Last week, MSU Extension Chouteau, Toole and Big Horn counties held a Meat Preservation Class with ten people in attendance at the Big Sandy Community Church of God. Everyone was able to assemble their own jars of salmon and chicken legs using the raw pack method. They then placed their jars in pressure canners and completed the steps to get the processing started. Due to the length of time required to process, the jars were removed and allowed to cool for the participants to pick up at a later time. Samples were tasted and enjoyed by the attendees. Dennis Longknife Jr from Harlem demonstrated making jerky and had samples for everyone to taste.
MSU Extension in Chouteau county has all the resources you need to either get started or get back into preserving meats. It is very important to use research-based resources available through Extension or USDA for safety reasons. Much has been learned since the days of our grandparents and even what we remember our parents doing. If you have any food preservation recipes dated prior to 2006, they should be replaced with more recent versions. You can find many of them either through our MSU Extension MontGuides available on-line at http://store.msuextension.org/, stopping by at the Chouteau County Courthouse or by calling MSU Extension Chouteau County at 406-622-3036.
If you are interested in attending a food preservation class, contact us to be put on a contact list for future classes. And let us know what you are interested in which helps us with planning other future education opportunities.
Keep up to date on what is happening in Chouteau County Extension and 4-H by following us on Facebook.
Additional information is available by contacting Janell at the Chouteau County Extension Office at 622-3036, janellb@montana.edu or in the Chouteau County Courthouse at 1308 Franklin St in Fort Benton.
Montana State University, US Department of Agriculture and Montana Counties Cooperating. MSU Extension is an equal opportunity/affirmative action provider of educatio
