PREP Freeze Dried Fruit

[phloydius]

Looking for opinion from those that have food preservation processes down & are way more knowledgeable than me...

The little packages of freeze dried fruit that are in metallic bags in places like the dollar store, Walmart, & grocery stores seem to list that they only have a 2-3 year shelf life on them. (Link has an example, but there are many brands). If the packages were opened, and the items were put into a mason jar & vacuum sealed (and/or O2 absorbers were used) do you think that it would dramatically increase the shelf life?

https://www.biglots.com/product/freeze-dried-strawberries-6-pack/p810464282

 

[school marm]

Those bags are probably thinner mylar than is standard for LT storage and probably do not have an oxygen absorber. Theoretically, if you bought them soon after the packaging date and used mylar and oxygen absorbers, you'd increase the shelf life significantly.

However, $6.99 is a lot of money for just 210 calories total. Also, most of the cheaper packages that I have seen originate in China. I personally don't like getting anything from China, but most especially my food. And finally, like all foods, if you want a good quality end product, you have to begin with good quality. The Chinese usually don't, and some of those strawberries are awfully pink.

 

[WalknTrot]

I buy the large sealed bags of Craisins, prunes, etc. all the time and stored them in a popcorn tin so they don't get damaged. Never had any problems. They aren't even freeze dried.

To me, it's just another way to introduce mold/moisture/bacteria to repackage. JMHO.

 

[Kathy in FL]

I have indeed re-packaged the freeze dried fruits and veggies snacks. And I’ve used jars to do it. However just some advice, use the smallest jars possible. Unless you know for a fact that you will use all of the fruit in one setting. If this is for LTS then you need to think in terms of other things like lack of electricity possible humidity issues because of no AC, etc. if you were going to go to the trouble of repackaging the items, make it so the resulting packaging is best used for you.

For instance have some idea of how you were going to use those items in the future. If you were going to use the freeze dried food and say a muffin mix, then you don’t need a quart of freeze dried food. You only need a small, very small, jelly jar of the item.

just my personal experience and my two cents. As all the kids grow up and move out I no longer need to package or purchase industrial sized portions. Add our BOL I now portion in two sizes that are most useful for two adults. At our primary residence, I still package for a regular family dinner amount. In an emergency, I need to keep the package amounts small enough so that either I don’t have to overcook to use them up or I’m not forced to watch them spoil before I can use them up.

ETA: these days I am packaging for special diet as well. I have my father who has both rampant heart problems and really bad type two diabetes. I have a daughter who is a pescatarian and mostly eats plant protein in the like. Then there is my own type two diabetes that is primarily diet controlled but I have to really watch the carbs to keep it that way. Then there is my husband who has developed a bit of gluten sensitivity, where if he eats too much of it he turns into the monster from the black lagoon. My two sons and my husband also though seem to be sensitive to having the hangries.

 

[nchomemaker]

What is a good jar vacume sealer?

 

[Chicken Mama]

So that's what's been wrong with my DH for the last 20 years! Well, off and on. Thank you. I'm cutting his gluten intake starting NOW!

 

[phloydius]

What is a good jar vacume sealer?

The one I use is FoodSaver, but you have to have a FoodSaver (or compatible) that has an accessory port.

This is what I use (although I know nothing of this paticular seller):

Amazon.com: FoodSaver Regular Sealer and Accessory Hose Wide-Mouth Jar Kit, 9.00 x 6.00 x 4.90 Inches, White: Home & Kitchen

Online Shopping for Kitchen Small Appliances from a great selection of Coffee Machines, Blenders, Juicers, Ovens, Specialty Appliances, & more at everyday low prices

www.amazon.com

They go into and out of stock, and can be hard to get from time to time since even before the pandemic.

There are also people on Youtube that teach how to make one with a auto break bleeder (for use with no power), but have tried that myself.

 

[nchomemaker]

Okay, so I would need the whole food saver system. Big bucks....

 

[phloydius]

Okay, so I would need the whole food saver system. Big bucks....

Yes. Unfortunately. The main system can be bought at Walmart online for $73 and comes with some bags. I do like the system. So much that I just bought a second one as a backup. The one I have is getting old (over 10 years old), is a different version than the one I just bought, and may give out any day.

