Q and A: storing vacuum sealed food, dents in lids, and canning spaghetti squash

Storing vacuum sealed food

If an item is vacuum sealed with a vacuum sealer machine how long will the food keep? If sealed in vacuum sealed jars how long will they last? Can an oxygen absorber be used in a jar and the food item keep and for how long. I have several half gallon jars and would like to use them to keep food for storage. Will they work for that purpose?

Claudine Norwood
Wagoner, Oklahoma

Yes, your half gallon jars will work for dry food storage. I use many of mine to store home-dehydrated foods, dry foods such as beans, lentils, peas, etc. As oxygen is the enemy of food storage, excluding it from your foods will make it last longer. (However, don’t run out and buy a vacuum sealer if you don’t already have one). If you fill your jars full and just use a clean, solid lid (not necessarily a new lid) and ring, your dry foods will last for decades without vacuum sealing or using an oxygen absorber. I have dehydrated banana chips I did in 1985 and they are perfectly good, as one example.

Storing foods that contain whole germ such as brown rice, whole wheat flour, and home-ground cornmeal is always a short-term thing unless you freeze it. Vacuum sealing or adding an oxygen absorber in these cases will help but only extend the storage time for a year or so. Better to store whole grains such as popcorn for grinding and wheat berries to grind into flour at a later date as whole grains will store indefinitely without extra treatment. Just store in airtight, insect- and rodent-proof containers that will exclude both oxygen and dampness. — Jackie

Dents in lids and storing food

Yesterday, as I was scrounging for half pint jars, my box of pints fell 6 inches or so resulting in 2 of the jars falling into each other and denting the lids significantly. Are these seals going to fail? They are presently in the refrigerator just to be safe. I will cook them Sunday (corn and ham juice with a little ham for green beans).

Where do you store all your canned goods when you are out of room? We only have a small home with no basement. I have added 7 more cases filled with half pints since Sunday, should can the hams I bought before Christmas but haven’t had time yet or space.

Hopefully sold another cookbook for you to the lady in line ahead of me when I bought four more cases of half pints so I could finish the bacon.

Julia Crow
Gardnerville, Nevada

Thanks, Julia! Every book helps our homestead endeavors! Luckily, we now have a basement so there’s always room to store more food. But back in Montana and New Mexico, we had small houses and with no basement. I made a pantry out of our New Mexico back porch, which was heated and made a pantry out of the long hall into our bathroom in Montana. I’ve also stored canned foods in stacks in closets, against walls (with insulation board behind so they wouldn’t freeze in the winter), and, of course, under our beds. Dry foods that freezing won’t hurt were stored in crawl spaces under the house and in outbuildings. Hey, we homestead canners can always find room to stuff a few more jars!

I wouldn’t trust the lids with serious dents as they could fail at some time in the future. You’re wise to refrigerate and use them up relatively quickly. — Jackie

Canning spaghetti squash

Can I can spaghetti squash after I bake it and remove it from the shell? If so, how?

Ann Hazelett
Litchfield Park, Arizona 

Yes, you can. It may get soft after being cooked first then canned. However it will still be fine in a wide variety of recipes. To can it, just spoon it out into the jars. Do NOT pack it down tightly. Leave 1 inch of headspace. Pour boiling water over squash, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Process at 10 pounds pressure for 25 minutes (pints) or 30 minutes (quarts). — Jackie