[EvW]

Review how you evacuate the air from jars.

[MartHale7]

Sorry, I don’t understand? Are you asking how does Heidi remove the air from the jars?

[Squeeze]

you can get a set of the vacume sealer lids (reg and wide) for about 15 bucks on amazon and either use a vacume sealer or a brake line hand pump for vacume

[MartHale7]

https://rumble.com/v2glcco-options-for-vacuum-sealing-dried-goods.html

rumble.com

Options for Vacuum Sealing Dried Goods

Video Links: How to Use the Vacuum Chamber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LPZfZYDyWY&t=430s Peanut Butter Powder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eMy0ZoTuRk How to Make a Cheese Powder: https://ww

[JerseyGiantChick]

Still 25 cheap prices over here from aldi or lidl, waiting to get one on a good deal.

[Amgbluesky98]

I would never have thought about dehydrating cabbage. If I ever perfect growing it I will do more than ferment for sure. Rice is another great thing to cook up and then dehydrate. It sounds kind of stupid but when you are in a hurry to make up a meal, you have instant rice on hand.

[MartHale7]

I have cans of chicken soup on the shelf for if I get sick. I have not been sick in a few years so I may need to used them up and replace them…. That is a good thing 😉

[JerseyGiantChick]

Glad to read you are all preparing!

[MartHale7]

I went with powdered milk I love the butter milk from Azure I bought an on clearance 50 lb butter milk a few years ago and vacuum sealed it. The price of dehydrated milk is so high I was wondering if buying hay and a cow would be cheaper…… Ode to inflation…

I have been thinking that if I am to survive on my food stocks that vacuum sealed whole grains is the best backup. which I have been doing with 1 gal food saver bags. Expensive, but it kills all of the bugs, and I did it back in 2020 when prices were better….. Oats is still cheap and I would say they still are now, I have stopped putting ground flour in 5 gal buckets and switched to 1/2 gal mason jars, more expensive than 5 gal buckets, but I feel better about that storage method.

My strategy is to have 2 -5 years of grain backup. Then fill my empty jars with cabbage ferment since I now grow my cabbage with kratky hydroponics in jugs….. Slowly every so slowly I have been able to start replacing meals to 1/2 of a meal with the fermented cabbage because it is so easy to grow, cut up ferment, then grab and eat.

This has been easy for me because I am single, but I can now understand as a family how this would be more of a challenge.

[JerseyGiantChick]

You are alone now, but I bet you people will come to visit you maybe even stay. All jokes aside, hope not same here we all need to stay save.

My biggest thought is need to become a person I do not want to be and I am not. Composting and feeding strange input.

Drying all possible, to save freezer space and as a back up. This year wanna make a smoker, from a small shed and a rocked stove any ideas for warm and cold smoking?

[MartHale7]

Pinball Prepper built a smoker… I have stockpiled salt for preserving with ferments… Too much to know about storing food it seems.

[JerseyGiantChick]

Thank you will look it up from Pinball, salt is very important to stock up!

[Amgbluesky98]

Salt is a good thing to have on hand. Every time I have looked to buy in bulk it is not available.

[JerseyGiantChick]

Can understand it is hard to buy in bulk, I leave with a cart full and people look if I am nuts. Nope it is just the bottem, rest are other groceries. And I do not go daily like you city folks, so just keep on shopping noting to see.

[MartHale7]

I got mine from Azure Standard, then I vacuum sealed it to keep moisture out.

[Amgbluesky98]

I watch my friends and family go grocery shopping weekly and spend hundreds of dollars each trip. We are making a trip on Friday to the big bulk buying store and will spend a couple of hundred, but it will stock us up for a while. I also order flour, wheat berries, oats, and other things from Azure about 2x a year. I will be buying meat directly from the farm this year too.

[MartHale7]

Azure standard makes that much easier as everyone there is buying in bulk.

[JerseyGiantChick]

If I was them, I would ask if it was possible to order in bulk together.

[MartHale7]

Yes that is what I do, Azure, then a couple of days converting the food to long term storage with vacuum sealing, or slicing the cheese., then freezing.

[Amgbluesky98]

I’ve tried with my kids to go in on beef or pork but they get all their meat delivered by a food service so they are not interested. Friends don’t buy in bulk because they like to live with their heads in the sand. 🤷‍♀️ the last 4 years have not taught them anything.

[Amgbluesky98]

Yes me too. Last fall I had to rearrange the freezer just to fit all the grains and sugar for a few days. I put the stuff I use regularly into small mylar bags and then into 5 gallon buckets. Once the bags get opened they come upstairs into half gallon mason jars under the counter.