The Best Darned Pressure Canned Beef Stew

Of course, everything, including recipe preferences, is subjective.  I scoured the internet and my canning books and took two recipes that sounded intriguing, combined what I liked about them and created my own recipe.  Since I had too much for two batches, we ate the leftovers.  The recipe is yummy times two.

Here goes:

4.5 pounds beef cut into 1 inch cubes (I used london broil which was on sale)  this amount of meat equals about 1 3/4 cup cooked beef for each quart

8 cups sliced carrots (I like very thick slices of carrot so they don't get mushy)

3 cups chopped celery

3 cups chopped onions

11 cups peeled and chunked potatoes (Once again I like big chunks)

4 Tbsp beef base

3 tsp minced garlic

1 bay leaf

9 cups water

1/4 tsp ground allspice

4 Tbsp catsup

4 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Pepper to taste

Prepare  7 one quart bottles and lids.  In an 8-quart pot, bring water, bay leaf, beef base, catsup, Worcestershire sauce, pepper and allspice to a boil.  Turn heat to lowest setting and add carrots, celery and potatoes to broth.  The veggies do not need to cook.  

I like to sweat my onions first.  When they become translucent I add the garlic for a minute or so.  Remove onions to a bowl.  Begin browning the meat in batches.  Brown on one side only then remove to bowl with onions.  I like using my powerful electric wok for this.

 When all the meat is browned, begin filling each quart jar with about 1 3/4 cup of browned meat.  Fill each jar equally.  Next ladle in the veggies and broth.

Leave a generous 1 inch headspace.  Clean rims of jars first with a wet paper towel then second, with a clean paper towel dipped in vinegar.  When canning greasy food, the rim must be squeaky clean for a good seal.

Here is the stew in bottles before the 1 hour and 30 minutes of pressure canning.  Notice the large chunks of carrots and potatoes.  No mushy stew for us.

The 14 quarts of ready to serve beef stew for our family.  By the way, this recipe is not a thick stew but a watery stew.  One can thicken it when preparing to serve.  I commented to hubby that I should probably can some more beef stew.  He replied that 14 quarts is more than 1 dinner a month of stew.  I told him that it was only for the winter months.  Who wants hot beef stew in the summer?  I am wondering if beef stew more than once a month is more than he wants. Hmmmm.