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There was a buy 1, get 3 free Kielbasa at the local grocery store so I decided to do my first ever batch of canning. Nothing reminds me of hunting camp like some pickled kielbasa or eggs, and a cold Yuengling brew. Like I said, this is my first ever time making pickled kielbasa, let alone being the first time canning in general. I already ate one of the jars worth a few days ago (1 week after canning), and am still alive and it tasted great so I think it was a successful first canning experience. What I used: Pickling Spice pack (pre-made mixture of spices) Dried Chili Pods Peppercorns Bay Leaves Cayanne Pepper Fresh Garlic White Onion Smoked and Regular Kielbasa (Hilshire Farm) Viniger Steps: 1. Bring to a boil of a large sauce/stew pot of... -Viniger and Water 1:1 ratio (1gal Viniger, 1 gal water) -Bay leaves (4) -2 packs of Pickling Spice -Half pack of Peppercorns -Chili pods (10) -For added spice -Cayanne Pepper (1Tbs) 2. Disinfect (Handwash) and boil canning jars for 5 min 3. Place Canning lids in simmering water in a wide sauce pan 4. Cut onions into slices (size is preferentail) Prepare garlic cloves, gently break clove with knife to open them up a bit. Next, I filled the jars one at a time. I used a baking dish to fill them in to avoid spilling the hot canning liquid all over the counter. You can see the video how I did this process. -Mind you, it was kind of hard to film with one hand and use only one hand with handling jars and adding ingredients. Notes: -I didn't cook the Kielbasa since it comes pre-cooked -I didn't cook the onions or garlic in the seasoning mixture because I thought it would be hard to make sure a clove and onion in the jar when they were already in the pickling mixture. -Chili Pods were a non-essentail item I got from my work (we use them with asian cooking), I just like my pickled kielbasa spicy if possible. -I didn't have proper canning racks to heat the jars in, So i just improvised by using tongs and boiling water in a pot. What I'd do different next time: -Buy a canning rack for the water. -Read Bell's blue canning book -Add more spice (cayanne pepper) -Possibly try cooking the kielbasa in boiling water or in a pan to get rid of some of the fat. When I poured the boiling water in the jars, the fat kind of came out of the kielbasa and just didn't look real "appitizing" in the jar. *This is my first canning experience with no knowledge besides some reading before doing it and watching videos. I'm sure there is more "correct" ways to do it, or this might be completely wrong in some of your opinions. I Just wanted to share my experience and maybe spark someone to try doing somehting similar to bring to hunting camp next year.*

I just moved to the suffolk area and am trying to find any groups/individuals/butchers etc. that sell wild hunted/caught game. Any information would be great, thanks.

This year I am going to try dry-aging and butchering my deer. I just bought a big freezerless fridge to use to age it. The plan is to put the whole, field-dressed deer in the fridge, skin on, for a week. then butcher. My question is this, I've read a lot of posts about bleeding out deer, in ice chests, by quartering and skinning them and hanging them in the fridge, etc. If I'm not going to skin my deer (which is what the farmer that usually butchers my deer for me recommends) is there some way to drain out the blood? Also, should I hang it head up or head down? Thanks