Pressure canning chicken is the only research-tested way to put cooked poultry in a jar and keep it shelf-stable. Chicken is a low-acid food. A boiling-water bath never reaches the temperature needed to destroy Clostridium botulinum spores, so water-bath canning, oven canning, and “open kettle” methods are not safe.
The official process is straightforward once the variables are clear: jar size, bone-in or boneless, raw pack or hot pack, dial-gauge or weighted-gauge canner, and your altitude. Those details change the pressure you use, not the basic method. Follow a tested schedule from the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) or USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, and the result is tender, ready-to-use chicken that keeps for months without a freezer.
Why a pressure canner is required
C. botulinum spores survive ordinary boiling. In a sealed, low-acid jar they can grow and produce toxin. A pressure canner raises the temperature inside the jars to about 240–250°F (116–121°C), which is high enough to destroy those spores when the correct time and pressure are held.
That is why equipment matters. A stovetop pressure canner large enough to hold quart jars upright is the appliance USDA processes were developed for. Electric multi-cookers and most electric pressure cookers—even models with a “canning” button—are not recommended for this work. Heat distribution, venting, and cool-down behavior in those appliances have not been validated for USDA meat processes.
Adding vinegar, lemon juice, or extra salt does not convert chicken into a high-acid food. Acidifying a few tablespoons of liquid will not make water-bath canning safe.
What to gather before you start
Equipment
- A weighted-gauge or dial-gauge pressure canner (not a small pressure cooker)
- Pint or quart canning jars in good condition, new lids, and rings
- Jar lifter, funnel, clean towels, and a bubble remover or plastic spatula
- A reliable way to know your elevation (maps, altimeter apps, or your county extension office)
Have a dial gauge tested each year. A gauge that reads low will under-process the food even if you follow the chart.
Chicken Use sound, clean meat. NCHFP specifies freshly killed, dressed, healthy birds and notes that large chickens are more flavorful than fryers. Dressed poultry should be chilled 6 to 12 hours before canning. Grocery-store chicken works if it is fresh or fully thawed in the refrigerator. If you cannot can it within a couple of days, freeze it at 0°F and thaw it under refrigeration.
Trim excess fat. Melted fat that climbs the jar rim is a common reason lids fail to seal. Penn State Extension also recommends blotting the meat and wiping rims with a paper towel dampened with vinegar to cut grease.
Cut pieces to a size that fits the jar and matches how you will use the meat later: chunks for soup, strips for tacos, bone-in thighs for shredding. Official guidance is “suitable size parts,” not a single cube measurement. Extension specialists have confirmed cubes or strips are both acceptable as long as they fit with the required headspace.
Salt is optional. It seasons the meat; it does not preserve it. The usual amount is 1 teaspoon per quart (½ teaspoon per pint).
Raw pack or hot pack
Both methods are tested and use the same processing times. The difference is quality and convenience, not safety.
| Raw pack | Hot pack | |
|---|---|---|
| Prep | Cut and pack raw meat | Cook until about two-thirds done, then pack |
| Liquid added | None | Hot broth to cover |
| After processing | Meat often sits above the juice; top layer can look dry | Better liquid cover |
| Texture | Very tender, easy to shred | Slightly firmer |
| Best use | Soups, casseroles, quick shredding | Salads, slices, jars you want to look filled |
NCHFP prefers hot pack because raw chicken rarely releases enough juice to cover the meat in storage. Uncovered meat at the top is still safe if the jar sealed and there is no spoilage, but quality drops faster.
Raw pack: Add optional salt. Fill jars loosely with raw pieces, leaving 1¼ inches of headspace. Do not add water or broth. Tight packing blocks heat movement through the jar.
Hot pack: Boil, steam, or bake the chicken until it is about two-thirds done (the center should show little pink when cut). Pack pieces into jars, add optional salt, and cover with hot broth, leaving 1¼ inches of headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust the liquid if needed.
Do not thicken the broth. Flour, cornstarch, cream, rice, pasta, and dumpling dough all slow heat penetration. Those ingredients belong in the pot when you open the jar, not in the jar during processing.
Bone-in versus boneless times
Bones change how heat moves through the jar. Bone-in poultry is processed for a shorter time than boneless poultry. That is the opposite of what many first-time canners expect.
Use the boneless schedule if the jar is filled with boneless meat, or if a jar mixes boneless pieces with bones. Do not invent a “middle” time.
There is no USDA-tested process for ground chicken or chicken sausage. Penn State Extension states that no procedures have been tested for ground poultry or poultry sausage. Do not apply the chicken-piece schedule to ground meat.
Official processing times and pressure
Times below apply to both raw pack and hot pack. Start the timer only after the canner is fully vented and has reached the correct pressure. If pressure drops below the target, bring it back up and restart the full time.
Dial-gauge pressure canner
| Pack | Jar | Time | 0–2,000 ft | 2,001–4,000 ft | 4,001–6,000 ft | 6,001–8,000 ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Without bones | Pints | 75 min | 11 lb | 12 lb | 13 lb | 14 lb |
| Without bones | Quarts | 90 min | 11 lb | 12 lb | 13 lb | 14 lb |
| With bones | Pints | 65 min | 11 lb | 12 lb | 13 lb | 14 lb |
| With bones | Quarts | 75 min | 11 lb | 12 lb | 13 lb | 14 lb |
Weighted-gauge pressure canner
| Pack | Jar | Time | 0–1,000 ft | Above 1,000 ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Without bones | Pints | 75 min | 10 lb | 15 lb |
| Without bones | Quarts | 90 min | 10 lb | 15 lb |
| With bones | Pints | 65 min | 10 lb | 15 lb |
| With bones | Quarts | 75 min | 10 lb | 15 lb |
If a load mixes pint and quart jars, process the entire load for the longer time that applies to the larger jars of that pack style.
