Over time, I have come to rely on 400cc Oxygen Absorbers as my go to for all my Jars (up to 1/2 Gallon size) & Mylar Bags (up to 1 Gallon size). I got tired of all the Chart Recommendations & decided 400cc Oxygen Absorbers was the Key for me. This has worked out very well, as I only use one size 400cc Oxygen Absorber for all my Jars & Mylar Bags & I know when I use them, they take care of the Oxygen in all of them - Just go with 400cc or 500cc Oxygen Absorbers for everything you do & be done with it & eliminate the guessing & Headaches!!! Note: I do use a Chamber Vacuum Sealer & Oxygen Absorbers as much as possible & Oxygen Absorbers in my Mylar Bags with an Impulse Sealer when I have fragile Food I don't want to Crush!
Dude all I needed to know is how many to put in each mylar bag I have a whole table full of mylar bags right now and I have to listen to you forever to see what I need
It's weird no one caught this 10x14=1 gallon ≈ 750 cc oxygen 8x12=2 quarts ≈ 400cc 7x10=1 quart ≈ 200cc.... I guess it's worthwhile to fill up a bag with water to see what the bag capacity actually is, then (# of Ounces x 30 [to get cc's] x 0.2 [since oxygen is up to 20% of total volume] )
Thank you for this series. I’ve learned a tremendous amount of good info! Now if we just get everyone to watch your series and quit giving bad advice in your Facebook group! 🤦♀️🤷♀️
I've always just taken the O2 absorber I need out of the little clear bag then hit it with the impulse sealer to contain the rest. As long as you don't get wrinkles it works fine for me. I've only have one batch not seal and it had a very obvious wrinkle that I never noticed. Putting two or three in an empty jar seems like it would use up more than a flat bag that you can seal right up next to the absorber so it is basically just an individual wrapped packet. Oh yea turn you impulse sealer down to barely on, set to mylar it will just chop of the end of the plastic bag.....which sucks
@@ChrisBaker-pg3ty It does seem much more efficient and smooth when I write it out here. lot less cussing and dried peas rolling across the basement floor in comments i find.😂
I also much prefer them to the HR lids that allow the higher tray to slide all over the place. My problem is with the corners occasionally getting so locked on that I have great difficulty getting them off the tray. In fact, I have one that is missing about 6 inches down the side because it broke when I was trying to get it off the tray. Still prefer them, however, and the broken one is reserved for non-liquid product.
@@navinramjattan6010 While I am no authority & have no right to say, yay or nay on this matter; I can only share with you my personal experience; these items are in small packet form. When placed in a glass jar & tightly sealed, they seem to remove the oxygen in the jar. If you use them, read about their safety & safe use online. They must be kept in a small enclosed container or the O2 in the air will render them spent. Good luck.
Thanks mate! Just did my first batch and was wondering what to do with leftover absorbers. Sealed them then put in a jar. Had no clue on size or how long they last. Really informative vid. Cheers!
I have had good luck sealing leftover OAs in a second bag using either my Avid Armor USV32 or my Food Saver. I often keep the Food Saver out next to the Avid Armor just for that purpose. I can do the OAs right away while sealing the food bags.
Thank you so much for this video. I am frustrated by the manufacturers of the oxygen absorbers not labeling the packets. I opened a box today of some I bought several months ago and can't tell what is what. There is printing all over the front and back sides, so why don't they include useful info like how many CCs they are?
Thank you so much for the information, this was the missing piece to my understanding of the freeze drying process. My Harvest Right runs almost non-stop and I’m always unsure about the correct absorber to use. I currently store in both jars and bags depending on how soon I intend on using the item.
Thank you for this series of videos. Doesnt matter if you have been freeze drying for years or a newbie, theres always something new to learn! Love your products too & yep this reminded me i need to place an order for bags & the parchment sheets I think I cant FD without! 😊.
I have a chamber vac also. So I reseal the bag of oxygen absorbers in there bag using that. Little extra tid bit. If wanting to use the jar method, you can use the freeze drier to seal the jar
You are the reason I use a chamber sealer. I used to use the Freeze Dryer to do that but didn't like unhooking and removing the rack in my freeze dryer. I've been happy to have the chamber sealer, but have had a few Qt jars that became "unsealed" in a few days or wouldn't seal at all. A new lid usually fixed the problem. On a couple of occasions I couldn't get jars to seal and decided the rim was faulty so I repurposed the jar for things that don't need sealing. Another time I sealed gusseted bags with resealing strips. I sealed above the strips and a few days later the bags were no longer sucked up. I opened, resealed in something else and tossed all of those bags. Obviously they were defective. I now wait for abouta week before packing my jars and bags away for storage to make sure they are sealed. I always put the unused OA packets in a jar and chamber seal them to maintain freshness ASAP. The chamber was expensive,but worth every penny!
well harrumph!! I chucked out a bunch of oxygen absorbers because they didnt shrink my mylar bags!!! lol Thankyou for that nugget of brilliance . I did not know that i needed to know all of this information . I just love the simple way you explained the whole de-oxygenating process. :) xxx
I did not know about the pink n purple. (HR sent us a box just last month w machine) I notice what's left! Of what we haven't used or opened yet are purple! Idk how many we used that had the purple!
