Food & cooking · Canning
Pickle and sauerkraut canning time.
Choose a tested NCHFP recipe, pack and jar size, enter your elevation, and read the boiling-water processing time straight from the published table.
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Processing time
Enter your elevation.
How long do you process pickles and sauerkraut in a water bath?
Processing time depends on the recipe, how it is packed, the jar size and your elevation, because water boils at a lower temperature higher up. The times here are copied from the tables in the USDA-funded National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) recipes, which are adapted from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning. For example, sauerkraut in a hot pack is processed 10 minutes for pints and 15 minutes for quarts at 0 to 1,000 ft, and a raw pack takes 20 and 25 minutes. Quick fresh-pack dill pickles are 10 minutes for pints and 15 for quarts at 0 to 1,000 ft, rising to 15 and 20 minutes at 1,001 to 6,000 ft.
Find your elevation. Use NCHFP's "Find Your Elevation" page, and use the elevation where you will can, not where you live if they differ. Metres are converted at 3.2808 ft per metre, so 1,000 m is 3,281 ft. A reading exactly on a band's top edge (1,000 ft, 3,000 ft or 6,000 ft) stays in the lower band, as the tables are written "0 - 1,000" and "1,001 - 3,000".
Limits. These times apply only to the recipe as published with its jar size and pack. Do not substitute a different vegetable, vinegar strength or proportion. NCHFP says not to alter vinegar, food or water proportions in a recipe.
Frequently asked questions
How long do you process sauerkraut pints in a boiling water canner?
From the NCHFP table at 0 to 1,000 ft: 10 minutes for a hot pack and 20 minutes for a raw pack. Quarts are 15 minutes hot pack and 25 minutes raw pack. Times rise with elevation; use the calculator for your band.
How long do you process dill pickles?
NCHFP quick fresh-pack dill pickles (raw pack) take 10 minutes for pints and 15 for quarts at 0 to 1,000 ft, 15 and 20 minutes at 1,001 to 6,000 ft, and 20 and 25 minutes above 6,000 ft. Fermented dill pickles use the same times.
Do I need to adjust canning time for altitude?
Yes. Every NCHFP table lists time by elevation band, with longer times at higher elevation. Use the band that matches where you are canning.
Can I use these times for my own pickle recipe?
No. The times belong to the published recipe. NCHFP says not to alter vinegar, food or water proportions in a recipe.
Does this cover pressure canning?
No. Every recipe here is a boiling-water canner recipe, as published by NCHFP.
Sources
Checked
- NCHFP: Sauerkraut (National Center for Home Food Preservation)
- NCHFP: Dill Pickles (fermented)
- NCHFP: Quick Fresh-Pack Dill Pickles
- NCHFP: Bread-and-Butter Pickles
- NCHFP: Dilled Beans
- NCHFP: Pickled Beets
- NCHFP: Pickled Carrots
- NCHFP: Pickled Bell Peppers
- NCHFP: Find Your Elevation
- NCHFP: How to Use Boiling Water and Pressure Canners
All minutes and headspace values are the published NCHFP figures, adapted from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning (Agriculture Information Bulletin 539, rev. 2015) except pickled carrots, developed at the University of Georgia for NCHFP. Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent or stored.
Scope
Look-up of published tables only. Follow the full NCHFP recipe and canner instructions; do not use these times for untested recipes. Food safety guidance, not professional advice. If you are pregnant, immunocompromised, elderly or cooking for young children, follow the stricter advice of your health professional.