canning gadget

[myzanya]

You all may already know about this but it is one of my faves...
and yet another use for all your canning jars...
If you have a vacume packager...
THE MASON JAR SEALER...comes in 2 sizes...forget what the smaller one is...wasn't fitting my jars..I just stick with the widemoth
Put what ever dry good you want...stick the lid on then the vacume cap...press the button...hear it working and whalla...
can do anything really but just know..it isn't like a canner...you still have to refridgerate when necessary...
but Is WAY CHEAPER than the rolls...

tip though...leave it 1.2 hour....then check seal...and it is best too add the ring as well..
great fun with the kids...if you put some marshmallows in the jar..

 

[Marianne]

Here's a blog that a gal uses it to make a weeks worth of salad in mason jars:

http://www.salad-in-a-jar.com/skinny-secrets/salad-in-a-jar

She has a pic of the gadget part way down the page.

 

[myzanya]

Marianne wow
what a great find
never done it with letuce...

 

[Marianne]

I have pondered getting that gadget for some time after first seeing it on her blog. But I'm pretty old school about my cooking, etc, and I wonder how often I would really use it, if it be worth the money in the long run.

What does it do to the marshmallows? Stretch them out?

 

[2dream]

I too have wondered about that attachment. But reading the salad blog has me wondering if it might be a good investment. I love salad but hate wilted lettuce and can never eat a whole head of lettuce before it wilts and turns brown. I also wonder how it would work if I used it to seal other items to freeze instead of all those expensive bags. I vacuum seal bulk rice in serving size quanties, flour and meal for freezer storage, etc. etc. etc. Wonder if it would work for repackaging meat for the freezer. I have tons of jars and those bags are expensive.

I love ideas that get me to thining outside the box.

 

[Marianne]

And now YOU have me thinking... I never thought about vacuum sealing rice, etc in jars. Never thought about meat, either. Hmmmmm........

 

[snapshot]

I'm sold! I gonna order my new vacuum sealer in the next few days so I added the wide mouth jar attatchment and the hose at the same time. The one I am ordering is a Food Saver 2244 model. Any one have that model?

 

[ORChick]

Its also useful for sealing things in jars for a cool pantry shelf that you might otherwise be putting in the freezer. For instance, raw nuts used to go in the freezer here, because the oils in them can go bad over time. Now I vacuum seal them, and keep them cool, but not frozen. Same with shredded coconut. Saves freezer space, and the vacuumed product lasts a lot longer (than if just put on the shelf). I also saw a video where a woman sealed up the extra Christmas cookies; I tried that last year, and, truly, they didn't get stale. If I lived in a more humid climate I would probably also vacuum seal dried fruit and the like; but, for all our rain, the air humidity is pretty low.

 

[myzanya]

I understand...I wanted it for a long time but couldn't find it in canada ended up going the ebay route...

2dream i really wouln't recomend it for the freezer as I have had jars crack that way...(hate even to loose one canning jar or the contents..and mine was a good spicy spagettie sauce with ground beef ugghh).. would really extend it in the fridge though...and I have found it great for extending sauces eg...can buy the big cheaper sourcream..sizes..

snapshot I am so glad you are sold...I know I was really excited when I got mine..

Marianne and ORChick I have found it very sucessfull in the pantry...brown sugar stays soft nuts stay freash coconut tender...
For and added who knows how crazily long it will stay freash...you can add an oxygen absorber...(they come in little packages...I have used them when I dehydrate and then put into snack bags..


ORChick the cookies are a fantastic idea...but I wouldn't do it with anything to cookie crumbly but have done crutons with sucess...if you are concerned with the humidity the oxygen absorbers would help I opened up some pecans, the were close to 2 years on the shelf and tasted still incredibly freash

the only thing I really do advise is letting them sit and rechecking the seals...as sometimes for what ever reasons...dosent.seem to seel...as I am writing this I think...maybe I should whipe the top of the jar like we do in canning...

 

[ORChick]

.but I wouldn't do it with anything to cookie crumbly

Oh, I agree; you have to know your cookies. But with some (bought) shortbread that we had last Christmas (and just needed to take a break from the sweets for awhile) it worked very well.

Am I missing something? It would seem to me that an oxygen absorber and vacuum sealing would be overkill. Would there be a good reason for doing that?