Canning turkey at home saves a lot of freezer space and allows you to put ready-to-eat, home-cooked meals right on your pantry shelf.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re canning leftover turkey after Thanksgiving or raw packing turkey meat directly into canning jars, the process is simple and straightforward.
We raise our own heritage birds, and they grow quickly with the abundant forage on our land. Since heat lamps use a lot of electricity, we raise our chicks without heat lamps to avoid overtaxing our off-grid infrastructure.
That means we pick up polts as late as possible, usually in early June. By the time they’re 6 months old around Thanksgiving, those birds can be near 40 pounds, even with minimal supplemental feed. That’s way more than our family of 4 can eat, even with dedication.
Most of the birds are cut up and packaged as cutlets with a food saver vacuum sealer, but our Thanksgiving bird is roasted whole. A bird that big means a lot of leftover turkey. Thankfully, canning leftover turkey is easy and allows us to save much-needed freezer space.
Canning Turkey Leftovers
If you’re preparing turkey for canning, usually the meat is cooked to about 2/3 done before packing into jars. Fully cooked turkey has a tendency to be a bit dry since it’s a low-fat meat, and it’s commonly over-cooked. No one likes the thought of giving their family salmonella on Thanksgiving, and it’s easier to slather dry turkey in gravy or cranberry sauce than worry about undercooked meat.
If you’re planning to can fully-cooked leftover turkey, here are a few ways to prevent the canned turkey from being too dry:
- Do your best not to overcook it!
- Brine the turkey before cooking to maintain moisture
- Rub butter under the skin to add a bit of extra fat to an otherwise lean meat
- Serve the white meat, and save the richer, fattier dark meat for canning
- Add salt to the canning jars along with the turkey meat
Start by picking the turkey carcass of any remaining meat, and then make a flavorful turkey bone broth by simmering the turkey carcass in water, along with carrots, onions and aromatic herbs. We allow ours to simmer for at least 4-6 hours, and sometimes overnight on very low heat.
Chop the leftover turkey meat into pieces, based on your preference. We chop them into roughly 1-inch pieces because that allows for more versatility when serving.
You can pack whole breasts or thighs into the jars, bone and all if that’s your preference. Leaving the bone in just creates a chore for later and is a waste of jar space in my opinion. Nonetheless, the size of the pieces is not important, it’s totally up to your family’s preference.
Food shrinks during the canning process, and pre-cooked turkey is no exception. Since it’s cooked it will shrink less than raw meat, but still be sure to pack the turkey tightly into canning jars.
Your goal is to get as much meat as possible into each jar while still leaving a full 1 1/4 inch headspace at the top of the jar.
Pour boiling turkey stock over the meat, and use a nonmetal implement to remove air bubbles. Check around the sides of the jar, and give the center of the meat a little press to try to shove out any remaining air bubbles.
Air bubbles left in the canning jars mean that there may be meat left exposed to air inside the jar after canning. Though that’s perfectly safe, the meat will discolor over time and dry out.
Top of the jars with extra stock after removing bubbles, but still maintain 1 1/4 inch of headspace.
Canning Turkey ~ Raw Pack
If you’re trying to put up a lot of turkey on harvest day without taking up freezer space, raw pack might be tempting. Raw turkey meat can be packed into canning jars, with or without bones. All that goes into the jars is turkey meat, and the meat will produce its own liquid during the canning process.
Raw pack saves the extra work of cooking the turkey and making turkey stock for packing, but it produces an inferior product. Often raw turkey doesn’t have enough liquid in the meat to properly fill the canning jar with flavorful liquid, leaving meat exposed to air in the jar. You’ll also miss out on the chance to add the extra flavor that a well-made bone broth can contribute.
Even if you’re not canning leftover turkey, I’d still recommend cooking the turkey before you pack it into jars for canning. It’s also a lot easier to debone a turkey that’s been cooked, even if it’s only partially cooked before canning.
Turkey Canning Timetables
The canning time for turkey meat is the same, regardless of whether the turkey is cooked or raw before canning. I know, it seems strange, but the total canning time is more about sterilization than cooking and it takes the same amount of time to safely can turkey meat whether it’s raw or cooked.
The main considerations that determine canning time are the size of the canning jar and whether the meat is bone-in or boneless. While you’d assume that bone-in turkey would require more canning time, it’s actually just the opposite.
Bones are great conductors of heat and canning jars packed with bone-in turkey will be less densely packed. That means that the heat of the pressure canner can more easily penetrate the contents of the jar, reducing canning time.
If you’re below 1000 feet in elevation, use 10 pounds of pressure in a weighted gauge pressure canner (11 lbs in a dial gauge pressure canner). Above 1000 feet, consult this table for canning chicken and rabbit, as times and pressures for canning turkey are the same.
Canning Boneless Turkey
- Pint Jars – 75 Minutes at 10 lbs pressure (below 1,000 feet)
- Quart Jars – 90 Minutes at 10 lbs pressure (below 1,000 feet)
Canning Bone-In Turkey
- Pint Jars – 65 Minutes at 10 lbs pressure (below 1,000 feet)
- Quart Jars – 75 Minutes at 10 lbs pressure (below 1,000 feet)
Jane
Thank you for your very useful information
Julie Flowers
Great information! What is the shelf life for the canned turkey and could I substitute chicken for the turkey!