How to process a load of chicken
- Prepare the canner. Put the rack in place and add the amount of water your manufacturer specifies, usually 2 to 3 inches. For raw pack, the water in the canner should be warm, not boiling, so cold jars are less likely to crack. For hot pack, hotter canner water (around simmering) matches the hot jars.
- Pack jars using the raw or hot method above. Wipe rims carefully. Apply lids and screw bands fingertip tight. Over-tightening traps air and can cause siphoning or failed seals.
- Load and vent. Place jars in the canner. Lock the lid. Heat on high and let a strong column of steam escape from the vent for 10 minutes before closing the petcock or putting on the weight. Skipping this step leaves air in the canner, so the temperature may be lower than the gauge suggests.
- Bring to pressure and time. Adjust the heat so pressure stays at or just above the number for your altitude. Weighted gauges should rock or jiggle as the manufacturer describes—usually a steady, gentle rock, not a violent rattle.
- Cool without rushing. When the time is up, turn off the heat. Let the canner return to zero pressure on its own. Do not run water over it or jiggle the weight to speed things up. Fast cooling pulls liquid out of the jars.
- Rest, then lift. After the gauge reads zero (or the weight no longer hisses when nudged), wait about 10 minutes, then open the lid away from your face. Lift jars straight up onto a towel. Leave them undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours.
- Check seals. Remove the rings. Press the center of each lid. It should stay down. Wash the jars, label them with contents and date, and store them without the rings in a cool, dark, dry place.
Unsealed jars can go in the refrigerator and be used within a few days, or the contents can be packed hot with new lids and processed again for the full time. Quality drops after a second process, so refrigeration is often the better choice for one or two jars.
What the finished jars should look like
Home-canned chicken does not look like commercial canned chicken. Expect some of the following if the seal is sound and the smell is normal:
- Liquid loss (siphoning), especially after a pressure swing
- Meat sitting above the broth in raw-pack jars
- A pale or slightly pink color from natural pigments
- Fat floating on top
Those are quality issues, not automatic proof of spoilage.
Do not taste a jar that is leaking, bulging, spurting, moldy, or foul-smelling. Discard it where people and animals cannot get to it. Botulinum toxin is not something you can “cook off” after you have already eaten a bite. The CDC lists leaking, bulging, damaged containers, spurting liquid, discoloration, mold, and bad odor as reasons to throw the food out.
For extra caution with any low-acid home-canned food—especially if you are unsure the process was followed—public health guidance is to boil the food in a saucepan for 10 minutes at elevations below 1,000 feet, adding 1 minute for each additional 1,000 feet, before tasting. That step destroys toxin if it is present; it does not fix food that was never processed correctly.
Mistakes that cause the most trouble
- Using a water-bath canner or Instant Pot. Temperature and process development are the problem, not effort.
- Wrong time for bones. Boneless meat needs the longer schedule.
- No altitude adjustment. Time stays the same; pressure changes.
- Skipping the 10-minute vent.
- Adding liquid to raw-pack jars. The tested method is dry pack.
- Packing jars tight or leaving the wrong headspace. Heat and sealing both suffer.
- Leaving excess fat on the meat. Fat on the rim prevents a seal and can go rancid.
- Letting pressure drop and not restarting the clock.
- Forcing a cool-down. This is the usual cause of heavy siphoning.
- Storing jars with rings on. Rings hide a failed seal and trap moisture that rusts the lid.
- Canning chicken soup with noodles, rice, or cream. Use tested meat or stock processes, then add starches when you serve.
How long it keeps and how to use it
For best quality, plan to use home-canned chicken within a year. Cool, dark storage between about 50°F and 70°F helps texture and flavor last. Food that was processed correctly and remains sealed is not automatically unsafe after 12 months, but quality fades. USDA guidance for home-canned foods is to use them within a year.
A pint is a practical weeknight portion. Drain or keep the broth, then use the meat in:
- Chicken salad or sandwiches (hot-pack pieces hold together better)
- Soup, chili, or pot pie
- Enchiladas, tacos, and fried rice
- Quick gravy over rice or biscuits
The broth in the jar is already cooked. Taste it before adding more salt.
Canning the leftover broth is a separate recipe
Strained chicken or turkey stock is processed for a much shorter time because it is liquid, not dense meat: 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts, at the same pressures used for other low-acid foods, with 1 inch of headspace. Do not put chunks of meat into stock jars and then use the short stock time. Meat in broth is a different product and needs the meat or soup schedule.
Frequently asked questions
Can I can frozen chicken? Yes, if it was frozen while still good quality. Thaw it in the refrigerator, then pack and process as usual. Do not can meat that has thawed on the counter.
Can I add vegetables, gravy mix, or BBQ sauce to the jar? Only if you are following a specific tested recipe for that combination. Extra solids and thickeners change heat penetration. Plain chicken plus optional salt is the tested product described here.
Can I use half-pint jars? USDA tables for chicken list pints and quarts. If you use smaller jars, process them for the pint time. Do not shorten the time.
Why is my chicken dry on top? That is typical of raw pack. The jar can still be safe. Switch to hot pack if appearance and long storage matter more than speed.
Is pink chicken undercooked? Not necessarily. Color is a poor safety test after pressure canning. Trust the process, the seal, and the smell—not the color.
What if I live above 8,000 feet? Use NCHFP or your state extension charts for higher elevations. Do not guess.
Pressure canning chicken is a long afternoon, not a complicated science experiment. The work is in the setup: the right canner, the right time for bones and jar size, a full vent, and a patient cool-down. Do those things, and a case of chicken becomes pantry food you can open on a weeknight without thawing anything.