Another tip on this is to use the resealable ziplock mylar bags. Just zip close them like 90% shut. The vacuum process will suck the air out AND close the last 10% of the seal, which holds the vacuum long enough to impulse seal it. It saves a lot of time as you're not sealing, cutting, vacuuming, and then resealing. Just vacuuming and sealing and making use of the built in ziplock feature.
HI Phil, Thank you for taking the time to repond. Still waiting for my first batch to complete 27 hrs and still going, real close though! I'm always second guessing myself and then I want to experiment before completion is accomplished...then, there you are making it easy to understand. This is much appreciated.
Just went out and test drove this process using my 5 gallon vacuum pot I use to put a vacuum on wood to impregnate it with resin (stabilizing wood). I'd cut an opening in a bag of chia seeds, stuffed them in a gallon, 7 mil Mylar bag, dropped and 02 absorber in, sealed it, cut the edge and it was just like I'd bought a seven hundred dollar Amour sealer, but without the impact sealer inside the chamber. The nice thing about it is, I didn't have to use my freeze dryer chamber, or put more time on my expensive pump (not that two minutes is a big deal, considering the hours it runs during a freeze drying cycle). Now I have to track down the hair straightener I bought for sealing bags, when I didn't want to use my impulse sealer. THANKS
Wow, thanks was thinking about buying a food saver, but now maybe I dont have to. Been using my harvestright machine to vaccum seal my jars. But this is great .
I bought my freeze dryer two months ago and I'm very unsure as to what I am doing. This is so helpful! I have my first load in the freeze dryer now and question how long does the process take and how much is this going to cost on my electric bill? I'm in my 70's and thought what a great idea will be?? This will help taking less trips to the store, save $, and have access to pre-cooked meals that I like to eat. Then I thought I could mail food items to my kids who live out of state and are on a real tight budget. I have great ideas, just not sure how to implement them. Thank you so much!!
Time- The length of a freeze dried cycle is based upon how much moisture is in the food. A load of shredded cheese is shorter than a load of milk. Cost- The cost where I live is around $3.00 per load. There are some hidden costs and benefits. Running a freeze drier is the same as running a 1100 watt heater. In the summer a freeze dryer will heat your house while the AC tries to cool it. In the winter the FD will help heat your house along with your furnace. Location is something to think about. Savings- My wife will stock up on meats when they go on sale and we'll freeze dry them. Leftovers can be FD instead of throwing the food away. I'm sure out-of-state children will love to have mom's home cooked meals.
I always learn so much from your videos. I am sharing this with my Goshen Prepping Facebook community. You are an extremely intelligent man. Will you marry me? 🥰
If I hadn't see you do it, I wouldn't have believed it. I would have though that air would rush back in that hole long before you could ever seal it. I'm going to try it.
Thank you for all your videos and your in-depth explanations. Is it ok to reuse mylar bags that food purchased from the store comes in? Also, is it safe to repackage bacon bits from Costco into mylar bags for long term storage?
Phil, just thinking about this, I haven’t got a freeze dryer yet, but I do have an old vacuum pump laying around and a aspirator (The kind we use to use in chemistry lab to pull a vacuum with water flow.). For the cases where you have delicate material you don’t wish to break, you could insert a plastic tube into the corner cut you developed, pull out most of the air, controlling the tightness, then withdraw the tube. The flat sides of the bag will seal together long enough to heat seal. You could get most of the space benefit without crushing the food. I like your style. Good creative thinking. I’ll bet we have similar backgrounds. Thanks.
Jim Akers: That’s a good idea. You could also choose to use an oxygen absorbers so that only the oxygen gets absorbed from the food, leaving the other components of the air in there to help maintain its shape. You could also choose to use Home canning jars, such as a mason jar, and sealed them in a similar fashion as you do with a mylar bags either with a vacuum sealing unit or a freeze dryer. With the unit that you have, you could probably easily use a vacuum chamber to seal your food in a mason jar, preserving the shape.