Ashley Adamant
The shelf life (according to ball canning) is 12-18 months, but practically speaking it’s likely much longer. After 12-18 months you’ll lose quality though. Yes, you can use chicken instead of turkey. Enjoy!
Diana
Thanks for this! I am always looking for ways to can things or forage things as we live off-grid in BC, Canada. You never disappoint ! I quite enjoy your site, you give me lots of ideas and address specifics for my personal situation. Thanks so much – this kind of living is not for everyone and not for the faint of heart!
Ashley Adamant
Wonderful, glad you’re enjoying it!
Mindy
Can this be done without a pressure canner?
Ashley Adamant
Nope. All low acid foods, including meat, must be canned in a pressure canner. Without one, I’d suggest freezing.
Tracy
I was wondering the same thing. We haven’t always had the ability to pressure can foods so how did they can low acid foods before pressure canning and why can’t we still do it that way?
Ashley Adamant
So canning is a relatively new food preservation process, as far as history goes. When canning first started, they did water bath can low acid foods like meat, by processing them for 3+ hours in a water bath. This will keep them from spoiling in the jar, but it doesn’t prevent botulism from proliferating. The thing is, botulism isn’t always around, so most the time that’s fine, but you know, every once in a while somebody just misteriously died (and botulism isn’t a fun way to die).
Later, people recognized the cause and started recommending that water bath canned low acid foods were boiled hard for at least 10 minutes after they come out of the canning jars. This, in theory, destroys the botulism toxin if it is present and renders the food safe to eat. When people say “my grandma water bath canned everything and nobody ever died” they don’t realize that grandma also knew that she had to first water bath can it for 3+ hours AND then boil it for 10 minutes after it came out of the jar before serving. Some people do still do this, and they water bath can everything, but in my book it’s not worth the risk.
Pressure canning is incredibly easy, and a heck of a lot simpler than tending a boiling kettle for 3+ hours and then worrying that someone may take it off the shelf and eat it raw right out of the can not knowing that it must be boiled before eating.
Now that I have a pressure canner, I actually pressure can things that can be water bath canned because believe it or not it’s quicker and easier, heats up the kitchen less, and is faster to clean up. Seems hard to believe, since pressure canning is so intimidating to people, but it really is a game-changer once you start using one.
Anyhow, that’s a long answer, but the short answer is this…don’t water bath can low acid foods, it’s not worth the risk when pressure canning is simple these days.
Pat and Will Gilliland
They mostly used salting and drying meat.
Fran
What temperature should the turkey be when it’s 2/3 cooked?
Administrator
Turkey should be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit so 2/3 of that would be 110.
Becky
I have a leftover turkey in my freezer, and want to make cat food out of it. I will be using a pressure canner and have plenty of experience with canning, just not for pets! My concern is about leaving most of the salt out. Thanks!
Ashley Adamant
The salt is completely optional, for humans or for animals. It’s not for preservation, just for flavor. Just can it without the salt and it’ll be great for your cat.
Sheila Parrish
I am new to this site and so very excited to have found you! SO much information! I truly appreciate how you explain everything simply. Cannot wait to try EVERYTHING! God Bless You!
I don’t own a pressure cooker but will purchase one now! I was always intimidated…. but no longer because I can refer back to your instructions! I have only water bath canned in the past so I cannot wait!!!!
Ashley Adamant
Wonderful, I’m so glad you’re taking the plunge!
Sheila parrish
Me too! I want to try Turkey!
James McNulty
You Need a PRESSURE CANNER – NOT a Pressure Cooker. They are different.
Becky
Perfect, thank you Ashley. I cubed some potatoes to go in with the Turkey cat food and am about to can this now 🙂
Ethel
Hi from Albany Ga. I am so glad I saw your post. I have always frozen the leftover turkey meat and by the time I got it out for a casserole, it was dried up. I will be canning it from now on. Thank you for this great idea.
Administrator
That’s great! So glad to hear that you enjoyed the post.
Kathy
How do you use your canned Turkey? Recipies? TIA
Ashley Adamant
Anywhere you’d use cooked leftover turkey from the fridge. We make sandwiches, turkey soup, chili, season it for tacos, etc.
Karey
I recognize your picture so have been to your site before, but reading this post helped me understand more about the cooking, canning process. I’ve done a turkey before, canning breast chunks raw and partial cooking the legs and thighs, but I am about to approach it again and your post helped me. Thank you.
Administrator
You’re very welcome. We are so glad that the post helped you.
Suzanne
Can you can the turkey in gravy or is that a no no because of the flour or cornstarch used to make the gravy?
Administrator
It is not safe to use flour or cornstarch in your canning recipe so no gravy.
Thomas
I have two bags of shredded frozen turkey leftovers but they are taking up too much room in my small freezer. Is it safe if I defrosted that turkey, heated it to boiling with water or flavored broth and then, canned the brined turkey in pint jars?
Ashley Adamant
Yes, that should be fine. You can put up turkey that’s fully cooked, and yes, you can defrost food from the freezer and can it. Just be sure to follow the processing times and pressures listed in the article, and pack everything hot.