MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Finally got my 1/2 gallon mason jars washed, dried, filled, vacuumed, and sealed.

During the process we weighed all ingredients to make sure we can accurately estimate how much dry goods to purchase in order to fill our jars:

Black Eyes Peas: 3lbs
Lima Beans: 3lbs
Kidney Beans: 3lbs
Pinto Beans: 3.25 lbs
Green Split Peas: 3.5 lbs
Rice: 3.5 lbs
Small Red Beans: 3 lbs
Light Brown Sugar: 3lbs
Lentils: 3.5 lbs
Penne Pasta: 2lbs


Now for the process:

1. Washed all jars in dishwasher on high heat, heated dry, with 1/2 cup bleach and normal dishwashing detergent

2. Dried jars thoroughly

3. Fill jars as full ass possible leaving enough room for oxygen absorbers

4. Boiled Lids

5. Dried Lids

6. Placed oxygen absorbers in all jars (we used 2 because they were very small, even though rated at 500cc, this should be MASSIVE overkill)

7. Placed lids on jars

8. Vacuum sealed all jars with foodsaver and mason jar sealer.


The last pic is of my oxygen absorber test using 2 small oxy absorbers from MRE depot and a small mason jar. We inserted 2 oxygen absorbers and tightened the lid. We will check it tomorrow to see how good the resulting seal is. So far it seems to have sucked down the 'bump' in the lid, so they appear to be working. The oxygen absorbers that we sat on the counter also got a little warm, so I am assuming they are working for lack of a more thorough test.

We will most likely not buy these absorbers again, I will buy from the LDS website in the future, as their absorbers are much larger, cheaper, and get quite warm when you open the bag. They are usually made in the US as well.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Nice job TG,awaiting your results.

BTW,pretty jars!

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I like it ! Especially the photos.

Question on the foodsaver jar vacuum deal...how does that work ?

The adapter looks like the same size as a wide mouth canning lid, so I see how that would go over the jar mouth, but how do you get the jar lid on there and still hold the vacuum when you take the adapter off ?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

It is really easy, all you do is place the lid on the jar, BUT NOT THE RING, then put the foodsaver attachment over it. You start the foodsaver vacuum, and it pulls the air out of the jar when the foodsaver stops, you simply unhook the vacuum tube from the attachment, which releases the vacuum between the foodsaver attachment and the jar. The lid is sucked down due to the vacuum and you are good to go.

The process is pulling the air out from under the lid essentially. As the air is pumped out, the suction of the jar keeps the lid in place, when the vacuum is released on the attachment, it does not effect the lid or the jar.

It pulls a VERY hard vacuum. It takes a spoon and some prying to get the lids back off.

Hard to explain, but does this make sense?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

UPDATE on oxygen absorber test:
***************************
We let the test jar of 2 oxy absorbers sit until this morning. Opened the jar and it had sealed nicely and a slight swoosh sound when we pried the lid off.

There was not a large vacuum, most likely only a couple of pounds worth.

We then resealed the jar by tightening the lid. Approx 30 to 45 minutes later, the lid ONCE AGAIN popped down. Honestly we didn't even do this on purpose, and I was very surprised to hear the tell tale 'pop' from across the room.

This tells me that these oxy absorbers at least work. I don't have a good way to tell what volume of absorption they are capable of, but I was very encouraged that they were able to pull the lid down TWICE with at least 14 hours between the initial seal.


Also, all jars still have good seals this morning.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Perfect sense, excellent explanation.....thank you.

I assumed it was a simple process, but I've just never had occasion to use one of the jar sealers....may have to pick one up......they would be handy to store flour, cornmeal, beans, etc that we use even on a regular basis, in addition to longer term storage.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I really think boiling the lids was unnecessary. I will try to seal an empty jar with a cold lid and see how the seal holds up.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Nice pics.
Keep them in a cool dry place and they will be good for at least a decade or more.:clap2:

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I have a rival seal-a-meal model vacu sealer, will the Foodsaver mason jar sealer work on my machine? I dont do many dry goods in mason jars but it never hurts!

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Unless the lids are hot when you put them on the jar, I can't see where boiling them would help with a seal ( maybe heat them in an oven for short time on low ? ), but boiling them WOULD sterilize them, which is why we do it in wet canning, and careful handling of home canned ANYTHING can't be over emphasized.

One of the reasons you DO home canning is to control things like that......God forbid you should slide down to the level of commercially canned food :D .....seriously, if you've ever been around a commercial operation of any kind, you know the level of sanitation/safety is just slightly above the "get it out the door at the minimum cost and maximum profit" state.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Great ideas...thanks y'all. My wife and I will now reconsider our food storage plans to seal the dry goods in 5 gallon pails. The smaller mason jars look like a much more practical solution. These jars would be much easier to hand out to family, friends, neighbors than the big buckets.

Regards, SC

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Agreed, but they are coming out of bulk bags stacked from the supermarket. Between the bleach, high temp dishwasher and boiling the lids, the bottles are MUCH more sterile than the dry goods that are going into them!

I boiled them not for sterility but to make sure the sealing ring was pliable enough to form a long lasting seal. As you said, oven, hot plate, etc would probably do just as well.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

If it runs a tube, it should work. I don't know how much vacuum it will pull, but it should work. You will probably have to cut off the proprietary connector on the end of the included tube of the mason jar sealer.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Great pics. 1 question, how many inches tall are the 1/2 gallon jars?

What you did here is definitley the way I am going with all my storage of dry goods. So far I have just used rice and black beans all in many cases of quart jars. Next up is patsa, and sugar.

The foodsaver, mason jar combo is a real winner. You can use them over and over and they are such conveinent sizes.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Nice job TG.Yes,try a dry lid and let us know what happens.Ball is supposed to be good for dry sealing right out of the box,Kerr seals need boiling per pumpNseal to hold a good seal.(Said that before but repeated for those who missed it elsewhere)

Clearly the little guys work,they worked good for me too.
This first person REAL WORLD experience,with pics included, is a valuable resource.

I do the pictorial cookbook at our little site,if there is a way to save,and somehow catagorize,pictorials here that would be nice.A picture is worth a thousand words.

Im impressed by your pictorial,thanks again.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Here's a little cell pic....(also, dry lids work perfectly).

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Scott,are those Ball lids?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Yes. I just have some masking tape with a best by date on top covering them.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

The 1/2 gallon jars are 9 inches tall.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

How did the dry jar experiment come out,did it make a strong vacuum?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I can't speak for TG, but I have done cases of the quart jars with dry lids and they all pulled very hard vacuums and have lasted for weeks so far. I have to take a hard object to wedge between the glass thread and the lid and slowly pry up to get the seal to break and you hear the air flow in.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Perfect, Very strong vacuum. So hard that the metal lid wont even flex when you push on it.

I don't foresee any issues with those seals.

My current plan is to buy another 36 jars this week or next, and can a 50lb bag of yellow dent corn.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

when you can the corn, what kind of liquid do you can them in? Like a simple syrup(sugar and water) or just water?

I just did pears and used a simple syrup, but I dont know if it was thick enough. I added a little lemonjuice too for the acid. It was my firt time canning pears :(

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

No liquid, these will be dry pack only.

I am trying to establish an easy to use food storage program that uses readily available components that are reusable, cheap, and almost foolproof.

We will get to wet canning later, but right now the priority is effective, cheap, long lasting dry goods storage.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Heimy,how did you process those jars?

TG is talking packing dry goods here.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Just curious, whats wrong with gallon sized mylar bags + O2 absorbers?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Ever see a mouse chew through a glass jar?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

The main problem I have with mylar is that it is not foolproof.

1. care must be taken to make sure the seals are wrinkle free and airtight.

2. many items such as rice, pasta, etc. are not really suitable for mylar. Mylar punctures pretty easily, and I have seen mylar puncture with rice, spaghetti noodles, dried apples, dried onion etc.

3. Mylar does not have the storage life of glass or #10 cans due to gas permeability.

4. You cannot pull a full vacuum with mylar like you can with glass, especially with items mentioned in #2

5. Most of the mylar bags cost upwards of 75 to 95 cents each. I can get glass 1/2 masons for 1.25 each that can be used for the next 50 years.

6. Mylar is not Insect/Rodent proof (as Jonas suggested).

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

And you know, if you buy a bucket and lid, and use the mylar bag, you have about 8-10 bucks in a package of 5 gallons.....about what a case of 6 1/2 gallon jars cost.

Plus, with a 1/2 gallon, you don't open as much down the road either.....a 5 or 6 gallon bucket is a lot to use up. And if you get into "trade" with the neighbors, 1/2 gallon jars don't look like you have as much as you might have either....

Yeah....you guys are starting to put on a pretty good argument for jars.

I've got a case of the Tattler "re-usable" lids....don't get excited...they are a plastic lid with a separate rubber ring, so the ring is the weak link in that theory......but I'd like to use them up on something, and this sounds like the ticket.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I am in Ohio and am having a hard time trying to find the 1/2 gallon Ball Mason jars. Any good suggestions for a retail store that sells them? I can find the smaller ones everywhere just no luck with these.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Ace hardware will special order them and ship them to your local store. I did that with this batch.

Barring that, ask at hardware stores and feed stores. You can also try your local supermarket manager. I have had the VERY large chains special order for me before. They are a low volume order, so you will have to ask. If they stock the quart sizes, you can probably order the 1/2 gallon.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

TechGuy did you just go into the store and ask them to order them? Or did you do it through the 800# and have them shipped in?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Went to the store, and asked the manager if they could order them for me.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

How much are the Foodsaver units? I went to Foodsaver.com and found a unit for $167.00. That's pretty steep. Any way to just seal the jars and not mess with the plastic bags? Is there a cheaper unit that doesn't require you to punch a hole in the lid?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I got mine at BassPro for $59 it is last years model. Works great, no frills

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Scroll up to top 3rd pic. down no hole needed in lid for that method.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

What model is it? Know of any online sources?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I was thinking non dried corn when corn was mentioned, my bad. I didnt even think about dehydrated or anything :(

As far as processing the pears go. Since they are considers slightly acidic a steam presure canner is not "required". I cut peeled the pears, cut them into eights(cause i like mine a little smaller). Made a simple syrup(sugar and water) I dont remember the ratio I used, as a baker i've made a thousand simple syrups a day so its like second nature to me. But I think its like 1:4-5...i cup sugar to every 4-5 cups of water, then bring to a boil. I put the pears in a lemon juice water bath to keep from browning and when the S.S. was ready I boiled them for 5 minutes.