You lost me on the oxygen absorption not affecting air volume in a sealed bag. What replaces the volume of lost oxygen in sealed container to maintain a puffed appearance? Nothing. A bag with a functioning oxygen absorber will draw out the 22% oxygen(converting iron to rust; a solid) from the air inside your bag leaving behind the other gasses. This reduces the air pressure inside the bag which the outside air pressure acts on, crushing down the bag to give the shrunken look. If the bag doesn’t shrink, your OA is bad or you have a leak.
I disagree. An oxygen absorber is only removing oxygen, not air volume. It is removing only a portion of the overall volume. You will not always get the shrunken look with a functioning absorber.
And now a few words, please, on how long to set the chamber sealer to run. Yes, I know the figures in the user manual, but some experienced knowledge for different situations would be helpful. Also, I used to store unused absorbers in small mylar bags, but found that a small Mason jar is indeed MUCH handier! After all, the chamber sealer is already running.
There is no magic setting, it will depend on your bag type and thickness. I use mine at 30 vac time and 6 seal time. Once vacuumed and sealed, I seal it again with the impulse sealer for good measure.
Unfortunately, your video was only now seen - wishing it was seen a year ago. Last week, I checked on several packages of absorbers that were left in the original packaging and, found every one is rock hard. I contacted the company and received no response. Apparently, that company is too busy to communicate with their patrons. Thank you for your informed videos.
I’ve heard that there are certain food products (ex. Brown Rice) that you should not use oxygen absorbers with due to the potential risk of the creation of botulism. With that said … is there a list of foods that are safe to use by adding oxygen absorbers to ?
Question, what if you're sealing grain, same type and amounts in multiple mylar bags. Then say after using the same pack of oxygen absorbers and same size bag etc some of the bags vacuum pack tightly but others are still loose, and no noticeable damage to the bag or seal. Do the loosely packed bags need to be redone? That's what confuses me the most.
The only issue I see is that vacuum sealing foods in mylar bags that have a sharp edge, such as noodles. The sharp edges or corners will poke a hole in a mylar bag (or FoodSaver bag) and fail. I've even had beans in a bag that failed. I only use the vacuum sealer for meats I intend to deep freeze, and a few dry goods. Are you sure that FD foods have 0% moisture? I was taught that it can be 1-4% moisture.
I'm sure there is a minute amount, but not enough that the naked eye or touching it can detect it. I say "0" more for a.dfamatic effect to get my point across.
Is it ok to put oxygen absorbers in freeze dried fruits and veggies? I heard that you shouldn't and also not in powdered eggs. So we took them out of all our mylar bags that were done.
Possibly, however, unless the absorber is in an environment free of oxygen, they will not work. If you remove them from the packaging, they start working
I use quart Mason jars about 25% of the time. When I use jars, I use a vacuum sealer function to seal the jars. Do I still need an oxygen absorber in those that are vacuum sealed?
I have purchases oxygen absorbers with the little dots and they have never changed color. After I used up the packet I set the indicator out on the counter just to see and they have been on the counter for a month and are still nice and pink. Other purchases have their indicators change fairly quickly. Good to have other ways to make sure they are still OK.
I no longer use Oxygen Absorbers due to the fact that the absorbers are filled with metal shavings from China. FACT-read the labels or ingredients. Metal Shavings from China-No Thank You.
@@live.life.simple. I use a vacuum sealer. It has worked well for me. I even have a brake bleeder to use if my sealer isn't working(EMP etc). I esp like using it on glass jars. I pressure cook my meats & some vegetables in ball jars. I freeze some things. A freeze dryer is very nice to have but it does not fit into my budget. All is well..
Asking for help.ordered my fd a little over 3 weeks ago. Set it up ,ran the test. Tried drying bread, cancelled after 40 hours, wasn't dry just frozen. Did all the vacuum test, everything was fine. Tried drying sliced tomatoes, machine doesn't go past 3/4 way dried, finally cancelled drying after 53 hours, not dried. HR suggested download New software and install. Done it, still doesn't work and I feel ignored by HR, no replies except download and reinstall. Anyone else having these problems
I feel your pain. I got my FD 2 months ago and it was a real learning curve getting it to complete a cycle. In my case, it wasn't sealing good enough to get a vacuum. From the home screen, touch the green leaf. Then choose vacuum test. It needs to get down to about 500 in about 15 minutes. A couple things I did that helped: I learned to look for the dark black line around the gasket when I close the door for a batch. I have to pull the gasket out in all the areas that don't get the deep black circle as I latch the door. I hope this helps.
I would if you plan on storing stuff for any length of time. Vacum sealer helps but don't get all the o2 out. if you are puttting stuff like soup with a bit of meat or fats definitely. Stuff like herbs and most vegetables will last quite awhile (like a year at least) if kept in the dark without them.
question. can i open up my past freezedried bags and insert an additional absorber, and seal it back up for storage? foods that i have dried in the last year?