Have you any experience with reusing mylar bags that products from the grocery store come in? I hate to throw them away. Also, Is it safe to repackage store bought bacon bits for long term storage?
Melinda I appreciate the experiments that you do . My husband is placing the freeze dried food with O 2 absorber in plastic vacmaster bags. After vacuum sealing he places the bag in a mylar bag then vacuum seals again. Is this over doing it?
If you use jars for freeze drying, does the rubber stay good.? Because some manufacturers are labeling the lids are good for 18 months. Thank you. For all the info. It’s a great help. 👍We are new at freeze drying.
No such thing as a silly question. I wouldn't think so, since the vacuum would be drawing atmosphere out of the bag, though a hole the size of a BB. Before applying the vacuum, the atmospheric pressures would be the same at that point in time. No reason for air to move from one point to another. When the drain valve is opened, the bag's walls clamps shut. vacuum sealing could be done at any point in time.
I've heard it needs to have seperate suction and sealing options to properly suck out all of the air properly first before sealing otherwise, there will still be some amount air inside.
So if you're using a resealable bag with a gusset at the bottom, could you not just leave a corner open and not completely shut it? Haha, the answer is no because I tried several times. So then, am I to cut a hole in the corner through the resealable portion? OR just not close my sealable portion and cut a little higher just below heat seal? Will try next batch. Went with the hairdryer method today as my first experiment. Thanks Phil....good stuff. 🥳
For long term storage I'll used an oxygen absorber. The day will come when I'll open the bag, use some food, and reseal. For the short term, under two years, I just vacuum seal. Food comes out fine.
If you have not done a video on how you did the sour cream would you please. Found this very informative video. Have you ever tried putting Mason jars in and vacuum sealing those?
Sour cream is easy. Just spread it out in a pan. I don't use jars. I preferer gallon and 1/2 gallon bags. I usually do sour cream and yogurt at the same time.
@@Philat4800feet Oh. I thought I had heard doing fat was like sugar it would make a mess but OK I’ll take your word for it and give it a shot. And yes I have found doing similar wet things togetherWorks well thank you for your time and trouble I appreciate it.
I have FD fatty foods but mostly for camping, to be used within 30 days. The first batch I ever did was slices of frozen concentrated orange juice. It took a couple of hours cleaning the orange foam out of the chamber.
I’m having a problem using my food saver sealer to vacuum AND seal my thick Mylar bags. I can get them vacuumed fine but the heat is not hot enough to seal very well & before I can use a curling iron to seal, air is back in bags. Is there anything I can do to fix this problem?
Try sealing it twice. While the first sealing cycle is still hot try pressing the seal button again. The thickness of the bag is preventing the heat going through the layers.
I read that vacuum sealing and using an O2 absorber renders the O2 absorber not as effective because now there is less airways for the O2 absorber to get to the O2 that may be in the bag. any comments or tests?
Vacuum sealing offers an extremely tight, near perfect environment. Using an O2 absorber is just an extra insurance policy. I wouldn't be surprised if many O2 absorbers, packed with freeze dried foods, are never utilized. Maybe I should open some of my three year old food and test the O2 absorbers.
@@Philat4800feet Hello Phil! My name is Christine. I'm wondering if you might have an idea if there is a way to save my pump and freeze dryer from my stupidity from what I did recently. I put cornmeal in mylar bags to vacuum seal in the freeze dryer. (I did not freeze dry it first). Ever since the unit will not cycle...I get the message about making sure the drain valve is closed. I have changed the oil several times.( In fact I am starting the freezer right now to try again. ) I wonder if the bags I used could have somehow damaged the freezer? I noticed when I did the vacuum sealing that inside the chamber it looked like a mist was coming out of the bags. I also noticed that I could see thru the bags!! I used were from PACKFRESHUSA. THANKS so much for replying. Anything you might suggest I appreciate!
