Vacuum Sealers Help Please???

I am trying to decide what to buy… My freezer is now full and I havent even started with sundried tomatoes, corn or anything else I can get my hungry little fingers on…

How do you use and what brand of vacuum sealer for canning jars would you recommend???

Any advise would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks!!!

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Comments

  • waterbaby12347waterbaby12347 Raw Newbie

    Any help with using glass canning jars and a vacuum sealer???

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    I have “Food Saver”,This I use for most grains, nuts and seeds. I dehydrate fruit, tomatoes, extra thin sweet potatoes, peppers,and cereals.Of course corn would be great for drying. When it is dried.I vacuum them in canning jars, put them in the freezer for 24 hours(just in case, not a must) Take them out and store them in a cool, dark place. Stays fresh. No bugs.

    I love to dehydrate cantaloupe, and strawberries. I have an order in for nectarines and cantaloupe through Azure. Hope I get them. Many of the Roma tomatoes I just blend and dry, to be used for sauces and soups. Matter of fact all smooth soup can be dehydrated, then vacuum sealed.

    You will need the special top for canning jars. Be sure to get the wide mouth. If that is the size jars you have.

  • waterbaby12347waterbaby12347 Raw Newbie

    Beany~ Thank you!!! Can you tell me how it works with the canning jars??? Do you use the regular metal lids, if so how does it seal them??? Yes my jars are all wide mouth from SAD canning in the 70’s… Do you have to store the sealed veges in the freezer???

    Your Roma’s are a leather rollup then, instead of slices???

    Do you know the number of your Food Saver??? I am looking at the V3840 and V2860… Not sure which would be best…

  • waterbaby12347waterbaby12347 Raw Newbie

    Beany~ Are you here??? Or anyone else know the answers???

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    Sorry I didnt get on the computer this morning. Had to pick raspberries before it showered. If it does.

    Now. Yes you do use the metal lids but not the rings. After you seal the jars you can put the rings on LIGHTLY. Just to get them out of the way. The sealer for the canning jars does not come with the vacuume sealer. It is seperate. It will be like a cap that will go over the jar and lid. You will connect the tube on the sealer, then to the cap.Turn on the appliance and it will suck the air right out. The tube comes with the cap. If you get on www.foodsaver.com you will see all kinds of things that can go with the appliance. You “do not want” the univeral cover It has to stay on the container. !You want the wide mouth cover.!It is $9.99 The appliance I have is almost 3 years old #V2240. I see it is $99.99 now. arguuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh

    Any more questions? Just ask away. I just may know them. lol

    Tried to get on your webb sight. No luck. Glad to see another 60ish on this sight.

  • waterbaby12347waterbaby12347 Raw Newbie

    Oh beany so good to hear from you!!! What have you sealed in the jars???

    I’m thinking sun-dried tomatoes… What other veges do you think could be done??? A friend asked me, “does that mean I can can greenbeans by just putting them in the jar and adding water then sealing it”??? I have NO idea, except that I would think it could be done without the water, if at all… I know I can store nuts, seeds and grain in them, but want ideas about fruits and vegetables…. Thanks so much for all your insight!!!

    I too am happy there is “wisdom” here… LOL My email is gmail.com, you already know the rest… I would be happy to phone you so we can speak easier if you like, just email me your number…

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    No you can not can with a vacuum sealer. You see, we dry all the moisture out of the food first. You have to get the moisture out to prevent mold.I did try Sealing my juices for awhile. Very handy, but the tube goes bad fast, and the Food Saver Company says that it was not made for what I was doing. I like corn for dehydrating, they then can be used for corn chips, corn tortillas. Better than frozen corn. most veggies except radish’s, and brassicas (cole crops) and of course leaves, and cucs. Some people like dehydrated zucc’s and cuc’s, not me. Green beans Should be steamed before dried, other wise they will be tough.Sad. Guess that is why they were called, “leather breech’s” years ago.. Sweet potatoes, made into very thin slices, onions. This one is good for the onion breads. This can be put into wide mouth 6oz. jars, all ready when needed. All root crops, herbs. Make up your own herb teas.Put into wide mouth 6 oz.jars. Veggie soup mixes. All dried fruit except Avocado, olives, guavas, pomegranate’s, persimmons and water melon. Cantaloupe is superb dried. Of course all of these could just be dehydrated and put in jars but the Food Saver will save the nutrients, texture and flavor.

  • waterbaby12347waterbaby12347 Raw Newbie

    Beany~ Thanks for all the wonderful information, I really appreciate YOU!!!