Im sure tech guy will get more into this but theres a bunch of things like heating the jars in a 250 oven until ready to use(hot canning) and what not. When everything was ready I put them in a water canner for 20 minutes and they sealed up just fine! Sitting in the pantry now(just finished my last 4 jars today).

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Waiting for a new pressure canner! Maybe next paycheck!

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

WHAT?!? -- I went and looked at em there about a month ago and if I remember right they were like $150 to $200:banghead:


some people have all the luck:tongue_ma:

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

yeah, im trying to convince my wife to let me buy a pressure canner....er i mean...i done told her i was getting one and thats thats woman!:tongue_ma:

Itll be so much nicer and you can do so much more, but for most fruits, the water bath canner does pretty well.

I do have a question though tech guy...is it abnormal for a can to "pop" right after its taken out of the bath. By pop I mean seal in this case(not unseal). They dont pop in the bath, but when their "time" is up, ill take them out and thats when i hear that tell tale pop from the seal? Is this the way its supposed to be?

The four cans I did today seem to have sealed just fine, but I did some soup a few months ago that went bad, and by bad i mean started to form botulism.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

When the internal temperature of the jar drops, so does the pressure. Hence, the seal top is drawn down, due to its convex shape, to fill that space.

right? am I right??


:shocked_ma::bear_w00t:

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

thats what i figured. I just wanted to make sure i didnt do anything wrong as I dont want to get botulo-bombs again :(

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

this is a fantastic post! thanks TechGuy, very very informative!

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I noticed that the local WalMart doesn't have the 1/2 gallon jars either. The woman did tell me that they are going to try and stock the jars year round though, instead of just a seasonal item. That's good news, cause I'd like to treat cases of jars like the .22 ammo, get some every time you go!

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I just picked up 5 cases of 1/2 gallon jars yesterday from ACE. It was a great process to order them on their site and have them delivered to the nearest store so that the shipping cost was $0.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Get some books on canning.We have several,good resource.

This is the Bible according to a lot of canning folks.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...500_AA240_.jpg

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Kudos to Tech Guy. So much good info and questions in this thread, I made it a sticky so it won't get pushed down and hard to find.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Found 1 case of the 1/2 gallon jars at my local Ace Hardware. Having them order me a few more. Thanks for the info. I recommend if you are having trouble finding these locally try an Ace if you have one or have them order them.

Also TechGuy are those lbs of dry food how much you can fit into each 1/2 gallon jar? 3.5 lbs to 1 jar for example?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

How much did you have to pay for the 1/2 gallon jars? I bought cases of the quart jars at Wal Mart today for $9.80/case. Guess I'll have to check with the local ACE Hardware.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I found them at a local grocery store ( Ingles if you happen to have one around, but I think they are just local to this area ), but they also only had one case. 8.50 for it.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

They were about the same price at ACE for the 1/2 gallon, but you only get 6 in a case. So you store 3 gallons with either size case.

I just noticed that ACE removed the 1/2 gallon size from their web site. Hopefully it's just temporary, but I don't know. :no_ma:

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Yes, that is how much you will need to buy to fill the jars. That was the trickiest part for us, is figuring out how much to buy to fill all the jars will little to no waste.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

DAMN YOU GIM PEOPLES anyway......

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I've seen that done.....wasn't so much pressurizing as purging......they took the tank ( nitrogen in this case ) and had a hose hooked to a regulator with a "wand" type tip on it.....stuck the wand down in the grain in the bucket and opened the valve, forcing the air to overflow the bucket edges and be replaced by the nitrogen. After about 60 seconds of gassing, they quickly removed the wand tip, and slapped a bucket lid on.

O2 absorbers are so much easier to use, I think that method has gone away, but would still work.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Then it seems it would be better to use the quart jars with smaller O2 absorbers instead of the 1/2 gallon jars. That way you can use the same jars for wet canning later once you use whats in them. It would be a bummer to buy hundreds of canning jars for dry canning and then have to go out and buy hundreds more for wet canning anyway. Just a thought.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

True enough.....And you also get 3 gallons of storage in a regular case of quart jars too.....there are 12 to a case.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

9.99 for a 12 pack of quart jars at the Ace by me (NoVa). 16 FRNs for the same at Chinamart!!

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Last quart jars I bought was a pallet load of them from a local Tru-Value hardware store couple years ago.....I'm thinking they were 7 bucks/case......Ball brand. I bought 45 cases.

Investment Grade Glass :D

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Thanks Andy. I bought some last year at Wally World, and they were about2 bucks cheaper than this year. Glock, you paid 16 bucks at Wal Mart? I thought they had the same prices Nationwide? Like I said, a case at Wally's here was $9.80 + tax. I don't feel so bad now.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

"Investment Grade Glass " You ain't kiddin' Andy. Whoever said cash is King recently, is Nuts! Seems to me that converting those FRN's into tangible items ie preps, gold, silver ASAP, is the thing to do. Tried to talk to the Parents a little on that subject, same ole' response-Glazed eyes!

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

lol - lots of things are becoming investment grade
these days...

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I just started my first attempt at canning butter :) Cant wait to see how it turns out

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I saved quite a bit of money buying my canning jars at garage sales. As long as the jar isn't cracked and the rim isn't chipped, there's no difference between "new" and "used" except the price. Tn Andy's right though. I imagine that canning jars will become both increasingly expensive and increasingly hard to get as time goes by. My wife picks up a package or so of lids every time she goes shopping. You only need rings for the number of jars you have, but the lids have to be new every time.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Thanks I called and they have 3 cases left. I'm on my way.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Excellent thread TechGuy,
I've been hearing about this for a while, but the pictures really make it. I'm going to run out and get all the fixins for this. I like glass, you can see what's in it, and it's good protection against rodents. The size makes a lot more sense to me than the 5 gal buckets. Good job.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I've got a case of 6-gallon Mylar storage bags (I believe there are 30 in the case I purchased--got them from sorbentsystems.com) that I'm about to fill with rice, beans and other bulk grains. Is it a wise use of storage space to put beans and the like in Mason jars instead of larger long-term storage bags with oxygen absorbers? I've presently got 10 cases of Mason jars I haven't yet used, but I'm dehydrating fruits and vegetables and putting them in the Mason jars, which would seem to me to be a better use of storage containers since the bulk grains and beans would be your dietary base and would be consumed in greater quantities. I'd be interested in knowing your thoughts on this.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Mylar is perfectly acceptable, and I have storage in mylar, glass and #10 cans. The glass method is just another way to preserve, each has its own pros and cons.

I like the glass because it is reusable, easy to seal, and lasts longer than mylar, plus the fact that it is puncture proof.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

So do I have to use the O2 absorbers AND Vacuum seal it? Would the vac seal be enough?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

If you want to by 81 cases of 1/2 gallon jars at once ...

Ball 68100 wide half gallon mason jars PALLET OF 81 CASES

Price is $624.99 plus $150 S&H. That comes to $9.57 a case, and no taxes if you are outside of Florida.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Vacuum sealing alone removes only a portion of the air in the jar. Maybe a lot, maybe a little -- depends on the quality of the vacuum sealing equipment. But whatever air remains in the jar will still comprise approximately 20% oxygen. In my opinion, I'd rather use the O2 absorbers. Removing the oxygen will reduce the gaseous content inside the jar by about 20% and external air pressure on the lid will be more than sufficient to keep it sealed. If removing exposure of your stored food to oxygen is your goal, the O2 absorbers are the way to go.

Of course if you want to vacuum seal the jars as well, I suppose that can't hurt, since there will be even less oxygen left in the jars to be absorbed and the jars will start out sealed. In my experience, the O2 absorbers alone will have your jars sealed within 30 minutes anyway.

For what it's worth, I keep my unused O2 absorbers in vacuum sealed jars because I don't want to waste their capabilities.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Why is it that one would want to store beans/peas etc in mason jars rather than just leaving them in the bags they're bought in? Is it to protect against water/vermin damage or does it keep them fresher for longer periods? Also, how important is it the jars be vacuum sealed?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Did you read the whole thread? The answers to all of your questions have already been discussed.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

The vac seal is good, but the oxygen absorbers remove any doubt as to whether or not the oxygen is gone.

Between the heavy vacuum and the oxy absorbers, it is a safe bet that you have stopped oxidation, and made it really inhospitable to critters.

Oxy absorbers can only pull a couple of pounds vacuum max. The food saver and oxy absorber should be REALLY close to a perfect vacuum.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

OK, I'll use the o2 absorbers and seal as well. Ordered the o2 absorbers from Wendy but backordered 2 weeks. Ordered a pump-n-seal and going on the second week waiting for it.

This sure will open up a lot of space in my freezers. Thanks for the info.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I'm not so sure about that...


http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...cture004-2.jpg

Sucked the hell out of a 5 gallon pail of fettuccini. ;)

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

A 2-3 lb vacuum would do that. You have to remember that vacuum is a lb's per square inch number. Over the volume of the bucket, even a couple of lb's vacuum will pull the sides in no problem, that is a lot of force. The vacuum we are pulling on the mason jars is around 20lb to 25lb's. This would absolutely CRUSH a 5 gal bucket.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Of course, if your O2 absorbers have removed all the oxygen, the remaining gases are pretty much inert so far as the food is concerned. Any pressure sufficient to seal the container is enough. If there is no oxygen present, what advantage does 20-25 pounds of pressure have over 2-3 pounds (other than making it really, really difficult to open the container when you want to eat, LOL)?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Donnie740
Why is it that one would want to store beans/peas etc in mason jars rather than just leaving them in the bags they're bought in? Is it to protect against water/vermin damage or does it keep them fresher for longer periods? Also, how important is it the jars be vacuum sealed?

Where? I read the entire thread and I do not see were these questions are answered. I bought 20lbs of rice in a plastic bag with a zip lock top thinking that would be better than the other porous type bags they had. Would packaging in jars prolong the storage life?

