Dry Canning

[MoonShadows]

Today, I am going to try dry canning, something I have never done before. I have 25 lbs. each of organic long grain white rice, black beans, and green lentils. I am going to use my FoodSaver with the cap adapter on wide mouth 1 qt. Ball canning jars. The first batch of jars (24) is in the dishwasher now.

I will also be adding an oxygen absorber packet to each jar. The reason I am adding an oxygen absorber too is because FoodSaver does NOT recommend using their mason jar accessories for canning purposes. A FoodSaver mason jar accessory creates a good vacuum and will enhance the shelf life, but it cannot reduce the oxygen level to the recommended safe level of .02% – .01% for long term storage. Studies have shown that mold can grow in anything above those levels. Oxygen absorber packets remove oxygen from airtight containers to around 0.01%. Why am I using my FoodSaver attachment in conjunction with O2 absorbers if the oxygen absorber packs will do the job by themselves? Well, because the FoodSaver will get a good part of the job done, and what is left the O2 absorber will take care of, and less of the oxygen absorber pack will be used up. This will give me the opportunity to open the jar, use some of the contents and then let it reseal using the rest of the oxygen absorber pack to be used later on.

These will be added to our long term disaster food storage, and we will rotate them as we use them.

Pictures to follow.

 

[MoonShadows]

Well, that only took a couple of hours. Not bad.

I had 4 cases of wide mouth jars for this project, and I was able to can just about 73 lbs. (24 lbs. rice, 24 lbs. lentils and 25 lbs. black beans). 16 jars of each.

BTW....the rice and beans I bought were all grown in the US. I was reading that you can't always rely on "organic" rice and beans grown outside the US in South America and China to be truly organic or as nutrient dense. It made the final cost higher, but I am assured of them being #1 quality organic. I bought the black beans and lentils from Eden Foods (50lbs. only $12 flat shipping), and the rice from Lundburg (via Vitacost - 2lb bags on sale with an additional 20% off and free shipping). If you find what seems like a good deal and want to know the origin country, just contact the company. They have to disclose it.

The oxygen absorber packets came 10 in a pack, so I only did 10 jars at a time as not to expose the packets to the air but for only a few minutes.

I placed 1 on top of the contents of each jar.

Then, used the FoodSaver jar attachment.

And, a little while later.....

Now, I have to make some room in the basement for these. Wonder how long they'll sit here until I get the room made for them?

 

[MoonShadows]

In my neck of the woods we have 2 supermarkets that have fairly good organic sections, in some cases the produce is better than the regular produce. I bought 6 lbs of organic apples the other day for $1.99 a pound and they were big, unblemished and crispy....along with a 1/2 dozen perfect pears...on sale. A better price than the local farms! I dehydrated them and "dry canned" them for treats during the winter. Our funds are not all that great, but better than yours from what you write, and we don't have as many mouths to feed as you do. I do receive Medicaid because my income is below the cutoff point, but don't qualify for food stamps. It frosts me when I am standing in line at a store in sweat pants, old sneakers and the sweatshirt that doubles as my winter coat, with all generics, last day of sale meats and "day olds" and see someone dressed to the nine's, with name brands in their cart, choice meats, and other things I can't afford, a smart phone on their hip, and bling around their neck, on their ears or around their wrist, and they pull out an EBT card....then drive out of the parking lot in a new vehicle. But, I have to then check myself and thank God for what I DO have. We cut back in other areas and save money in order to make these larger organic purchases like bulk beans and rice, and our kitchen garden. We have simple Walmart and 2nd hand store wardrobes, don't go on vacation, never go out to dinner or a movie, drive old cars, don't have cable TV, the bare essential phone plan, make or create as much as we can, etc. All our money goes into paying off the mortgage, past business loans, survival supplies and everyday living. The key is doing as much as you can within your means, especially in case of emergencies when you have to cut back even more.

 

[tortoise]

I'm laughing because I think MOST people can figure out how to grow food within 25 years. just sayin' .... we are talking SHTF, not living on Mars, right?

 

[MoonShadows]

I just Googled "plastic soda bottles for dry canning" and found several articles talking about it. The oxygen absorbers won't collapse the bottle. Remember, air is almost 80% nitrogen and 20% oxygen with other trace gases. You are only removing the oxygen from the bottle, not the "air". That's why so many industries pack their products in nitrogen. Oxygen is the "destroyer"...think oxidation, think "rust". The only negative I found was while they are good, they probably are not good for long term or the 25 year preservation like survivalist talk about, however, who is really going to keep food 25 years?

