Mason Jars and Oxygen Absorbers

[jimmycthemd]

First, I'm already familiar with canning and decided to experiment with the dehydration. Second, dehydrated veggies take up a LOT less room in the pantry. One pint mason jar of dehydrated carrots can hold about 3 or 4 quart jars worth of canned. Lastly, home canned veggies will only last a couple of years. Dehydrated will last 5 years plus.

I want to be familiar with as many ways of preserving food as I can. My next venture will probably be to either can meat or try jerky. Haven't decided yet.

[Bama]

I am also new to this, my question is , Why dehydrate? Why not hot pack and can the said green beans? Can them in ready to use portions?

[Daelith]

That makes good sense. I'm new to this too so have to ask to learn.

[jimmycthemd]

Just to give you and idea of the weight/space saving home dehydration gives you here are some preliminary results:

1) Carrots. I bought 4 1lb bags of frozen carrots and dehydrated them. The end result was that 64 ounces of pre-dehydrated carrots weighed 14 ounces dehydrated and fit into a pint mason jar.

2) Peas. I dehydrated about 2 pounds of frozen peas and they fit into a pint mason jar. I haven't weighed the peas yet.

I do this as an experiment not as a primary method of veggie LTS. I don't have a garden so it's not cost-effective but it is a way to increase my LTS when I can't afford to buy commercially processed products.

[jimmycthemd]

I know Goatlady says she's kept dehydrated food in mason jars for up to 10 years with out vacuum/oxygen absorbers with just a little degradation to the color/texture. I'm new at this and have a vacuum attachment for my Foodsaver so I use it (hey, I have it so it's 'free'). I also put in a couple of 100cc oxygen absorbers for good measure.
The answer to why the oxygen absorbers when you vacuum the jar is that the vacuum attachment doesn't get all of the air out of the jar. I use it for good measure. 200cc of absorbers when it's about $12 for 100 of them is about 25 cents. It's worth it to me for good measure. Again, I'm new at this so I tend to overkill things like this. Better safe than sorry.

[Daelith]

I know Goatlady said she doesn't use O2 absorbers or vacuum seal her mason jar storage stuff.
If you are vacuum sealing the jars though, would you really need an O2 absorber in it?

[MJC]

for most anything you need to know about dehydrating, I found a terrific site called dehydrate2store.com. great advise, videos, and not-for-profit.

[610Alpha]

One could argue "for practice and knowing how" and yes I agree, but ECONOMIES OF SCALE *for me* say it doesn't make sense to BUY all your produce, BUY the mason jars, spend the time processing and drying to end up with a product inferior in moisture content to true dehydrated long term food products.

No one said it isn't worthwhile to gain the knowledge...neither myself nor 1Admin said this...in fact I have a video on the "Registered Members" forum showing my results of dehydrating frozen green beans. Am I doing it now....heck no. I am buying the quality stuff that will last. Maybe if I bought me one of them there fancy dehydrators and one of them #10 can sealers I might do it but that would be mucho denero and I got other things to do with that moola. Its always good to get the knowledge but like 1Admin said economies of scale and opportunity cost should be factored in. Have I dehydrated with a solar dehydrator? Nope, don't have one...could I make one? most likely.

[jimmycthemd]

I agree with both of you on the time and effort. There IS, however, value in the knowledge/practice gained in at least attempting these endeavors. For me, at least, the time spent doing this wasn't the 3-12 hours it takes to dehydrate. During that time I was packing away my 3rd month of rice/beans/oatmeal, etc. and doing other chores around the house. I also now have an added skill. Again, you have to factor in the time/effort to see if that's how you want to spend every weekend. For me the knowledge gained resulted in a resounding 'no'. I will, however, occasionally use this process to augment my other methods of storing food WHEN IT MAKES SENSE.

