So, after deciding I wanted to fill my jars up to the ridge below the lid, I measured the amount each jar would hold. Filling up to the ridge, the quart jars hold 875mL and the pint jars hold 425mL. That told me I would need 87.5 grams (3.1 oz.) and 42.5 grams (1.5 oz) for the quart and pint jars, respectively.I measured out the proper amount for each jar on my kitchen scale and added the DME to the jars. Afterwards, I added a pinch of yeast nutrient to each jar. Adding DME to the jars can get a bit messy, especially if it's humid. A canning funnel, which fits nicely inside the mouth of the jars, was very handy for keeping the mess down. Next, I added hot tap water up to the ridge of the first jar, put the lid and ring on and shook it up to dissolve the DME, then repeated for the remaining jars. You'll probably notice that you lose some volume after you dissolve the DME. After the foam in each jar settled down (a few minutes) I opened the jars back up and refilled them to the ridge. At this time I also wiped the inside of the lid and the lip of the jar to keep the wort off the sealing surface (I'm not sure this is necessary, but I wanted to be thorough), then sealed them back up. When I sealed them back up for the second time I tightened the rings just to snug, not tight at all. My feeling (I could be wrong, this is my first time you know!) is that you want some gas to escape from underneath the lid so you'll end up with a good vacuum seal (and less/no air). If you crank the lid down, that won't happen. Anywho...now they're ready for the canner. From here on out you should follow the operating instructions that came with your canner, but here's how I did it...CanningMy canner has a little mark on the inside letting you know how much water to put in, if you have a different canner follow the instructions for that canner. I added the water to the line and also, as recommended in the canner manual, added two teaspoons of white vinegar to prevent water marks on the jars. Next, I added my jars. 5 quarts and 3 pints fit on the first level and I stacked the remaining 2 pints on top of the 3 pints on the first level (don't stack directly on top of eachother, stagger the jars on the second level). I put the canner, without the lid, on the stove and cranked up the heat. Now wait for the boil. It takes a little bit. It probably took at least 20 minutes on my stove. Once it's at a boil, add your lid without the presssure regulator, and allow steam to flow freely for ten minutes. This will purge any air from the canner. Now, add the pressure regulator. Pressure will slowly begin to build and after several minutes it will reach 15 psi (with most pressure canners) and the regulator will rock back and forth continuously releasing steam to maintain 15psi. You don't want to blow off too much steam, so back your burner down until you can just maintain 15 psi without the regulator releasing too much steam. I had my electric range on medium and the regulator was still pissing out a bunch of steam, so it doesn't take much to keep the pressure up.When you hit 15 psi, you're at the sterilization temp (~250F). Start your timer and hold it here for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, kill your burner and carefully remove the canner from the heat (careful, it's heavy and HOT). Don't try to quick cool the pot by putting it in cold water, you'll likely cause sealing issues. Just let it sit somewhere out of the way until the pressure drops back down to atmospheric. I set mine one a heavy duty cooling rack to help promote slightly quicker cooling. The Presto canner has a pressure indicator to tell you when it reaches that point. If you have a different canner, follow the instructions for your model to know when all the excess pressure has dissipated. After the pressure is dissipated, remove the lid. You may either remove the jars now or let them cool further in the pot. I chose to leave them in the pot. After a few minutes I started hearing loud *POPS*, which turned out to be the sound of the vacuum buttons on the lids sucking in as the jars cooled (a good sign!).FinishingAfter all the lids sucked in, I pulled the jars from the canner (wearing a heat resistant glove!) and placed them on a towel on the counter. I let them sit overnight to completely cool and develop a good pressure differential in the vacuum seal. In the morning, I began removing the rings and gently trying to lift the lids to make sure they had a good vacuum seal. For whatever reason the rings on the pints jars came off easy, while the quarts were more sticky. I believe that a little bit of wort worked it's way out from underneath the lids of the quart jars and were gumming up the lid rings (a normal occurrence, from my understanding). After all, the wort is boiling in the jars. I simply ran the rings under some hot water for 2-3 seconds and they came right off. I also wiped around the lids of all the jars with a damp cloth to remove any residual wort around the lid. The last thing you want is to have food for little buggies around your lid. Finally, I wiped the jars dry and wrapped around the lids with Glad Press'N'Seal wrap. I'm storing the jars in the basement, so I added the wrap to keep anything unwated from on/around the lids. I'll also wipe around the lids with some star-san before I open them up to use, just in case.Once the jars were all sealed up and ready to go, I did notice that quite a bit of break material had stuck to the sides of the jars. I just took each on and gently shook it to knock the break off the side and let it settle. After sitting for a few weeks it should probably be pretty easy to decantthe wort without transferring much break into the starter. I think I pretty much covered it all. Overall, it was a fairly easy and uneventful process. Feel free to pepper me with questions and criticisms...
Edited by JKoravos, 11 May 2009 - 08:49 PM.