Hi Phil. Fyi. I sprayed some carb cleaner on the drain valve and all of a sudden the vacuum went to the mid 300s! I have no clue as to why this worked. I am on final dry now on this batch. Thanks.
Will this work if the freeze dried food is in a powdered form, like powdered tomato for instance? Would the powder be sucked out of the vent hole and leave you with a huge mess to clean up?
@@Philat4800feet thank you for your replies. I replicated your experiment with an empty mason jar and put it in my freeze dryer for 1 minute. There was 600ml of water in the 1000ml jar! But now I'm wondering how do we know that it is the oxygen that is being sucked out first and then the nitrogen. Wouldn't it be a mixture of both, meaning even at this high vacuum, there is still oxygen left in the jar/bags? I'm pretty sure nitrogen is denser than oxygen, so maybe that explains it?
@@garrett262 Any amount you have left over should be equal atmosphere of 21% oxygen and the rest nitrogen and other gases. The amount you have left over, the 400 cc, will only have 84 cc oxygen. In theory, you could use a small OA.
@@Philat4800feet thank you for that explanation, it really clears things up. I'm thinking that for brittle foods or powders, the best thing would be to just use OA. This way you know that the oxygen is removed without crushing the food. By the way, great job on your videos! I'm starting to watch more and more of them.
That is amazing!!! Thank you for this video!
Another tip on this is to use the resealable ziplock mylar bags. Just zip close them like 90% shut. The vacuum process will suck the air out AND close the last 10% of the seal, which holds the vacuum long enough to impulse seal it. It saves a lot of time as you're not sealing, cutting, vacuuming, and then resealing. Just vacuuming and sealing and making use of the built in ziplock feature.
Good idea
Incredible ! Thank u so much for sharing…❤
HI Phil, Thank you for taking the time to repond. Still waiting for my first batch to complete 27 hrs and still going, real close though! I'm always second guessing myself and then I want to experiment before completion is accomplished...then, there you are making it easy to understand. This is much appreciated.
Thanks Phil it works great☺
That's great
That 'magic' you just made happen translates into no more ironing over a 2 x 4!! Thanks again, Phil.
Excellent
PFM (pure freaking magic). This is why I watch these videos. I really like stuff like this as a newbie in the FD world. Thank you.
Go forth and freeze dry the world.
Thanks for the very well put together video. You're a great teacher!
Thanks
Magic!
it works.
but
a vacuume chamber that seals is a heck of a lot more efficient.
Thank you Im going to try it. Id love to see more “FD recipes” 😉. Your soup looks great!
You are a genius sir!
I never thought of cutting the bags. It solves my issue. I’m an empty nester too
Just went out and test drove this process using my 5 gallon vacuum pot I use to put a vacuum on wood to impregnate it with resin (stabilizing wood). I'd cut an opening in a bag of chia seeds, stuffed them in a gallon, 7 mil Mylar bag, dropped and 02 absorber in, sealed it, cut the edge and it was just like I'd bought a seven hundred dollar Amour sealer, but without the impact sealer inside the chamber.
The nice thing about it is, I didn't have to use my freeze dryer chamber, or put more time on my expensive pump (not that two minutes is a big deal, considering the hours it runs during a freeze drying cycle).
Now I have to track down the hair straightener I bought for sealing bags, when I didn't want to use my impulse sealer.
THANKS
This is very interesting! Thank you for all of your help and time spent on the video.
Glad it was helpful!
Well that's just dang genius. Thanks!!
Excellent! We can trust you for amazing tips!
Thanks for the video!!! Great idea!!
Wow, thanks was thinking about buying a food saver, but now maybe I dont have to.
Been using my harvestright machine to vaccum seal my jars. But this is great .
Another great informative video. Thank you.
I hope it will help you.
nicely done ! like it a lot....
Great information thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching!
Great information, thanks
Great Idea!!!
It has always bothered me that others don't seal! Oxygen absorption is not enough for 20+ years...in MY opinion.
Phil
You rock
Thank you
Thanks for the comment.
