Canning Cabbage into Saur Kraut

I made sour kraut with the cabbage that grew in my garden...this was my first time attempting to can a vegetable, I've just tried fruits and chutneys at this point.
I started by sanitizing twelve quart-sized regular mouth canning jars and lid rings.

I used the sani-rinse cycle on my dishwasher...the alternative would be boiling the jars in a water bath.Then I cut my cabbage into small pieces. To start, I had four large purple cabbage heads and two small green heads (I forgot to take a picture before this step - oops).Once the cabbage was cut I put the lids into a kettle of water - the water doesn't need to be boiling, just hot.

This is also a good time to fill up the canning kettle and get it onto the stove, it's quite a bit of water so it will take a while to boil.

Then the cabbage was stuffed into the jars. I pushed it down to make sure it was tightly packed in.

The next step was to put a teaspoon of salt (I use sea salt) and a teaspoon of sugar into each jar. It is okay just to dump it on the top, it will dissolve in when the water is added.After this, I put a teaspoon of vinegar into each jar - I used half each of white vinegar and apple cider vinegar, but using either one alone would work also.

An optional step is to put pickling spice into the jars as well - I happen to like it quite well. I also put about 5-7 peppercorns into each jar.

Water is the next step, pour hot water into each jar up to it's neck.

Place each lid on a jar then screw on the lid rings.

Put the jars into the canning kettle and boil with the lid on for 25 minutes (about 5 minutes longer if you live at a high elevation).

Remove the jars from the canning kettle and listen for the pop they make as each jar seals.
This sour kraut is supposed to sit for at least 8 weeks before it can be used to get a proper fermentation,...this should be just in time for Octoberfest! My inner German girl is definately excited!