Canning 101

[John-W-WI]

It's that time of year again. The cabbage (sauerkraut) has been fermenting for a couple months and I finally got around to getting it canned.

I used 5 gallon buckets again this year about 2/3 full with a food grade plastic bag full of water on top of the kraut. It worked well, the bag keeps stuff out, but allows the bucket to breath when it needs to release gases.

I dumped it in a meat tote:


Packed it in jars:



As I usually do, I get the canner up to pressure on a turkey cooker:


Then hold them at temp on a smaller burner:


(32) quarts and (14) pints were done in a couple hours:


And put in jar totes for safe storage/transport:


I only had (2) jars that didn't seal. I seem to be getting better at "how tight" to make the ring on the lid. I noticed used rings that are rusty can be misleading. It feels like you got them tight enough, but it's because the rust is harder to turn than a new ring. I tossed a bunch of older rings and tried to use all newer ones. I see some stainless rings on Amazon that I'm going to give a try. Maybe they won't rust so quickly. I also started removing the rings as soon as the jars "pop" and wiping the rings down to keep them from rusting.

We will be canning venison in the next month or two, I hope to confirm some of my theories when we do.

-John

 

[swat1018]

I love the Kraut. I always throw a dried Cayenne pepper in the bottom of the jar when I pack the Kraut, gives it just a little kick. Yours looks really good!

 

[Bowsnbucks]

John - Kraut looks really good. SS rings sound like the ticket. You're right - rusty rings don't tighten right.

What kind of pressure cooker is that one on the lower left in pic #4 ……….. next to the double burner ??

 

[KDdid]

Love seeing the kraut making- I didn’t do any this year, and I hate having to buy store bought. I’ve always water bathed our kraut since it’s so acidic, but last batch didn’t seem like it sealed as well as previous batches. What setting did you use to pressure can (pounds and time)?


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[John-W-WI]

What kind of pressure cooker is that one on the lower left in pic #4 ……….. next to the double burner ??

That is a silver bullet. Makes the waiting between batches go by faster!

What setting did you use to pressure can (pounds and time)?

The old fart that taught me how to make kraut using his mothers recipe called for 5 minutes at 10 lbs. The canning experts say 15 - 20 minutes at 10 lbs.

I did this batch at 10 lbs for 15 minutes. Probably more than is necessary, but better safe than sorry.

-John

 

[Big Snow Man]

That’s a lot of kraut

 

[John-W-WI]

That’s a lot of kraut

And I gift most of it away!

 

[KDdid]

Well, you got me, John. 14 small heads of cabbage filled my five gallon fermentation bucket today. It’s gonna be a fragrant New Year at our house!


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[John-W-WI]

Well, you got me, John. 14 small heads of cabbage filled my five gallon fermentation bucket today. It’s gonna be a fragrant New Year at our house!

How long do you wait before canning it? I know some people can it after as little as 3 weeks. I seem to get busy hunting and end up closer to 3 months :)

-John

 

[John-W-WI]

34 quarts of venison and 7 pints of pheasant canned today. A friend and I combined between 50 and 60 pounds of venison.



The birds were from a trip this last fall. We weren't using them up and I didn't want them to go to waste. I've never canned pheasant before. The good news is it looks nasty. So does venison. Hopefully it tastes great!

I know one thing for sure, shooting the birds is a lot move fun than cleaning them up for canning.

-John

 

[H20fwler]

OK, I’m very interested in how canned pheasant is going to taste. The possibilities of canned pheasant and noodles over mashed potatoes or pheasant and dumplings makes me hungry thinking about it.

We are huge into pheasant tenders here or just roast pheasant... like you we shoot a bunch and a new different way to prepare and save them is a big plus.

 

[ksgobbler]

Ive got a recipe for some kick ass zucchini relish. Cant wait to get the garden planted this year.

 

[trampledbyturtles]

^care to share, always looking for a new use for zucs

 

[KDdid]

Well, you got me, John. 14 small heads of cabbage filled my five gallon fermentation bucket today. It’s gonna be a fragrant New Year at our house!

How long do you wait before canning it? I know some people can it after as little as 3 weeks. I seem to get busy hunting and end up closer to 3 months :)

-John

I’m going to try to go 8weeks, but it’s smelling pretty good after 4!



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[John-W-WI]

I forgot to add, this was the 1st time that every jar sealed and we didn't break a single jar.

Not starting with hot water and rusty lids are key.

Has anyone tried the reusable lids before:
https://smile.amazon.com/Tattler-Re...encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0&ie=UTF8

I haven't tried them yet, but I might next time we make a batch.

-John

 

[Big Snow Man]

John
Where did you get those plastic totes you have the kraut in ?

 

[John-W-WI]

John
Where did you get those plastic totes you have the kraut in ?

I bought mine from Fleet Farm, but they can be found all over:



They aren't super heavy duty but they go a long way towards keeping whatever you are working with clean.

-John

 

[ksgobbler]

^care to share, always looking for a new use for zucs

 

[swat1018]

I forgot to add, this was the 1st time that every jar sealed and we didn't break a single jar.

Not starting with hot water and rusty lids are key.

Has anyone tried the reusable lids before:
https://smile.amazon.com/Tattler-Reusable-Mouth-Canning-Rubber/dp/B0055PU5DC/ref=smi_www_rco2_go_smi_g5171374337?_encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0&ie=UTF8

I haven't tried them yet, but I might next time we make a batch.

-John

I use rusty rings all the time, and rarely have an issue. I think not starting with room temp water and heating with the jars may be the culprit.

 

[ksgobbler]

1st batch of this years salsa