Preserve
Canning altitude tables & pickle recipes
USDA-published altitude adjustments and NCHFP-cited quick-pack recipes for safe home preservation. Lacto-fermentation lives in the rest of the site; this section is for vinegar-acidified quick pickles and water-bath / pressure canning.
Canning by altitude
Water boils at lower temperatures as elevation climbs, so home-canning processing times and pressure-canner gauge settings must be adjusted to compensate. 5 altitude bands cover sea level to 10,000 ft, with both boiling-water-bath added minutes and dial-gauge / weighted-gauge psi values per the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, Guide 1.
- Sea level to 1,000 ft — BWB +0 min · dial 11.0 psi · weighted 10.0 psi
- 1,001 ft to 3,000 ft — BWB +5 min · dial 12.0 psi · weighted 15.0 psi
- 3,001 ft to 6,000 ft — BWB +10 min · dial 13.0 psi · weighted 15.0 psi
- 6,001 ft to 8,000 ft — BWB +15 min · dial 14.0 psi · weighted 15.0 psi
- 8,001 ft to 10,000 ft — BWB +20 min · dial 15.0 psi · weighted 15.0 psi
Pickle recipes (vinegar-acidified)
3 model recipes from the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) and the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning. These are vinegar-brine pickles processed in a boiling water bath — a different food-safety architecture from the lacto-fermented brine pickles covered in /brine. Both methods are safe; pick the one that matches your goal.
- Quick Fresh-Pack Dill Pickles — yields 7 pints · BWB 10 min (sea level)
- Pickled Dilled Beans (Dilly Beans) — yields 7 pints · BWB 5 min (sea level)
- Pickled Beets — yields 6 pints · BWB 30 min (sea level)
Ferment vs. can — when to use which
- Lacto-fermentation(this site's main subject) uses live bacteria + salt to drop pH below 4.6. Result: probiotic, tangy, refrigerator-stable. No heat processing, no canning gear.
- Vinegar-pickle + BWB canning (this section) uses 5 % vinegar + heat to sterilize and seal. Result: shelf-stable without refrigeration. Requires a boiling water bath canner.
- Pressure canning is required for low-acid foods (meat, fish, beans, plain vegetables) — out of scope here for now; see USDA Complete Guide for those protocols.
Sources
USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning (2015 revision), Guides 1 and 6; National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) (University of Georgia Cooperative Extension). Information provided for educational purposes — verify against the current NCHFP recipe before canning. Consult your local food safety authority for commercial production.
The kit for putting up a batch
A short, honest kit for lacto-fermentation. The scale is the one that matters most — everything here is by weight.
- Digital kitchen scale (0.1 g)Salt % is by weight, not volume — a 0.1 g scale is what makes the math above accurate.View on Amazon →
- Glass fermentation weightsKeep vegetables submerged under the brine line so they ferment safely without mould.View on Amazon →
- Airlock fermentation lidsLet CO₂ escape while keeping oxygen out — wide-mouth lids that fit standard jars.View on Amazon →
- Wide-mouth mason jarsThe workhorse vessel for kraut, kimchi and brine pickles — 1 qt and ½ gal sizes.View on Amazon →
- Pickling / fine sea saltPure salt with no iodine or anti-caking agents, which can cloud brine and inhibit fermentation.View on Amazon →
- Stoneware fermentation crockFor scaling past the jar — a water-sealed crock for 5 L+ batches with built-in weights.View on Amazon →
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