Life in Southeast Alaska

Canning Meat Sauce

Safeway had ground beef on sale this week for $1.59/pound, so I planned to buy 20 pounds.  They only had 7, so I had to get a raincheck for the rest.  That actually worked out good because now I can go in whenever I want (within the next 90 days) and I don't have so much to deal with at one time. 

Tonight I decided to can some meat sauce for spaghetti.  I followed a recipe, but used canned tomato sauce instead of fresh tomatoes.  The large cans of sauce (106 oz) are $1.79 at Costco which is much cheaper than I can buy the smaller cans and a whole lot cheaper than fresh tomatoes. 

Meat Sauce
1 1/2 large cans tomato sauce (160 oz)
5 pounds ground beef
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup onions, chopped
4 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons oregano
4 tablespoons Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons black pepper

Brown ground beef in large skillet.  Add garlic and onions.  Drain off fat.  Place beef in large stockpot.  Add rest of ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and leave on a simmer.  Fill jars, leaving 1-inch headspace.  Adjust lids and process in a pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure for 1 hour 15 minutes for quarts. 

My recipe made 7 quart jars.  I had a problem with 4 of them not sealing - I think I didn't drain off enough of the fat and it prevented the lid from making a good seal.  I just put them in the refrigerator and will put in ziplocs to freeze when they are cool.