Also, are the oxygen absorbers from MREDepot individually packaged so you can use one at a time or do you expose the entire lot when opened?

New to this, so please excuse me!

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Mine were from Sorbentsystems and came as 20- 750cc packages, though other sizes/amounts were available. I have to prepare an appropriate number of containers first- then I crack the bag, distribute the absorbers & seal it all up ASAP. It worked out to be about 7- 5 gallon pails fwiw. You need to figure out the size and number of packets you need when you order and prepare the appropriate number of containers per "session".

http://sorbentsystems.com/order_O2.html

Edit: I just noticed they sell "bag clips" on the link shown. Again- fwiw. :)

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Well, I am thinking the quart Ball Mason Jars would be best for just the two of us. MREDepost has the 500cc absorbers, but from what I am seeing on the link above 50cc is adequate for quart size containers. What are the thought on this?

I will plan to jar up the rice, beans, pasta (will have to break it up to fit), noodles, sugar, salt and other such dry products that were purchased recently and are now in the original packaging.

Thanks,

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Your paying twice as much for the absorbers at MRE Depot. The exact same ones at Honeyville for half the price.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Do you mean these at Honeyville?

http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/ind...ROD&ProdID=309

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

We are a family of 6- hence the large containers. Whatever you do just don't undersize it; though 500cc's sounds like waaaay too much for a jar. Do a little reading and maybe go the next size up from recommended? It also depend on how much air space is in the container, too. More air to suck with large pasta noodles than something tightly packed. I should mention that I am new at this too... please keep that in mind. LOL.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Beat you to it! LOL!

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I'm about to pack my dry food in quart mason jars and I only have 500cc O2 absorbers as well. I tried to find smaller ones online but the cost was higher than for the same number of 500cc absorbers. I'm not expecting the jars to implode due to too much vacuum. Other than being overkill do you see any problems with using them?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

No. My impression is that once the O2 is gone they just stop working- no harm done.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I apologize to you Donnie740 and thank you LukeNM for challenging my perhaps hasty response. The answers may not be as clear as I thought after all. I've assumed some basic background information that you may not be aware of, especially if you are new to the forum. My bad.

1) Why is it that one would want to store beans/peas etc in mason jars rather than just leaving them in the bags they're bought in?

Partially answered in post 28. Post 6, among others, reveals that the subject is long term storage of foods, a very frequent topic of discussion in the Survival Prep section of the forum. The discussion of oxygen absorbers and vacuum is pertinent because oxygen causes foods to "oxidize" and spoil over time. The shelf-life of foods can be greatly increased by removing oxygen from your food packages. Whereas beans or pasta may remain relatively fresh, nutritious, and palatable for a year or two in the original oxygen-filled plastic bag they were purchased in, they can last 10 to 30 years in a dry, cool, oxygen-free environment. You usually cannot achieve that kind of environment in the original food package. Sealing foods with oxygen absorbers in heat-sealed mylar bags, often in sealed buckets, is one way that people commonly pack dry foods for long term storage. This mason jar method allows you to store smaller quantities.

2) Is it to protect against water/vermin damage or does it keep them fresher for longer periods?

Both. Heat, moisture, and oxygen are the main promoters of food decay. Time too, in the long run. There's a limit to how long you can keep food, even in the best environment you can manage. Vermin will also destroy your food if they can get to it. Glass is even better than mylar bags and plastic buckets when it comes to vermin protection and oxygen permeability. A downside is that glass is also more susceptible to breakage, and is a heavy and bulky form of packaging compared to 5 or 6 gallon mylar bag/plastic pails.

3) Also, how important is it the jars be vacuum sealed?

Post 72. It's debatable whether the additional vacuum obtained by the FoodSaver is superior to using oxygen absorbers alone, but it seems like it couldn't hurt to do it, and it probably results in a greater vacuum inside the jar, which may at least hold the lid on more tightly. We'll have to wait many years, up to 30 maybe, to find out if it is really better.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Thanks TG for this thread and everyone for the great comments. I knew as soon as I read it that this was way cool. I am so tired of washing food saver bags.

Got several cases of regular mouth mason jars from wally world for 7.89 each since the regular mason jar sealer was all that was available locally. Unfortunately the regular jars and jar sealer combo did'nt work for me. had to beat up the jars to get a seal. Anyone else have problems with the regular mason jars?

Bought some cases of wide mouth jars (9.89 @ Wally's) when the wide sealer arrived and that combination works like a dream...no effort whatsoever. I used oxygen absorbers but am not convinced they are necessary. The sealer seams to pull all of the air out and I don't see how any air will get back into the sealed jar.

I even loaded some jars with chicken and beef and put them in the freezer. Wife thought I was crazy and they would crack. That was 2 weeks ago. So Far so good.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I recently obtained some old canning jars that have the wire and glass top. Does anyone know if you can use the regualr lid seals on these or do I need to buy the gaskets?

Thanks in advance.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Techguy, do you have a volume measurment for rice similar to the ones for beans etc.? I working with 10 cases of 1/2 gallon jars (60) and 2 cases (24) of quart jars. We go through a lot of pasta and rice medium amounts of split peas and black beans and very little other beans (which I'll put in the quart jars.
I'm guessing it will be three to 4 lbs of rice per jar.

Again, great thread.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

FL_RacingGal,

your gonna love your all american canner--ive had a couple of others but this one is my favorite. get the hang of canning and pretty soon you will have shelf after shelf of your home made foods.

stock up on the cases of canning jars as soon as your able as the prices will be rising soon.

i went to ebay and found a source for bulk canning jar lids and bought several cases, so i have a few years worth. Very Important.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I did my first vacuum packing session today with the foodsaver. Let's just say it was a complete failure. I have the V2840 machine that works fine for frozen stuff. I purchased small and largemouth attachments for jars and set up several buckets and my jars. It is probably just this model, but there is more vacuum on a jar as shipped from ball than you can get using this machine, and each jar takes about 1.5 minutes to process. I tried every setting, hot lids, cold lids etc. It doesn't work. Barely any vacuum. I ended up just tossing the oxy absorbers in and packing the stuff up. Waste of time and money IMHO. I would be curious to see others results and which machines you are using.

Still works great for freezer packing, so I am not out any money other than the two lid attachment thingies. I have a manual vacuum pump for automotive use that I could try with the cans and see if it works. I think the 2840 is weak sauce on vacuum.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Oh, and I checked my jars that I didn't use vac on and used one 500cc oxy in each jar (quarts). After three hours they are all clamped down really, really tight. Popped in as should be. So I guess the oxygen absorbers win and leave the foodsaver to the art of making frozen chicken breasts and steaks.

The jar method of storage rocks with absorbers. You don't need the vacuum thing at all. Very good idea, I am out to get a lot more jars. I also have a canner and stuff anyways, so a lot of this stuff is already useful and many uses.

Thanks for all the info's. : )

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

The added advantage is that after you eat what you first stored you have all those good canning jars. I have food stored in foodsaver bags, but I may start doing this for additional food storage. My cans are getting full.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Where the heck has TechGuy been, anyone know?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Ijust clicked 'find posts' on his techguy on page one, and he posted 6 hours ago, so around GIM.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Still around.. been really busy... lots of personal drama with employment.

Getting better now....

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

For what it is worth (I didn't read this thread) it has been my personal experience that the Kerr lids with the gray colored rubber seals better than the Mason lids with the red rubber.

The Mason red rubber sealant is too soft and creeps under heat. I have experienced seal failure close to 10% which is far too high. Just too much work involved to accept this.

The Kerr lids on the other hand can often times be reused if they are not distorted when opened.

I canned up sixteen pints of apricot preserves yesterday.

c

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I heard the same when doing my research. In the end I think it is easy to get the lids TOO hot by boiling them or leaving them in hot water too long and thus causing the seal failures. People take the warning to heat the lids WAY to literally.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I'm going to start dry packing some food this weekend. I'll start out with stuff I already eat on a daily basis for breakfast; grits, farina, and oatmeal. Looks like Wal-Mart and Sams Club have cheaper or just about as cheap prices as honeyvillegrains and I don't have to purchase an entire 50lb bag at once. As I learn to cook a bit I'll start adding rice and beans and flour as well. I hate to thing that I'm not buying any PM's at these absurdly low prices but I have a little of those, so for now I'll concentrate on food.


I can get 1 quart mason jars from a local supermarket but I asked about the 1/2 gallon jars and they won't order them. I'll check with the local Ace Hardware and farm coop today. Also, I don't have the oxygen absorbers yet but I do have a food-saver. In searching for oxygen absorbers and their use I came across this site:

http://www.drypak.com/oxygenAbsorbers.html

They have a guide for the size of absorber needed for specific containers and I thought I'd share the information in this thread.

Looks like for a 1/2 gallon mason jar a single 100 or 300 cc absorber is sufficient depending if the food is tight or loose packed.

Oxygen Absorber Recommendation Guide
Cans, Jars, Bags, Pails & Drums:
Size of Container-Product Recommendation / Tightly Packed / Loosely Packed
1 oz. / FT-20 / FT-20
2 oz. / FT-20 / FT-20
5 oz. / FT-20 / FT-20
Pint / FT-20 / FT-50
Quart / FT-50 / FT-100
Liter / FT-50 /FT-100
1 gallon / FT-100 / FT-300
5-6 gallon / FT-500 / FT-750

5 cubic inches / FT-20 / FT-20
10 cubic inches / FT-20 / FT-20
15 cubic inches / FT-20 / FT-20
30 cubic inches / FT-20 / FT-30
60 cubic inches / FT-30 / FT-50
90 cubic inches / FT-50 / FT-100
120 cubic inches / FT-50 / FT-100
250 cubic inches / FT-100 / FT-300

100 cc / FT-20 / FT-20
150 cc / FT-20 / FT-20
250 cc / FT-20 / FT-20
500 cc / FT-20 / FT-30
1000 cc / FT-30 / FT-50
1500 cc / FT-50 / FT-100
2000 cc /FT-50 / FT-100
4000 cc / FT-100 / FT-300

Tightly packed assumes less than 10% of void airspace inside the container

Loosely packed assumes 25% or more of void airspace inside the container

Oxygen constitutes 20% of the void airspace within a containerized
environment

All recommendations are based on average use during normal temperature and humidity conditions. If you have any questions regarding the proper use of our products please consult Dry Pak Industries.