I don't actually use the bags much. Most of the time I use it for mason jars.
Mason jars are a big part of my normal operations:

• I make my own stock/broth and can it (with new lids) and put it on the shelf.
• Some items I cook, like broth, soup, and sauces that I plan to use in a couple of days gets put in the fridge with plastic mason jar lids.
• I use mason jars as glasses to drink out of (water/tea mostly). I'll use the plastic lid when I travel to keep my drink from spilling in the car.
• Mason jars that get chipped / cracked lips get used near the chicken coop with the plastic lids for holding things like screws, diatomaceous earth, etc.
• I render lard, and place it in smaller mason jars in the fridge.
• I put ground beef / pork / sausage and shredded cheese in the freezer in mason jars after vacuum sealing them with used wide mouth lids.
• I put dry goods like cereal in QT and 1/2 Gallon wide mouth jars and vacuum seal them with used wide mouth lids (although used to use new lids when testing for long term storage).
• And am currently testing using the wide mouth food saver adapter to test vacuum sealing rice in used pickle jars with the original pickle lid. We'll see how this one goes...

 

[KFhunter]

I use a food saver vacuum attachment with good success, but it doesn't pull as deep a vacuum as the harvest right if I take the shelves out and place jars in the empty chamber and turn on the pump.

 

[phloydius]

I use a food saver vacuum attachment with good success, but it doesn't pull as deep a vacuum as the harvest right if I take the shelves out and place jars in the empty chamber and turn on the pump.

In things (dry goods) I am planning to store for a very long time, I have been known to put an O2 absorber into the mason jar just before using the vacuum sealer.

I might have to look into the harvest right. Which one do you use?

 

[KFhunter]

Yup, same.


I use a smaller than reccomend size for the volume due to the vacuuming reducing the atmosphere within the jar = far less iron needed

 

[summerthyme]

Yes. Unfortunately. The main system can be bought at Walmart online for $73 and comes with some bags. I do like the system. So much that I just bought a second one as a backup. The one I have is getting old (over 10 years old), is a different version than the one I just bought, and may give out any day.

I don't actually use the bags much. Most of the time I use it for mason jars.
Mason jars are a big part of my normal operations:

• I make my own stock/broth and can it (with new lids) and put it on the shelf.
• Some items I cook, like broth, soup, and sauces that I plan to use in a couple of days gets put in the fridge with plastic mason jar lids.
• I use mason jars as glasses to drink out of (water/tea mostly). I'll use the plastic lid when I travel to keep my drink from spilling in the car.
• Mason jars that get chipped / cracked lips get used near the chicken coop with the plastic lids for holding things like screws, diatomaceous earth, etc.
• I render lard, and place it in smaller mason jars in the fridge.
• I put ground beef / pork / sausage and shredded cheese in the freezer in mason jars after vacuum sealing them with used wide mouth lids.
• I put dry goods like cereal in QT and 1/2 Gallon wide mouth jars and vacuum seal them with used wide mouth lids (although used to use new lids when testing for long term storage).
• And am currently testing using the wide mouth food saver adapter to test vacuum sealing rice in used pickle jars with the original pickle lid. We'll see how this one goes...

About 15 years ago, I decided to standardize my pantry and food storage. I tossed all the various miscellaneous jars I had used/recycled, and put everything in standard Mason jars. I never have to hunt for lids, and they are- of course- usable for canning as well as dry stprage.

Summerthyme

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I might regret it long term, but I store flour and corn meal in 1/2 gal canning jars with O2 absorbers. They seal up just fine, without using a vacuum sealer of any kind. I use 1 O2 absorber for quart jars, and 2 for 1/2 gal jars.

 

[phloydius]

I might regret it long term, but I store flour and corn meal in 1/2 gal canning jars with O2 absorbers. They seal up just fine, without using a vacuum sealer of any kind. I use 1 O2 absorber for quart jars, and 2 for 1/2 gal jars.

Yeah, I do not vacuum seal flour / corn meal because I don't want it sucked into the machine. The cost savings would be lost pretty quickly by damaging it. I have O2 absorbed a few jars in the past, but generally don't. I may research this a bit and start. If you have tested it, how long have yours stayed fresh for?

 

[phloydius]

About 15 years ago, I decided to standardize my pantry and food storage. I tossed all the various miscellaneous jars I had used/recycled, and put everything in standard Mason jars. I never have to hunt for lids, and they are- of course- usable for canning as well as dry storage.

