I tried canning beef last night

[chowmama]

Brisket, to be specific. This is my first attempt. I trimmed all visible fat. Used the directions for raw pack and packed it loosely, per the instructions I had. I figured that since I'm getting 1.25 to 1.5# of boneless chicken per quart jar, it would be about the same for beef,

I guess not. The 2 jars are only half full, so they're half full of air. The other half is meat juice and much-shrunken meat. They did seal, but this much airspace is supposed to be a problem for long-term seal life. I divided 3# of brisket between them and they looked full enough at the beginning. And there was no blowout; nothing in the kettle water and the jar tops were clean.

I went to my USDA book, and they say I should be able to get 3# per jar. I'm not sure how I can stuff that much into one wide mouth jar, but I'll try next time. Meanwhile, I'm opening one of the jars to see how tender it got and it's going to be Shepherd's Pie tonight. I have to start boiling the potatoes in a few minutes to mash for the top. If I don't like the beef, I'll use up the second jar soon, but I may not try again. If I do try again, I'll be canning 1.5# portions in pints. We're only 2 people and 3# of meat at a crack is just too much.

The other new try this week was the Rhubarb Cream pie from the 1943 Joy of Cooking. That's a winner. We had the second half for breakfast. (The recipe was for a 9" pie, but that was obviously too little filling for that size shell. 7" was perfect.)