See Phil at 4800 for an interesting test that shows the absorber will last much longer than 10 to 25 minutes. th-cam.com/video/lTLWNVQvMsk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=zBVOWPSaMomdQCsD
This video is very informative, thank you. I just have a Foodsaver and I add o2 absorbers for dry goods. Someday I hope to buy a freeze dryer. I'd love to experiment with different dishes like you.
Do you have any thoughts on why some OAP's (oxygen absorber packets for those who don't know the acronym) taken out of a new bag (with the freshness dot still pink) and laid out on the kitchen countertop would NOT get hard? Granted, we do live where the humidity is very low, but out of 3 OAP brands tested (Harvest Right, PackFresh, and the LDS store) the first two are still soft and pliable 20 days later, but the LDS packet was hard within (at most) two days. To me, this says the first two were failures, but maybe I'm missing something here? I felt them a couple of times a day and never felt any of the 3 getting warm. Thoughts are appreciated!
How would you get the iron powder? And how would you know it hadn't rusted by the time you made them? I'm not trying to shut you down, I'm wondering what solution you've thought of.
One thing to point out…Not ALL chamber sealers seal Mylar bags. I called my manufacturer to ask them about mine and they said they do not recommend Mylar bags in my chamber vac. Mine is an older one so maybe a mute point for all the newer chamber vacs. I have not done any research on it but next one I buy I will make sure it is capable of sealing Mylar.
I would assume you vacuum out the oxygen from the container before sealing. You could put nitrogen in the bag or jar. It’s heavier than air and safe for food. They used to sell a small container for wine drinkers . Open you oxygen absorbers and place in a jar of nitrogen.
I once contacted Avid they said I didn't an oxygen absorbers with their machine. I use one anyway, but thought that was interesting. I use absorbers with my food Saver attachment, are th ey necessary? Could you do another video using the Harvest Right to vacuum seal, and show us how you use the Avid with Mason jars?
I would start using OA's and use what youve alreasy backed first. There's still goong to be some air occupying the space that the water used to occupy in your freeze dried food...
Thank you so much I'm new at this and I was worried about what to do with the extras. I ended up using some and now I realize they were done... So I will be using those packages of food ASAP. A learning process Thank you for the helpful information I've watched several of your videos.
Good info 👍. What I do with extra absorbers is store them in small used Mylar bags and vacuum seal them. 7mil works best. 5 mil will work but most of those have small holes in them after using them once.
Do you have a video on how to use the armor vacuum sealer with jars? I’ve never tried it with them only with mylar bags. Thanks and love your videos they are so helpful
Yer a Legend as us Brits say mate.Just about to commit to a small pro ordered direct from here in Edmonton Canada based on yer latest review of the pro
Good morning! We shared this amazing video to our Community tab. Thanks for another great video helping us answer any questions we have about oxygen absorbers!
I do not use moisture absorbers. If your food has moisture, it is not fully freeze dried. They can be added for short term snacks and food that will be eaten in a few days to help with humidity and things
Thanks for great content! I recently opened my freeze dried food from 4 years ago that was kept in an air tight jar but didn’t add oxygen absorber obviously because I didn’t know about this concept here. Now that I try to reconstitute it (freeze dried eggs to be specific) the consistency is not that great, taste is off and cooks bad. Are all the parameters affected when the FD food is packed without adequate oxygen elimination?
I would be careful consuming food that was not stored properly. If it was not vacuum sealed or didn't have an oxygen absorber, the food could be dangerous to consume.
SO... does that mean I should repackage all my food with new oxygen packets? The freeze right info did not say that they are useless once the little package has been open. Very bummed out..... a big waste of mylar bags and time and O2 packages....
For small packages it will suck the water out before the oxygen absorber does its job. For larger things like 5 gallon pails put the oxygen absorber in the bottom and moisture getter on top.
Get a bottle of argon nitrogen or butane, flush the bottle with a little and tighten the cap. Argon can be for a mig welder or small tanks used to preserve wine, nitrogen is available for welding as well, butane of course can be gotten from any smoke shop.❤
Keep the 5 gallon bag on the ground or table. Add your oxygen absorbers. Now press out remaining oxygen. Lining up top edges of mylar bag. Using a hot straight iron seal the bag closed. Or you can place a bucket on each sides of the bag. Place a piece of wood from one bucket to the other. Put oxygen absorbers into mylar bag squeeze out excess oxygen fold bag over the pice of wood ( like a 7 shape) now iron the top portion of the bag. You will have to play with an extra bag, to find out what setting on your iron works best for you. I hope this helps.
I think I saw a video by Brian on using the FD as a vacuum chamber. Does the 5 gallon bag have a zip closure? You might be able to seal it part way, then use the FD. After it’s done use the impulse sealer. Just a thought. Good luck!
yea A $30 hair straightening iron is your best bet other than the heavy duty hand held crimp sealers which are $150- $200. I've always been able to get mine to seal with the hair iron so I have never splurged on the heavy duty one. I fill the bag in the bucket (my 5 gal bags are all in buckets) then carefully seal the whole bag except for enough room to get the big o2 absorber in it. It is easier to get the seal wrinkle free if you do it slowly. Once you have all the bags mostly sealed I throw in the Obsorbers and seal the last bit up to finish off.