Yeah, I generally standardize to using both wide mouth and regular mouth lids. I'm okay with having a bunch of different size jars, when there are only 2 possible lid sizes. I also got rid of all the random recycled peanut butter jars, etc. However, the pickle jar thing is new for me. I saw a youtube video where someone was talking about having some "hand me outs" to people, and they recommended ziplocks of rice and beans and maybe a pouch of seasoning. It had me thinking, because we buy (and throw in the recycling) about 8 jars of pickles a month that they might make a good place to store the rice longer term and hand out to people like family or friends, without giving up my good-as-gold mason jars or having to repackage them into bags. When I realized after putting O2 absorbers in one for testing while I was vacuum sealing / O2 absorbers a few mason jars next to it that the lids were about the same size. The food saver adapter worked great at sealing them (or so it appears). I'll let them sit for a while and see how they do...

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Yeah, I do not vacuum seal flour / corn meal because I don't want it sucked into the machine. The cost savings would be lost pretty quickly by damaging it. I have O2 absorbed a few jars in the past, but generally don't. I may research this a bit and start. If you have tested it, how long have yours stayed fresh for?

I've only been doing this since the first of the year. I was running out of room in my freezers to store the flour and meal. So far, so good for the seal holding. I've also done pasta of all kinds this way, too. As long as the seal isn't broken, whatever you store this way should stay fresh for a very long time. That's my thinking, anyway.

 

[kyrsyan]

Okay, so I would need the whole food saver system. Big bucks....

Not to repack in heavier mylar. Just O2 absorbers and the bags in the size you want.

 

[nchomemaker]

Not to repack in heavier mylar. Just O2 absorbers and the bags in the size you want.

Yes, I have wheat, rice and beans stored like that. But about dried fruit, I have quite a lot that came from the food bank. They seem to give out a lot of dried fruits and also nuts. I have left the dried fruits in their original pkgs. And I should probably do something more to keep longer. I was hoping vac sealer for jars would be cheaper, but guess not.

 

[kyrsyan]

Yes, I have wheat, rice and beans stored like that. But about dried fruit, I have quite a lot that came from the food bank. They seem to give out a lot of dried fruits and also nuts. I have left the dried fruits in their original pkgs. And I should probably do something more to keep longer. I was hoping vac sealer for jars would be cheaper, but guess not.

Watch your local thrift stores. That is where I have gotten most of mine. Ask friends to watch out for you as well. The only part that I ever had to purchase brand new was the jar sealers and bags. But they also don't work with mylar. They will seal it but they can't pull out the air without a bunch of hassle.
If it's just dried, not freeze dried, it will hold in it's initial bags for quite a while. Even longer in glass jars with good tight lids. But in my experience freeze dried fruit is hydroscopic. So for that, I'd just get heavier mylar bags, size them to my preference, and start repacking.

 

[nchomemaker]

The food bank gives out dried. I like the packages of cranberries, cherries, plums and raisins. I learned from How to cook smarter channel on YouTube to soak dates or raisins in warm water for while, drain, then puree. Its used to sweeten cookies, muffins etc. The packages of mixed dried fruits with nuts I have gotten from f.b. are not as good, and the nuts aren't good.

 

[nchomemaker]

I would recommend for anyone who is on a budget and can't afford to prep, to go to the food bank once a month. My grown kids were going, the f.b. gives out a lot of the storage type foods. I ended up with whatever they didn't want. Over the course of a few months, I was able to build up my pantry.

 

[thompson]

and the nuts aren't good.

Those nuts might be able to be made tastier if you toasted them. I've sometimes gotten a package of walnuts that weren't bad, nor had they gone rancid, but they just didn't taste as good as usual. I toasted them in the oven (can also do this in a skillet) and the flavor improved significantly. Might try it and see?

 

[summerthyme]

Yes, I have wheat, rice and beans stored like that. But about dried fruit, I have quite a lot that came from the food bank. They seem to give out a lot of dried fruits and also nuts. I have left the dried fruits in their original pkgs. And I should probably do something more to keep longer. I was hoping vac sealer for jars would be cheaper, but guess not.

Look for something called a Pump n Seal. It's a hand operated gadget that uses a little "bandaid" over a small hole punched in the jar lid. It *works*. No electric needed.

Summerthyme

 

[nchomemaker]

Wal-Mart has a hand pump but its for use with special bags.