Wife and I have been canning for 30+ years. All of the suggestions on this topic have been very good. I would just reccommend that you find a recipe on canning meat in your canner package if buying a canner. Also the larger canner is your best choice. We have used both the large and small canners for our canning purposes, sometimes both of them at the same time. Your canning times are just different. Have also done the hot water bath method and the oven method of canning but don't care for either of them as well. As far as adding items into your processing it can be done you just have to use the longer processing time reccommended. You can cann it as chunk meat, cut into strips, steaks, roasts, meatballs, spaghetti or chili sauces with equal success. Good Luck and have fun with it.