A few months ago, our local grocery store had boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale for about 1/4 of the regular price. My mom, sister-in-laws, and I decided to take advantage of the sale and bottle some chicken. We kept the boxes in the freezer until the morning of the big project. This was a vital step in making the chicken easier to cut up. Nothing is worse than cutting up thawed out chicken breasts, trust me. The last package we cut wasn’t frozen and it took twice as long as the others.

The first step in our process was to cut up the chicken and put it into bottles. After the bottles were filled, we added about 1/4 teaspoon of salt. We had three pressure canners running all day.

The day was long but left us all with a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. This is one more thing to scratch off my weekly shopping list.

Eight hours later we completed our 117th pint of bottled chicken.

How to make Canned Raw-Pack Chicken: Printable

Purchase chicken and freeze (any chicken will work, boneless or bone-in. I used boneless skinless chicken breasts because they were on sale!)

On canning day, wash all bottles and rings.

While meat is still frozen chop into chunks, or if using bone-in chicken break bones at the joints. Loosely pack chicken into clean jars, leaving 1-1/4 inch head space at the top.

Add about 1/4 teaspoon salt to each pint jar or 1/2 teaspoon to quarts (optional).

Wipe the rims of the bottles to remove any chicken pieces or salt.

Attach and secure rings and lids.

Place chicken in a pressure canner.

Processing times at 11 pound pressure (sea level):

Boneless: Pints–1 hour 15 minutes. Quarts–1 hour 30 minutes.
Bone-in: Pints–65 minutes. Quarts–1 hour 15 minutes.

Be sure to have your pressure canner tested by your local extension office regularly.

Jayme Payne blogs at Dreaming of Poultry.

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