How to Start - Canning or Dehydrating?

[jaspercornbread]

With a somewhat limited budget, I am trying to decide the best way to start food preservation - canning or dehydrating?

I am sort of leaning toward dehydrating - Cheap dehydrators are available. But so are cheap canners (boil bath).

I have read that some of the food vacuum sealers will seal canning jars (for storing dehydrated food), and that seems like a good way to keep from buying the plastic bags. When sealing canning jars with the vacuum sealers, do you have to have a special top for each jar, or does the sealer seal regular canning lids onto the canning jars?

Still pretty new to everything, and I hope to learn more when I get The Whole Shebang delivered!

[sbemt456]

Invest in a good pressure canner,its a once in a lifetime investment, and canning jars can be had for very cheap, loo k at yard sales and such. I myself dont dehydrate much but can anything just about that will fit in a jar. Good freezer bags are worth the extra price as they better preserve the quality of food. As for vacuum sealing jars that is something I have never done. But good luck and have fun.

[hillbillygal]

I would go with the canner. The investment may seem large to begin with but the canner and jars can be used for decades & decades. I have both and use my canner for much more. I have not used the jar sealer from my vacuum sealer. I haven't found something that I've needed to seal in a jar that way.

[jaspercornbread]

Maybe I should clarify a bit about my message. Time and money are now limited, especially time.

Which is the quickest, easiest, fastest, cheapest, and least time-consuming way to get into food preservation: canning or dehydrating?

I also was wondering about vacuum sealing as a way to better preserve dried food items.

The more I have read her on BWH and around the web, I'm kind of leaning towards dehydrating. Maybe what I should do is wait until the books and The Whole Shebang come in the next couple of weeks, and do some more reading there!

Any thoughts about the Presto and the All American pressure canners? Although more expensive, it seems like the pressure canner is the best investment, as sbemt456 said above.

Still thinking about dehydrating, though.

Anyway, I am going to start looking for used canning and dehydrating equipment and supplies, before buying new.

[Shamrock1121]

I prefer dehydrating and freezing to canning - especially with just two of us at home. I like the texture of many foods frozen instead of canned. Canning is also a high temperature method and you DO lose nutrients by canning, rather than freezing.

Canning can be more expensive than buying commercially canned foods if you have to purchase the produce, pay for the water to produce a garden, as well as the canner/jars, etc. to get you started. It's a tedious job at best, and takes a lot out of your day or night (if you happen to work all day and decide the green beans MUST be canned).

You not only pay for the amount of energy it takes to process the foods, but you are adding heat to the house in the middle of summer and you are adding to the cost for air conditioning as well. If you do a lot of jams/jellies and you have the space in the freezer, you can juice them or freeze them whole to be processed later, when it's not so hot.

I like the quality of dehydrated foods and the fact I can reconstitute as much as I need when I need it rather than have to consume a pint or quart of something that would take us several meals to consume (2 adults). If I want to make 1/2 cup of sweet potatoes for lunch or to use for individual servings of baby food, I can quickly do so with the powdered dehydrated sweet potatoes and hot water.

I can dehydrate cooked meats of all kinds (although I vacuum seal these and keep them in the freezer for longer shelf-life) - it's a good way to reduce the size of the foods to save on space in the freezer.

I also use a method where you partially dehydrate foods and store them in the freezer - for better texture and a fresher taste.

I dehydrate foods all year long. When I get a container of mushrooms on the discount shelf, I slice and dehydrate them. I can make fruit leathers with discounted fruit.

I can make up homemade soup mixes using dehydrated foods.

Dehydrators don't take as much work as home canning does.

It will pay to figure out the costs. If you have a County Extension Office near you, they will have information about figuring costs for home canning.

-Karen

[RNMOM]

I'm afraid I love both. To me there is a place for both. Yes the investment is high, but so is the satisfaction of doing this yourself. I love to dehydrate fruits and make fruit leather, but I also love canned peaches and pears. I do not love dehydrated veggies. The texture when they are rehydrated is leathery and tough. But that is a personal preference.
Maybe you can check ebay or put an ad in the paper for canning supplies. You might be surprised at what you find.

[jajbellsouthnet]

I do both and prefer to dehydrate when it is an option. When you preserve by canning, you end up storing a lot of liquid. I can get several lbs. of onions in a quart jar by dehydrating. Peaches and blackberries use up a lot of shelf space. It helps to vacuum seal anything that you dehydrate.

