Sealing Dry Foods in Mason Jars Without Electricity (grain, house, water)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We like to store a lot of non-bulk dried goods in canning jars, which we have in quantity anyway. You've probably seen lots of old canning jars at yard sales, and sometimes there are off-brand name jars for sale at dollar stores for almost nothing. While I would not use these for serious canning, they are perfectly good, after a thorough cleaning, for vacuum-sealing dry foods.
Trouble is, vacuum sealing has always involved a Food Saver-type machine, which requires electric power, and the machine itself is not easily fixable if it breaks down (which it often does). Then I found a better, easier way to vacuum seal the lids - by hand, using a brake bleeder for a car. Use a new one with a plastic tube, and it's a very clean method. Here's a video of how it's done, followed by some links for the inexpensive parts you'll need. Sure beats the cost of a Food Saver!
This method is great for keeping coffee, tea bags, sugar, cinnamon, ground flour, pancake mix, oatmeal, pasta and even rice, fresh for years without electrical gizmo's. I also add a 300 cc oxygen absorber to each jar, available from the LDS canneries. If you have spare O2 absorbers left and want to keep them fresh, just vacuum seal them in another jar! Here are all the links:
Another member and I had been posting back-and-forth about it, me figuring you'd need a Food Saver machine (which we have, but it's a pain to set up), and he wondering how to preserve the O2 absorbers that were left over (just seal 'em in another jar!). Then I came across this video and thought, this would be cheaper to do than all that 5-gallon bucket stuff with the mylar liners, dry ice and/or nitrogen, and worrying about whether it's food-grade plastic. I'm now storing bulk items, like rice, in the half-gallon jars, which we seldom use for anything else. Finally, this video brought it all together!
It's undoubtedly far more efficient to mix your own. However, there's another way for those who don't wish to do this but wish an easier way keep the oxygen absorbers active. Just put a packet of indicating silica gel into the container of oxygen absorbers. When it absorbs a moderate quality of moisture it will become less blue. When It's saturated it will be pink. A low oven will drive out the water so it may be used over and over. The big advantage is that the consumer can better judge whether the packs are still effective.
Silica gel is excellent in safes and vaults to remove water vapor.
Silica gel is not exactly the same as an oxygen absorber. The oxygen absorber will kill any tiny insect pests that remain in grain products by depriving them of oxygen. We tried storing many dried foods with silica gel, before we learned about the oxygen absorbers. We had a real disaster with 20 lbs of sugar, which all hardened almost like rock, and almost broke a jar trying to remove it. I ended up bringing it outside and melting the sugar with the hose, which was a really messy process, and was concerned about mice in the area.
No more silica gel packets for us. They are certainly great for gun storage, but never again for food. The food does not stay easy-flowing in glass jars with silica gel. We're trying a new batch this year, with the oxygen absorbers.
Silica gel is not exactly the same as an oxygen absorber. The oxygen absorber will kill any tiny insect pests that remain in grain products by depriving them of oxygen. We tried storing many dried foods with silica gel, before we learned about the oxygen absorbers. We had a real disaster with 20 lbs of sugar, which all hardened almost like rock, and almost broke a jar trying to remove it. I ended up bringing it outside and melting the sugar with the hose, which was a really messy process, and was concerned about mice in the area.
No more silica gel packets for us. They are certainly great for gun storage, but never again for food. The food does not stay easy-flowing in glass jars with silica gel. We're trying a new batch this year, with the oxygen absorbers.
I'm not suggesting that anyone put silica gel into a food container. I'm saying that it's easy to store oxygen absorbers in an ordinary covered container with silica gel used to keep them from reacting. You read the article on the reaction of oxygen absorbers. How can silica get not work?
I suppose it might work for that purpose. But if you're going through the process of vacuum sealing food in jars anyway, why not keep one small jar aside for the oxygen absorbers, and vacuum seal those as well? Why pay for the extra expense of silica gel? If you already have some for gun vaults and such, that's fine. I just have a bad set of experiences with silica gel, but definitely go with whatever you feel comfortable with.
Nor', if you are concerned about pests in your grain/rice/flour/nut stashes, freeze them overnight before sealing up.
I had an awful moth problem in my bird's cage, finally figured out they were in the bird food from the store. Now when I buy his seed and bags of peanuts they go in the freezer overnight. Never had another moth after that.
I keep my baking supplies in quart canning jars in the cupboards. No more messy, leaky bags or shelves to clean. I use a canning funnel to pour them into the jars neatly.
Another member and I had been posting back-and-forth about it, me figuring you'd need a Food Saver machine (which we have, but it's a pain to set up), and he wondering how to preserve the O2 absorbers that were left over (just seal 'em in another jar!). Then I came across this video and thought, this would be cheaper to do than all that 5-gallon bucket stuff with the mylar liners, dry ice and/or nitrogen, and worrying about whether it's food-grade plastic. I'm now storing bulk items, like rice, in the half-gallon jars, which we seldom use for anything else. Finally, this video brought it all together!
I just gave away several cases of jars because I have so many extras. This is a good way to make some of those spare jars useful since they take up storage space anyway. We have always used jars for storing dried goods short-term but never imagined them as a long-term storage solution. Thank you for posting this!
dosent the fact that your filling the jar displace the oxygen, a bit like water displacement? or is that too simplistic??
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Why didn't I think of that!