Fabulous information, Phil. I appreciate that you shared it with us.
I bought my freeze dryer two months ago and I'm very unsure as to what I am doing. This is so helpful! I have my first load in the freeze dryer now and question how long does the process take and how much is this going to cost on my electric bill? I'm in my 70's and thought what a great idea will be?? This will help taking less trips to the store, save $, and have access to pre-cooked meals that I like to eat. Then I thought I could mail food items to my kids who live out of state and are on a real tight budget. I have great ideas, just not sure how to implement them. Thank you so much!!
Time- The length of a freeze dried cycle is based upon how much moisture is in the food. A load of shredded cheese is shorter than a load of milk.
Cost- The cost where I live is around $3.00 per load. There are some hidden costs and benefits. Running a freeze drier is the same as running a 1100 watt heater. In the summer a freeze dryer will heat your house while the AC tries to cool it. In the winter the FD will help heat your house along with your furnace. Location is something to think about.
Savings- My wife will stock up on meats when they go on sale and we'll freeze dry them. Leftovers can be FD instead of throwing the food away. I'm sure out-of-state children will love to have mom's home cooked meals.
Nice! Thank you!
I always learn so much from your videos. I am sharing this with my Goshen Prepping Facebook community. You are an extremely intelligent man. Will you marry me? 🥰
Goshen...God's country. Sorry, already taken.
awesome stuff brother! I just never put to thought to have a small vent hole and them closing long enought o get it sealed!
Glad I could help
If I hadn't see you do it, I wouldn't have believed it. I would have though that air would rush back in that hole long before you could ever seal it. I'm going to try it.
Neat huh
Thank you for all your videos and your in-depth explanations. Is it ok to reuse mylar bags that food purchased from the store comes in? Also, is it safe to repackage bacon bits from Costco into mylar bags for long term storage?
I don't see any problems with either issue.
Thank you !
You're welcome!
Phil, just thinking about this, I haven’t got a freeze dryer yet, but I do have an old vacuum pump laying around and a aspirator (The kind we use to use in chemistry lab to pull a vacuum with water flow.). For the cases where you have delicate material you don’t wish to break, you could insert a plastic tube into the corner cut you developed, pull out most of the air, controlling the tightness, then withdraw the tube. The flat sides of the bag will seal together long enough to heat seal. You could get most of the space benefit without crushing the food. I like your style. Good creative thinking. I’ll bet we have similar backgrounds. Thanks.
Good idea.
Jim Akers: That’s a good idea. You could also choose to use an oxygen absorbers so that only the oxygen gets absorbed from the food, leaving the other components of the air in there to help maintain its shape.
You could also choose to use Home canning jars, such as a mason jar, and sealed them in a similar fashion as you do with a mylar bags either with a vacuum sealing unit or a freeze dryer. With the unit that you have, you could probably easily use a vacuum chamber to seal your food in a mason jar, preserving the shape.
Have you any experience with reusing mylar bags that products from the grocery store come in? I hate to throw them away. Also, Is it safe to repackage store bought bacon bits for long term storage?
My freeze dryer is older so I have to do this differently but it works well!! Thanks for your instruction.
Has your clip mechanism on your cord handled the frequency of being detached for vacuuming?
I no longer use this method. I found this device:
ua-cam.com/video/CDj02lxBFiQ/v-deo.html
Melinda
I appreciate the experiments that you do . My husband is placing the freeze dried food with O 2 absorber in plastic vacmaster bags. After vacuum sealing he places the bag in a mylar bag then vacuum seals again. Is this over doing it?
Yup. Is he using one gallon bags?
You could use some cardboard in the bag for asparagus maybe?
That could work. The asparagus is really fragile when dried.
If you use jars for freeze drying, does the rubber stay good.? Because some manufacturers are labeling the lids are good for 18 months. Thank you. For all the info. It’s a great help. 👍We are new at freeze drying.
Good question. Can the lids handle vacuum forces over time.
