"and used the newer recommendation/option to add liquid or broth to the jars. I added hot chicken stock."

What newer recommendation are you referring to. Raw pack is done with no added liquid. Only hot pack calls for adding broth.

Dave

I'm sorry for the wrong reference. It's in the Ball Blue Book, 37th edition (2014). Page 101, canning Chicken, duck, goose, turkey, or game birds

"Raw Pack--pack raw meat into a hot jar, leaving 1 inch headspace....Ladle hot water or hot broth over meat, leaving 1-inch headspace."

I had my BBB within reach for another reason, and you're right, that's exactly what it says for raw pack - adding hot broth. I'm glad you liked it, I wonder if the bones didn't add something to the broth in the finished product. I've been using my pressure cooker (loose food, not canned) for bone-in thighs/chicken and dumplings. Love dumplings, where DH would rather have rice - so I do it my way about half the time. All about compromise, right? ;-)

One of the reasons I left the bones in for this trial run was I thought it might add flavor. On the other hand, I would have used the bones to make stock, so I was debating with myself if I was wasting the bones in the canned chicken. I think it was worthwhile.

Thanks for your input, I hope to can some chicken here soon. We ordered 20 butchered chickens from a farm in NE and expect to get them Thur or Fri. I wanted to try a few canned, as we are discovering what quick and delicious meals canned meat can make. So you added liquid? I'll have to check that out, I wouldn't want there to be issues with not enough liquid. I'm assuming that other cuts of the bird would be fine as long as they all were roughly the same size? Meaning, they don't all have to be thighs or all breast? I wondered about certain pieces having a bone and others not. Lori

I wanted to use the thigh because there is only one big bone. The legs have those skinny bones, so I didn't want to try that, at least not yet. I think a lot of people can most of the different pieces, though.

The addition of hot broth or hot water to raw packed chicken is a fairly recent change, I think. On another site, they said they had emailed Dr. Andress at NCHFP, and that was her update. Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate where they have that email response posted, but apparently it has something to do with today's chickens are a little different than they used to be, and the addition of some liquid will ensure there will be enough liquid after processing with whatever the raw pack chicken produces. On that other site, they also said that they wished the NCHFP would get the site updated to reflect that information, but for now, since it is in the Ball Blue Book, I'm comfortable with it.

I've been very happy with the canned chicken. Will be much happier when they are OUR chickens instead of factory-farmed ones. Next time I will can in pints instead of quarts. The quart size was just a little too much for our needs. I'd rather open two jars when needed instead of having too much most of the time. Or maybe I'll just just use the 24 oz jars as a happy medium.

I hope you like it.

Jill

So happy to have found this newest recommendation for adding the broth/water to raw chicken parts!

Thanks for sharing your results and pleasure. Guess this is another thing I'm going to have to do.

Madonna

Sounds delicious, pqtex. Curious to know how many chicken thighs fit into each quart?

I don't remember how many I averaged per jar, but it would vary depending on the size of the thighs. Glad you reminded me...I think it's time for some chicken and dumplings!

When you can raw chicken since the jars are hot, does it have to be warm or room temp?

How long do you process the chicken?

The answer to both questions can be found in the instructions for doing it. The raw chicken is room temp and the pressure canning processing time is 75 min for pints and 90 min for quarts.

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_05/chicken_rabbit.html

Please note that Hot Pack chicken is recommended over Raw Pack for best quality.

Dave

Dave, how do you get your conclusion that raw pack chicken should be at room temperature? I just re-read the NCHFP guidelines and that info isn't there.

Well, night before last I canned 10 pints of chicken thighs just like pqtex did, but I used hot water instead of broth. I didn't see any directions to use room temperature chicken either. I think it said to in older instructions, but not in the latest. Anyway, I'm really pleased that pqtex brought this up because I have a lot more in my pantry that will serve as a base to many meals.

Madonna

"Dave, how do you get your conclusion that raw pack chicken should be at room temperature? I just re-read the NCHFP guidelines and that info isn't there."

The question I answered was does it have to be "hot, warm, or room temp". Obviously it doesn't have to be hot or it would be hot pack not raw pack. So it is packed raw at room temperature.

Instructions are killed, dressed, chilled for 6-12 hours, then fat is trimmed, de-boned if desired, and cut up into canning size pieces if necessary. By the time all that is done it is pretty much room temp.

So what temp are you wanting it to be?

Dave

Now I can say I did use one of my pints for chicken and dumplings. I had canned two thighs per pint. It was so great to just open the jar, pull out the thigh bone, tear the chicken into bite size pieces, add the broth and chicken to a saucepan, season to taste and make up the fluffy dumplings. I used Bisquick for a quick dumpling recipe and with that you really don't need to add any salt. In less than half an hour dinner was ready. Unfortunately, I didn't realize my Bisquick had expire back in May. The dumplings had a slight metallic flavor. I didn't eat them. As for the rest, it was really good. Next time I'll either make my own dumplings or make sure my mix hasn't expired.

Madonna, that's disappointing when you went to the trouble of making dumplings. Ah well, at least your chicken was good. I have 16 chickens in the freezer, waiting to become sausage, but now you've got me thinking about canning beef, which will be processed next weekend. Canned beef is a pretty handy thing to have too....

I hope you are well and that your hops are growing like jungle vines!

Annie