Long term storage of oxegen absorbers? I thought they had a 1-2 year shelf life even when stored perfectly? I have a bunch and I am afraid to use them. I have used a inverted graduated beaker in water and tested them to determine if they are good but get questionable results. What say ye?
The mixture inside an oxygen absorber is an iron alloy powder, a little salt, graphite and water. They are basically the same guts as hothands handwarmer packets. A combination oxygen and moisture absorber has aluminum iron alloy graphite and calcium chloride as the salt.
I don’t see the exothermic reaction mentioned in same as comment, sorry forever curious! Good on this gentleman to mention the SAFE INGREDIENT bring Fe un oxidized iron. Looked up what used, I’m guessing use Magnesium Sulfate as cheap hydrophilic ingredient. Can’t imagine people buying things like that to lower humidity until someone I knew did that! I said just bulk but it’s cheaper in product than usual use or chemical supply. I’d prefer to support this man and have convenience than packaging for packaging to package repack. Time is a factor too, don’t store aluminum in nitrates! 💣 What mixture is in those Iron Alloy? Please link or list chemical source if inexpensive, y’all seem to know this subject, I’m a newbie!
Wow! Just discovered your channel! Thank you for such thorough explanation on everything!! Definitely have been doing some things wrong but thankfully we’re only a month in, lol. Blessings to your family 🙏🏼
Over time, I have come to rely on 400cc Oxygen Absorbers as my go to for all my Jars (up to 1/2 Gallon size) & Mylar Bags (up to 1 Gallon size). I got tired of all the Chart Recommendations & decided 400cc Oxygen Absorbers was the Key for me. This has worked out very well, as I only use one size 400cc Oxygen Absorber for all my Jars & Mylar Bags & I know when I use them, they take care of the Oxygen in all of them - Just go with 400cc or 500cc Oxygen Absorbers for everything you do & be done with it & eliminate the guessing & Headaches!!! Note: I do use a Chamber Vacuum Sealer & Oxygen Absorbers as much as possible & Oxygen Absorbers in my Mylar Bags with an Impulse Sealer when I have fragile Food I don't want to Crush!
Great comment
I like your method and think I’m going to go with that too. Thanks!
We love our avid armor sealer. What a difference it made in our preservation.😊
Which model do you have? I see that the one he said he uses is currently $569, but there are a couple other models that are a little more affordable.
@@melissasharp6314 usv20 We got
@@melissasharp6314 we got a deal on it ,using a link with a promo code, a few years ago.
Everyone has different sayings when it comes to oxygenators. Please can everyone get together and tell the same story.
There are too many variables. I typical use more than I think I need.
Dude all I needed to know is how many to put in each mylar bag I have a whole table full of mylar bags right now and I have to listen to you forever to see what I need
It's weird no one caught this
10x14=1 gallon ≈ 750 cc oxygen
8x12=2 quarts ≈ 400cc
7x10=1 quart ≈ 200cc....
I guess it's worthwhile to fill up a bag with water to see what the bag capacity actually is, then (# of Ounces x 30 [to get cc's] x 0.2 [since oxygen is up to 20% of total volume] )
👏👏👏
Thank you so much for all you do for the freeze drying population. You are one of the very few that I trust on youtube.
Of course. We all learn as a group through experiences and sharing.
Wow now I need to check mine . I will probably have to order all new ones. Thanks for sharing 👍 😊
Hopefully not, but better safe than sorry they say😁
Thank you for this series. I’ve learned a tremendous amount of good info! Now if we just get everyone to watch your series and quit giving bad advice in your Facebook group! 🤦♀️🤷♀️
I've always just taken the O2 absorber I need out of the little clear bag then hit it with the impulse sealer to contain the rest. As long as you don't get wrinkles it works fine for me. I've only have one batch not seal and it had a very obvious wrinkle that I never noticed. Putting two or three in an empty jar seems like it would use up more than a flat bag that you can seal right up next to the absorber so it is basically just an individual wrapped packet. Oh yea turn you impulse sealer down to barely on, set to mylar it will just chop of the end of the plastic bag.....which sucks
@@ChrisBaker-pg3ty It does seem much more efficient and smooth when I write it out here. lot less cussing and dried peas rolling across the basement floor in comments i find.😂
This is not about absorbers but the tray lids. I absolutely love them and could not do without them! When budget allows I plan to buy another set.
Great to hear and thanks for your support!
I also much prefer them to the HR lids that allow the higher tray to slide all over the place. My problem is with the corners occasionally getting so locked on that I have great difficulty getting them off the tray. In fact, I have one that is missing about 6 inches down the side because it broke when I was trying to get it off the tray. Still prefer them, however, and the broken one is reserved for non-liquid product.
I have watched dozens of vlogs about oxygen absorbers, your presentation is by far the best... Pleasant & to the point!
Wow, thank you!
@NickatLateNite base on your experience, does this have any side effects on humans if left in an enclosed area?