[annabella1]

It depends on the type of vacuum sealer you use if you need to have special lids for the jars you seal dehydrated food in. If you use the food saver by Tilia you don't need special lids you can use regular canning lids, however to get a good seal you need to soften or activate the sealant on the canning lid you do this by bringing them to a boil in a pan of water and placing them on while they are still hot. The problem then is if it is going on dehydrated food you must make sure they are dry. You also should make sure the food is totally dry before you vacuum pack them if not you are going to get mold. Often food dehydrators recommend that you let the food sit and stir it frequently for a few days before you seal it up. This makes sure that it is evenly dry.

[mtwildflower]

I like both, but a dehydrator is ideal when I have a lot to do and the weather is hot. I can dry stuff when it's a little humid as well, due to the design of my dehydrator.

But some stuff is better canned and some stuff is better dehydrated.

Here are some pics of my dehydrator. I bought it about 8 years ago from a catalog company called Living Foods.
http://www.dryit.com

I have been very happy with it and it was well worth what I paid for it.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t202/mtwildflower/dehydrator1.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t202/mtwildflower/dehydrator2.jpg

I was drying red raspberry leaves for tea and calendula petals for soap.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t202/mtwildflower/element1.jpg

I opted for the heating element in the bottom and I am glad I did. Depending on what I am drying, it works pretty quickly.

I've even started seeds in mine.

[Runaway_Slave]

I came to this thread because I'm thinking about buying a dehydrator for making jerky. I hadn't thought of drying fruits or vegetables.

After reading the posts, I surmise that canning is probably best for long term home storage.

I would like to find out about vacuum sealing in plastic bags. Both jerky and fruits/vegies.
I think the bags may be best for easy transport and cacheing.

My main question is, does anyone know how long meat and vegies will "keep" in a vacuum sealed bag if stored in a cool, dark place?

Thank you! RS

[Shamrock1121]

I came to this thread because I'm thinking about buying a dehydrator for making jerky. I hadn't thought of drying fruits or vegetables.

After reading the posts, I surmise that canning is probably best for long term home storage.

I would like to find out about vacuum sealing in plastic bags. Both jerky and fruits/vegies.
I think the bags may be best for easy transport and cacheing.

My main question is, does anyone know how long meat and vegies will "keep" in a vacuum sealed bag if stored in a cool, dark place?

Thank you! * RS

Are you asking for something like camping/hiking or long-term food storage? Most foods dehydrated at home have a shelf-life of 4-months to one year - depending on the food. By vacuum sealing it, you keep it from exposure to oxygen, which is one of the things that destroys dried foods (along with light, moisture and heat). It also keeps the dehydrated foods from rehydrating from moisture in the air. Vacuum sealing is NOT a method to preserve foods, like home canning or pressure canning.

I don't consider homemade jerky a good storage food - that's just an unsafe myth. The fat in the meat quickly goes rancid and the jerky keeps best refrigerated or frozen. I dehydrate all kinds of cooked meat, but I always store it in the freezer as a food safety precaution and it keeps longer at 0°F and vacuum sealing keeps it from getting freezer burn.

You also need to take some food safety precautions making jerky.

1. Always handle meat with clean hands and utensils and equipment.

2. Keep the meat refrigerated before use and during marination.

3. Wild game must be handled carefully so that gut contents and wound locations are eliminated.

4. Meat and poultry jerky must be heated to 160°F to destroy microorganisms. This can be done a couple ways and I do both for safe jerky. If the meat is marinated, heat the meat in the marinade prior to drying (just bring it nearly boil). The second method is to heat the dried jerky in the oven at 275°F for 10 minutes immediately after the dehydration process.
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-Drying removes the moisture from food so that bacteria, yeasts and molds don't grow and spoil the food. That being said, things like potato slices, if not completely dried properly will quickly mold in whatever it is stored in. NEVER eat dehydrated food with mold on it.

- The optimum temperature for drying food is around 140°F, but varies for different types of food. At temperatures higher than 140°F food COOKS on the outside leaving moisture still remaining in the inside of the food. This is called "case hardening". The result of hard and dry on the outside and moist inside is potential mold.

- Once food is ready to come out of a dehydrator, allow it to cool to room temperature. ASAP, package the food or you risk it rehydrating from being in a humid environment. DO NOT package food for storage if it's still warm from the dehydrator. There is enough moisture in the food that it will collect in the container and will cause mold.

