Canned Man Food

Related To:

I am not a sports fan. I had a brief flirtation with the excitement of professional sports last October when my home team won the World Series, but by and large sporting events just don't make my radar. But there's some kind of big football event coming up, I hear?

I don't know thing one about football, other than that it's a great incentive to break out the hearty, bold man foods. And my favorite man food is pulled pork.

This is something we make pretty often, but it is a bit of a chore. Between the roasting, cooling and shredding of the meat, it's not exactly something you whip out on a Tuesday evening.

As with most labor-intensive foods, you might as well go big or go home. If you're going to invest the better part of a day making something, go ahead and make a metric ton of it, then put it up for later. Yes, you heard me: You can can meat.

You'll need a pressure canner for this. (But that's fine since you got one to can your tomatoes last summer, right? RIGHT?) Meats are low-acid foods, and even though the sauce is fairly acidic, it's not safe to can meats with the water bath method. Bonus: the secondary cooking in the high heat of the pressure canner further breaks down the connective tissues in the meat, rendering it softer and silkier than you can get from just a simple roast.

Sure, it adds an extra layer of labor to the whole process, but you'll have jars of delicious pulled pork to pull from the pantry for many sporting events to come. Whatever they are.

Pulled Pork with Carolina-style BBQ Sauce

Recipe reprinted with permission from  The Fresh Girl's Guide to Easy Canning and Preserving  by Ana Micka, published by Voyageur Press.  Books can be found at bookstores and online booksellers and from  voyageurpress.com .

Makes 3 pints

Tomato Barbecue Sauce
1 lb tomatoes, skins and seeds removed, crushed
1 c. Worcester sauce
1 c. apple juice
1 c. pineapple juice
1 c. brown sugar

Pulled Pork
3-4 lb boneless pork shoulder roast
1-1/4 c. cider vinegar, divided
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 peppercorns

Stir together all the BBQ sauce ingredients in a heavy-bottomed pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Set aside.

Place pork in a large stockpot. Cover with water. Add 3/4 c. of vinegar, onion, garlic and peppercorns. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered. Skim froth and add water as needed. Cook for 60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Transfer pork to a rack in a roasting pan. Pour 1/3 c. vinegar over pork. Roast 45 minutes, turning every 15 minutes. Transfer to a plate and let stand until cool enough to handle.

Reheat BBQ sauce.

Pull pork into shreds.  Place into hot, sterilized pint jars. Ladle sauce over the top to fill the jar and fully cover thte meat. Leave a 1" headspace. 

Process, following your canner's instructions, for 75 minutes in a pressure canner at pressure listed for your altitude.

More from Sean and Punk Domestics:

Sean Timberlake is a professional writer, amateur foodie, avid traveler and all-around bon vivant. He is the founder of Punk Domestics, a content and community site for DIY food enthusiasts, and has penned the blog Hedonia since 2006. He lives in San Francisco with his husband, DPaul Brown, and their hyperactive terrier, Reese.

Next Up

A World of Hot Wings

Spice up your chicken wing tradition with one of these exotic twists, from Vietnamese-style to Caribbean.

Cheers to Chili: Wine Pairings for Big-Game Foods

Pair great Super Bowl food with wine, not beer.

Kelsey Nixon's Essential Tailgating Tips

Get the contents of the perfect on-the-go grilling bag to make your next tailgate, camping trip or other outdoor barbecue flawless.

Football Food Hacks to Make Your Game-Day Party a Touchdown

Get food hacks for your game day party food recipes and ideas, including chicken wings, burgers and chips and guacamole.

Sifted: Cookie Cakes and Boozy Super Bowl Food

Get our take on the best in food news, recipes and more from around the web, including chocolate chip cookie cakes and Super Bowl recipes.

On TV

Carnival Eats

7:30am | 6:30c

Brunch at Bobby's

8:30am | 7:30c

Brunch at Bobby's

9:30am | 8:30c

Burgers, Brew & 'Que

10:30am | 9:30c

Burgers, Brew & 'Que

11:30am | 10:30c

Carnival Eats

12pm | 11c

Carnival Eats

12:30pm | 11:30c

Carnival Eats

1pm | 12c

Carnival Eats

1:30pm | 12:30c

Man v. Food

2pm | 1c

Man v. Food

2:30pm | 1:30c

Man v. Food

3pm | 2c

Man v. Food

3:30pm | 2:30c

Man v. Food

4pm | 3c

Man v. Food

4:30pm | 3:30c

Good Eats

5pm | 4c

Good Eats

5:30pm | 4:30c

Good Eats

6pm | 5c

Good Eats

6:30pm | 5:30c
On Tonight

The Zimmern List

11:30pm | 10:30c

The Zimmern List

3:30am | 2:30c
What's Hot

The Best Thing I Ever Ate

Sundays 10|9c

So Much Pretty Food Here