I don’t recommend vacuum storing food

Posted by Hank in Food Storage

Food can be stored in a vacuum. Without oxygen, food lasts longer. Insects like weevil cannot live in a vacuum.

This Grain-Vac on the left is a vacuum food saving machine I am developing. It is powered by a mini-vacuum motor which creates a vacuum in the outer canister.

This is the motor I am using. It drives a vacuum pump.

My objective is to be able to vacuum pack food and grains in recycled jars.

Jam jars and preserving jars will cost nothing to reuse as food storage vessels. This eliminates the need for plastic bags. The jars are rodent-proof. This means mice cannot ruin your vacuum packed food.

Vacuum saving in bags

Sue and Peter Billing of New Plymouth are leaders in food storage. They use a FoodSaver which uses plastic bags.

Peter and Sue use their vacuum pump to store food in jars as well as bags. Used jam jars and baby food jars seal great.

Sue uses their Foodsaver to vacuum store food. There are several models available. This is the Sunbeam Foodsaver VAC660 at $329 available online from queenb in NZ. You’ll also need the Sunbeam Foodsaver 3 Cannister Set VS0630 sold separately for NZ$ 49. Supplier: www.queenb.co.nz or www.sunbeam.co.nz

Bags of wheat stored in a food grade bucket for protection from accidental puncturing, rodents, critters and light.

Jar of vacuum sealed wheat and a jar about to be filled with wheat. Sue can store a small amount of grain or food in minutes.

Wheat in a vacuum sealing bag ready for sealing.

Sue’s bag of wheat now sealed and labeled. The vacuum means oxygen cannot destroy the food and weevil cannot live without oxygen so it keeps for a long time.

The jar of wheat now vacuum sealed.

Showing the jar with the screw band removed tipped upside down proving it’s vacuum seal.

Sue’s Foodsaver and a jar of sealed wheat. Peter and Sue do not use oxygen absorbers. With a good vacuum they find oxygen absorbers are not needed.

Sue and Peter put the jam jar with food in it into a Foodsaver canister. They then use the Foodsaver vacuum feature with the Foodsaver canister set to suck all the oxygen out of the canister. When the vacuum is broken on the canister, the jam jar snaps shut tight with a vacuum inside it.

You’ll need to buy the canister separately. Three different sizes for $50. You must have the canisters to vacuum seal food or grain in jam-jars. You can vacuum seal seeds in baby-food jars.

The Secret to using the Canister

Get a used jam jar, one that has a pop-top lid. The lid pops up when there’s no vacuum. Or a baby-food jar for seeds and small items. Lightly screw the jar shut. Not too tight. Air must be able to be sucked out of it. Put it in the canister. Vacuum out the air. Break the seal on the canister.

The jam jar lid will suck tight to the jam jar. Screw it tight to keep the vacuum locked in.

The FoodSaver® VAC780

For $50 more than the VAC660 you can get the VAC780. It’s NZ $380 from Sunbeam.

Lesser models do not have a canister port. This is essential for vacuum sealing in jars using the Sunbeam canisters you buy separately.

Their Blurb: The FoodSaver® vacuum packaging system is the revolutionary way to store food. It achieves this by extracting air and moisture to create a commercial quality vacuum. Conventional food storage methods such as plastic wrap and containers actually trap air inside with food. But the FoodSaver® vacuum packaging process removes air from specially designed bags and canisters and seals them airtight. This proven technology extends food freshness up to 5 times longer than conventional storage.

Approx price $379.99 NZD

References

1. Photo of Grain-Vac by Hank.

2 – 10. Photos by Peter and Sue Billing.

11, 12. Photos by Sunbeam.