• If using fresh chicken that has just been butchered, be sure to clean thoroughly and allow to chill for 6-12 hours.  

Hot Pack Method:

• Cook bird in roaster or crockpot for a few hours or overnight.  Allow to cool enough to debone.
• Remove all the meat from the bones and place into a separate bowl.Using a canning funnel, place meat into jars.  

Raw Pack Method:

• Place raw meat pieces, either with or without bones into jars.  If leaving the bones in, it’s easiest to separate them at the joints.  Just make sure each piece will fit in the jar.  You can also remove the skin if you wish.

For Either Method:

• Add salt to each jar.  ½ teaspoon salt for pints, and 1 teaspoon salt for quarts.
• Pour hot water or broth into each jar leaving ½” headspace at the top.
• Using a butter knife, remove the air bubbles from the jars by running it down along the edges of the meat.
• Using a clean cloth, wipe the top of the jar to remove any food particles or grease.
• Place the canning lids and rings on the jars.  They only need to be hand tight
• 
  Place 1-2 quarts of water in pressure canner, place it on your stove and set the burner on your stove to high.
  
• Add jars of chicken to the canner and put lid on, being sure to lock it into place.  You can refer to your canner manual for detail instructions related to your canner.
• Allow the canner to continue to heat until steam is coming out of the vents.
• Place pressure gauge or applicable device over steam vent.
• Process at 10 pounds pressure for altitudes below 2,000 feet.  Process at 15 pounds pressure for altitudes about 2,000 feet.  
• When desired pressure is reached, lower the heat so that the pressure is maintained.  You don’t want it to go too far above or below the desired pressure for best results.  On my canner, it has a little pressure regulator that jiggles, so when it is put on the canner for 10 pounds of pressure, it is supposed to jiggle 4-5 times per minute.  That is how I know it is at 10 pounds of pressure.  This is very simple, but will vary from canner to canner, so please refer to your canner instructions for more details.
• Set Timer

Processing Times

• For raw or hot pack - process pints for 75 minutes, and quarts for 90 minutes.
• For jars with bones (both raw or hot pack) - process pints for 65 minutes and quarts for 75 minutes.  
• At the end of the processing time, simply turn off the heat and let the canner cool down slowly.  
• Once the canner is completely cooled, remove the lid and using the lid lifter, place the jars on a towel on your counter.
• Allow the jars to fully cool to room temperature.  You will hear the satisfying “pop” of the seals as the jars cool.  
• Once the jars are completely cooled, check to make sure they all have a good seal.  To do this, you’ll want to make sure that the lid on each jar is indented downwards, and when you press on it, it doesn’t move.  If you use the For Jars lids, you won’t have any trouble with jars sealing.  If you have a jar that doesn’t seal, you can put it into the refrigerator and use it within a week. Or you can replace the lid and re-process it in the canner.  Sometimes a lid won’t seal if there is a small crack on the rim of the jar, or if a piece of salt or food particle wasn’t cleaned off the jar rim properly.
• Wipe down your jars and put them on your pantry shelf to be enjoyed for a long time to come.