Oxygen Absorbers for Dehydrated Food

Use oxygen absorbers for dehydrated food when you're ready to store your vacuum-sealed dehydrated fruits and/or vegetables.

300cc Oxygen Absorber Pack

This very page you're reading now
is probably ONE of the most IMPORTANT pages on Easy Food Dehydrating.

Why is that? Well, if you're interested in storing food for the long term, make sure to add oxygen absorbers inside your dehydrated vacuum-sealer bags PRIOR to sealing them with your FoodSaver machine or (whichever brand of vacuum-sealer you purchased).

Oxygen Absorbers for Dehydrated Food:
Life Support for Jars, Bags, Bins, and Buckets

Remember: tuck a 100cc oxygen absorber inside the vacuum bag JUST BEFORE you vacuum seal it, or drop an oxygen absorber in the mason jar just before screwing on its lid.

If you're using a small (half-pint) jar, use a 50cc oxygen absorber. For quart-sized jars, use a 100cc oxygen absorber.

Various Sized Oxygen Absorbers
for the Right Application

50cc Oxygen Absorbers

100cc Oxygen Absorbers

300cc Oxygen Absorbers

2000cc Oxygen Absorbers

* As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. The price you pay doesn't increase.

These little oxygen absorbers are readily available in different sizes, such as 50cc, 100cc, 300cc, and 2000cc. The reason for different sizes depends upon what size container your dehydrated foods are placed in.

If you're using a small (half-pint) jar, use a 50cc oxygen absorber.

For a quart-sized jar or vacuum bag, use a 100cc oxygen absorber (shown here and at the bottom of this page).

For a 10" x 14" Mylar bag, use a 300cc oxygen absorber (very top photo).

For storage bins or buckets, use 2000cc oxygen absorber (not shown).

Read more about different oxygen absorber sizes here.

Pink Pill = GOOD

Blue/Purple Pill = BAD!

When the 100-pack of oxygen absorbers arrives, BEFORE OPENING IT or putting it away,
immediately check for the little pill in the bag.
It MUST BE PINK.
If it's BLUE/PURPLE...
that's not good.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The pill turns BLUE/PURPLE when the pill has absorbed oxygen, therefore telling you that the contents of the shipment are probably no-good. So before you OPEN that shipped package, check for a pink pill. If it's blue/purple, return that shipment unopened for a replacement order!

Blue/Purple Pill =
NO GOOD!

Photo shows the pills that have turned from a very definite PINK to an almost blueish purple color.

This indicates that the oxygen absorbers contained in the bag are highly-likely "no good."

Pink Pill = GOOD

Blue/Purple Pill = BAD!

When the 100-pack of
oxygen absorbers arrives,
BEFORE OPENING IT
or putting it away,
immediately check for
the little pill in the bag.
It MUST BE PINK.
If it's BLUE/PURPLE...
that's not good.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The pill turns BLUE/PURPLE when the pill has absorbed oxygen, therefore telling you that the contents of the shipment are probably no-good. So before you OPEN that shipped package, check for a pink pill. If it's blue/purple, return that shipment unopened for a replacement order!

Blue/Purple Pill =
NO GOOD!

Photo shows the pills that have turned from a very definite PINK to an almost blueish purple color.

This indicates that the oxygen absorbers contained in the bag are highly-likely "no good."

Create 5 Bags Each With 20 Oxygen Absorbers
for Dehydrated Food Protection

If the pill is good, I'll open the new 100-pack bag, and take out 5 brand new quart-size vacuum-sealer bags. I then place 20 oxy-packs from the 100-pack bag into each of the quart-size vacuum-sealer bags and immediately vacuum seal them all.

This means I now have FIVE quart-size bags with 20 oxy-packs in each of them. The pink pill from the original bag can go into one of the five bags—no need to throw it away, we can use it up!

The reason for splitting them up is we don’t want to open and seal the original big bag over-and-over just to take out one or two oxy-packs. Doing that would soon ruin all the other oxy-packs (by air infiltration) before we even get a chance to use them!

Cut Just Below the Old Seal

When I'm ready to use an oxygen absorber, I simply cut along the bottom of the seal at the top of the bag, as shown here, by the white dashed line. Cut as straight as you can and as close to the old seal as you can—then I remove as many packets as I need and put them in the dehydrated food bags that are waiting to be vacuum sealed.

Coming up are notes about resealing bags. Keep scrolling...

Re-vacuum and seal the oxy-pack bag (see photo above) after taking out what you need.

I can re-seal one of the oxy-pack bags about four times... and if I've any remaining packets and the bag gets 'too short' to reseal, I'll put those remaining packets into a new bag and vacuum seal it!

How Do You Know When Foods
Are Dehydrated Enough?

Linda recently wrote in to our Facebook page with this question:

"Hi, I am dehydrating items for a backpacking trip. I have some rice with Alfredo sauce going and was wondering how do you know when things are dehydrated enough? I don't want to make anyone sick with my food."

Hey Linda! First off, are you dehydrating the items separately, or as one whole? I hear you regarding not wanting to get sick! If you're dehydrating "as a whole", you'll need to keep your eye on the sauce's "dryness," then you should be good to go. Why?

Well, as you can imagine, rice doesn't have/hold much water compared to a 'sauce.' When it comes time to vacuum-seal your rice and Alfredo sauce mix, make sure you add in an oxygen absorber so it can do its job.

Also, it's always a little 'touch and go' when drying two vastly different foods at the same time. If you're only going on a short trip, this method should work out fine for you.

~ ~ ~

Thanks for stopping by to learn about oxygen absorbers for dehydrated food usage and why there are different sizes. Questions? Write to me here.

Susan Gast began Easy Food Dehydrating in December 2010. Read Susan's story of what sparked her interest in all things related to "food dehydrating."

Susan is featured on Mother Earth News blog, and on Solo Build It (SBI) who host this site along with her sister site, Finally-Keto. Read her first SBI interview, and her second SBI interview. Susan also runs an additional SBI website: SusanGast.com - Non-Fiction Author - and showcases many of the books she's created and marketed over the years.

Since 1980, Susan's involvement in publishing - in one form or another - led her to create a "review site" of products related to the publishing industry. Visit ePubTechReviews today.

Do you want to send Susan a quick message? Visit her contact page here. She'd love to hear from you!

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