    Your last statement has me a little confused… “All root crops, herbs. Make up your own herb teas.Put into wide mouth 6 oz.jars. Veggie soup mixes. All dried fruit except Avocado, olives, guavas, pomegranate’s, persimmons and water melon. Cantaloupe is superb dried. (Of course all of these could just be dehydrated and put in jars but the Food Saver will save the nutrients, texture and flavor.”)

    I ordered an apple peeler, the food saver, the wide mouth lid and a nut cracker and my son just let me know he will get corn tomorrow… Unfortunately my order didn’t get placed until last Sunday night so it will probably arrive next week knowing my luck… LOL But I will go ahead and dehydrate the corn and put into bags until my order arrives… Unless you have a better idea…

    I guess you just cut the corn off the cob, place on the sheets and let the “D” do it’s thing… Do you know how long at 115 degrees??? Over night or 3-4 days???

    How thin do you slice the cantaloupe??? 1/4 inch thich or what do you prefer???

    Have you ever done beets??? Seems like that is the only vege doing well in my low sun yard…

  • waterbaby12347waterbaby12347 Raw Newbie

    Beany~ Oh Beany?? Are you out there? I forgot to ask about you method for drying tomatoes, do you blend into a mush and dry as a leather??? Don’t forget my last previous questions??? So sorry to bother you but appreciate your help!!!

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    Hear I am! UNDER BEANY Cape and all.

    Confusion. That is just what I dry up+

    An easy way to take the corn off the cob is to get a board, hammer, and a large nail.Hammer the nail through the center of the board. Lay the board flat, nail up, slide the bottom of the cob threw the point end of nail. Cob will be up right. Just cut the kernals off. simple. I use to go through bushel of corn in quick order with this method.

    I dont know how long it will take. A lot will depend on the size of the kernels and the moisture content to start with.How many trays you have filled.eeeeeeeeek Tho not over night!!! Yes, Just put the corn on the sheets.

    Cants. 1/4 ” thick slices. Eat the odd ones. smile I like to Peel cant, slice the whole cant around the world, clean out, slice in half again, slice in 1/4’ slices.dry.These do take awhile. But worth it. I usually don’t time veggies or fruit. This way I cant tell my DH. When he asks.

    Tomatoes, I make into leather. I use very ripe Romas.

    Do you ever go to Hallelujah Acres forum? It would be easy to get on Email if you do. Would save this time problem., and at night I have a terrible time getting on. I can see the problem here, but.twice I was kicked off while on. Weird. By the way whats the watch and watching topic for?

  • emtpdmomemtpdmom Raw Newbie

    Regarding WATCH and WATCHING TOPIC Hi Beany. Another 60ish one here. When you find a topic you would like to revisit you can click in the watch box at the top right of the topic, Then go to your profile and click on the word “monitored” on the left side of the screen. A list of the topics you are watching will appear on the right side, and a chronological list of the entries will appear in the middle. It’s a convenient way to keep up with a topic without having to search for it. When you are through monitoring a topic, just go to the forum topic and uncheck the box. Hope this helps.

    Waterbaby and Beany, I’ve been enjoying your conversation. I LOVE my Food Saver, but I’m not nearly as efficient with it as you are, Beany. If you search for Food Saver under the forums tab you will find several other entries on the subject.

  • waterbaby12347waterbaby12347 Raw Newbie

    Emtpdmom~ Wonderful more wisdom, so happy you spoke up!!! What do you do with your sealer???

    Beany~ My what an interesting way of cutting corn of the cob… May have come in handy if I had know in the 70’s, as I use to put up a pickup truck load at a time… OMG, have no idea how I ever made it to 08… LOL So I guess I was correct on how to make tomato leather and then you put it into jars and vacuum seal???

    What about beets, have you ever dried them??? If so, would you share exactly what proceedures you follow???

    Thanks for the measurement and instructions for the cantaloupe… Would that be overnight for “D”ing???

    PS… My food saver arrived today!!! I can’t believe it, how lucky is that??? I put 4 bags of raw corn in the freezer, have tomato leather in the convection oven and a screen door full of sliced up plums outside drying in the Peek A Boo sun today… Maybe tomorrow with be less cloudy… Waiting for my son to call about the extra corn, hopefully he is picking it as I’m typing!!! He’s a very good boy!!! GRIN

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    I know some people are petrified to use a mandoline, but they do work for cutting corn off the cob. :)

  • emtpdmomemtpdmom Raw Newbie

    Thanks for the warm welcome Waterbaby. Beany, do my directions make sense?