1 oz. = 30cc
1 liter = 1000cc
1 qt. = 946cc
1 pt. = 473cc
1 gallon = 3785cc
1 cu. In. = 16.4cc
1 cu. ft. = 28,300cc




Anyway thanks for the good prep info on this and many other threads; it's nice to know I'm not the only person worried about SHTF. Most everyone I come in contact in the real world is more worried about who will win the current college football game or what they will do for entertainment on weekends. Me, I want to take some kind of action so as to stop feeling helpless.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Hi,

This is a great thread!

I just purchased the Foodsaver Mason Jar vacuum attachment. I tried it and it seems to work very well.

I wanted to ask how long I should expect dried foods to last once sealed in 1.2 litre jars?

I'm planning to start with a variety of beans, pasta and peas. What else can I safely seal with it?


Thanks,

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Most items such as pasta, beans, etc should last well in excess of 10+ years if sealed well and stored in a cool, dark, dry place. You want to look for low moisture and low oil items. I.e. flour will not store VERY long term, but it fine for shorter term storage.

Other items you can store:

Sugar (may turn into one large brick of sugar, but is still usable, do not use oxy absorber or this is guaranteed.)
Salt (no need to vacuum or oxy absorber)

Dehydrated apples
Dehydrated onions
Dehydrated carrots
Powdered Milk
Wheat, red or white (stored properly will outlive you)
Oats, rolled or quick
Potato Flakes (not pearls or instant mashed potatoes, this is potato only, no milk or other ingredients in the flakes).

A quick note about oats:

This is a very versatile item to store, it can be cooked easily, is very nutritious, and can be used in a large variety of cooking needs...

Filler for meat dishes (meatloaf, meatballs, etc)
Breakfast
Cookies
Bread

It is also much easier to use than wheat for those purposes simply because it is lighter and does not have to be ground to be used.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

My 2480 Food Saver does a good job on vacuum sealing 1 quart wide-mouth mason jars. Make sure you are using the cannister button.

The trick is that it takes two cycles to get a hard enough vacuum for the lid to "pop" down, and sometimes I have to twist the adapter a bit on the top of the jar to get the inner lid to set.

After the first cannister cycle simply release the vacuum with the lever and re-close the lever. Don't move the adapter. Then push the cannister button for a second cycle. You should hear the "pop" of the inner lid being sucked down over the noise of the machine.

The seal get is hard enough that I have to use a (dull) kitchen knife blade to push against the inner lid to remove it, and even then it takes some effort especially if you don't want to bend the lid and render it unusable.

Hope this helps!

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I have this vacuum sealer ... its the best ..... 27" vacuum .... there is a video on the net .... vacuum sealing for dummies

http://cgi.ebay.com/Weston-PRO-2300-...3286.m20.l1116

and dehydrator ....

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Excalibur-ED...d=p3286.c0.m14

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Ah hell. I think I actually put up about 10 pounds of instant mash potato flakes about a month ago into ball jars. If they are the type that has milk or other goodies in them are these absolutely no good to store? The boxes they were in had an expiration date like 18 months out though. I believe they are the type that you have to boil water and add butter and milk to them though so I think I am ok.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Absolutely they are good! We keep a decent stock of those ourselves... nothing beats quick and relatively tasty taters when cooking is limited!

Just be warned that they do have a limited shelf life when compared to the potato flakes and other dry goods.

Non-fat dry milk... good.
Anything that has dry milk as an ingredient... no so good.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

If an unopened box of instant mashed potato flakes can sit on a shelf for a year and not lose much taste, then I'd guess the same flakes vacuum sealed with an O2 absorber would last several years.

They are on my list to get this weekend.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I had a question...I read somewhere that if you plan on using beans, seeds etc for sprouting that you should just vacuum seal them and not add the O2 absorbers since they require O2 to remain viable. Has anybody read this before? I can't remember where I saw it.
Thanks!

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I would love to store dried apples, figs, etc., as was mentioned a couple of posts back. However, I'm concerned that the residual moisture in these items would cause them to mold. Does anyone have knowledge about this?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Yes...J. Michael Stevens Group says the same thing. No nitrogen-packing of sprouting seeds. Apparently it diminishes their sprouting ability.

http://www.efoodsdirect.com/

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I live in a dry climate and have never had a problem with mold. Try vacuum sealing them in canning jars with a Food Saver...

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

What is the advantage of using something like the Food Saver on jars instead of the Pump-N-Seal? I actually heard about the Pump-N-Seal on this website in the first place so I was surprised to see the more expensive unit being used in this thread!

http://www.pump-n-seal.com/info.htm

Gregg

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I'm told pinto's are the most balanced of the dried beans....it's possible to almost live on pintos and rice. You do need some of the trace nutrients. To me this is more about surviving, yes, a good meal is nice but I want mostly livable food. The other thing that will balance out your mix is winter wheat berry's. Grow the sprouts and plant them indoors...grow wheat grass to about 7 days.(harvest when they just get second shoot) Juice a handfull or chew it and spit out the pulp(pulp won't digest). You can live on Wheat grass alone.(read about it...I know it doesn't have much protein) You only take about 4 oz of juice per day. It is the perfect food. You can't seal the berries in a bucket with an absorber without effecting their growing ability. Use diomatoues earth...dust them and store them in a bucket without the absorber. The earth will kill the weevils. (works good on fleas...dust your dog) You can let a few plants go to seed every year.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I am not sure there is a real advantage, other than the assurance that the seal will be good for many years. I do not have full faith that the pump and seal mechanism is very robust.

That being said, I would encourage everyone to start packing away food using whatever tools you can use.

There are no points for style in food storage, only usefulness!

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

For Amex card holders:
http://offers.amexnetwork.com/walmartconnect

If you spend $40 or more on two separate transactions, you get a credit on your Amex worth $20. Walmart sells Mason jars. Recently put an order in for a bunch of jars.

If you are concernedabout this being a phishing scam, look at the certificate, it is legit.
Also look at the below:

�www.amexnetwork.com/

�whois.domaintools.com/amexnetwork.com

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

What difference does this canning method have over the boiling in a pot / pressure canner?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Dry and uncooked vs wet.

You should get well in excess of 10 year storage of dry foods such as those listed in the beginning.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Goodman's has pallets of mason jars for $625 + $150 shipping.

81 cases of 1/2 gallon jars, 92 cases for 1 pint, and 76 cases of 1 quart jars.

Sounds like a good deal to me if I can find someone to split the cost with...

http://www.goodmans.net/get_item_bl-...allet-of-8.htm

http://www.goodmans.net/get_item_bl-...s-76-cases.htm

http://www.goodmans.net/get_item_bl-...s-92-cases.htm

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I'm in for part, if we could get a couple more people signed on.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

its only 6 jars per case. the picture shows 12 but the description says 6


how long would brown rice last this way? i heard it goes bad quick.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Word of warning for those of you who are packing dried grains and beans (even in vacuum mason jars).

-WEEEVILS are already in those grains - in the larva state.

Its just a fact, you cannot find a grain supplier that delivers pest free grains, only dried.

Dried grains only DELAY the growth of weevils and packing the grain/beans in OX absorbers, nitrogen or even CO2 helps to delay process but DOES NOT STOP IT for long term storage - it makes it inhospitable but not impossible.

You must KILL the weevil larva first, even genetically modified grains are suspect to weevil growth.

I just lost a few hundered pounds of oats, rice and beans to weevils .... grains that I packed with dry ice and sealed.

I had to re think everything I knew about dried good storage and the vacuumed mason jar idea is a great one - but we must assume those dried grains ARE contaminated and MUST BE STERILIZED before it becomes an infestation.

The mild vacuum the sealer provides will not kill weevil larva, only a deep vacuum in the 20 to 30 inches Hg range will. A vacuum that deep would warp the lids.

I strongly suggest placing all your dried good mason jars in the deep freeze for at least three days after packing. This should kill the larva.

I suppose these mason jars could also be cooked at 150 dgreees for a couple hours in an oven as an alternative sterilization method.



Be advised, its been a costly mistake for me to underestimate the veracity of the weevil !

I hate the little bastards ...

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I strongly disagree with the above statement. A small vacuum along with an oxy absorber is almost 100% foolproof way to kill bugs.

The combination of a vacuum with fresh oxygen absorbers guarantees an oxygen free environment, any air that is left will be nitrogen.

This is assuming that fresh oxygen absorbers were used and that a non-oxygen permeable package is used, such as glass, or metal, and to a lesser extent, mylar.

I do agree that dry ice packing is not the ideal way to kill bugs.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

WHY AREN'T THOSE SMALL OXYGEN ABSORBENT USING DEHYDRATED PACKAGES USED TO GET FOODS RID OF THE OXYGEN IN THE CAN?

We don't think they work as well as the time- tested method of drawing a vacuum, then flushing the can with nitrogen. We've used this method for the past 25 years. Those oxygen absorbers, which are really iron dioxide crystals imported from Japan, were only introduced in this country a few years ago. They were used to try to keep the weevils from germinating in those 5 gallon buckets of wheat. Some companies then began using them as a cheap method to try to extend the shelf life in cans of dehydrated foods. We question the practice for several reasons: (1) No track record; (2) The oxygen combines with the iron dioxide to produce other compounds and by-products (hydrocarbons) which react with the food and can; (3) the shelf-life of the food using this method is questionable at best, maybe 1-2 years. Bottom line — we wouldn't chance our food reserves to such a questionable, unproven procedure.



http://www.foodreserves.com/



I think I'll just pack mine in dry nitrogen AFTER I kill the weevils ...

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I use the same packaging method as the LDS cannery. They have over 50 years of canning experience. I trust their guidelines.

Each to his own I guess... I don't have weevils :wink:

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Oh, just rub it in won't you ...

I'm on a weevil killing spree and you're not invited !