- I package dehydrated fruits and veggies in canning jars and seal the lids with my FoodSaver vacuum sealer. If you put dehydrated foods in the plastic bags, you'll crush the food. Dried zucchini or apples will instantly become "dust". I also portion things in small zip-lock snack bags and place those in the jar, so that when I open the jar, take as much as is needed, the remainder of the dried foods will stay dry. Never leave the container open or you'll quickly have moldy food from rehydration from the air.

- Check your dehydrated foods often for signs of mold and toss in the trash - all of it that is in the container will have mold spores on it whether you can see the mold or not.
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For long-term emergency dried food storage, I keep freeze-dried foods that are hermetically sealed in #10 cans. I have meats, cheese, fruits and vegetables. I also have powdered butter and peanut butter, as well as several types of dried milk and whey-based milk substitutes that are all stored in #10 hermetically-sealed cans. I'd never consider my sizeable stash of home dehydrated foods as long-term storage. It's just another method of food preservation for each year's harvest.

-Karen

[Runaway_Slave]

Thank you! We are grateful for the time and thoughtfulness of your response.

I'm working out a practical plan for food/water storage for escalating levels of need.

1. Canning and storing in the basement for practical needs, taking aesthetics into consideration. I.E. Jams, jellies, sweets, the palate pleasing things, as it were.

2. The SHTF or BOB scenarios. Anything and everything is possible. Worse case planning as in what happened in New Orleans as a natural disaster to the possibilities of our food distribution and banking systems breaking down.

3. There is a water filtration system available where you can literally take water from any source and filter it to a safe level for consumption. I think I saw these here on the forum a while back.

4. A food cacheing plan. This is why I ask about sealing and storing dried foods in bags. These can be cached in secret locations for emergency consumption. At times like this, a few handfuls of trail mix with nuts and dried fruit along with some vitamin/mineral supplements will keep you alive.

I can see the benefit of canning and that it will require additional planning to transport and cache these heavier items. If the emergency were to extend beyond 3 months, the need for unspoiled provisions is obvious as well as the "sweets".

I sometimes think of what it might have been like back in the frontier days when in an average day you had to made decisions/choices where your life literally hung in the balance. And then after a day of hard work your heart could be filled with gratitude because you found some honey to put on your bread.

[Shamrock1121]

Thank you! We are grateful for the time and thoughtfulness of your response.

I'm working out a practical plan for food/water storage for escalating levels of need.

1. Canning and storing in the basement for practical needs, taking aesthetics into consideration. I.E. Jams, jellies, sweets, the palate pleasing things, as it were.

2. The SHTF or BOB scenarios. Anything and everything is possible. Worse case planning as in what happened in New Orleans as a natural disaster to the possibilities of our food distribution and banking systems breaking down.

3. There is a water filtration system available where you can literally take water from any source and filter it to a safe level for consumption. I think I saw these here on the forum a while back.

4. A food cacheing plan. This is why I ask about sealing and storing dried foods in bags. These can be cached in secret locations for emergency consumption. At times like this, a few handfuls of trail mix with nuts and dried fruit along with some vitamin/mineral supplements will keep you alive.

I can see the benefit of canning and that it will require additional planning to transport and cache these heavier items. If the emergency were to extend beyond 3 months, the need for unspoiled provisions is obvious as well as the "sweets".

I sometimes think of what it might have been like back in the frontier days when in an average day you had to made decisions/choices where your life literally hung in the balance. And then after a day of hard work your heart could be filled with gratitude because you found some honey to put on your bread.



Slave -

If you are just getting started, I'd suggest the book The New Passport to Survival 12 Steps to Self-Sufficient Living - by Rita Bingham? It gives you a great deal of information you are seeking.

Water:
I have a non-electric steam distiller for emergency water purification. http://www.canningpantry.com/waterwise-1600.html We also have 1,000-gallons of water storage capacity in our rain barrels as well as water stored in the basement. We live walking distance from 2 small ponds in one direction and a river in the other. I also have other portable filtering systems, but distilling is the best. You may want to study the difference between filtration and purification of water.

You can find more information at Emergency Essentials - www.beprepared.com

I also have put kits together to make solar stills. http://www.desertusa.com/mag98/dec/stories/water.html

On the top of MY list of emergency foods are chia seeds. I'd place them well and above trail mix and everything else. They are lightweight and can be stored for long periods of time without going rancid. At some time in the past they were called "running food" because messengers could run all day after eating a handful.

