Use oxygen absorbers for dehydrated food when you're ready to store your vacuum-sealed dehydrated fruits and/or vegetables.
The page you are reading now is
ONE of the most IMPORTANT
pages on Easy Food Dehydrating.
The page you
are reading now
is 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 BEFORE sealing them with your FoodSaver machine or (whichever brand of vacuum-sealer you purchased).
Now that was a bit of a tongue-twister!
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.
The oxygen absorbers protect dry foods from insect damage and extend the shelf life by preventing mold growth, which eliminates the need for additives like BHA, BHT, sorbates, etc.
They are non-toxic, which is good to know, as they are in direct contact with our food!
The oxygen absorbers protect dry foods
from insect damage and
extend the
shelf life by preventing mold growth,
which eliminates the
need for additives
like BHA, BHT, sorbates, etc.
They
are non-toxic, which is good
to know, as they are in
direct contact with our
food!
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 in my images).
For a 10" x 14" Mylar bag, use a 300cc oxygen absorber (very top photo).
For storage bins or buckets, use a 2000cc oxygen absorber (not shown).
Read more about different oxygen absorber sizes here.
Click the RED WORDS to see the Oxygen Absorbers on Amazon.com
* As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. The price you pay does not increase.
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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!
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.
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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!
The 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."
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 oxygen absorbers 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 oxygen absorbers. Doing that would soon ruin all the other oxygen absorbers (by air infiltration) before we even get a chance to use them!
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 bundled oxygen absorber bag (see photo above) after taking out what you need.
I can re-seal one of the oxygen absorber 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!
Oxygen absorbers are commonly used in at-home food storage and preservation for the following reasons:
Linda recently posted on 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 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 meal? I hear you regarding not wanting to get sick! If you're dehydrating "as a whole meal", you'll need to keep your eye on the sauce's "dryness," and 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."
She is featured on the Mother Earth News blog, and on Solo Build It! (SBI!) who hosts this site. Read her first SBI! interview and her second SBI! interview.
Since 1980, Susan's involvement in publishing - in one form or another - led her to create ePubTechReviews which reviews a variety of products related to the publishing industry - if you're at all interested in AI and self-publishing. The website is also hosted by Solo Build It!
Susan also runs her namesake site SusanGast.com on Solo Build It! that showcases the books she has written since 2012.
Do you want to send Susan a quick message? Visit her contact page here. She'd love to hear from you!