[lildrestl3]

I'm packing some food away as we speak... I'm going to have a few absorbers left over.. I have table salt I could Pack as well.. Started thinking I read on Here That Salt and Sugar would Clump up? Or turn into rock salt?? Anyone have exp.? Thanks I have the bags filled up and have not opened the absorbers yet... DRE

 

[Monique]

Salt doesn't spoil. You could seal it in the bags to keep it dry, but you don't need the absorbers.

 

[lildrestl3]

Thanks for the info... I guess I'll just put an extra in a cpl of the other bags

 

[stephpd]

Salt and Sugar are both Hygroscopic, meaning they can pull moisture from the air. If put up with a high moisture content they'll clump up. use an O2 absorber and the partial vacuum they create just put force on all the grains so they clump up even more. Even to the point of becoming a solid brick.

They both can be broken up again.(ice pick, hammer, chisel) More of a problem if done in mason jars as your more likely to break the glass getting it out.

I always put all my dry food to be packed in a room that has a dehumidifier and run it at max for several days just to make sure everything is really dry. The low moisture air will pull the moisture out of sugar and salt. Does a good job one everything else too.

 

[MikeK]

You don't need to use O2 absorbers with salt or sugar. Just keep them dry and keep the bugs out. O2 absorbers will indeed turn them into bricks.

 

[rugster]

I use my vacuum sealer w/ mylar put a small cut straw in the mylar to allow the vacuum in and remove the straw and seal it removes 80-90% of the O2

 

[kev]

There is no need to seal salt - its been in the ground for longer then you have been alive, and the salt is still good.

 

[Time Will Tell huh]

Would salt and sugar stored together in the original store packaging in a 5gal bucket be okay? One wouldn't affect the other?

D

 

[rugster]

There is no need to seal salt - its been in the ground for longer then you have been alive, and the salt is still good.

I agree but it's more practical for me to break it down into smaller packages than 25# bags plus it's protected not from air moisture but dirt, dust and water "just in case" pipe break, flood Leakey roof ...what ever?

vacuum packing makes the packaging more solid ..if that makes any sense?

 

[lildrestl3]

I filled 20 bags and only had 2 leak or Just not enough 02 absorbers to suck it in good..

 

[Yehudi]

Instead of O2 absorbers, can you flood the container with nitrogen, then draw a hard vacuum on the container, and then refill it with nitrogen?

 

[stephpd]

Instead of O2 absorbers, can you flood the container with nitrogen, then draw a hard vacuum on the container, and then refill it with nitrogen?

What type of container are you talking about. Mylar bags don't do well with a high vacuum. Metal cans or Mason jars it might work.

But my question is this. Why? All research on O2 absorbers have shown they can achieve lower levels of residual O2 then any other method or combination of methods. These options have all been tried and the science shows nothing can get the O2 down to the levels obtained by O2 absorbers. (.01% or less.)

Even the LDS have moved from CO2 (dry ice) flushing and are using O2 absorbers. All current manufacturers of freeze dried food and buckets with Mylar in them are using this technique. Matter of fact there's not one company that's packing cans or Mylar bags using a flushing technique or a vacuum. If it were better they'd be doing it.

 

[MikeK]

Instead of O2 absorbers, can you flood the container with nitrogen, then draw a hard vacuum on the container, and then refill it with nitrogen?

For salt and sugar you don't need O2 absorbers, vacuum sealing, gas flushing or anything else. O2 is not the enemy of salt or sugar like it is with food products. They just need to be kept dry and bug free is all.

Since I live in a dry area and have no problems with ants or anything, I keep a lot of my salt and sugar in their original bags sitting on a shelf. They've been like that for 12 years or so and I haven't had a problem with any of them. In a more humid area, they would need sealed away from moisture.