Now, 1Admin has a log splitter as a time saver. He gained the skill to split wood by hand before he acquired the wood splitter so he already has the knowledge and practiced skill. Anyone can split wood but, as in most tasks, there are 'tricks of the trade' and techniques that you pick up only via experience. My 19yo COULD split wood. At almost 60, I bet dollars to doughnuts that I can out-produce him because I learned how as a kid (demonstrated when we had to use a pick-axe to break up a portion of the back yard that was packed clay....I outperformed him 4 to 1). He's a lot stronger than I am but I can 'out work' him in most cases because of the skills I acquired growing up around farms that he has no interest in learning right now. The same can be said about dehydrating, lighting fires, navigation and many other things that may be useful in a PAW world (or even an emergency situation). Even if we live in suburbia, which I do, skills like that are still well worth acquiring.

[610Alpha]

We have to keep in mind time and labor costs. Even if you feel your time worth nothing, their is always the OPPORTUNITY costs.

Yes, if you are homesteading and have an acre of beans, corn, etc. is this the way to go? Well it's one of MANY. Is it viable long term? I don't agree that home dried fruits are going to last any where near the time that I've SEEN AND EXPERIENCED commercially dehydrated foods last. Apple slices dried at home in an Excalibur last year and stuck in mason jars look like CRAP now. Light barrier? Oh that's right, their isn't one.

For those that don't have tons of produce they grew on their own, for those that have to BUY the produce, BUY the mason jars and then use their time to dry them and put them up, where is the real cost savings versus buying a commercially dehydrated true long term storage product? One could argue "for practice and knowing how" and yes I agree, but ECONOMIES OF SCALE *for me* say it doesn't make sense to BUY all your produce, BUY the mason jars, spend the time processing and drying to end up with a product inferior in moisture content to true dehydrated long term food products.

Yes, those of us like Goatlady that have large gardens (no I don't mean a single 4x4' raised bed in the backyard) CAN see a savings in the home dried and put up method. Why? Because we aren't BUYING the food!

A sit down with a calculator, pencil and paper will show this.

And yes, we have a load of apples drying right now with the Excalibur and the boy is out picking green beans. The apples will simply be put in gallon ziplock bags and treated as short term rotation items (roughly a year), the green beans will be canned (mason jar) and used within a few years. Since we have been doing this this way for years, the jars on mostly on their 8th to 10th rotation and most of which were purchased for $4. a case new.

Again, we need to differentiate between the average "prepper" going out and BUYING produce and doing this versus having the produce already.

It's easy to think "well MY situation is like this" and relate that to everyone else, but that's not reality. Your average "prepper" lives in suburbia and has a poststamp for a backyard. Producing enough food in quantities to justify this isn't an option for someone like that. Dabbling in it to get experience YES without a doubt. That was all we were able to do in suburbia but that trial and error helped us get ready for larger projects later. However it was not our main food storage plan.

Well said!! Couldn't agree more. I have noticed that most people forget to account for their time in these ROI discussions. The one thing you can't create more of and we ignore its value!!!! SHEESH that is the one thing we should be focused on the most is getting the most out of our time. What is going to give you the most bang for your time. I remember hearing my grandma say "Work smarter not harder", I have come to realize that means don't do re-work and/or work that doesn't give you the most for your time.

I remember 1Admin talking about having a log splitter because it is a time saver for him. Its not that he can't do it or doesn't know how...he just has better things to be doing with his LIMITED time.

[1Admin]

We have to keep in mind time and labor costs. Even if you feel your time worth nothing, their is always the OPPORTUNITY costs.

Yes, if you are homesteading and have an acre of beans, corn, etc. is this the way to go? Well it's one of MANY. Is it viable long term? I don't agree that home dried fruits are going to last any where near the time that I've SEEN AND EXPERIENCED commercially dehydrated foods last. Apple slices dried at home in an Excalibur last year and stuck in mason jars look like CRAP now. Light barrier? Oh that's right, their isn't one.

For those that don't have tons of produce they grew on their own, for those that have to BUY the produce, BUY the mason jars and then use their time to dry them and put them up, where is the real cost savings versus buying a commercially dehydrated true long term storage product? One could argue "for practice and knowing how" and yes I agree, but ECONOMIES OF SCALE *for me* say it doesn't make sense to BUY all your produce, BUY the mason jars, spend the time processing and drying to end up with a product inferior in moisture content to true dehydrated long term food products.

