# oxygen absorbers



## Terri in WV (May 10, 2002)

I've never used them and have a few questions that I know you all can answer.

After searching on here, it seems that some use them and others say flour and such will keep fine w/o them in canning jars. So....

Dry canning vs O2 absorbers, is one method better than the other for LTS or are they about the same? Which method is more economical?

When doing either method, do you need to leave the rings on for LTS?

And finally, how do you know which size absorber to use?

And a thank you to whoever it was that posted about the Lexington container place!(sorry I can't remember the name)


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

I only use O2 absorbers in mylar bags that get stored in buckets. That doesn't mean they don't work good in jars, it just means I don't dry can.

I don't store flour. It just isn't a big part of our diet since we are mostly gluten free. Corn meal we do store. It is stored in mylar bags in about 5-10 lbs portions with a couple of absorbers. I seal it with a hot iron. They draw down nicely. Those then go into buckets and into the rotation.

Maybe there are some small O2 packets you could get that would be appropriate for jars. Mine seem like it would be a bit of overkill. And remember, once you open that pack of absorbers, either use them now or get them back into a vacuum. I use my vacuum sealer and this plastic canister that came with it. Or you can just put them into a new vacuum bag.

Back onto the flour, the answer for _long term_ storage is to store wheat berries and have a mill. I'd do them in bags and buckets, if I needed it. Once milled, wheat doesn't last that long from what I understand. Maybe 6-12 months.


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

Steel items rust when exposed to O2, so they benefit from an O2 absorber.

Some fats and oils break down when exposed to O2, so they benefit as well.

Most other things mold or rot from humidity. For those things desiccant is better for long term storage. Fortunately desiccant can be 'recharged' and used over and over.


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## praieri winds (Apr 16, 2010)

I use 02 in almost everything I dry can also use Foodsaver jar sealer the 02 is a failsafe for incase you loose your seal for some reason or another it does help the flavor to keep better I have had jars to seal with a couple of 100's in them I use them in buckets also that I have wheat in


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## Pelenaka (Jul 27, 2007)

Terry, I do both with O2 absorbers & without but no dry canning. I mainly store berries not flour but last year I scored white all purpose flour @ CVS. 
Bought 30 bags to use when I'm baking for barter deals & they don't want whole grain. I did pack 4 bags in mylar with a few O2 absorbers after spending a week in the freezer to kill any bugs. I'll use those for gifting to family zombies when the time comes.

Whole grains; everything from brown rice (keeps for a year) to Buckwheat, Oats, Rye, Red & White Wheat, I pack up in half gallon to quart mason jars with O2 absorbers then vacuum seal. I like being able to open the smaller amount versus a pail when I need to grind. 

I do use plastic caps off of either mayo jars (fit wide mouth canning jars) or lids off of Aldis peanut butter jars (fit small mouth jars) as added protection. My cellar is damp so I've had rings rust on/meld to jars with no hopes of unscrewing them again.

The last time I checked LDS had the best prices on O2 absorbers. 


~~ pelenaka ~~


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## hsmom2four (Oct 13, 2008)

praieri winds said:


> I use 02 in almost everything I dry can also use Foodsaver jar sealer the 02 is a failsafe for incase you loose your seal for some reason or another it does help the flavor to keep better I have had jars to seal with a couple of 100's in them I use them in buckets also that I have wheat in


So, just to be clear--you put in an O2 absorber and then vacuum seal with the food saver? I saw someone else do that on a youtube video last week and was wondering if I was doing it wrong. I just use the food saver to seal and haven't been putting in O2's. If I suck out the air with the food saver right after putting the O2 absorber in--then if it looses the seal the O2 will activate and reseal it??


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## Welshmom (Sep 7, 2008)

It can take a lot of O2 absorbers per pail.
I saw on a recent episode of Doomsday Preppers where one guy said you can aso use the handwarmers in a packet (we have lots of those around!) instead of the O2 absorbers.
Does anyone know about this? What would the ratio be? How would handwarmers compare in price to using O2 absorbers? (We can get the hand warmers for 99 cents apiece)


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

hsmom2four said:


> So, just to be clear--you put in an O2 absorber and then vacuum seal with the food saver? I saw someone else do that on a youtube video last week and was wondering if I was doing it wrong. I just use the food saver to seal and haven't been putting in O2's. If I suck out the air with the food saver right after putting the O2 absorber in--then if it looses the seal the O2 will activate and reseal it??


If the vacuum sealed bag springs a leak (faulty seal or a puncture) then the O2 absorber wouldn't help because it would keep sucking in the outside air. I think some people use them in bags and jars *instead* of vacuum sealing. You just squeeze out most of the air, toss in an O2 absorber, seal it and wait. You can see the sides suck inwards as it does its job.


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## hsmom2four (Oct 13, 2008)

Mom_of_Four said:


> If the vacuum sealed bag springs a leak (faulty seal or a puncture) then the O2 absorber wouldn't help because it would keep sucking in the outside air. I think some people use them in bags and jars *instead* of vacuum sealing. You just squeeze out most of the air, toss in an O2 absorber, seal it and wait. You can see the sides suck inwards as it does its job.


