Our mason jar vacuum sealer was and is a life changer. While this type of sealer has been around for a while we never realized how useful it could be. As will all tools, there is a bit of a learning curve as well as do’s and don’ts. This post will talk about how to get the most from yours.
Note: Products, services, and suppliers shown or linked to in this post are for example purposes only. They are not a direct endorsement of them, their brand, or the seller.
Everything Old is New Again
This type of vacuum sealing is not new. We owned a FoodSaver years ago similar to this one that had an attachment to vacuum seal mason jars. We never used it. It wasn’t convenient due to the amount of counter space it took up and having to connect 3 things to use it. Then we found this style and our world changed.
This Started With Canning
Earlier on we learned how to freeze and store food by usage types and times. Our next experiments were in shelf-stable methods. The immediate thing we thought of when thinking about creating food that could be shelf-stable for storage was canning. We knew we could store food by using water-bath canning because we grew up with it. As we looked at canning equipment, we ran across this type of vacuum sealer.
Let’s be crystal clear, as I have read on the interwebs many times about this miracle electric canner. This is not an automatic canner. It is a vacuum-sealing device. If you use it to preserve food in the same way as canning, you may just end up with some weird science experiments with food spoilage.
Canning vs Vacuum Sealing
Canning and Vacuum Sealing are not the same thing. We would say they aren’t even used for the same outcomes. Here is how they differ:
- Canning uses heat, vacuum, and sometimes acidity to preserve food.
- Vacuum sealing uses a vacuum to preserve quality.
In canning, you are removing pathogens and creating an environment in which they can not grow. Vacuum sealing does not destroy pathogens. What vacuum sealing does is remove air from around the food. Some pathogens can still exist and grow as some can live in an anaerobic environment. In general, we don’t vacuum seal those types of foods that are problematic. This is why we make the distinction between quality preserver and food preservation.
But Dry Canning….
We won’t discuss that as it is a heated topic, no pun intended. Each of these methods has pro’s and con’s but our blog is about making it easy. Dry canning is a food preservation method, not a quality preservation method. It also doesn’t work for many items we will want to store at lower temperatures. For example, you aren’t going to put cheese in a mason jar in a 200℉ oven and expect it to be ok.
It’s the Water Too
What is rarely discussed in vacuum sealing is how it helps preserve the quality of hygroscopic foods. What are those? Hygroscopic foods attract moisture from the surrounding environment. These foods draw in moisture from the air. Limit the air getting to food, and limit the humidity’s impact on the food.
This is obvious in some cases such as brown sugar. If you have ever accidentally left brown sugar out in humidity for any period, it will usually clump to the point of being unusable. That same process is at work on your cereal, chips, crackers, and candy. This process will turn a nice crisp peanut brittle into a chewy candy or deflate your divinity pretty quickly.
What and What Can’t You Use This Method On:
Mason jar vacuum sealing is great for items you want to open, reseal, and reopen again and again. It is also great for irregular or soft items that won’t vacuum seal in bags well. Here are a few things we have learned:
Works:
- Any dry goods such as dehydrated fruits and vegetables.
- Baked or fried snack items such as chips, crackers, etc.
- Breads such as biscuits or items with crusts like mini-quiches.
- Candies and cookies.
- Baking and cooking staples like sugar and sea salts.
- Non-food items such as bath bombs, soaps, or other things that contain volatile compounds like essential oils.
Doesn’t work:
- High moisture items such as young cheeses.
- Items destined for the freezer as they will still freezer burn.
- Items that produce gasses such as roasted coffee beans.
The last item above is one of the gotchas with this quality preservation method. As food breaks down, it can create gases. Eventually, this process can break the vacuum seal of the container. While not always obvious at first, you should monitor what foods you store by checking on them every so often. If one is consistently losing a vacuum, it may create gas and ultimately be past its time.
How To Tips
These sealers are almost bulletproof however a couple of tricks help.
- When sealing, press the tool down fully onto the jar, then pull up a quarter to half an inch. By doing this we can get a better pull of vacuum.
- Check the vacuum the same way you would in canning by making sure the lid doesn’t pop back when pushed on.
- After vacuuming, finger-tighten the ring onto the sealed jar. The ring provides extra protection and helps preserve the seal even if gasses develop.
Wrapping Up
In this post, we discussed mason jar vacuum sealing in depth. We offered some ideas on what works and doesn’t work and a couple of tips to make things easier. Also, remember this method is great for non-food items. Once you make friends with the mason jar sealer, you will find you can make more at home. This is due to the fact you will be able to use what you make longer.