If you are new to home canning, dehydration/drying, cure/smoking, fermenting, etc., I'd refer you to this web site for more information: The National Center for Home Food Preservation - http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/publications_usda.html

-Karen

[WileyCoyote]

You wrote: " On the top of MY list of emergency foods are chia seeds. I'd place them well and above trail mix and everything else. They are lightweight and can be stored for long periods of time without going rancid. At some time in the past they were called "running food" because messengers could run all day after eating a handful. "

Are these the same seeds as the "Chia Pet" seeds? I have never heard of it before except to grow grass on clay forms... Learn something new every day!!!

[Shamrock1121]

You wrote: " On the top of MY list of emergency foods are chia seeds. *I'd place them well and above trail mix and everything else. *They are lightweight and can be stored for long periods of time without going rancid. *At some time in the past they were called "running food" because messengers could run all day after eating a handful. *"

Are these the same seeds as the "Chia Pet" seeds? I have never heard of it before except to grow grass on clay forms... Learn something new every day!!!

Yep, one and the same little seed. Check out this web site for some information:

http://icreatewisdom.com/chiaseed.html

Do a Google search on - health benefits of chia seeds. You won't believe what you are missing.

Read: The Magic of Chia by James F. Scheer

-Karen

[leera]

Sandycane, if you want to make a dehydrator at home,I would go with a solar drier......you can find the plans for one on the inernet,just do a search for it.......No electricity required........

Having just bought an Excalibur,and being very happy with it.....I have had the cheapie ones,and the little bit nicer ones,but this one really takes the cake.

I like the square,rather than round drying trays,I like the mesh screen being seperate from the tray,it makes clean up so EASY........

I dry a lot of things,including jerky,I also can and freeze......I can sauces and salsa, and jams and jellies,pickles......I dry herbs,fruits,veggies......I am going be to expanding the things I dry though.

It does take longer to to get a finished product when drying,versus canning or freezing,but for those with limited space and time,drying might be an option for many things.With drying,you can get something drying and leave,go to work,shopping,work out in the yard,etc.....foods need very little attention in the drier,just be careful not to over dry some things.

With canning,you need time to prepare the food,the jars,the canner,and have the time to be around in the kitchen while the canner is doing it's thing,wait for the jars to cool before you can label and store them.......

It really depends on the individual,and what works best for them and their personal time.

[Shamrock1121]

I am a penny-pincher.
The chia seeds sound good but, at $12/pound I'll never buy them. Do you know of any source that sells them for less?

I have a question about the food dehydrator:
Can I make a version of the (expensive, assemble-yourself) one pictured on the dryit.com site using the directions here: http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/sanders63.html

Instead of doing electrical wiring, can I place a small ceramic space heater (with fan and thermostat attached) at the bottom of the unit?

I'm a penny pincher too, which is why I always get at least 5# at a time - to reduce the price. You probably don't think twice about wasting money buying "dead" food like white sugar, white flour, shortening, and processed foods, but count pennies when it comes to the price of REAL food. I consider chia seeds my #1 emergency food and also use them everyday and would spend money on them FIRST, before a lot of other foods. Chia seeds are used in very small quantities. I use one or two tablespoons each week. A pound of them may last most people 6-months to a year.

Your homemade dehydrator is fraught with problems. That ceramic heater is an energy hog. I believe it uses 1500 watts. Dehydrators are low-watt. As a penny pincher, that should make a huge difference to you. It's not how fast you dehydrate food, rather how well the inside of the food dries before the outside of the food. Air circulation is equally as important as temperature.

You'll need food-grade trays. Using zinc-coated screen or something like that, could be deadly. Quality screen is expensive. Martin shared information about that in another dehydrator thread. I'll see if I can find it.

Make sure the case you place your heater in isn't made with treated wood. It can off-gas from the heat and humidity. Also take into consideration what you paint your wood with - it can also off-gas. Certain species of woods are NOT suggested for a dehydrator or the trays because the wood scent can penetrate the food.

You MUST be able to control the temperature and actually KNOW what the temperature is. Not all foods dehydrate at the same temperature. If you have the temperature too high, you will cook the food rather than dehydrate it. Hard casing (when the outside dries before the inside) will prevent the inside moisture from escaping through the hard outside shell and it will cause the food to mold. So more wasted time, money, and food.

