Posted on 02/26/2018 12:12:20 PM PST by CottonBall
I’ve been missing the vast amount of information on prepping, survival, camping, simple cooking, the old ways of doing just about everything – all the things nw_arizona_granny knew so much about and shared with us, along with numerous other posters with a vast array of skills and knowledge.
We have our various related-threads here, a recipe thread, a gardening thread, and even a prepper thread. They are all great and I don’t mean to take anything away from those and the hard work their owners put in.
But I was missing a place to talk about ALL those things, to get the camaraderie that we used to have on granny’s thread.
I learned how to can on those threads! The pressure canner was not my friend, I thought, but I bought one and stared at it for a month, intimidated. Then I read the directions for another month. But with the help and encouragement of posters on granny’s threads, I jumped in and now have my very own food storage room in the basement with lovely jars of shelf-stable meats, vegetables, and fruit. When we moved, I fashioned my food storage room – and insisted upon having a basement – from what I learned on her threads. Getting started gardening was from her threads. Making my own cleaning products….the list is endless.
So I thought I would take the chance and start another comprehensive prepper thread and see how it goes. I used to have granny’s ping list since I made one of the threads for her, but alas, with numerous computer changes, I cannot find it. So please pass this onto any posters you think might be interested.
We’ll just keep it running until..whenever. Granny created a new thread at 10,000 posts or so. I do like the idea of having ONE thread to go to – because often I cannot find or keep track of the weekly threads. I won’t be posting lots of recipes or tidbits myself – to any mods concerned about the size of this thread. I’d just like a place to chat, post questions, post ideas, make new prepping friends.
Here are granny’s threads, if anyone wants to peruse them:
nw_arizona_granny’s Thread #1
Question.
Does vacuum sealing work the same as oxygen absorbers?
I have the vacuum sealer attachment for my food saver and use it. I always wondered how it compared to other ways of removing oxygen from items. I use canning jars for my vacuum sealed dry goods.
Probably quite. O2 absorbers are usually used with Mylar bags. Food saver bags aren't as impermeable.
The foodsavers get down to about 20hg of vacuum. I had a vacuum pump made for servicing auto air conditioning that would get down close to 30hg which is about as much as can be obtained on earth. Still not quite like the vacuum/void of outer space. Throw enough O2 absorbers in a Mylar bag and you could probably get close to 30hg but I doubt foodsaver bags would hold up.
Food savers work better than squishing the air out of a ziploc bag though. They double freezer storage time which is their main purpose. I'm sure using them on jars or other containers helps but I don't know how much time it adds. Probably depends on the contents. 1 1/2 to 2 times the storage time probably.
I knew Pollard would have the science behind it :-)
I don’t have any experience with how long each Works storing things, I use them for different purposes. I don’t use the food saver for long-term since the plastic bags are permeable.
I used to love their resealable bags. Until I realize that 90% of the time they lose the vacuum.
Now selling stuff in mason jars I use both ways. If I think I’m going to use something again I will use the foodsaver. It’s great for using and resealing. For things that I think are going to sit on the shelf for a while I will throw in an oxygen absorber.
The seals with the oxygen absorbers are much stronger. Every now and then one of the food savored Lids will come loose. I also noticed when I try to pry the lid off, there is a much bigger suction with the one with oxygen absorber. With the foodsavered one I can usually pry it open just using my fingers, and with the oxygen absorbers I’ll typically need a jar opener. Or whatever they are called, those little tiny can opener thingies.
I vacuum sealed pasta, nuts, and chocolate in canning jars and have them stored in the dark in our cool basement.
I figure that the dark and cool work the best, and having them vacuum sealed on top of that will make them last even longer since the glass and lid hermetically seal the jars.
I also have found that sometimes the lids let go so I have taken to putting bands on them to help hold the lid down.
Naa, I'm just good with a web search. I found that fish antibiotics web page years ago and it has links to the other pages.
I’m going to copy that and put it into my medical files. And then like Northwest granny always talked about, I need to print them out and put them in binders. All I did was buy the binders and create the tabs!