Maybe a silly question, but with there being ice (moisture) in the chamber, is there a worry moisture will get in the bags while vacuum sealing?
No such thing as a silly question. I wouldn't think so, since the vacuum would be drawing atmosphere out of the bag, though a hole the size of a BB. Before applying the vacuum, the atmospheric pressures would be the same at that point in time. No reason for air to move from one point to another. When the drain valve is opened, the bag's walls clamps shut. vacuum sealing could be done at any point in time.
I wondered the same thing
Can we use our foodsaver machine(that came with plastic bags) on the Mylar bags? Thanks for the info!
My food saver has only two settings. I'll have to try it out.
I've heard it needs to have seperate suction and sealing options to properly suck out all of the air properly first before sealing otherwise, there will still be some amount air inside.
So if you're using a resealable bag with a gusset at the bottom, could you not just leave a corner open and not completely shut it? Haha, the answer is no because I tried several times. So then, am I to cut a hole in the corner through the resealable portion? OR just not close my sealable portion and cut a little higher just below heat seal? Will try next batch. Went with the hairdryer method today as my first experiment. Thanks Phil....good stuff. 🥳
Good luck.
Phil do you use an O2 and vacuum seal or just vacuum seal with no O2? if so have you opened any of the bags with no O2 to test the food?
For long term storage I'll used an oxygen absorber. The day will come when I'll open the bag, use some food, and reseal. For the short term, under two years, I just vacuum seal. Food comes out fine.
If you have not done a video on how you did the sour cream would you please. Found this very informative video. Have you ever tried putting Mason jars in and vacuum sealing those?
Sour cream is easy. Just spread it out in a pan. I don't use jars. I preferer gallon and 1/2 gallon bags. I usually do sour cream and yogurt at the same time.
@@Philat4800feet Oh. I thought I had heard doing fat was like sugar it would make a mess but OK I’ll take your word for it and give it a shot. And yes I have found doing similar wet things togetherWorks well thank you for your time and trouble I appreciate it.
I have FD fatty foods but mostly for camping, to be used within 30 days. The first batch I ever did was slices of frozen concentrated orange juice. It took a couple of hours cleaning the orange foam out of the chamber.
I’m having a problem using my food saver sealer to vacuum AND seal my thick Mylar bags. I can get them vacuumed fine but the heat is not hot enough to seal very well & before I can use a curling iron to seal, air is back in bags. Is there anything I can do to fix this problem?
Also trying to do this at minimum cost
Try sealing it twice. While the first sealing cycle is still hot try pressing the seal button again. The thickness of the bag is preventing the heat going through the layers.
Where do you buy your heavy duty mylar bags. Thank you for sharing!
Pleasant Grove Farm via Amazon
I read that vacuum sealing and using an O2 absorber renders the O2 absorber not as effective because now there is less airways for the O2 absorber to get to the O2 that may be in the bag. any comments or tests?
Vacuum sealing offers an extremely tight, near perfect environment. Using an O2 absorber is just an extra insurance policy. I wouldn't be surprised if many O2 absorbers, packed with freeze dried foods, are never utilized. Maybe I should open some of my three year old food and test the O2 absorbers.
Definitely, overkill. This video is so confusing to me. Seems a good way to mess up your FD if not done just right.
Where do you get your Mylar bags? Is it a better price than HR? What ml do you recommend for food storage?
I like 7 mil. They're more puncture proof if you use the vacuum pack method to package your food. Contact www.topmylar.com
Can you vacuum seal your asparagus in the ball jar and maintain its shape?
Yes, depends on the length of the asparagus. You can place the jar in the chamber with lid and ring and run the vacuum.
What mill bags did you use?
I try to keep it around 7 mil
When vacuum sealing do you need an oxygen absorber still or no?
If it's a low cost vegetable, some times I wont add an oxygen absorber. If it's meat at $5.00 a pound, you bet.
Witch number do you have your sealer set to?
