While the use of a home canning machine and using the popular #10 cans is the ideal way to dry pack many of your foods, the truth that you do not have one of these machines should not discourage you. There are more people who do not have canners then those that do. Dry pack canning tends to drastically lengthen the various shelf life's associated with foods. This is an ideal method to use in order to protected a supply of long term foods in the event of an emergency circumstance. It is not unusual to find that dry packs have lasted for upward to 20 years or more.
Food storage using dry pack methods offer the consumer a longer shelf life because of their dehydrated foods as well as a much easier way to properly organize and store your food products. Of all the advantages of dry food the highest on most peoples priorities to the much longer shelf life that they can obtain. Glucose which has been properly dry packed can last for a good 20 years while beans can be stored for up to 8 years. Even the powdered milk product can last you for at least 5 years.
Lucky is the person who has not only the canning equipment but the ability to can the number 10 cans for these types of cans are generally inexpensive and fairly easy to locate. The cans stack properly in your food closet or pantry and are properly protected from the insects and associated pests.
Although the preferred method of storage would be dry packing you ought to be well aware that not all foods are conducive to this method. Good meals to dry pack would be beans, flour, different pastas, Oats and wheat, rice and powdered non-fat milk. Those meals that generally have high moisture content or those composed of oil type products should not be stored in this manner. These foods storage methods are likely to exclude any sort of nuts, cereals, whole wheat and brown rice. In addition, brown sugar, common baking powder or oil should be avoided for this means of storage. You would be best to leave these types of food in their original containers.
If you are like me you haven't any canning machine at your disposal, in which case you would need to use mason jars with appropriate lids and oxygen absorbers. Armed with these supplies you will discover the dry packaging method to be quite easy to accomplish.
Fill your pint, quart or what ever size jar you are planning to use with your dried foods. Leave about 1/4th headroom at the top of the jar, the same as you would if you were canning your home made vegetable soup or applesauce. Place an oxygen absorber on the top of the food in the jar. Try not to depart your oxygen absorbers in the fresh air to long or they will be ruined. Place a band and lid on the jar and hand tighten it. Lastly, you should label the jar with what will be inside and the time you canned it. Some people also place the expiration date on it as well. On the reverse side of the jar another label is placed by me with instructions on how to reconstitute the product.
Dry pack canning is a great means of staying prepared for any unexpected emergency which may occur whether it is from normal disasters or even to a long period of unemployment.
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