NW AR granny is the name I knew her by from another forum. She created a really long thread and managed to get almost everything in before any replies. I pulled all of her stuff out of the thread and printed it. I also categorized things and created a set of html web pages with a home page and a link back to that on every other page. I think you're aware of it?
https://permasteader.route66custom.com/AZ_Granny/stor01.html
Zip file of all those pages inside a folder. https://permasteader.route66custom.com/AZ_Granny.zip
I bought a monochrome laser jet printer. Prints black only. Most of them come with toner and drum that will print 2,000 pages or so. I printed two copies of Granny's stuff and one copy of the USDA Complete guide to Canning, plus a ton of recipes. Granny's stuff is a stack of paper almost an inch thick.
No, I think pills and the stuff inside capsules are so dry and inert that just keeping them dry, cool and away from UV rays(dark) wold be about as good as one could do.
I asked on a Christian based survivalist forum about any special conditions needed to store pasta and had one reply that said; Set it on a marble shelf and it will probably outlast the shelf. Doubtful.
I’ve got some pasta that we’ve had for over 10 years and it looks like new. It’s been stored in plastic Folger’s coffee containers which just have a snap on lid.
I think the general rule is, if it’s dry food that bacteria can’t be bothered with and it has no potential of having insect eggs in it, use desiccant, else use O2 absorbers.
Lack of O2 prevents bacteria from forming and either kills bug eggs or prevents them from hatching.
Always check with Granny though because she knew more than me/us. https://permasteader.route66custom.com/AZ_Granny/stor01.html
Yeah, with our home consumer equipment, we can never have the consistency of commercial equipment.
I figured that vacuum sealing would help kill the bugs, if any.
The glass jars are the best thing going for containing any infestations and preventing a whole pantry from being ruined. Cardboard boxes just are not vermin proof.
We have a porch that overhangs the garage doors and it has screens for the summer and plexiglass panels for the winter. The floor is just decking of some kind. Once the weather is cold enough, it freezes out there so I have some large plastic bins that I plan on storing my flour and grains in on the porch. That way they will stay frozen all winter long.
The advantage is the porch is on the north side of the house so especially in the winter, there is little to no chance of the sun warming it up enough to thaw things out.
If Joe Bastardi is correct and we do have an early winter, (Nov is his forecast) that gives me about 5 months of frozen storage of the stuff out there.
Turning Your Non-fat Powdered
Milk Into 1%, 2% Or Whole Milk
And 14 Days of Preps
Classics!!
“I also categorized things and created a set of html web pages with a home page and a link back to that on every other page. I think you’re aware of it?”
Yes, thank you so much for doing that. I think that needs to be put on our main page along with the links to her threads.
It sounds like you both have done vacuum sealing in jars. I have been dehydrating garden veggies and tried to vacuum seal in my jars. I can’t get it to work. I even bought new caps and hose to use from the company. Is there some secret to putting the caps on over the lids and jars?
bfl
I’ve had trouble, too. One thing is to make sure the gasket in the attachment is put in right, not upside down. Sometimes the unit simply would not get the air out of the jar and that seemed to be the reason for that problem.
The other problem I have had was that when I pulled the attachment off, the lid would come off, too.
It turned out that the attachment fit the jar and lid so snugly, that it would pull the lid off when I tried to take the attachment off because the vacuum was so strong.
I found that if I disconnected the hose from the attachment first, then gently pried off the attachment, it was far less likely to pull the lid off. By disconnecting the hose, it broke the vacuum in the attachment allowing it to be pulled off without pulling the lid off, too, because of the strong vacuum in the hose and attachment.
If that makes any sense.
I also use new lids and make sure and wash them thoroughly. I’ve noticed that new canning jars and lids feel like they have a film on them from manufacturing, like of oil or something. Used lids already have an imprint of a previous jar in the gasket and do not vacuum seal well.
I take it you haven’t seen my profile page. https://freerepublic.com/~pollard/
Thanks, I will try it again. I had the same problem that the lid was coming off with the attachment. I only tried using a large mouth jars. I read you have to put another lid upside down on the 1st lid if sealing with the regular size jars.
I don’t know what could be the problem, except maybe a defective lid thing that goes over the jar lid?
Just like what th any cannng, I simmer my lids 5 min to soften the rubbed. And that food saver device doesn’t work with tattler lids at all!
I love it!
I don’t see a way to edit the information at the beginning of the thread. I definitely want to add your pages there though. Let me know if you see how to do it.
I love it that that list has bacitracin and neomycin eye ointment. I have a bunch of those but I’ve been wondering how long that would last past the expiration. I have a bunch of liquid IV steroids and I’ve been told by my doctor that kept in the fridge it will last forever, it just might get a little weaker overtime.
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