On the HR sealer- setting #8. I also hold it for a few second once the power cycles off.
How can it do this with zip top Mylar bags? I have some meals in a pouch I’d like to vaccum seal.
I rarely use the zip-top. You just need a small hole to vent. Clip a corner at the bottom of the bag.
Excellent, Now I just have to spend $4200-$6000 USD. on a Harvest Right Freeze Dryer.
Freeze drying can be additive
@@Philat4800feet Additive or addictive? I'm sure it is addictive.
@@GetUrPhil Yup, fast and sloppy typing. Sorry
they do have sales.
What size is the HR sealer, 12"?
Correct, 12.00"
1/4 inch opening?
That will work. Try to keep any "food dust" away for the opening. I will wipe the area with my finger before sealing
May I ask the name and the brand of the bags you are using, are they from Amazon?
They are from Pleasant Grove Farms through Amazon. Like everything else, inventory is iffy. 50 count, 7 mil, gallon bags and 300 cc O2 absorbers
Does this work with flour, sugar, etc? Powdery things?
Yes, but the bags need to be placed upwards, half filled, to keep the powder from spilling out.
@@Philat4800feet thank you! Can't wait to get my freeze dryer to try this!
Hello Phil. I have just subscribed. I wonder if there is a way I could contact you with a couple questions?
Check your home page
@@Philat4800feet Hello Phil! My name is Christine. I'm wondering if you might have an idea if there is a way to save my pump and freeze dryer from my stupidity from what I did recently. I put cornmeal in mylar bags to vacuum seal in the freeze dryer. (I did not freeze dry it first). Ever since the unit will not cycle...I get the message about making sure the drain valve is closed. I have changed the oil several times.( In fact I am starting the freezer right now to try again. ) I wonder if the bags I used could have somehow damaged the freezer? I noticed when I did the vacuum sealing that inside the chamber it looked like a mist was coming out of the bags. I also noticed that I could see thru the bags!! I used were from PACKFRESHUSA. THANKS so much for replying. Anything you might suggest I appreciate!
Hi Phil. Fyi. I sprayed some carb cleaner on the drain valve and all of a sudden the vacuum went to the mid 300s! I have no clue as to why this worked. I am on final dry now on this batch. Thanks.
Will this work if the freeze dried food is in a powdered form, like powdered tomato for instance? Would the powder be sucked out of the vent hole and leave you with a huge mess to clean up?
You'll never know until you try. I think it should still work. I've done this with sugar and other powders.
no pun intended, you have way too much time on your hand, when do you plan on eating those meals ?
During the Zombie Apocalypse
This question and answer made me laugh.
couldn't you just put the bags in the freezer for 1 minute instead of 2, to avoid crushing the food?
It depends on how much atmosphere you want to vent, but you could run tests to see what will work for your elevation.
@@Philat4800feet thank you for your replies. I replicated your experiment with an empty mason jar and put it in my freeze dryer for 1 minute. There was 600ml of water in the 1000ml jar! But now I'm wondering how do we know that it is the oxygen that is being sucked out first and then the nitrogen. Wouldn't it be a mixture of both, meaning even at this high vacuum, there is still oxygen left in the jar/bags? I'm pretty sure nitrogen is denser than oxygen, so maybe that explains it?
@@garrett262 Any amount you have left over should be equal atmosphere of 21% oxygen and the rest nitrogen and other gases. The amount you have left over, the 400 cc, will only have 84 cc oxygen. In theory, you could use a small OA.
@@Philat4800feet thank you for that explanation, it really clears things up. I'm thinking that for brittle foods or powders, the best thing would be to just use OA. This way you know that the oxygen is removed without crushing the food.
By the way, great job on your videos!
I'm starting to watch more and more of them.
You lost me. Did you freeze dry your food before you vacuumed sealed? It looked like your food was dry b4 u put it into the vacuum. I'm confused.
Yes, my food was fully freeze dried prior to vacuum sealing. Makes sense?