Canning Chipotle Barbacoa Beef or Venison
This recipe is adapted from the Ball Chipotle Beef for Tacos recipe. The meat comes out tender, fully cooked, and ready to shred and make quick tacos, burritos, burrito bowls, nachos, and more. The original recipe is for raw pack, but I add a browning step and hot pack my barbacoa. This adds flavor, improves the texture, and makes the jars easier to clean after canning, but you can also skip this Only safe canning modifications to the seasoning and sauce mixture have been made, but this is not a tested recipe... as always, can at your own risk and follow safe canning practices! The original recipe calls for beef, but you can use cubed stewing meat or diced roasts of veal, lamb, pork, goat, poultry, or hooved game meats like venison, elk, or bison, or even bear.
Equipment
- canning jars, rings, and new lids
- jar lifters or tongs or jar rack with handles
Ingredients
- 7 lbs cubed beef or venison roast or stew meat (you can substitute diced pork shoulder, lamb, goat, bear, or hooved game)
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil (for hot pack only, omit for raw pack)
Marinade or Spice Mix
- 1 large dried ancho chile, seeds & stem removed, rough chopped or torn (optional)
- 1 large dried guajillo chile, seeds & stem removed, rough chopped or torn (optional)
- 2 tbsp mexican oregano, dried (sub regular oregano)
- 1 tbsp coriander, ground
- 1 tbsp cumin, ground
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 tsp black pepper, ground
- ½ tsp cinnamon, ground
- ½ tsp cloves, ground
- ½ cup garlic, crushed & rough chopped (minced if you are not using a blender)
- 8 oz chipotle in adobo, with sauce (one standard can, or reduce for milder barbacoa)
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup lime juice
Other Ingredients
- 7 cups onions, small diced or sliced 3 medium or 2 large
- 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves, packed 4 oz
- 3 cups beef or venison stock (approx, to top up jars) can substitute bouillon broth
Instructions
Make the Spice Paste or Marinade
- If you are using dried peppers, de-stem and remove the seeds. Grind them with a blender, food processor, or spice grinder. Add the dried spices, salt, and oregano and pulse to mix.
- Add the chopped garlic and the can of chipotle peppers with adobo sauce to the blender or food processor and pulse until smooth. If you are mixing by hand, finely chop the garlic and chipotle peppers first before mixing.
- Add the lime juice and apple cider vinegar and blend or process (or whisk) until it makes a smooth, thick paste.
Prep Onions and Broth
- Peel and slice the onions. I like to cut the onions in half and then into ¼" slices.
- Wash, pat dry, and chop the cilantro leaves.
- Heat the stock to a simmer and then reduce the heat to keep warm.
Raw-Pack Canning Instructions
- In a large bowl, toss the diced meat with the barbacoa spice paste, the onions, and the cilantro. Mix well until everything is well combined and the spice paste is evenly distributed.
- Pack gently into quart or pint jars with at least an inch of head-space.
- Top up the jars with hot broth, debubble, and then top up again if needed with more stock.
- Wipe down the rims of the canning jars with a clean cloth dampened with distilled vinegar (to cut through any oil that may interfere with a good seal) and cover with clean, new canning jar lids.
- Tighten the rings finger-tight and place them in your pressure canner, then skip to the pressure-canning instructions. Don't preheat your canner for raw pack jars, but fill it according to your manufacturer's instructions with a few inches of cool to lukewarm water.
Hot-Pack Canning Instructions
- Put several quarts of hot water in the bottom of your pressure canner (follow instructions from your manufacturer, enough to have several inches of water in the canner once you place the jars inside, without covering the jars) and begin to heat the canner. You can pre-heat your jars in the canner if you like, or keep them warm on a baking pan in the oven or a clean dishwasher with a heating element.
- Lightly brown the meat cubes over medium heat using as little oil as possible. You can also spread the meat in a single layer in a roasting pan in a hot oven, though you'll get better results by browning them in a skillet. You are not trying to cook them through, just browning them lightly on the outside to add flavor, improve the texture, and make the jars easier to clean after canning.
- When you have browned all of the meat, de-glaze the pans with some of the hot beef broth, scraping the pans to dissolve all of the fond (crust) from the pan. Add this back to the pot of hot broth- this adds a ton of richness and flavor!
- In a large bowl, mix the browned meat cubes, the chipotle spice paste, sliced onions, and chopped cilantro. Toss the mixture until everything is well coated with the seasoning.
- Fill the clean and pre-warmed canning jars with the meat, marinade, and onion mixture, leaving an inch of headspace at the top of the jar.
- Top up the jars with the hot broth, leaving the one inch of head-space. The broth isn't optional- if you don't have enough stock you can use water with bouillon or even plain water. It helps with even heat transfer through the jar during processing and keeps the meatballs from being dry.
- Wipe down the rims of the canning jars with a clean cloth dampened with distilled vinegar (to cut any oil that may interfere with a good seal) and cover with clean, new canning jar lids. Tighten the rings finger-tight and place them in your pressure canner.
Pressure Canning the Barbacoa
- Check the weighted vent of your canner to make sure it is clean and free to vent, then place the lid on your canner and latch it. Begin heating the canner over medium heat, with the weight off or the vent open (depending on your canner model) until it is steadily venting steam.
- Once it begins to vent, set a timer for 10 minutes and let it continue to vent steam. Then, place the weight on your canner and/or close the vent valve.
- Watch the dial gauge and/or listen for the appropriate jiggle on your canner to let you know it has reached your processing pressure- generally 10 lbs of pressure on a weighted gauge or 11 lbs on a dial, unless you are at an altitude above 1000 feet.
- Process pint (500 ml) jars for 75 minutes or quart (1 L) jars for 90 minutes*. If the canner drops below the recommended processing pressure at any time, you must restart the timer from zero, so keep an eye on that gauge or listen for the weight and adjust heat if necessary as you can. It's best to make slow, gradual adjustments as sudden swings in pressure can cause siphoning in the jars.
- When the processing time is up, turn the heat off under the canner. Let cool until the gauge reads zero (or a weighted canner doesn't vent steam when you bump the weight). Carefully remove the weight or open the vent, away from you in case there is still steam to vent. Open the canner away from you, and remove the jars with jar tongs.
- Place the jars on a towel or cooling rack (not a cold countertop) and let cool undisturbed for at least 8 and up to 24 hours. Check to make sure that the jars sealed, and refrigerate any jars that did not and use promptly. Remove the rings, wash the outsides of the jars with hot soapy water, label, and store in a cool dark pantry.
Notes
*adjust processing time and pressure if needed for higher altitudes:
altitude: weighted gauge: dial gauge
- 0- 1,000 ft 10 psi 11 psi
- 1,001- 2,000 15 psi 11 psi
- 2,001- 4,000 15 psi 12 psi
- 4,001- 6,000 15 psi 13 psi
- 6,001-8,000 15 psi 14 psi
- 8,001-10,000 15 psi 15 psi
Nutrition
Calories: 370kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 55gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 193mgSodium: 726mgPotassium: 1067mgFiber: 5gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 833IUVitamin C: 12mgCalcium: 74mgIron: 9mg
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