That's what I thought too. I've never used O2 absorbers because I'm already sucking the air out with the food saver but I saw two different people on youtube (sorry don't remember who they were) use them in jars and then seal with the food saver and then they also used them in bags with dehydrated foods that they also sealed with a food saver. I was really confused as to why use/do both. I was thinking one or the other but why both? I thought I was missing something.


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## hsmom2four (Oct 13, 2008)

Welshmom said:


> It can take a lot of O2 absorbers per pail.
> I saw on a recent episode of Doomsday Preppers where one guy said you can aso use the handwarmers in a packet (we have lots of those around!) instead of the O2 absorbers.
> Does anyone know about this? What would the ratio be? How would handwarmers compare in price to using O2 absorbers? (We can get the hand warmers for 99 cents apiece)


Here is the video of the guy from doomsday preppers talking about using the handwarmers instead of O2 absorbers. I think he's only recommending them when you do larger buckets of things that would require multiple O2 absorbers. 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/user/dsarti1?ob=0&feature=results_main#p/u/1/S3Wvp01IiLs[/ame]


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## bourbonred (Feb 27, 2008)

I've used the o2 absorbers, but i'm trying to move toward more self-sustaining methods such as candling the 55 gallon drums, and using a hand-pump for vaccuum sealing jars. Lexington container is a neat place, though. It's like shopping surrounded by HT'ers. Although everyone shopping seems to be looking around over their shoulder to make sure no one else is looking at them!!!


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## Ozarks Tom (May 27, 2011)

When we open a new pack of absorbers, we re-pack the remainder into the smallest canning jar w/lid & ring they'll fit into. Until we get down to the last 3 or 4 it's a real chore getting the lid off.

When packing dusty materials, powdered milk, corn meal, etc., into mylar bags we've found the bags don't heat seal unless we wipe the inner edges dust free. Anybody else have this problem?


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Yep, dusty stuff can mess up the seal. I usually put powdered milk into a big zip lock bag, squeeze out almost all the air, leave a 1/2 inch of the zipper open, and then put it in a vacuum bag (with the zipper on the opposite end from the end you'll be sealing). The ziplock contains most of the dust and helps the vac bag seal. I do that with rice too, since the grains can poke holes in the vac bag.


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## Guest (Feb 27, 2012)

Terri in WV said:


> I've never used them and have a few questions that I know you all can answer.
> 
> After searching on here, it seems that some use them and others say flour and such will keep fine w/o them in canning jars. So....


 Flour will keep fine just sealed in a jar. But for how long? Here in Florida I can get maybe three years for ordinary refined white flour sealed in a canning jar if kept inside of my air conditioned house. For warmer or longer storage I'd really want to go to oxygen absorbers or vacuum sealing.



> Dry canning vs O2 absorbers, is one method better than the other for LTS or are they about the same? Which method is more economical?


 Oven canning is very economical. On the other hand though it doesn't really work and can damage the nutrient contents of some food. Vacuum seal or use absorbers. Or at the least pack in the canning jars, seal, put them in the deep freezer for several days, then put then on the shelf.



> When doing either method, do you need to leave the rings on for LTS?


 If they're going to be transported or moved around a lot I put rings on them. If they are just going onto the shelf I prefer to take them off so I can more readily determine if a jar has lost its seal.



> And finally, how do you know which size absorber to use?


Go here: http://athagan.members.atlantic.net/PFSFAQ/PFSFAQ-4-2.html#Oxygen

I explain all about that.

One last thing about using oxygen absorbers in flour. Put the absorbers ON TOP of the flour and do not shake the container down hard. It's possible for a material as finely textured as flour to pack down so tightly that the oxygen trapped in the parts of the container further away from the absorber that it can't circulate freely enough to be absorbed.


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## praieri winds (Apr 16, 2010)

hsmom2four said:


> So, just to be clear--you put in an O2 absorber and then vacuum seal with the food saver? I saw someone else do that on a youtube video last week and was wondering if I was doing it wrong. I just use the food saver to seal and haven't been putting in O2's. If I suck out the air with the food saver right after putting the O2 absorber in--then if it looses the seal the O2 will activate and reseal it??


it has worked that way for me when I did a test run I made the jar loose the seal on purpose and the 02 made it seal back they have to be fresh and not used before or it won't work


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## Terri in WV (May 10, 2002)

Thanks to all and a special thanks to Alan for the link.

And Bourbonred, I've been lucky. The couple of times that I've been in Lex Containers, I've been the only one. I like shopping that way.


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## GoldenCityMuse (Apr 15, 2009)

I use a MityVac vacuum pump that I also use to bleed brakes, and the foodsaver canning jar adapters. They work best with the Tattler plastic lids, the rubber gaskets are more flexible and stay sealed better than new steel lids.


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