    I LOVE my Food Saver. The bags are perfect for freezing fresh fruit and veggies, fruit juice cubes, etc. I usually freeze my produce cut into usable pieces and spread on a cookie sheet. Once frozen, I bag and vacuum seal it. This way the pieces are not frozen together, and I can pour out only as much as I need. I use the gadget that seals glass canning / freezing jars to store dry ingredients, dehydrated nuts, occasionally leftovers, etc. I recently discovered that these lids also fit a couple of interesting antique glass canisters I have acquired. My dry ingredient shelf is a little more attractive now.

    I use biodegradable bags to pick up my puppy’s poop (an apartment complex requirement), but the bags are much bigger than I need. I cut them in half and use my Food Saver to seal the bottom of the second bag—a two for the price of one.

    A word of caution—if you should choose to use the plastic storage containers, DO NOT put the lids in the dishwasher or soak them in water. The adhesive that holds the gasket in place will dissolve, making the lid useless.

  • waterbaby12347waterbaby12347 Raw Newbie

    Bluedolfin~ Right you are, a mandoline is an excellent tool for de-cobbing!!! LOL

    Emtpdmom~ Poo-Baggies, how funny but a thrifty and tidy use for the sealer, great idea!!! Thanks for sharing about the soaking and dishwashers disolving the adhesive… I’m really bad about over soaking!!! Wonder if that’s the manufactures way to keep us buying more and more???

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    I am on don’t know for how long.So will get busy. emtpdmom. Ha-Ha Just figured out what your name said. One day I will figure out more about pictures connected with computers and have McGee as my avitar. Yes, I understand your explanation. Will write it down tho, so I will get the full effect. May I give some information? Glass ages. So I wounder if it would be safe to put pressure in them.

    Waterbaby12347 Yes, tear up the tomato leather by hand, then put into jars and seal. Some powder it first but I have heard that the deterioration will be faster if ground up.

    No, I havent dried beets, as I keep them in the ground through the winter. My old conventional drying book says to use Young 3” beets,chop and dry at 160 for one hour then down to 130 until dry.. You could do 130 for 2 hours then your 115, until dry.They should be brittle.

    I would say cant. takes 2-3 days to dry at 110.Thats another hit and miss thing. Cants can be very juicy or more on the dry side. I do put the heat at 130 for two hours first, as they are full of water.

    I have had apricots mold on me as the sky was cloudy.This of course was years ago so as the weather is changing maybe it will be different with you. smile

    O.K. I wont ask about the convection oven. Before I got my dehydrators I had a toaster oven by Oster. If I just(not on a setting) turned it on, it kept the oven to 98. Good in a pinch. course I left the door open a jar.

    Bluedolfin, Im not petrified BUT I only use mine for zucc. slabs. smile

  • waterbaby12347waterbaby12347 Raw Newbie

    So good to see you again Beany!!!

    What part of the country do you live, that your beets don’t freeze during the winter??? It get’s pretty cold here in Kentucky, snow, ice, and temps below freezing sometime for weeks on end… Oh to be near the equator, my dream for half of the year… GRIN We need to come up with a way to keep beets as I use them every day… Maybe after I finish the corn I will experiment with “D”-ing the beets…

    The convection oven is great, it has a timer and temp gauge. I am drying the tomato leather at 115 degrees… I’ve had this oven since the 70’s and it works well… The only thing I would change is the placement of the internal fan… It is located in the top and of course it would be better in the back of the oven… It does have 4 large square shelves which gives a lot of realestate for drying…

    Anytime I am making a salad, I use my mandoline but never thought about shaving off the corn… It is so nice to have this community to share ideas and learn new ways of looking at the same ole thing!!!

    Thanks to each one of you for making my happy life more enjoyable!!!

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    Hi enjoyable, I live near the pacific coast, west of Portland , OR

    When we lived in Eastern OR the temp at times would get down to -30. But we still had fresh carrots in the ground . The way is covering them well. We covered them with extra dirt then some hay or compost and then wood boxes. This can be done with any root crop. Here I just cover with mini hoop green houses.All of my raised boxes is 2 1/2’ by 10’. This way I have carrots, beets, parsnips, kohlrabi, and rutabaga when ever I want. Nothing like real fresh raw! Oh yes and cabbage, chard, collards. If you can get real fresh beets. You can store them in barrels with sand around them.Most people put these in a garage.

  • waterbaby12347waterbaby12347 Raw Newbie

    I am amazed!!! No heat required in that garage for the barrels of beets???

  • emtpdmomemtpdmom Raw Newbie

    Beany, I think you’re the first to figure out the significance of my name. My oldest is a police officer and youngest an EMT. It’s just a small way to show how very proud of them I am. Just for the record, this 60ish one resides about half way between Atlanta GA and Montgomery AL.