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Hi minimus, Nitrogen, CO@ or O2 absorbers should kill the weavils by themselves. There have been many discussions about this in the past. What are you doing? Diatonascious earth maybe?

s

My personal process is CO2 plus the O2 absorbers in mylar bags.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Say worse case situation, weevils do somehow survive in the mason jars using Tech Guy's method, will the weevils grow to full size and eat the rice or grains? If they do eat them somewhat will the weevils eventually reproduce in the jar and repeat the process? If say you catch them early and a SHTF scenerio happens, can you boil said rice and possibly still have something nutrious to eat and survive with?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Tech Guy has a great process, being the sealed jar, if you like just use the OX absorbers he recommends but for me - I'll purge with nitrogen and still freeze or heat treat the grains/beans stored.

Its too easy to kill off the weevil before it becomes a problem and Tech Guys mason jar idea makes doing it that much easier.

Its already in a container that can be frozen or cooked while providing a leak proof gas seal.

I think this is as close to a Nitro pack #10 can, as we can get.


.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Sorry, but this sounds HIGHLY bogus to me. For what it's worth (very little, I admit), I'm a degreed chemical engineer (among other things). How does foodreserves.com explain how oxygen "combines with the iron dioxide" to form hydrocarbons (composed of hydrogen & carbon)? You're starting with iron & oxygen, yet somehow, it amazingly forms hydrogen & carbon. The hydrocarbons then "react" with the can.

Umm...not likely. I suspect they're trying to sell their own "special" approach to food preservation by nay-saying the approach used by many other vendors. Nice try, no cigar.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Are there any potential dangers to freezing a jar for a few days after it's prepped? Will the lid lose it's seal or the glass crack due to the cold + vacuum? I know that a good freeze takes care of any little bastard trying to hide out. I have my jars and my food on its way. My first round of jarring is starting soon and I don't have a problem running them through the freezer as long as it won't hurt the jars.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Why dont you freeze the food in the bags, before you can it?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

That might work, assuming I can get the bags to fit

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

As long as you use oxy absorbers and put a vacuum on it you have NOTHING to worry about.

Freezing can cause the moisture balance of the food to alter. And may cause condensation inside the jar if it is sealed... leading to spoilage down the road.

If you feel you MUST freeze to kill any bugs yourself before the lack of oxygen does, you must freeze BEFORE you put them in their final container, and you must let them warm back up to normal temperatures BEFORE you seal them.

Don't overcomplicated this guys. It really is simple, and foolproof. Oxyabsorber and a vacuum are guaranteed to kill your bugs.

This is one of the benefits of jars, if you are worried you can visually check your food to give you a warm fuzzy.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Thanks Tech Guy. I didn't want to freeze anyway

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I hate to be a stickler but, vacuum is measured in inches of mercury ("Hg) NOT pounds per square inch, that's called "pressure".

30"Hg is a perfect vacuum. A high vacuum should kill the bugs and remove all Oxygen without OX absorbers.

This web site shows you how to "pull a high vacuum" on the canned contents, your machine might pull a good vacuum but it is interesting to actually measure it.

http://www.instructables.com/id/The-...Vacuum-Sealer/

Unless you're fortunate enough to own a refrigeration type vacuum pump and manifold gages ... :tongue_ma:

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I do have a "Foodsaver" and the jar sealer....but I also have the brake bleeder in my tool box. Good tip for when the grid goes down.

Tanks.:15_1_70v:

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Opening thread back up. Got a little tiresome a few months back. Still tons of good info here.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

OK, I'll bite.

I understand how the vacuum seal fails when the O2 absorber itself slips up and insinuates itself between the lid and the jar. I don't understnad how the seal fails, as it has for me in a couple of instances, when this obvious explanation did not apply. Any suggestions?!

Oxy absorbers in mason jar canning is a wonderful thing. But, for me, it fails from time to time. And I feel like I have to keep an eye on all those jars to make sure nothing has gone wrong. When I purchase #10 cans with O2 absorbers inside, I don't worry about that (should I?) Weigh in everyone. I have lots of food at risk.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I have not had 1 1/2 gallon jar lose its seal yet. I currently have 1 jar of pinto's that were sealed with the oxy absorber only lose it's seal.

If the 02 absorber is getting between the lid and jar, leave a little more headspace.

If the seal fails otherwise, I would check a couple of things:
1. were these new jars? Any scars or irregularities around the mouth?
2. were the lids soaked in very hot (don't boil) water briefly before the seal was attempted?
3. what was the brand of lid? I have seen some different behavior between the Ball lids and the others... I like the Ball lids the best.
4. Where the lids new?
5. How tight did you tighten the bands? Overtightening the bands can cause the seal to break.


I am with you that #10 cans are overall better. We have the majority of our stock in them. The jars are useful since most of us don't have access to #10 can sealers, and would like to preserve the food ourselves and save a little cash. We store all the jars where we can get to them, and I occassionaly 'tap' the top of the lids to see how we are doing... no problems so far.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

You can also break the seal if you tighten the bands after the lid has sealed. This is commonly seen with boiling water bath or pressure canning, but could probably also happen with a FoodSaver jar sealer.

I would also wonder if some "failed" seals might be due to a little chunk of "stuff" pulled from the jar contents & trapped between the lid sealing compound and the jar rim. It might be just large enough to allow a very slow leak. Just an idea...

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

1. were these new jars? Any scars or irregularities around the mouth?

Jars had never been used.

2. were the lids soaked in very hot (don't boil) water briefly before the seal was attempted?

I did not soak the lids in hot water. Perhaps the sealing compound was not soft enough?

3. what was the brand of lid? I have seen some different behavior between the Ball lids and the others... I like the Ball lids the best.

Ball lids all the way.

4. Where the lids new?

Lids were new as well.

5. How tight did you tighten the bands? Overtightening the bands can cause the seal to break.

Hand tightened but not excessive IMO. I don't have an especially strong grip and sometimes have to use a jar opener on new store-bought jarred foods.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

you bumped a Sticky?:biggrin:

TG will be so thrilled to know one of his threads is a Google top 3:tongue_ma:

I just ordered some yesterday from here

http://www.sorbentsystems.com/order_O2.html

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

i get em from lds:

http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/wcs...3%26sortOr%3D1

always order a starter kit as well:

http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/wcs...0151&langId=-1

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Just picked up the last 3 6-jar cases at the local Ace hardware to try out, more on order.

Is the vacuum really necessary? Oxygen absorbers in a 90 mil 5/6 gal bucket it will suck it down to the point the sides will cave in.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I also reco Sorbentsystems.com

Regards,
Haystackneedle
( p.s. hey shortstroke...had any luck in the forest lately ? )

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Actually, you could probably do either or. I do have about 50 jars that were done on a test basis with just oxy absorbers. All but 1 sealed.

I like MAXIMUM OVERKILL. Especially on something I plan on keeping for years....a few extra minutes won't hurt.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

What size oxy absorbers should I use for 1 quart jars? Ill be putting up rice and dehydrated veggies.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I use 2 100cc for those types of applications... - more air in the jar

1 100cc is good for powder / granules (sugar / flour) - less air in the jar

:ok:

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Thank you my kind sir ;)

Ive never done oxy absorbers in mason jars. Is there any risk or worry of them creating too much of a vaccum and breaking? I guess not if I just stick with 1 or 2, but that was my worry none the less.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Nope, the oxy absorber will only create a very mild vacuum.

The mason jars can withstand an almost total vacuum, they are very strong.

Plus, an oxy absorber only pulls the oxygen out, not the nitrogen and co2. Once the oxygen is out, the oxy absorbers stop converting and doing anything. So you don't get a true vacuum. You can add ALL your oxy absorbers to the jar and it will only create the same amount of mild vacuum.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

not really.... Hell -TG even vacum seals his (in addition to 02 absrs)

That's REALLY pullin WAY more than what I'm doing. I think just using absorbers is adequate - TG's method is good for millennial storage...:tongue_ma:

(guess He found the friggin fountain of youth or something:biggrin:)


(kiddin tg)


anyway... I just dry canned a few doz more quart jars sat afternoon.... and that's all I did.

The stuff I did last may is still holdin' a gooood seal.:ok:

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Sounds good!

I was looking for one of those food saver mason jar sealers, but none of the local stores have em and I figured if I was going to order somethign online I might as well save and get the absorbers. I was gonna use both, but now Ill just use the 02 absorbers.


THe other thing I was wondering would be flushing it with Co2(dry Ice).

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Not really needed if you have large enough and fresh enough o2's.

Heck, I HATE saving o2's because I always wonder if they are fresh. So I count out my o2's and divide by number of jars... some get 2 some get 3 ....

on stuff like this, overkill is not in my vocabulary....

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I don't think that's necessary for jars so small -

Perhaps TG has an answer to that.

(edit) - and he did lol.

I could maybe see doing that if you were direct sealing in 5gal buckets...

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

:ok:

HAHA....what means this...overkill......?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Tech Guy (or anyone for that matter),

have you done jerkies or other dried meats with any sucess?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I have not but i am curious about this as well. I have dried venison sausage made in the fall.

I've got a feeling that it wouldn't work out very well. "dried" meat will still contain at least some moisture and between that and the risk of not being able to completely purge the O2 from the meat - I have a fear that could present a risk.

Love to hear an authoritative explination though!

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

That was my concern too. I've made plenty of jerky at home, but its usualy gone in no more htan a couple days. My last batch something happened, I guess I didnt dry it long enough, and it actualy spoile and got moldy around the third day.

Thats why I was thinking that in a Mason Jar with some o2 aborbers might be better, but you're probably right that there would still generaly be too much moisture.


Maybe super, super dehydrated might work. To the point where it would be tough to eat it dried out. Then it would have to be used in braised dishes, where it can be soaked and cooked in a liquid.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

for some reason Bacon bits come to mind...

Gotta be a way around this.

I'm sure commercial bacon bits are laden w/preservatives.... but - there's gotta be a way.

Honey cured and dried? Sugar or salt cured?

Just thinking out loud. (sorta)

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

HA! Thats too funny, I was thinking Bacon Bits last night too!

They are probably loaded with chemical preservatives. Probably more chemicals than meat.

Brine Cured Meat would probably be a better option than the dehydrated, I was thinking the dehydration might be easier.