 

[MoonShadows]

 

[GettysburgGarden]

We dry can and do steel cut oats, pasta, white rice, beans, and such. I was reading and wanted to share an off grid tip: Harbor freight makes a Brake Bleeder and Vacuum Pump Kit for 25 dollars, if you search for a coupon you should be able to leave the store for it for $20. You can use the same large mouth FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer FCARWJAH-000 Wide-Mouth Jar Kit with Regular Sealer and Accessory Hose, White. We get the jars at Tractor Supply Co. the costs of the Ball Wide Mouth Half-Gallon Jar, Pack of 6. If someone knows of a cheaper $ let me know. We buy bulk.. and we buy at dollar general and get the $5 coupon if we buy $25.00. We get the white rice there as an example, and then FREEZE it for 4 days, then let thaw, and then dry-can with two Oxy-Sorb 60-300cc. With a brake bleeder your lids do not come off! Freezing the rice kills some larvae eggs if they were to exist and is simply recommended for some grains. But between bulk and bargain coupon hunting, getting the 5 off for $25.. well the jars of course can be used for like real cooking and real foods and is a fraction of the costs of "prepper food". In a basement in the dark with an average temp of 54-60 you are looking 20 year life shelf for the rice. Glass keeps off rodents, water, humidity.. etc.. I highly recommend keeping couple gallons of rice on hand. When we see Mason jars at yard sales, etc.. we know the prices, we also keep a lid and ring in the kitchen and use other jars that also have the same threads.. oysters as an example in the mid Atlantic have that thread count. blah.. blah.. blah.. blah, I'm new.. but I have had to literally pry off the lids when you put 20lbs of vacuum on a new lid, if you got rubber.. you get a seal.. we use new lids out of habit, but.. keep the old ones in the garage. We are very careful shoppers and cost conscientious, you can get into a genuine long-term prep for very inexpensive and certainly allot less than pre packaged prepper food which if you read the bucket can all be dry-canned.

 

[MoonShadows]

Great job there! Now just to get it put away I am intrigued by this dry canning vs other storage methods for goods such as this. What are the pros and cons?

Off the top of my head:
PROS: smaller portions than large Mylar bags; reuse the jars and with dry canning you can reuse the lids
CONS: glass (breakage?); glass let's light through (light, heat, moisture and oxygen are no-nos)
PRO/CON Quality? Just another method of preserving.

I thought it was either oxygen absorbers or the vac-pac method, not both. With the jars I've heard that the vacuum package with the device is not dependable after a few months but the oxygen absorbers last until the jars are opened. Curious is anyone has any experience on this either way. I have seen a dry can using the oven on YouTube that seemed reasonably safe.

I've read pros and cons for all three....vacuum...oxygen absorbers....vacuum and oxygen absorbers. I can tell you, I wouldn't just use the vacuum method myself. Household vacuum sealers cannot get the oxygen level low enough to make sure no mold grows. Using both makes it easier to make sure you have a good seal right from the start rather than waiting for the oxygen pack to make the seal. The oxygen pack makes sure you get the oxygen level down to .o1% after the FoodSaver does the initial job.

BTW...the oxygen absorbers in the pictures are 300cc. You really only need 100, maybe 150cc for a 1 quart jar. This was the only size I had at home. While initially, it is a waste of a 300cc oxygen absorber, I know I can open the jar, take what I want, and if I don't eat the rest for quite a while, there is still enough power in the 300cc to reseal the jar.

 

[lcertuche]

It does cost money (usually) to begin to preserve food. I think the cheapest would be to put food between window screens or in a car to dehydrate. My electric dehydrator was a cheap Walmart appliance but it has worked great. The initial cost was around $30 and then the cost to run it for 8+ hours but without anything more than putting the end product in a plastic bag or glass jar I am using product that is 2 years old and it still taste great. The nutritional value maybe less but it is perfectly edible. I am starting to can a few things as I get jars but so far limited to boiling water bath method so no meat or low acid foods. I do plan on investing in a canner (or two), along with about a dozen cases of jars when we get our tax refund back. Last year it was a freezer. I may order a few more trays to go with my dehydrator, although I was hoping to get some of these at yard sales, resale shops, Craig's list, etc. I want to try some of MoonShadows dry canning of beans, rice and maybe some of my own dehydrated veggies. This next summer I hope to have a few more home grown vegetables as my garden should be better next year. My children do help me in the garden a little and I like to explain things as we are working to give them ideas for the future. I also have them help me when I preparing food to dehydrate, freeze or canning. Someday they will remember if necessary I'm sure.

 

[rodeogirl]

I'm laughing because I think MOST people can figure out how to grow food within 25 years. just sayin' .... we are talking SHTF, not living on Mars, right?

Hey didn't you watch the movie "the Martin" it only took him a few days to figure out how to grow potatoes on mars. That's a lot less time than its going to take me to teach one of my friends to garden.