When it comes to expanding storage life of dry goods, you can’t beat a vacuum sealer IMHO. With 500 cc oxygen absorbers costing per 50 (Nitro Pak), investing in a vacuum sealer to help you extend shelf life makes sense, especially if you want to use canning jars in the process. The model we have cost under 0 when we bought it on sale 2-3 years ago, and now retails for approx. 0. Though I didn’t show it in the video, you can also re-seal plastic bags with your vacuum sealer. As mentioned in the video, please check out this video series on creating a home food storage system (very practical method!), using a vacuum sealer, as well as a solar oven. This is a link to the first video, and you will see the other (8) listed on the side. Mrs. Dewitt also has a downloadable cookbook with recipes specifically pertaining to using a home food storage and a solar oven: www.theideadoor.com Another link related to this topic you might find helpful is Walton Feeds storage life of dry goods: waltonfeed.com
Steal away. : ) I’ve found in talking to others, that if I suggest they expand their pantries because of (pick your reason: inflation, possible income loss, droughts, etc.) instead of saying they should get a food storage, they actually seem to “get it”.
Thanks John. Get a dehydrator too — they go hand in hand. Oh, and be buying all your canning jars and lids now. They’re plentiful in the stores and you won’t find them after the season ends.
Hi Lisa,
Yup — your kitchen must look like mine. I put the pressure canner away, but the vacuum sealer and dehydrator are out on the counter all the time. Thanks for the complement.
Hi Max,
Well thank you! Hey — can you PM me when you get a minute and tell me how to save and burn youtube videos? I sooo want to burn Dehydrate2Store’s videos for my own reference and I can’t figure it out.
There’s so much on YouTube that I would like to refer back to and I don’t want to be at the mercy of the internet.
Thanks,
Renee
-MSP
I sent you a PM with an idea of what I have in mind. Check it out and don’t hesitate to ask if you have questions.
GB
Years and years ago, before the jar adapter, I built a chamber to put the entire jar in, and bought a “scientific” vacume pump that would pull nearly an absolute vacume. Worked great till I tried to store flower. The air came out so fast it was like an explosion inside the chamber. What a mess! It’s the joys of learning on your own… LOL
MSP, where did you get the can vacuum sealer from?
John: ….. Chicken 😛
Glad you posted this!!! I always thought the lid attachment was for their special canisters! lol -And I’d always heard their canisters weren’t very good. Very happy to learn that I can use my old Ball jars…. cool beans. 😉
5 stars! Thanks for posting.
Hi, i have a pretty good vacuum sealer and it came with something like this. I`m gonna break it out of storage and try it. Thanks for the video.
Caution: It’s addictive. : ) I saw on the Foodsaver website that they now have an attachment for regular jars. . . If I could re-use jelly jars and such and save my Mason jars for canning, that would be great. I may have to have that one too!
I have the wide mouth and normal sized jar attachments they are great
I vacuum seal almost anything that comes in a plastic bag. I’ve noticed many of the new bags give off a petroleum smell after time (it gets into the food). So for me, I would not put the bag in the jar with the food for any long term storage.
You have way too much time on your hands. Storing beans for 5 years? Really?
“Too much time on your hands”. Oh man — thanks for the laugh. : )
I’m not storing beans for 5 years, I’m just saying they’d probably last that long stored this way. And then, if they get lost in the pantry, they’d still be good!
Thanks for the information and showing how the jar sealer works. We have a Foodsaver, but haven’t used it to seal jars yet, but you have inspired me to look into ways to start!
Best wishes from snowy northern Michigan!
Jim
Wow! Now I do want one! lol. I’ve not had dried beans go bad but I’ve had bugs infest them so using the canning jars to just protect the food from insects makes alot of sense! Thanks for the vid, I’ll now check out Mrs. Dewitt’s vids. 🙂
I just watched all of Mrs. Dewitt’s Seminar Vids. I know I have several week’s worth of food which is down from the several month’s worth I used to keep. Motivated to get back to an expanded pantry. lol. I’m also avoiding products with high fructose corn syrup and anything GMO so it’s more expensive this time around but will be worth it. :p
Thanks for sharing, and I look forward to looking up the seminar videos!
Thanks for the great demo. Love the machine, not to big and does the job. It seams saying five years got some people jumping lol…..I know what you mean, it’s going to keep for that long but not likley to be in the pantry for that long..
@spannernuts – You’re very welcome. Right — I hope not to have anything in my pantry for five years, but things sometimes do get shoved to the back. And while I’ll probably give it to the chickens at that point, it’s nice to know it’s stored well enough that it won’t make THEM sick. LOL
Face it, dear heart – you’re a prepper. Welcome to the club.
Put a small hole in the middle of the lid and close it with a bit of duct tape. That way you just pull off the tape and won’t bend the lid when getting it off. A finishing nail-size hole does it.
I have these attachments but never really knew how to use them. I had always screwed the ring around the the lid 🙁 which wasn’t the correct way. Thanks for the demo!!