@@navinramjattan6010 While I am no authority & have no right to say, yay or nay on this matter; I can only share with you my personal experience; these items are in small packet form. When placed in a glass jar & tightly sealed, they seem to remove the oxygen in the jar. If you use them, read about their safety & safe use online. They must be kept in a small enclosed container or the O2 in the air will render them spent. Good luck.
@@NickatLateNite I have to do more research on it . The ones I get in my raw material goods are 1 lb .
Thanks mate! Just did my first batch and was wondering what to do with leftover absorbers.
Sealed them then put in a jar. Had no clue on size or how long they last. Really informative vid. Cheers!
I have had good luck sealing leftover OAs in a second bag using either my Avid Armor USV32 or my Food Saver. I often keep the Food Saver out next to the Avid Armor just for that purpose. I can do the OAs right away while sealing the food bags.
That's a great idea!
Thank you so much for this video. I am frustrated by the manufacturers of the oxygen absorbers not labeling the packets. I opened a box today of some I bought several months ago and can't tell what is what. There is printing all over the front and back sides, so why don't they include useful info like how many CCs they are?
Thank you for those precisions
You bet
Thank you so much for the information, this was the missing piece to my understanding of the freeze drying process. My Harvest Right runs almost non-stop and I’m always unsure about the correct absorber to use. I currently store in both jars and bags depending on how soon I intend on using the item.
👍Hope this helped
I came looking to see if I was supposed to open the oxygen absorber or not. 😅
Me too, I still don't know!
Thank you for this series of videos. Doesnt matter if you have been freeze drying for years or a newbie, theres always something new to learn! Love your products too & yep this reminded me i need to place an order for bags & the parchment sheets I think I cant FD without! 😊.
Very kind words. We appreciate you!
Yep! This answered my questions! Thanks!
You bet!
Excellent video!
Thanks!
Our pleasure!
Thank you, new to this! Very helpful 👍🏼
If you squeeze a bunch of air out before sealing the bag, removing 20% of the remaining air will definitely give the bag a vacuum sealed look.
I have a chamber vac also. So I reseal the bag of oxygen absorbers in there bag using that. Little extra tid bit. If wanting to use the jar method, you can use the freeze drier to seal the jar
If you have a chamber vac, it's really easy just to put the jar in the chamber
Great info , I was just looking for this!!!
Hope this was helpful!
I use my freeze fryer to vacuum seal my mason jars. Works great.
Thank you
Thank you, this helped a lot
Glad it helped!
You are the reason I use a chamber sealer. I used to use the Freeze Dryer to do that but didn't like unhooking and removing the rack in my freeze dryer. I've been happy to have the chamber sealer, but have had a few Qt jars that became "unsealed" in a few days or wouldn't seal at all. A new lid usually fixed the problem. On a couple of occasions I couldn't get jars to seal and decided the rim was faulty so I repurposed the jar for things that don't need sealing. Another time I sealed gusseted bags with resealing strips. I sealed above the strips and a few days later the bags were no longer sucked up. I opened, resealed in something else and tossed all of those bags. Obviously they were defective. I now wait for abouta week before packing my jars and bags away for storage to make sure they are sealed.
I always put the unused OA packets in a jar and chamber seal them to maintain freshness ASAP. The chamber was expensive,but worth every penny!
Great info!
I just love your videos...ALL of them. Have learned so much from you. THANKS! And I LOVE my freeze dryer!
well harrumph!! I chucked out a bunch of oxygen absorbers because they didnt shrink my mylar bags!!! lol Thankyou for that nugget of brilliance . I did not know that i needed to know all of this information . I just love the simple way you explained the whole de-oxygenating process. :) xxx
Hope this was helpful and maybe it will save you some $ in the future
Ty ty ty I needed that. ❤
I did not know about the pink n purple. (HR sent us a box just last month w machine) I notice what's left! Of what we haven't used or opened yet are purple! Idk how many we used that had the purple!
You lost me on the oxygen absorption not affecting air volume in a sealed bag. What replaces the volume of lost oxygen in sealed container to maintain a puffed appearance? Nothing. A bag with a functioning oxygen absorber will draw out the 22% oxygen(converting iron to rust; a solid) from the air inside your bag leaving behind the other gasses. This reduces the air pressure inside the bag which the outside air pressure acts on, crushing down the bag to give the shrunken look. If the bag doesn’t shrink, your OA is bad or you have a leak.
I disagree. An oxygen absorber is only removing oxygen, not air volume. It is removing only a portion of the overall volume. You will not always get the shrunken look with a functioning absorber.
And now a few words, please, on how long to set the chamber sealer to run. Yes, I know the figures in the user manual, but some experienced knowledge for different situations would be helpful.
Also, I used to store unused absorbers in small mylar bags, but found that a small Mason jar is indeed MUCH handier! After all, the chamber sealer is already running.
There is no magic setting, it will depend on your bag type and thickness. I use mine at 30 vac time and 6 seal time. Once vacuumed and sealed, I seal it again with the impulse sealer for good measure.
How many small packages I need for a 5 gallon bucket. I put 15 and it shrunk the bucket from two side 😮
Unfortunately, your video was only now seen - wishing it was seen a year ago. Last week, I checked on several packages of absorbers that were left in the original packaging and, found every one is rock hard. I contacted the company and received no response. Apparently, that company is too busy to communicate with their patrons. Thank you for your informed videos.