I wonder if a cooler full of dry ice would work as a makeshit freeze drier???

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Attachment 74390


:biggrin:

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Still a great thread! I read all 163 posts and agree with everything Tech Guy has posted and a lot of what others have posted. There is one thing that may or may not have been mentioned (I could have missed it), the one disadvantage of glass over Mylar or steel cans is that of possible breakage. If you are in an earthquake prone area this may be of concern to you. Other than that one point, I believe the glass jars are great even though I only have "wet-pack" in them. Everything else is stored using the other two main methods I mentioned.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Thanks for the bumb Fat, made me remember to post something.

Has anyone tried dehydrating mushrooms with any success?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Works fine here....get them real dry though. They may not regain their shape, but taste and texture are good.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

TY, ill be experimenting this weekend. I just didnt want to waste money and time.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Another question:

Did you slice them up, or just dry the whole cap?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Got my "First" full qt jar done last night.

I bought two 5 lb bags of frozen mixed veggies. One bag fit into 1 qut jar, dehydrated down to about 14 ounces(weight) worth of veggies, or roughly 4 cups in volume. Tossed two 100cc absorbers in there. I dont have a mason jar sealer yet, but thats coming shortly.

I was amazed by the sheer amount of product needed to fill just 1 qt jar. Thats amazing.

I had done 2 lbs as a test last week. I pulled em out last night and reconstituted them in boiling water. They didnt taste half bad. Not as good as fresh or frozen, but honestly, in a meal with rice, or soup, it would be hard to tell the difference if you didnt know.

I found the green bean pieces took the longest. I took most of them out as some still had quite a bit of moisture even after all the corn, peas, carrots etc were rock hard dry.

I was going to put some rice into jars, but since I dont have the half gallon jars, it would take up too much room putting them in quarts. I dont have rodent problems, since I have to store the food indoors anyways, so mylar will be the option here.

IIRC, when I weighed the rice(some time ago), I got around 7-7.5 ounces of rice(brown rice) per cup(volume). So a quart will hold roughly 28 ounces worth of rice, or 1 3/4 lbs.


All said and done I think the dehydrated and freeze dried is defently the way to go for bulk storage(as if yall didnt already know :P ). I still like wet canning for fruits and other things. I love peaches and apricots in light syrup out of a can(even better fresh)!

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

We did our first case of 12 this morning!

The jars were Ball wide mouth. The contents were several bags of WM pinto beans (the 3# bag size). The lids were soaked in previously boiling water for approx 7 minutes -- jars of course were previously cleaned.

I used 3 50CC 02 Absorbers for each full jar.

An hour or so later, after I had placed all twelve in the basement, the lids had drawn down. We only did 12 just for fun. The remainder of the beans went into mylar bags from LDS.

I'm positive we'll move on to the dried veggies next!
-ed

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Haven't read all the pages in this thread yet so not sure if this has been posted - I'm picking up 10 cases of the 1/2 Gallon Jars from ACE and I found a coupon that can be used - takes $20 off a $100 purchase - so 10 cases works out to be approx $85 or $1.40/each...

COUPON CODE: MCACE20 Coupon should be good till Jan 2010.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Excellent!

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I got 6 cases of half gallon jars today.25lbs of pinto beans and 25lbs of rice. I am waiting for my sealer attachment and O2 absorbers. I need to find others but don't know what else I want to get.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

not only is it unnecessary .. theres a good chance of damaging the sealer part of the lid. its only a very thin rubber gasket and boiling hot water will soften it to the point of premature failure. but plain 'hot' water works fine.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Been busy and missed this, sorry.

I sliced them up first.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Yesterday I dry canned 7 cases of quart sized wide mouths, great northern beans, pintos and rice. Worked like a charm using O2 absorbers and the jar attachment from my cheap model food saver. So far (been 24 hours) all seals are solid with a strong vaccuum. I know this stickied post is older than dirt but I wanted to say thank you for the information anyway. It is hard to believe that such a simple process can preserve beans and such for 10 - 30 years. Tomorrow I will be picking up another 24 cases of jars and go on a hog-wild dry canning session, this time adding in peas, 15 bean soup mixes; pasta and such....

Thanks again!!!

Plastic.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Glad you found it useful.. but older than dirt? Man it doesn't seem like THAT long ago.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

its tha druggsss man.....

Just go back to sleep.:rofl:

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Technically dirt falls from the sky everyday in the form of micro-meteorites. :bear_tongue:


On a bad note.

My neighbor will not even stash away a single can of soup for a rainy day claiming his family will raid and eat it within a couple days. Been warning them for a year now and figure I have done my duty, they will get not one bean or measure of sympathy from me. Especially considering how relatively cheap beans and rice are right now.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

understand the sentiment, but consider this:

just a 5 pounds of rice and beans can sustain a small family for a week or so.

would it be better to make him an enemy, or would having a few extra punds on hand greatly increase your security with a nearby ally?

just a thought.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I hear you TechGuy and understand what you are saying. The only problem I see though is that once we give that few extra pounds away one or all three of three things will happen.

1) Like puppy dogs they will be back asking for more, even threatening to turn us in to the "food gestapo" if we refuse to "share".
2) They will tell their friends where they got food from.
3) They will plot with their friends to kill us and take what we have, afterall their families lives are always more valuable than ours.

These are all bad juju options imo.

When the SHTF my stash will suddenly vanish into the night right after the sun goes down. Although admittedly I would love the allies it should'nt be my responsibility to feed them, they should take care of that themselves. I know it sounds cold and heartless but what can be done? I already know extended family will show up on the doorstep sniffing the air for baking bread and will definately feel obligated to help them. But I don't have the means of feeding 20 people long term, 8-12 maybe; but not 20. Wish I did tbh, but I don't.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

understand.

case in point: next door neighbor, excellent mechanic, good with guns, self sufficient. would be in my best interest to keep him on good side as long as possible.

next door neighbor on other side: not so much.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

This is a great thread, and will remain so if it remains on topic. There are plenty of other threads that explore the ramifications of stocking food for other people, advising them to prep, letting them know or guess that you are prepared, etc. Just sayin.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Definately worth keeping happy man.

My neighbors... 300lbs of walking fat each (husband and wife), 3 kids over 200lbs each. The man own a .22 pistol and can't hit a barn with it, also refuses to hunt and will not skin game even if he was starving.

Other neighbors live in Chicago and I rarely see them, I consider that a good thing. They knocked on the previous owner of this place (now deceased) because he liked to do things himself and not call in professional help for anything. I told them I am the same way and they hav'nt spoken to me since.

People across the street leave me alone, but I have been warned by several others never to tell them a thing unless I wan't the whole damned county to know about it.

You got lucky with your neighbors Tech, me; not so much.


EDIT:

RGR that Silverblood, sorry for going off topic.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

i saw somewhere that superpails tend to collapse at sea level.

If i store things dry in a mason jar with oxy absorbers at say 4000 feet what will happen to them at sea level? will they break?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Those jars can sustain a full vacuum. Don't worry about that.

Also, the oxy absorbers do not pull a heavy vaccum, only partial, since they remove only the oxygen which is only 21% of the gases that make up air.

Air is mostly made of nitrogen, and the oxy absorber cannot pull that out.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Brings up a question from a newbie. What are the good sources for all this stuff? I mean the cans, the beans, the rice, etc. Is it just a matter of shopping around, because Walmart doesn't carry bulk beans that I know of.

Thanks!!

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Rice, pinto's etc can be had from costco's and sams. More varieties can be had from restaurant supply houses.

You can also buy in bulk from your local LDS wharehouse if you spend the time to figure out who is your local ward contact.

Generally, we will buy when dry good stuff is on sale from the local grocery. i.e. black eyed peas are usually on sale around dec. good time to buy.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

And the best place for those amazing O2 absorbers?

(Thank you!)

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Also remember that bulk doesn't always mean cheaper...just easier.

those 1lb bags of beans go on sale from time to time at different grocers, where as the 10-25lb bulk bags never do.

Sometimes it cheaper with a sale to pick up 1lb bags for under $1 each...thats cheaper then I can get my bulk 25lb bags for (usually around $27-35 for 25lbs depending on the bean)

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

sorbentsystems
mredepot.com
lds website

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I opened a #10 can of freeze dried strawberries a few months ago, just to see what they were all about. After trying a few, I re-stored the remainder in quart jars with O2 absorbers. I was unhappy to discover that the humidity in the jars, combined with the O2 absorbers, made the contents soft (not exactly soggy, but you get the idea.) Has anyone else tried to repack freeze dried foods in mason jars with O2 absorbers? Is that just a plain bad idea? Should I have included some kind of dessicant?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

And, while I'm at it, I have another question. I have a whole bunch of Yukon Gold potatoes harvested from my spring crop at the beginning of July. They're in the dark in the basement and now beginning to sprout eyes. I can either hot pack can them in mason jars or else dehydrate slices (after blanching) and store them in quart jars with O2 absorbers and/or vacuum sealing them. Which do you suppose has the longest shelf life?

Neither one has any obvious versatility advantage to me. The canned taters don't mash well. You can serve them in stews or soups or roll them in butter and brown them in the oven or nestle them in next to the roast; that's about it. The dehydrated slices/dices can be rehydrated and scalloped or augratined. Which should I do with about 25 pounds of really nice potatoes that are going to go bad if I do nothing? Easy answer, a little of both????

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Have you tried slicing em thin and dehydrating them?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Yes, I have. I get quite thin, very even slices using a Mandolin Slicer. Then I blanch the taters and dehydrate them. Store in mason jars with O2 absorbers. My question is, for long term storage, which is better? Dehydrated potato slices or pressure canned potatoes?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Using the mandolin is the best, isnt it?!

Im no expert, but I think either method is going to last a long enough time. You're looking at multiple years for both (3+ IIRC). Freeze dried taters would be even better, but cost more obviously. Those last darn near forever.

