Every Easter we eat dinner at my parents house. One of our favorites is our Easter ham! But this year, due to my Dads sodium restrictions, the entire leftover ham came home with me. Not complaining y’all. Ham is my jam (see what I did there). I knew that we’d never eat the entire ham before is started to turn, so I decided to can the leftovers. I have big plans of some ham pot pie this summer with it.
This is the time of year to stock up on ham. This week, pre-Easter prices are still available, you can get nice hams for as cheap as 87 cents per pound. And who can pass up a good sale like that?
Canning ham is NOT difficult in any way and when done correctly, it is completely safe. It absolutely requires you to use a pressure canner. Read that again. You must use a pressure canner. If this is your first time using a pressure canner, you may want to check out my detailed instructions here.
The first thing we want to do is cut all the ham off the bone. I cut mine into fairly larger chunks, so it didn’t fall apart during the canning process. You can also freeze the bone for some ham and bean soup in your future. Set your ham aside while you get everything else ready.
Once I had all the ham chunked up it was time to start filling the jars. Fill your hot sterilized jars with the cut meat. I packed it in really well, getting as much as I could in there while still leaving 1″ headroom. If you aren’t sure how to keep your jars hot, you can always run them through a cycle in the dishwasher. That’s normally what I do when I know I’m going to be canning that day.
Next you need to add liquid in with your ham. You can either pour boiling water over the meat or, if you’re as lucky as I was, your Mama saved you all the ham broth! I brought the broth to a boil on my stove and ladeled it over top of the ham, again leaving a 1 inch head space. I had enough of that precious broth left to do a quart of it as well. That broth will be a nice addition to my ham and beans that I make with that fabulous ham bone!
Make sure you wipe the rims of your jars before putting your hot lids and rings on them. I wiped the jar rims with a cloth with a little vinegar to help remove any of the greasy residue.
Now it’s time to process! Place the jars into the canner base making sure that there is space between them. Make sure you remember to add your hot water in your canner. Check your manual to see what your canner calls for, my canner requires 3 quarts of water. Put your lid in place. I highly suggest setting a timer so you know when the specified time is up.
Processing times are:
75 minutes at 11 lbs for pint jars
90 minutes at 11 lbs for quart jars
Make sure to read your manual as additional pressure is needed for high altitude, over 2000 feet.
When your timer goes off, turn the stove off. Actually, turn the stove off and walk away. Go take a much deserved seat for a while. You HAVE to leave the lid on and allow the pressure canner to return to normal pressure. I just let mine sit for quite a while. Once the pressure is down to normal you can remove the lid and take your jars out. I use the jar lifter to remove them. And I always set them on a kitchen towel then cover them with another towel. I don’t want them to cool down too quickly.
Besides the benefit of stocking up on ham when it is very cheap, having canned ham and stock on the shelf is a HUGE convenience. I can grab a can and have my ham pot pie halfway done, all I need to add is some potatoes and pot pie dough. I’m thinking that will be a future blog post!
Now sit back, relax with a cool drink and listen for the sound of the PING of a successfully sealed jar! A beautiful sound!
Love your recipe
Thank you so much! Enjoy!
Can the ham be cured and baked for pressure cannot g. I’m getting conflicting answers. I did bam and beans soup with big chunks in pint jars. 15 psi for 75 minutes in low altitude.
Hi Joann! The ham that I canned was cured and baked previously. And you are correct, for low altitude you would do 75 minutes at 15 lbs for pint jars.
Hi Amy, thank you for the wonderful details for canning ham. I do a lot of pressure canning for my husband‘s organic garden produce but I’ve never canned ham.
Something that concerns me is when you can the ham and you have to use water to fill the jar or add water to some broth, how do you get enough flavor when you make the pot pie? I’m hoping to have enough broth to fill the jars but then I always feel like I shouldn’t put as much meat in. Can I ask how you get enough flavor and have a good meat to broth ratio? Thank you, much appreciated!
Hi Christine! Thank you so much for your comment!
So, the short answer is I’m not sure. Any time I’ve canned ham, I’ve had enough ham broth left over that I can use it. What I do is bring the broth to a boil and ladle it over the ham that is in the jars. I divvy up the broth equally between all the jars full of ham. Whatever space is left, I fill with boiling water. I hope this helps you!
Thanks for this recipe. I’m so tired of throwing out the leftovers. I’m in the process of canning the rest right now
Yay, good for you! Hearing those lids ping is the best feeling!
You can buy powdered ham broth, just like chicken or beef. Make the broth you need to can with using that
Than you so much for your recipe, I found a great deal on ham at the store yesterday, so I bought 4, I am currently canning one of them now, I am dehydrating the other one, I hope to freeze one, and then see what to do with the other. I love canning & didn’t know I could do this, but it smells great.
Thanks again.
Linda
Than you so much for your recipe, I found a great deal on ham at the store yesterday, so I bought 4, I am currently canning one of them now, I am dehydrating the other one, I hope to freeze one, and then see what to do with the other. I love canning & didn’t know I could do this, but it smells great.
Linda
I’m glad you found my recipe! And hope you enjoy even jar of your canned ham. Finding great deals on meat and being able to make them shelf stable is the best!
Amy I tried to view your website recipe, but the pop up ads were so bad the article could not be read with ease. I will not use web sites that are covered up by multiple pop up ads that cover up the content, But thank you for trying., Just thought I would advise as I know a lot of people that feel this way.
I’m so sorry about that Mike! I’ve been trying to sort out on the back end of things how to fix that.
can you do this without cooking it first? thank you.
I don’t see why you couldn’t! As long as you’re pressure canning it, it should be fine.