I’ve heard that there are certain food products (ex. Brown Rice) that you should not use oxygen absorbers with due to the potential risk of the creation of botulism. With that said … is there a list of foods that are safe to use by adding oxygen absorbers to ?
Are you saying you won't see the botulism with the oxygen absorber?
So, Hot Hands packets are oxygen absorbers?
Question, what if you're sealing grain, same type and amounts in multiple mylar bags. Then say after using the same pack of oxygen absorbers and same size bag etc some of the bags vacuum pack tightly but others are still loose, and no noticeable damage to the bag or seal. Do the loosely packed bags need to be redone? That's what confuses me the most.
The only issue I see is that vacuum sealing foods in mylar bags that have a sharp edge, such as noodles. The sharp edges or corners will poke a hole in a mylar bag (or FoodSaver bag) and fail. I've even had beans in a bag that failed. I only use the vacuum sealer for meats I intend to deep freeze, and a few dry goods. Are you sure that FD foods have 0% moisture? I was taught that it can be 1-4% moisture.
I'm sure there is a minute amount, but not enough that the naked eye or touching it can detect it. I say "0" more for a.dfamatic effect to get my point across.
If you have a vacuum seal do you have to use an OA?
Is it ok to put oxygen absorbers in freeze dried fruits and veggies? I heard that you shouldn't and also not in powdered eggs. So we took them out of all our mylar bags that were done.
Can I buy the dots to tell me if mine are still good?
I bought individually wrapped ones
Possibly, however, unless the absorber is in an environment free of oxygen, they will not work. If you remove them from the packaging, they start working
Question…😊 Do you still need to use an oxygen absorber when using a chamber sealer?
Depends who you ask. I say yes
I use quart Mason jars about 25% of the time. When I use jars, I use a vacuum sealer function to seal the jars. Do I still need an oxygen absorber in those that are vacuum sealed?
I have purchases oxygen absorbers with the little dots and they have never changed color. After I used up the packet I set the indicator out on the counter just to see and they have been on the counter for a month and are still nice and pink. Other purchases have their indicators change fairly quickly. Good to have other ways to make sure they are still OK.
Wow! That’s not good at all. Mine turn gray, almost instantly
so There are expiration dates on the oxygen absorbers. When they come from the manufacturer, are those absolute??
I no longer use Oxygen Absorbers due to the fact that the absorbers are filled with metal shavings from China. FACT-read the labels or ingredients. Metal Shavings from China-No Thank You.
I understand but what are you using instead? If you are allowing oxygen to remain with your stored food, you run other risks
@@live.life.simple. I use a vacuum sealer. It has worked well for me. I even have a brake bleeder to use if my sealer isn't working(EMP etc). I esp like using it on glass jars. I pressure cook my meats & some vegetables in ball jars. I freeze some things. A freeze dryer is very nice to have but it does not fit into my budget. All is well..
Asking for help.ordered my fd a little over 3 weeks ago. Set it up ,ran the test. Tried drying bread, cancelled after 40 hours, wasn't dry just frozen. Did all the vacuum test, everything was fine. Tried drying sliced tomatoes, machine doesn't go past 3/4 way dried, finally cancelled drying after 53 hours, not dried. HR suggested download New software and install. Done it, still doesn't work and I feel ignored by HR, no replies except download and reinstall. Anyone else having these problems
I feel your pain. I got my FD 2 months ago and it was a real learning curve getting it to complete a cycle. In my case, it wasn't sealing good enough to get a vacuum. From the home screen, touch the green leaf. Then choose vacuum test. It needs to get down to about 500 in about 15 minutes.
A couple things I did that helped: I learned to look for the dark black line around the gasket when I close the door for a batch. I have to pull the gasket out in all the areas that don't get the deep black circle as I latch the door. I hope this helps.
There are groups on Facebook dedicated to fixing freeze dryers. They are super helpful.
Thank you for this video! Should I be using OAs in my vacuum sealed jars?
I would if you plan on storing stuff for any length of time. Vacum sealer helps but don't get all the o2 out. if you are puttting stuff like soup with a bit of meat or fats definitely. Stuff like herbs and most vegetables will last quite awhile (like a year at least) if kept in the dark without them.
If you are storing anything for length, I would use oxy absorbers
question. can i open up my past freezedried bags and insert an additional absorber, and seal it back up for storage? foods that i have dried in the last year?
Answers to all my questions! THANKS!
So who is the best brand of oxygen absorbers? Why don't they just sell them individually sealed?
Great video. I received that a id armour vacuum sealer for mother's day and it is my most used appliance. Love it. Thanks for the tips. 👍
When using your avid avid armor vacuum chamber with a small mason jar like a half pint inside what setting on vacuum time or seconds do you use
Hey Brian what company does the graphics on your Mylar bag? Looking to do a custom bag for freeze dried candy logo!