Safe bet would be to have a good number of both, but I think if they are dehyrdated properly, theyll last some time indeed.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Today I put up another 20 lb bag of rice in 1/2 gal jars. On 11/11/09, I'd put up two 20 lb bags of rice, and wrote the date on the lids with a Sharpie marker. At the time I'd run out of O2 absorbers, but now I have a new bag of 100. So, while I was putting absorbers in todays jars, I figured on putting one in each of the 11/11/09 jars. When I opened those jars, out flew weevil moths. Man I'm pissed off at myself for not following up on the O2's. I checked older jars that did get absorbers at the time of filling, and there are no weevils that I can see. I guess when the beggars show up at my door wanting something to eat, those 11/11/09 jars are going to be the first given away.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Did you vacuum those down at all?

I haven't seen much live in even a partial vacuum.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Wouldn't it be much more space-efficient and less expensive in terms of storage containers to get a vacuum sealer and put all your rice in vacuum-sealed mylar bags instead? Then you'd have a vacuum and wouldn't need the O2 absorbers. I'm using the 10-by-14-inch 3mm (or maybe it's 3.5) bags from Sorbent Systems, and after I vacuum-seal the bags, I stick them inside a 5-gallon bucket and put the lid on--no need for extra O2 absorbers, Gamma seals, etc.

Txkstew, why not just dump the rice in your cooking water, and when the weevils boil to the top, just skim them off? I'm sure that somewhere in the world those weevils are looked upon as a protein source.


And on a separate note, am I the only person here who's dehydrating vegetables and putting them in mason jars? Here's something I posted in another thread about what I'm doing:

Here are before-and-after photos of spinach that I just finished dehydrating. In the first photo, I set out 4 lbs. of frozen spinach to thaw for about 4-6 hours, then put it in the dehydrator. The second and third photos are the end result. After dehydration, the spinach takes up only about 1/4 of the space of its predehydrated state. It's dry (of course[:P]) and brittle after dehydration, so I just keep compacting the spinach as I'm pouring it in the mason jar (4 lbs. of spinach into a one-quart jar) until everything fits.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/d...r/100_1211.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/d...r/100_1213.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/d...r/100_1219.jpg

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I read the entire thread and if you check back a couple pages you'll see someone tried to warn people about this problem.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Would it be a good practice to put the rice or beans in the freezer for a couple of days to kill bugs before canning?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

IMHO NO.

The sudden temperature changes can cause moisture problems.

The vacuum and lack of oxygen will deal with the bugs.

There are some that do this, but I don't really think it buys you much compared to the risk of spoilage due to moisture.

So far 100% bug free on properly canned food....

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I keep them in the original carboard boxes they came in, and keep them in a dark room with blackout curtains.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

What size oxygen absorber would you put in a quart jar? Is boiling lids really necessary? Thanks for the answers, I was getting ready to put up some 5 gallon buckets, but this seems better and I have everything to do this.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

No boiling is not really needed, but heating the lids IS needed I think. I added this to the thread later on.

You can put the oven on preheat and set the seal up for just a minute or so as well. I have done this a few times and it softens the seal up without getting the lids all wet.

I have the oxy absorber size chart in here somewhere. Honestly, on a quart jar, it is hard to go wrong as almost all the oxyabsorbers will be over sized for a quart.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Thanks Techguy, I bookmarked the LDS website and will order oxygen absorbers Monday. I will also try to find 1/2 gallon jars. I did not quite understand the oven preheat deal on the lids. I went back through the thread but could not seem to find it. I know I am making this harder than it is but it seem like you are the Doctor at this and I want to do it right.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Thanks Bigj I will go to ace today. I will post results.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

No problem...

The main reason you heat the lids in water is NOT to sterilize them. It is to soften the rubber seal so they will form to the glass better.

A VERY short time in a low temp oven seems to do ok for this as well.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I've got a good seal without being heated. A good vacuum is about 14 lbs per square inch pressure on the outside of the container pushing the lid on. The lid is not sucked on, its being pushed. If you have a large food dryer it can heat the lids.

Food dryers make great space heaters ..

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2477/...713fe95b_o.jpg

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I think its been brought up before, but I dont want to go through 7 pages...again....


I was thinking of doing potatoes this weekend. I finaly found an ACE that keeps 1/2 gallon jars on hand so I picked some up and put some rice away this week. Still got a few left over and was thinking of doing dehydrated potatoes.

Tech guy, or anyone, if you've done them before, whats worked the best? I was thinking of doing them the obivous way, slicing them in rounds (like chips) and dehydarting, but was thinking maybe shredding them like hash browns would be better. I want this is a substitute/suppliment to instant mash potatoes and freeze dried. Something that can be boiled up for mashed, or au gratin, break fast, etc.

Also, should the be peeled or is it ok with the skins on?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I haven't tried doing my own potatoes, but I would be very interested in how it turns out.

Just a observation though.. I would think it would be much easier to dehydrate shreds than chips....

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Well then, it looks like I got 20 pounds of potatoes and an experiment ahead of me! Probably wont get to it till next week as Ill be out of town this weekend.

Will definitly post the results in here though.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

If you don't want your dehydrated taters to turn brown, you must deactivate the enzymes that cause this to happen by blanching them first (and not while they are whole, but after you've processed them into the size you want to dehydrate.) I have not tried to shred the taters and have only dehydrated dices and slices. But, I think it would be really difficult to handle shredded potatoes during the blanching process, not to mention spredding them out on the trays in the dehydrator.

I can get extremely thin slices with my mandolin slicer. After they've been dehydrated, you can prepare scalloped potatoes or potatoes au gratin that will compete with anything that Betty Crocker puts into a box.

Having said that, I don't think either my diced or sliced dehydrated potatoes could be used to make mashed potatoes (yes, I've tried.) And I know for a fact that wet canned taters might be good for browning in a pot roast pan, but you can't make decent mashed taters with those either.

So, I am intrigued by the idea of shredded, dehydrated potatoes, because it seems to me that you could put them through a blender (after dehydrating) and come up with the powder that might very well work to make your own instant mashed potatoes. (For what it may be worth, I've used the blanch, dehydrate, powder process on pumpkin. That worked well.) And, of course, they'd probably work very well to make hash brown potatoes without running them through the blender at all.

I have a bunch of Yukon Golds that are beginning to sprout in the basement -- more than I need or want for use as seed potatoes around 6-7 weeks from now. I think I'll run my own experiment on the shredded dehydrated taters. Thank you, folks, for renewing my interest.

Edit: If you're doing slices and dices, I can't think of a reason in the world for removing the skins, unless that is your preference.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Awesome points Merlin, I was concentrating on the drying process, but from your points, it sounds like a REALLY thin slice may be a lot easier to handle.

And now that I think about, the shreds would be a pain to deal with in a dehydrator.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Merlin's got it figured out, scalloped potatoes is the easiest way to dehydrate and blanch first. I would cut them about an 1/8" thick.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Well merlin you just addressed or listed every thought I've had on the subject as of yet!!!

I wasnt sure about the blanching. I was reading online and some said blanching and others said let them soak for 5 minutes in lemon juice or ascorbic acid (which I have used on other things in the form of Fruit-Fresh powdered ascorbic acid for).

Ill try both and see how they turn out.

The ground up potato "flour" for mashed is exactly the idea that got me thinking of doing all this. Thats why I was thinking of shredding, then once dried, putting through my kitchen aid grinder and making a powder out of it, then canning that ala Tech Guys methods.

Blanching the shreds wont be as hard with a chinoise (conical shaped strainer), but other wise would probably be a chore, yes.

Oh, also Merlin. Did you peel the dehydrated potatoes? Does it make a difference? I like mashed potatoes with skins in, in fact I like almost all potatoes with skins, so I'd like to be able to keep them if I can.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I peeled mine because I have garden soil with a fair amount of clay. I've amended it with sand, mica, compost, etc. But my potatoes are still prone to traces of scab, which I don't find particularly appetizing, so I peel it off. If I were growing potatoes with beautiful skins, I'd leave them on because I don't think it has anything at all to do with the dehydrating process. That's where all the vitamins are located, after all. Blanched is blanched and dehydrated is dehydrated. And the skins represent a very, very small percentage of the surface area of either slices or dices; I can't see how the skins would affect the results (but, here I am offering an opinion about something I know nothing.)

After you've shredded, dehydrated and powdered your potatoes, I doubt you'll find more than trace evidence or your skins, however, in your mashed potatoes. But the vitamins would still be there anyway

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

@Merlin, do you use raised beds that's becoming all the rage now days, and if so, do you think yield is better per square foot than traditional tilled row gardening ?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

My beds are raised 6 inches or so. But, I have nothing to compare this to. As for square foot gardening, I'm sure that is worth doing. Traditional gardening assumes a lot (and I mean a lot) of space that you may not have in your back yard. It is a lot of work, however, because your arms won't be long enough to reach all the places they could reach in a traditional garden.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Depends on where you live, high raised beds seem to be more susceptible to temperature swings. I tried contain type raised beds (4x4 and 4x8) here in texas, and everything fried. I will do it again, but with bigger beds and not very high.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

The great potato experiment has begun. Wound up NOT going out of town, so I started a day early!

Im going to start with the shredded, and see how that works. I shredded up well over 5lbs of potatoes. My little digi scale stops at 5 lbs and I had quite a bit in the bowl, as yo can see. This was only about 4 potatoes or so. I blanched them a little first, as per Merlins suggestion, then cooled them down in a water bath with some Fruit Fresh (ascorbic acid). I wasnt taking any chances.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_3218.jpg

I didnt want to do too many, because I only have so much room on my dinky little dehydrater. I know, I need a better one! I am now taking donations for the "Heimy needs a new, better, cooler, slicker dehydrater Fund". Sorry, its not tax deductable.
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_3219.jpg

I filled the trays up pretty quick.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_3221.jpg

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_3220.jpg

and had LOTS of left over. I probably only got a couple pounds worth on the dehydrater. I didnt want to lay it on the trays too think. I probably went too thin, but I can always refil the trays.

And what, one may ask, is one to do with all those left over shredded potatoes. Well, most go in the fridge, but of course, when one shreds potatoes, it is obligitory, nay compulsary to fry them up!

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...w/100_3222.jpg


And yes, they were delicious. Apparently they take about 8 hours, so I will see how they come out in 8 hours and post the results.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

2 hour update.


