[Lascivious1]

Sorry i know theres a million threads on this but my question is unique compared to the others.

Ok let me say what i used:

1/2 gallon mylars with 300cc OA

items i sealed:
oatmeal,flour,rice,salt,sugar,b.sugar,spices,pasta, and other minor items.

anyway everything went normal. placed food in bags sealed 1/3 the way.
then this is where i got nervous. placed one 300cc in each bag and sealed everything up. i left some space in all the bags so they wouldnt be tight packed.
Instead of using a clothes iron i used a flat hair iron. the kind that has the hot plates on both sides and girls use it to flatten their hair. i went over the bags numerous times to ensure a sealed bag.

anyway after about 1 hour i noticed teh bags werent shrinking.
i thought maybe the OA just takes out the oxygen and not suck the air out. is this true?

so i anyway took a couple bags and squeezed on them to see if it was a tight seal and noticed from 5 out of 10 had not sealed very tight or had very tiny air escape through the seal. so i very fast grabbed the clothes iron and a piece of wood board and went over all of them again.

so a couple important questions.

1; does OA suck the air out of bags and make them tight or do they just remove the oxygen and still have space in teh bags?

2: with the minor air escape in some of the bags.i mean very minor that even when i pressed on the bags i could barely tell air was coming out of them. do you think 1 hour time liek that screwed up my whole packing process and i should sart again?

 

[TXmom]

I also use a flat iron for sealing my bags, courtesy of my daughter, who had an extra one she wasn't using. The trick is to make sure you get a perfectly flat seal, with no little tunnels or wrinkles. The fact that you can tell that air is escaping means your seal is not intact. If you've taken care of that problem, I'd just wait and see if the bags suck down tight. Worst case scenario is you'll have to re-do them.
Btw, don't use OA with sugar or salt. Not necessary and you'll end up with a rock that will puncture your bag.

 

[7.62]

1. Oxygen absorbers eat oxygen which is a minor percentage of the air around us. Air is 78% nitrogen so I am not concerned about the Mylar sucking down tight.

2. Unfortunately an hour is way to long. I would redo those packages.

 

[MikeK]

O2 absorbers only absorb O2, not air. And O2 is only 20% of the air, so at best, you will only get a 20% reduction of air volume inside the bag.

I don't know what you did that compromised the seals. I use a hair straightener too, and I get better results with it than I ever did with an iron. I don't know if a pinhole for an hour would have let enough air in to saturate the O2 absorber or not. My instinct says probably not, but my common sense says use new O2 absorbers just to be sure.

 

[Lascivious1]

I think it was the flour bags. must of had a coating of flour ont he sides that kept it from sealing tight cause the rest seams good.

think it will be ok for a year? if hell doesnt break out by then ill do a new batch.

 

[ForestBeekeeper]

O2 absorbers are good for things that break down from contact with O2. Things like steel and oils.

Many other things break down from contact with moisture. Things like seeds, grains, flour, pasta, herbs.

Most cereal grains can be safely stored for centuries if kept cool, dark and dry.

 

[stephpd]

Yeah, flour tends to get everywhere and can mess up the sealing area. I always wipe the sealing area with a wet cloth prior to sealing.

If you don't squeeze out most of the air they won't draw down tight but will still be fine. Absorbing the O2 still leaves plenty of nitrogen in the bag. This precludes a high vacuum from occurring. But if you do squeeze out most of the air you will notice it drawing tighter.

As to the hours time I don't think it would be a problem. It can take up to 24 hours for a O2 absorber to remove all the oxygen. But if in doubt just cut off the seal and redo it. Or just cut off a corner, toss in a new O2 absorber and seal up that area.

 

[Illini Warrior]

start the clock when you expose those 02 absorbers .... you have like 10-15 minutes of open time to get that bag sealed ....

by the way .... your problem with those hair irons is not unique ..... they don't have adjustable heat settings and the heat elements crap out ..... a clothes iron is a much better DIY sealer .... set the heat around the "wool" setting