I don't think they will work for you. They require a minimum 20,000-30,000 bag order😮
See Phil at 4800 for an interesting test that shows the absorber will last much longer than 10 to 25 minutes. th-cam.com/video/lTLWNVQvMsk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=zBVOWPSaMomdQCsD
What are the pros/cons of using your freeze dryer for vacuum n sealing?
You have to remove the seal and rack every time and it is possible to over vacuum and have mason jars explode
This video is very informative, thank you. I just have a Foodsaver and I add o2 absorbers for dry goods. Someday I hope to buy a freeze dryer. I'd love to experiment with different dishes like you.
Glad it was helpful!
I greatly appreciate your content! I always learn. I have a question: do you every use the 'vacuum' setting on the Harvest Right to vac seal jars?
Yes. Before I got a vacuum chamber sealer, that is what I used. You can vacuum bags as well with a little trick. I have a video on it.
Do you have any thoughts on why some OAP's (oxygen absorber packets for those who don't know the acronym) taken out of a new bag (with the freshness dot still pink) and laid out on the kitchen countertop would NOT get hard? Granted, we do live where the humidity is very low, but out of 3 OAP brands tested (Harvest Right, PackFresh, and the LDS store) the first two are still soft and pliable 20 days later, but the LDS packet was hard within (at most) two days. To me, this says the first two were failures, but maybe I'm missing something here? I felt them a couple of times a day and never felt any of the 3 getting warm. Thoughts are appreciated!
I had a bunch of questions about O2 absorbers I've never seen answered...until now. Nice content!
Awesome! Thank you!
So, Hot Hands packets are oxygen absorbers?
should be able to make ur own,, _ carbon 60,70,80 is made degrading 2 ferrite nodes arc'ing plasma in a vacuum
Iron oxide? So can't I just make my own? Have you tried the DIY oxygen absorbers?
How would you get the iron powder? And how would you know it hadn't rusted by the time you made them?
I'm not trying to shut you down, I'm wondering what solution you've thought of.
One thing to point out…Not ALL chamber sealers seal Mylar bags. I called my manufacturer to ask them about mine and they said they do not recommend Mylar bags in my chamber vac. Mine is an older one so maybe a mute point for all the newer chamber vacs. I have not done any research on it but next one I buy I will make sure it is capable of sealing Mylar.
You can always vacuum seal and then use an impulse sealer to seal again while still under vacuum.
I quickly use my impulse sealer after my vacuum sealer because my vacuum sealer doesn't quite get hot enough. Plus, redundancy isn't a bad thing.
I just started using a stayfresh freezedryer; do you know the specs on the kind of pump oil it uses?
Im not familiar with their pumps. You can ask on our Facebook page
I would assume you vacuum out the oxygen from the container before sealing. You could put nitrogen in the bag or jar. It’s heavier than air and safe for food. They used to sell a small container for wine drinkers . Open you oxygen absorbers and place in a jar of nitrogen.
I just use the Avid Armor to seal the O2 absorbers in their original packaging.
I have had luck doing that with certain brands of absorbers and not such luck with others
Finally an answer to my question. My oxygen absorbers are hard with packages unopened. Guess they are no good 😟 .
I got the same purchased from Amazon. But when does it he say it I missed that.
I found the info😂
I see a 5 g ad l needs =5 of 300cc in pail.
I once contacted Avid they said I didn't an oxygen absorbers with their machine. I use one anyway, but thought that was interesting. I use absorbers with my food Saver attachment, are th ey necessary? Could you do another video using the Harvest Right to vacuum seal, and show us how you use the Avid with Mason jars?
If I used bad oxygen absorbers- can I open the bag, add different absorbers and reseal? Within what time period?
It's possible as long as the food inside is still good
You are amazing. Ty for the education you are giving me.
My pleasure. Glad to get the info out there.
I am using an Avid Armor 300 but haven’t been using an oxygen absorber. Is that a problem?
I would start using OA's and use what youve alreasy backed first. There's still goong to be some air occupying the space that the water used to occupy in your freeze dried food...
There could still be trace amounts of oxygen in your bagged food. The absorber also gives you a safety net if there is a slow leak in your bag.
How long after you seal the extra OAs up should it take for the indicator to turn back to pink color. Mine have been taking a day or two.
But there must be a natural alternative to oxygen removale? Right? Not chemical?
Vacuum chamber sealer will get most of it
Thank you so much I'm new at this and I was worried about what to do with the extras. I ended up using some and now I realize they were done... So I will be using those packages of food ASAP. A learning process Thank you for the helpful information I've watched several of your videos.
Good info 👍. What I do with extra absorbers is store them in small used Mylar bags and vacuum seal them. 7mil works best. 5 mil will work but most of those have small holes in them after using them once.
They are literally hot hands
Does an absorber turn dark immediately then return to pink when returned to a vacuumed sealed environment
It will return to pink when the environment is free of oxygen
Do you have a video on how to use the armor vacuum sealer with jars? I’ve never tried it with them only with mylar bags. Thanks and love your videos they are so helpful
Great vid with great info! Ordered the chamber sealer with your code. Thank you again!
Yer a Legend as us Brits say mate.Just about to commit to a small pro ordered direct from here in Edmonton Canada based on yer latest review of the pro
If your vacuum sealing do you need to use an oxygen absorber?