Potatoes have been in the dehy. since 3:30 est. They are almost done! some are still soft, so ill leave em all in there. Can you "over dry"? After only two hours, I am very suprised they are as dry and crunchy as they are. Ill update again in a few hours after dinner.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I don't think you can "over dry".

Under dry is a big issue ... can't wait to see the how the hash browns look.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Post Dinner Update:

Well, I've had mixed results. Second batch is going now. First batch is done.

Here you can see they dried very well into thin little sticks, and very quickly (under 3 hours).
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...k/100_3224.jpg


I chopped them up a bit in a food processor here.
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...k/100_3225.jpg


Then used a little of it to make "mashed potatos". Thats where the mixed results came in. They arent horrible, but they aren mashed potato consistancy either. They needed to re constitute longer as well, or maybe I just didnt add enough water. This preperation is not going to be a prefered method until I can work the kinks out. The taste was great, but the texture and consitancy was a little off.
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...k/100_3226.jpg

Other than that, they came out just fine and tasted just fine. Would make good reconsituted hash browns, or as an addition to a soup or other dish. Maybe if I grind them into a flour (Using something other than my crappy food processor, kitchen aid grinder perhaps) they would be better as an "instant" potato or even is baked good such as bread, etc.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Two thoughts:

(1) The potatoes you put into the dehydrator were blanched, not fully cooked. I don't know how you processed your "mashed potatoes" but did you give additional cooking time any consideration? When you cook potatoes with the intention to mash them, don't you always boil them for at least 15 minutes or so? If you have powdered your dehydrated taters, then maybe just the addition of boiling water will do the trick. Maybe not.

(2) Your end result still has visible chunks of potato. I think maybe they do need to be pulverized/blasted into smaller pieces. Did you "mash" them with anything other than the wooden spoon? Like a manual metal masher or a mixer?

I'm repeating your experiment myself this evening, hoping to learn something from your experience. I'll let you know tomorrow all about what happens. Unfortunately, I don't own a digital camera, so there won't be pictures. :thumpdown

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I definitly could have/should have cooked them longer, but they were soft enough to eat in this quick cook. They had at least fully reconstituted, but could have cooked longer for sure. I just mashed em up with the spoon. I should have got out my immersion blender that I usualy use for such tasks, as it makes mashed potatoes in about 3 seconds flat. Had they been more powedered, Im sure it would have worked better for the "instant potato" method I used.

My daughter came down with a wicked fever on saturday, so sundays experiments were quick, in a hurry and non conclusive by any means, i just threw out there what I had done so far and will be doing more this week as time permits. I've not yet given up!

The second batch came out great, too, btw. I havent ground them up yet. Just stuck em in a mason jar for later use. Definitly keep us filled in with your own attempts, too.

I was also very happy at how quickly they tried up. Under 4 hours is not bad, meaning a high turn over rate. Would probably take about 3-4 batches to fill a half gallon jar un ground, but would take probably a 20lb bag or more to fill one up with a powdered or ground up product.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Merlin -

When you blanch your slices, do you do them in boiling water for a few minutes, or do you do it by steam? In the past, I've laid slices in a colander & steamed them for a few minutes over boiling water prior to dehydrating them. Results have been somewhat variable. If I steam them long enough to thoroughly nuke the enzymes, then they seem soft & cooked. If I don't steam them long enough, then the slices brown during dehydration.

Heimdahl -

I wonder how your mashed taters would turn out if you ground the dried chunks, then ground them finely using a mill (Country Living Grain Mill or whatnot) prior to cooking as mashed potatoes.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I understand the problem. Actually, there's nothing wrong with "soft and cooked", except that then they are impossible to handle -- they fall apart when you try to pick them up and put them in the dehydrator.

If I put those thin potato slices into water at a roiling boil, there's just too much physical agitation and then dumping them into a colander to drain the water is rough on them too, not to mention that you probably want to recover the hot water to use on another batch. Just steaming them with a steamer leaves you with the problem of getting the steam around all the pieces and surfaces that are piled on top of each other. So I've been doing a compromise.

I load a cylindrical strainer, the kind with a handle that fits my deep fat fryer, and submerse the potato slices in the boiling water pot. After about 5 minutes (no more certainly), I lift the strainer out of the boiling water and drop it into a pot of ice water. This technique surrounds all the slices with boiling water, but gives me a way to get the slices into the boiling water, out of the boiling water and into the ice water with minimal physical agitation. Furthermore, it leaves the boiling water where I want it -- in the pot waiting for a new batch.

You can do the same thing using a collapsible steamer basket and lift the basket out of the boiling water with a fork; but that is just much clumsier. On the other hand, work with the tools you have at hand.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Thats more or less how I did mine. Since my whole batch fit into the stock pot, I didnt save the water, just drumped the slices into a strainer in the sink though. I also put a little fruit fresh int he boiling water, then a little more in the ice bath. You cant really put "too much", so I wasnt shy with it. I blanched them probably less than 5 minutes, maybe 2 or so, because they were pretty small and starting to cook through as it was. This batch at least, none of them turned black. But who knows what may happen in a future batch.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Well, my "instant" mashed potatoes qualify as a failure too. First of all, some of my grated potatoes weren't properly blanched; maybe 10% turned brown in the dehydrator. As a result, my reconstituted mashed potatoes had an unappetizing off color.

Second, we're on the right track with trying to get a smaller particle size. The only trouble is, my Osterizer blender didn't do an adequate job. A good percentage turned to powder; but there was a fair about of gritty particles left which, guess what? Made my mashed potatoes gritty. No amount of mashing got rid of the gritty texture either.

Had I strained the gritty particles out, maybe I could have re-processed them through the blender successfully. But, I didn't, so I don't know. I have a Country Living grain mill. Potatoes are nearly all starch though and I'm not sure I want to gum up my grain mill with that.

Third, the reconstituted potatoes do need additional cooking. I put mine through the microwave for a couple of minutes and that helped a lot.

On balance, my mashed potatoes were gritty and gummy at the same time. The flavor was fine. I'd almost rather have potatoes any other way though. Now it is someone elses turn to pick up the ball on this project.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Haha, dont worry Merlin, I got ya covered, we'll figure this one out yet! Thanks for the report though, sounds like a similar experience. Suprised additional mashing didnt work.

Im sure the trick is to get it as powdered as possible, but as you say, that is not such an easy task. I dont have a grain mill, so my next best option is my kitchen aid grinder. THat thing will turn out bread comes like crazy those with the fine grinder plate on it (makes a sick sausage or ground beef too!).

Ill give the taters a run through that and see what happens. If not, then the home made 'instant' may just be another DOA.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Please permit me to jump in on the potato fest... (-:

I'm considering using Mylar bags inside sealed #10 cans. I was told that this method is not recommended as there is a chance to have moisture form between the can and the bag, which can lead to rusting etc...

Should I avoid using Mylar inside a can if I use the dry canning method at the LDS cannery?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

There is no need for the mylar if you use a #10 can from the cannery. They are already plastic lined. If sealed correctly with an oxy absorber, you are good to go. You may actually get a poorer result with a mylar bag inside, since there is no way to get rid of as much air space as with a very well packed #10 can alone.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

That makes sense. Thanks!

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I had an epiphany last night. If you want to store dehydrated mashed potatoes, start with mashed potatoes. I took a couple of medium sized potatoes, cooked them completely and then mashed them with water (didn't use milk or butter because I'm concerned about shelf life.)

My Excalibur came with a couple of teflon sheets. I spread the mashed potatoes thinly on a tray lined with a teflon sheet and dehydrated it overnight.

This morning, I put my dehydrated mashed taters through my blender and then rehydrated them with boiling water, milk, butter, salt, and a little garlic powder. This method solves the problem we had earlier with gritty mashed potatoes, although figuring out the correct ratio of liquids to dehydrated potatoes is a bit of a challenge. Now, however, the potatoes are a bit gummy, not nice and fluffy like we'd want them to be.

Suggestions?

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Not trying to be smartass, but that is a LOT of trouble when the cans are 6.95 each normal price, wait for a sale and stock up.

http://beprepared.com/images/500/fs-v140LargerCan.jpg

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I agree with you 100%. The only reason I even made the attempt was that Heimdhal was wondering if it were possible and how it might be done and the subject piqued my interest.

Quite honestly, the only reason I dehydrate potatoes at all is that every year I find myself with more than I can use from what I grow in my garden. The potato dices and slices that I dehydrate are quite useful in the kitchen. The dehydrated mash potatoes are not only a pain in the *ss to produce, they're also grossly inferior to the real thing that I can make fresh from stored potatoes in my basement.

I think I've satisfied my curiosity about this project and may not pursue it further -- unless Heimdhal comes up with a real zinger that gets me going again. :biggrin:

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

You know, you take all the fun out of experimenting! :moon::rofl:

Nah, Im done. I like to get hands on and try as many things as I possibly can as much as I possibly can in case one day a question comes up about something specific and I can say "Yes, I know the answer to that, because I have been there and done that!"

I figured it was going to be a failure, but one can never be affraid to fail, especialy at small, inconsequential things.

Now, on to Spam Tacos! :spam4:

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

Not tired spam tacos,but we did make some tacos using canned chicken and taco seasoning..

Dump the chicken into a skillet and put some dehydrated onions/garlic in there.. Let simmer for a few minutes, this gets rid of the can taste.

Then add the taco seasoning and simmer for a few more minutes.

Makes a VERY serviceable taco.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

My wife makes quesadillas and tortilla wraps using that exact same method. Except its not a SHTF experiment, its a staple weekend lunch around here:111:

She uses a little cumin, garlic/onion powders, all that fun stuff thats (same stuff thats in the taco seasoning pretty much). Its really not that bad once you spice it up, serve it with some yellow rice. Pretty much any left over chicken gets made into that as well around here.

This is why i say one of the biggest aspects to SHTF food preps is SPICES AND HERBS. Food (flavor) fatigue has been known to kill many people as their bodies will eventualy just refuse to eat the same old thing after a while.

Re: MASON JAR, and OXY ABSORBER CANNING SESSION
 

I agree wholeheartedly.

There are lots of people who don't agree, but I feel that flavor fatigue is real, and should not be underestimated.

.