Here are some previous discussions on canning stews and lots of recipes included. Please note that there are some restrictions. Primarily, no thickeners such as flour, cornstarch, etc. are allowed, de-fat the meat, and the meat needs to be in small cubes. It is a very low-acid mix so pressure canning is required of course.

The more recommended and easier storage method for stews is freezing.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Canning stews

I would think that a little of the Clear Jel would be OK to use as a thickener, seeing as how its used in may other home canned products. I froze some and it was OK when thawed and heated. In fact, I make many frozen meat pies and use leftover beef roast, along with some partially cooked potatoes, carrots, peas, and corn. Same for leftover turkey or chicken. I roll out both a bottom and top crust and they get bagged in Food Saver bags. Usually I use disposable aluminum pans for the pies.

Yeah I think the regular Clear Jel (not the instant) is approved from what I have read. Personally, I'd rather just add the thickeners needed (we use flour) while heating it to serve. Easy and quick.

Like Ken said above, we too make and freeze many pot pies for winter use using Brunswick stew recipes. And we love turkey stew pot pies. Fast and easy.

My thanks to those that responded. I was aware of not adding the things mentioned, but I thought that there may be something that I didn't know about. I can buy canned stews that are thickened, also items like New England Clam Chowder, so I was wondering what they used ?
AS far as freezing, I am running two large chest type freezers, one small chest type, plus three refrig-freezer combos. Had a bumper year from the garden, plus gun deer season coming (bow season open, have one deer to can today). Freezers are pretty full already, so I'm looking for other ways to can. I tried the stew recipe in the BBB last year, but it seemed to lack something.

Hi sapman - commercial canners have access to canning equipment that we can't duplicate at home - higher pressure and greater vacuum being a couple of things. Plus they add preservatives. So many things can be commercially canned but not home canned.

But I can relate to your opinion on the BBB recipe. ;) The solution I think is seasonings. Dried ones can be added with no problem and then do a lot of tasting-before-canning till you get the flavor you want. You can do it with a spice bag or leave them in. We add thyme, fresh ground pepper, bay leaves (remove before filling jars), paprika, and garlic powder to ours. Celery salt, onion powder, basil, and dry mustard are other options.

With venison stew try cooking the meat first in diced garlic and onions and adding some Worcestershire sauce (1/2 - 1 T).

Dave

Juniper berries are used for 'gamey' tasting meats. In clam chowder, they use modified food starch as a thickener. Also could use some dried potato flakes. To thicken a little, I like to add some Potato Buds and these soak up watery liquid quite well, without affecting density safety very much. Of course I don't can the chowders as they have dairy in them, which is a no no. As mentioned, bay leaf is also a good herb to add to a stew, as well as plenty of onion, some garlic, and of course the aromatics- celery, and carrots. With all that freezer space you have (or lack of), maybe a big commerical walking in freezer would make more sense. That much frozen food that you have accumulated would be meant for a family of 10 or more hungry people, just to keep up with the limited space issue. My dad and his family, while growing up poor, were always a bit hungry and his large family was not able to provide enough to eat to all the kids while they grew up. Once he realized that he had the ability to freeze things for longer periods of time, he went out and got a big upgright freezer many years ago. After it became full, he bought a second one, so your not alone. Food hording was how his family survived in those lean years. My dad only attended school to the 7th grade, and had to go out and work like his many sisters and brothers during those very lean years. Recipes sometimes consider that a person doesn't want a strong tasting canned food, so they usually under estimate the needs for spices. In many cases here, I like to add more of a specific ingredient that I feel will go well with a food. I add things to prepared mixes as well. My spice rack contains about 75 different herbs abd spices for most anything I make. Many of the more common ones like dill, thyme, rosemary, basil, and sage are grown here every year and dried. Once they are harvested and dried. I replace the older ones with the newly dried herbs. My mom used to like to make potato sald in summer. She would always say it lacked something. I suggested adding a dash of dried ground mustard. It made the salad taste odd at first taste, but an hour later it mellowed out, and then after that, it was added each time she made potato salad. The same helfd treu for a seafood salad that my sister tasted and told me it tasted terrible. I said to her that she should wait an hour for the flavors to meld. It took on a very nice taste, and she was convinced it was a totally differet batch, which it was not.
When I make a seasoned broth, its simmered for a long while with all the herbs and spices and them simply poured through a strainer to get rid of most of the solids, before its added to a stew.

Thanks Dave, I printed up your answer, and will be sure to try it with the next batch of stew (soup). I opened a quart a while back and added tomatoes while heating and it sure made a big difference but never was sure what spices to try other than S & P

Thanks Ken, I find that canned venison in either cubes or ground seems to lose any gamey taste, and its still as good three years old. I can't say the same for frozen venison, altho the Foodsaver helps a lot. I may try the recipe in BBB for canning larger pieces in quart jars, (cooking halfway first).

We have quite a bit of venison left in the freezer and a promise of at least 1 or 2 more this year.

I am going to try making chili from last year's deer.

Does anyone have a recipe for canned venison chili?

When I make venison chili, I just use the chili seasoning packs, but don't know if those spices would can well.

I can relate to all the freezers. We have two chest types here and one at our son's. I try to can and freeze enough for them as well, but it's hard to get it to them sometimes. We just bought a ref/freezer at a garage sale to go in the storage building.

Lean times do make an impression on people - it certainly did me. I always like to know I have enough food for my family should something happen. We were never without food, but I'm thinking I owe my survival to the squirrel family. I always think of that when I feed the ones in my yard.

With my 200+ jars of home canned goods, I doubt if I would need to get to a store, except maybe for no fat milk (Lactaid) as well as for breakfast cereal and maybe eggs. There are chili spices on several spice and herb sites. Most contain a mix of dried peppers (hot and sweet), onion, garlic and maybe corn meal or powder. These are OK to use for home canning in a pressure canner.

Also if you like mild, medium or hot, the link here is a good place to start too.

http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/results.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Chili mixes

NCHFP provides all sorts of venison recipes for canning, freezing, drying, smoking, etc. as well as a list of links to other recipe sources for it.

From University of Michigan Extension:

CHILI
Vegetable oil, margarine or non-stick
cooking spray
2 pounds ground venison
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. paprika
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. salt, if desired
1 Tbsp. white pepper
1 Tbsp. diced chili pods
1 quart water
Brown meat in a little oil, margarine or non-stick cooking spray. Add seasonings.
Add enough water to cover meat. Cook slowly 4 to 5 hours, stirring occasionally.
Add remaining water as needed. Serves 8.

VENISON GOULASH

This is simplicity itself, and it uses the tougher portions of venison that are usually
ground into deerburger. Chuck portions are ideal.
2 pounds small white onions, sliced
4 ounces canned vegetable
1 T shortening for browning meat
3 pounds stewing venison, cubed
1 Tbsp. marjoram
1 1/2 Tbsp. paprika
2 cans beef broth
Noodles (if desired at serving time)

Saute onion slices in shortening until soft. Add cubed venison and brown on all
sides. Sprinkle marjoram and paprika over meat and cover with beef broth. Cover pot and simmer slowly 3 hours or until meat is tender, stirring often and adding more warm beef broth from time to time. Gravy should be thick. Broad
noodles are excellent with this gravy liberally spooned over them. Serves 8. Can be canned following the NCHFP guidelines for pressure canning meat-based soups.
We are doing the Venison Mincemeat this year for the first time.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - Venison