Depends who you ask. I use them in addition to vac sealing.
Good morning! We shared this amazing video to our Community tab. Thanks for another great video helping us answer any questions we have about oxygen absorbers!
Thanks for sharing!!
Thank you for this video! I found this very informative. This video is a huge help! Have a blessed day! Wendy❤️🐞
Glad it was helpful!
So can you use a moisture absorber with an oxygen absorber?
I do not use moisture absorbers. If your food has moisture, it is not fully freeze dried. They can be added for short term snacks and food that will be eaten in a few days to help with humidity and things
Thanks for great content! I recently opened my freeze dried food from 4 years ago that was kept in an air tight jar but didn’t add oxygen absorber obviously because I didn’t know about this concept here. Now that I try to reconstitute it (freeze dried eggs to be specific) the consistency is not that great, taste is off and cooks bad. Are all the parameters affected when the FD food is packed without adequate oxygen elimination?
I would be careful consuming food that was not stored properly. If it was not vacuum sealed or didn't have an oxygen absorber, the food could be dangerous to consume.
SO... does that mean I should repackage all my food with new oxygen packets? The freeze right info did not say that they are useless once the little package has been open. Very bummed out..... a big waste of mylar bags and time and O2 packages....
If they were exposed to oxygen for more than 15-30 minutes, they are no longer functioning.
Will the oxygen absorbers function in conjunction with a silica packet ? I have much of my storage with both . Now I’m concerned.
I have read that you are not supposed to mix. Maybe some further research is needed
For small packages it will suck the water out before the oxygen absorber does its job. For larger things like 5 gallon pails put the oxygen absorber in the bottom and moisture getter on top.
Why not offer individually wrapped OA’s ?
It seems like a lot of waste in packaging. 10 is best for most scenarios and you can reseal or rejar the leftovers.
Get a bottle of argon nitrogen or butane, flush the bottle with a little and tighten the cap. Argon can be for a mig welder or small tanks used to preserve wine, nitrogen is available for welding as well, butane of course can be gotten from any smoke shop.❤
I have used hand warmers inside a plastic sandwich bag as an O2 absorber in my bucket sized bags.
I’m struggling to vacuum seal a 5 gallon Mylar bag. Can you do a video on a solution for that ?
Keep the 5 gallon bag on the ground or table. Add your oxygen absorbers. Now press out remaining oxygen. Lining up top edges of mylar bag. Using a hot straight iron seal the bag closed. Or you can place a bucket on each sides of the bag. Place a piece of wood from one bucket to the other. Put oxygen absorbers into mylar bag squeeze out excess oxygen fold bag over the pice of wood ( like a 7 shape) now iron the top portion of the bag. You will have to play with an extra bag, to find out what setting on your iron works best for you. I hope this helps.
I think I saw a video by Brian on using the FD as a vacuum chamber. Does the 5 gallon bag have a zip closure? You might be able to seal it part way, then use the FD. After it’s done use the impulse sealer. Just a thought. Good luck!
@@eyes2see438thank you !
yea A $30 hair straightening iron is your best bet other than the heavy duty hand held crimp sealers which are $150- $200. I've always been able to get mine to seal with the hair iron so I have never splurged on the heavy duty one. I fill the bag in the bucket (my 5 gal bags are all in buckets) then carefully seal the whole bag except for enough room to get the big o2 absorber in it. It is easier to get the seal wrinkle free if you do it slowly. Once you have all the bags mostly sealed I throw in the Obsorbers and seal the last bit up to finish off.
Excellent thanks
Thanks 👍👍👍
No problem 👍
Can anyone tell me the proper temperature for freeze drying medicinal herbs?
Long term storage of oxegen absorbers? I thought they had a 1-2 year shelf life even when stored perfectly? I have a bunch and I am afraid to use them. I have used a inverted graduated beaker in water and tested them to determine if they are good but get questionable results. What say ye?
If they work the powder inside will get warm. If the powder inside is crispy and they don't warm up in air they are bad.
The mixture inside an oxygen absorber is an iron alloy powder, a little salt, graphite and water. They are basically the same guts as hothands handwarmer packets. A combination oxygen and moisture absorber has aluminum iron alloy graphite and calcium chloride as the salt.
I don’t see the exothermic reaction mentioned in same as comment, sorry forever curious! Good on this gentleman to mention the SAFE INGREDIENT bring Fe un oxidized iron. Looked up what used, I’m guessing use Magnesium Sulfate as cheap hydrophilic ingredient. Can’t imagine people buying things like that to lower humidity until someone I knew did that! I said just bulk but it’s cheaper in product than usual use or chemical supply. I’d prefer to support this man and have convenience than packaging for packaging to package repack. Time is a factor too, don’t store aluminum in nitrates! 💣 What mixture is in those Iron Alloy?
Please link or list chemical source if inexpensive, y’all seem to know this subject, I’m a newbie!
Wow! Just discovered your channel! Thank you for such thorough explanation on everything!! Definitely have been doing some things wrong but thankfully we’re only a month in, lol. Blessings to your family 🙏🏼
You're so welcome!