Personally, I'd save my money and buy an American Harvest dehydrator. They are relatively inexpensive and give most people many years of service. They are designed for food safety, simple to use, have a thermostate and can be set at a variety of temperatures. They are double-walled for insulation. Small and easy to store.

-Karen

[logansackett]

I'm looking around at dehydraters, and I see the square ones at cabelas, and everyone else is carrying this round one from ronco and such. The one from cabelas seems to be the best, whats the word on the round ones are they any good? The cabelas one has the heat from the rear and says it is better for circulation and you dont need to rotate the trays. Anyway I was looking for more advice. Thanks

[lplott]

I have the foodsaver with the attachment to seal canning jars. You have to heat those little lids for good seals and sometimes the seal will break, watch for that, but I tell you, I love that thing. It seals up my dehydrated foods and I store them on canning shelves. I would not part with my foodsaver with all those attachments. I had to order the large mouth attachment, but I got it from the foodsaver site and now I have regular lid size and large mouth. Its wonderful. I can with pressur canner and also dehydrate, and that jar attachment is just the best

[annabella1]

The cheapest place I have found for chia seeds is:
http://www.nutsonline.com/seedsspices/chia-seeds.html?sid=2fA5F7yzDzOsmtom

[leera]

I'm looking around at dehydraters, and I see the square ones at cabelas, and everyone else is carrying this round one from ronco and such. The one from cabelas seems to be the best, whats the word on the round ones are they any good? The cabelas one has the heat from the rear and says it is better for circulation and you dont need to rotate the trays. Anyway I was looking for more advice. Thanks

Logan,I got mine in the bargin cave at Cabelas for half price.......not a thing wrong with it.I also got my Foodsaver there for more than half off(it's missing the attachment for sealing jars,which I wouldn't have used anyway)

All the dehydrators have pros and cons,the Excalibur does take up more space than the round ones........however I find it easier to load and clean the trays....I like not having to rotate the food as well.Although for thicker items,you may still have to turn the trays once.

I used a round one for YEARS,and it worked fine as long as I remembered to check it once in a while and rotate the trays.

Once we get a house and get a garden going good I may have to upgrade again to a larger model.

[CatherineID]

There are trade offs for each way to preserve food.

Freezing tends to preserve the nutritional value of the food the best but it is an incredibly expensive and risky way to store food.

Canned foods lose a moderate amount of nutritional value but it is a great way to store perishable food for several years, as long as the jars don't break. I'd put shelf-stable, vacuum packed foods in the same category (flour, sugar, wheat, oats, etc). Do protect the jars from light and temperature extremes to maintain food quality and nutritional value for a longer time.

Dehydrated foods lose a great deal of nutritional value, especially in perishable vitamins like C, but it is an incredibly inexpensive way to store food.

For frugality, I'd start with dehydrating. First of all, you already have most of the supplies you need to do it. You can dehydrate food by laying them out on trays, putting them in the sun and shielding them from flies with screens. During non-sunny days (winter), you can dehydrate foods in your oven, which is what I do with small batches. At the same time, you can look for a dehydrator at garage sales and on craigslist. You might even find one through freecycle. The downside to running a dehydrator is it will add - in a small way - to your electricity bill.

At the same time I'd start canning foods that require nothing more than a water bath canner: fruit, pickled vegetables, salsa (nice source of vitamin C), jams / jellies. This would be a good way to build your experience and your supply of canning jars (again, found at garage sales, thrift stores and on craigslist).

If you happen upon a great deal on a pressure canner, all the better. Some people may even be willing to let you borrow theirs. If so, it is nice to give them a jar of your stash as a thank you.

I've water bath canned in nothing more than a pot I already own. As a matter of fact, for a small batch of jam, that's exactly what I do. Nothing special is needed.

If you already own the vacuum sealer, definately use it. I have vacuum sealed jars - always sealing foods that are already shelf-stable since a vacuum sealer is NOT the same as preservation canning - to keep wheat and oats bug-free.

Unfortunately, we were in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and lost at least 1/3 of our stash. I had kept the jars low on the shelves so they didn't break when they fell. However the heavier cans falling on top of them did them in. The lesson is ... when storing food for emergencies, assume that some of your stock will get destroyed / contaminated at some point.

[bookwormom]

ln the past I have dried fruit in the back of my old station wagon, parked it in the sun. O f course it does not work on a rainy day.
I am lucky to have a loft that gets quite hot when the sun shines on the tin roof. It is great for drying.