Yes, those of us like Goatlady that have large gardens (no I don't mean a single 4x4' raised bed in the backyard) CAN see a savings in the home dried and put up method. Why? Because we aren't BUYING the food!

A sit down with a calculator, pencil and paper will show this.

And yes, we have a load of apples drying right now with the Excalibur and the boy is out picking green beans. The apples will simply be put in gallon ziplock bags and treated as short term rotation items (roughly a year), the green beans will be canned (mason jar) and used within a few years. Since we have been doing this this way for years, the jars on mostly on their 8th to 10th rotation and most of which were purchased for $4. a case new.

Again, we need to differentiate between the average "prepper" going out and BUYING produce and doing this versus having the produce already.

It's easy to think "well MY situation is like this" and relate that to everyone else, but that's not reality. Your average "prepper" lives in suburbia and has a poststamp for a backyard. Producing enough food in quantities to justify this isn't an option for someone like that. Dabbling in it to get experience YES without a doubt. That was all we were able to do in suburbia but that trial and error helped us get ready for larger projects later. However it was not our main food storage plan.

[jimmycthemd]

I've finished the 'dehydrate green beans' initial phase. For you veterans, this is probably not news. This is more for my fellow newbies.

Here are my findings:

1) To dehydrate 1 pound of frozen French cut green beans on a rainy Georgia day it took about 3 hours.
2) To dehydrate 1 1/2 pounds of fresh French green beans cut into 2 inch pieces on the same rainy Georgia day, it took around 10 to 11 hours.
3) Approximately 2 pounds (before dehydration) of green beans fit in a 1 pint Mason jar.
4) The canning jar attachment to the FoodSaver works well on the Mason jars (sealed well and the top 'popped' the way it should).
5) Although using mylar and oxygen absorbers would save space and block light, dehydrated green beans are brittle (if you do it right). Unless you have something hard-sided to store the mylar bag in for support, you would probably end up with green bean powder. I'm sure there are ways to work around this, but that's yet another experiment.

Pros:

Saves lots of space.
Lasts longer than frozen or fresh (up to 10 years according to goatlady).

Cons:

Time consuming (see dehydration times).
Cost (about $8 for the green beans...I'm sure you can get them for a lot less but I was in a hurry to start my experiment). Plus you have to add in the electricity for the dehydration process.

Although this probably won't be my primary veggie storage method, I'll definitely use it to extend my pantry 'no electricity' storage space. The right tool for the right job :-)

[jimmycthemd]

I have one of the plastic trays but didn't think to use it as I didn't know what it'd do to the drying time. Now that I know that the french cut green beans dry so fast I'll give that a try the next time for the smaller chunks.

[goatlady]

You can buy plastic "sheets" that fit the dehydrator trays - good for making fruit roll-ups AND for keeping small stuff from falling through the "slats" I use them for quick drying herbs and even frozen mixed veggies. Also when you dry fruits if you spray those trays with a "Pam" type spray the fruit does not stick and the trays are much easier to wash up.

[jimmycthemd]

I finished the second batch of French green beans...they took almost 12 hours. Now, this is under about the worst conditions possible. As previously stated, it was a rainy day in Georgia so, even indoors and air conditioned, the humidity was pretty high. This is probably not the most labor- or cost-effective way for me to process my long term storage. For those that get their raw materials 'dirt cheap' (pun intended) by growing it themselves, it probably makes sense. I'll do this in limited quantity to augment my pantry but will probably buy the #2 1/2 cans that are professionally done for my LTS. The #10 cans are too big for two people to consume in a timely fashion in an emergency situation (I'm assuming no air conditioning and high humidity conditions). If the #10 cans are all I can get then so be it but I probably will go for the #2 1/2 if I can find them. I'll check the JHR site among others and start planning/saving for that. In the meantime, I'll continue dehydrating for the pantry as time/money permit. I'll also continue experimenting with other veggies and see what makes sense.

The bottom line is that it DOES work even under less than ideal conditions. That lesson was learned. Another practiced skill/tool to but in my toolbox.