones in fish and, best of all, makes
for tasty, easy-to-prepare meals.
Canning Game
My mother-in-law, Lucille Kostel of Wagner,
South Dakota, taught me what is now my favorite
recipe for canning game birds. Having lived on
The author bags a pheasant on Ducks Unlimited
Verona complex wetlands in Hamilton County.
Meat
Under
Pressure
Canning is a perfect
way to preserve,
tenderize and
enhance your
harvest
By Gerry Steinauer, Botanist
50 NEBRASKAland • DECEMBER 2016