    I recall my grandmother having a root cellar under the staircase when I was very young (less than 6). We lived in Pensacola FL, and had fresh root vegetables all year round. Brings back very fond memories.

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    waterbaby really don’t know how cold it gets at your place, but in the valley where it will snow, they could keep them in a garage with out problems. If real cold the barrel or wooden box could be put in the ground with a cover over it Like I did with plants that I didn’t pull, and left in for the winter. There is all kinds of ways to keep produce for the winter.

    emtpdmom, We had a lot of EMT’S around us when we lived in Eastern, Oregon,and my DH was at one time a police man.By the way thanks for the information concerning Gone Raw. I didn’t realized it was more than it’s name says.

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    I’m amazed… For those that are really corny… there is actually a corn creamer on the Peas and Corn site (I heard about this site on a show recently). Frankly, it looks like a curved mandolin. There are some interesting tools on the site.

  • Hi,

    I just found this topic. I am having trouble with the vacume and not the sealing of my machine. I dry tomatoes – mostly Juliets and grape tomatoes – as they are great for stirfrys and in omlettes. Anyway, sometimes the vacume works and other times it just seals. I’m wondering if the tomatoes are poking wholes in the bags. But it also has happened with apple slices. Anyone else have that problem or a solution? Also, I just ordered fruit dryer sheets since you all have been talking about tomato leathers.. Never tried that. How do you use them?

    Thanks. Lyndalou

  • waterbaby12347waterbaby12347 Raw Newbie

    Lyndalou~ I have some rolls for making bags that wont vaccume either but do seal… So I asked the company and they said that only their rolls, for making bags work… The quilting on one side is what allows the vaccume process to work… I really love using canning jars instead of the plastic!!! Nice to avoid all the toxins… GRIN :}

    I plan on using the leather just like sundried tomatoe slices… Rehydrate and throw into a recipe… But NO stirfrying as I am 100% RAW and plan to stay that way for my next 60 plus years!!! LOL

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    Hi waterbaby, hope your summer project of putting food away is still in progress. Got all the cantaloupe dried. Tried it in leather. Wont do that again,. to watery!!! Just starting to pick blueberries. Freezer for them. The dehydrator just takes to long for my patience. Any way did you dry corn and seal them?

    I also don’t cook or use the plastic bags. Did you read the post that said, Teflex Sheets has Teflon on it? eeeeek!

  • Gosh, I hate the thought that when my new hubby and I moved to our home last year, I took a truck load of his canning jars to Goodwill!! We thought we’d never use them!! We do alot of freezing – just froze 35 (2-cups) of blueberries from our bushes.

    I used their rolls for making the bags that don’t vaccume so it has to be the tomatoes are puncturing the plastic. But then that’s a sad state that you can’t use them for that. I try to stay away from plastic except for freezing – definitely not cooking or holding leftovers. Maybe I need to think about glass for freezing and/or putting up my dried stuff.

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    Good plan. Wide mouth pint jars are good for those blue berries. I put the leather in 2 quart jars and pressure them.

    When I was working away from home, my DH took to the dump 1000 canning jars.grrrrrr.

  • emtpdmomemtpdmom Raw Newbie

    Lyndalou, when I was using the bags an occasional bag would fail to vacuum. Usually that meant I did not have the open end of the bag situated in the exact right spot to vacuum (not far enough in the machine). I don’t ever recall food puncturing a bag, but then I wasn’t “raw” back then. If you’re sealing jars and they fail, soak the lid in hot water for a minute or so to soften the rubber. Thoroughly dry the lid and then vacuum seal.

    Beany, I can certainly identify with you. When I cleared out mother’s garage several years ago, I gave away boxes of wide mouth freezing jars. They at least went to people I knew who can fresh produce from their gardens.

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    Concerning glass canning jars. I did hear that canning jars will get weak after canning with them over a period of years. Especially using them under pressure. Guess every thing does get old. Except me. lol

  • emtpdmomemtpdmom Raw Newbie

    Beany—you’re absolutely right. Everything and everyone does age, EXCEPT us baby boomers. We just keep getting better. I’m not sure of the “life expectancy” of a glass canning jar. Grandmother died in 1979, and I know some of her jars are still being used for pickling. What would be a symptom of a weakened jar?

    Bluedolphin—I enjoyed your comments about the Peas and Corn website. Living in the deep south, I’ve seen and/or used most of the gadgets on that site in my 60+ years, especially the corn creamer.

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