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storage Dehydrate, then store in freezer?

DWB

DWB

I dehydrate and store in glass jars. Before now it was just habañero. Now it's scorpion and reaper.
 
I wonder if preservation and heat maintenance of dehydrated superhot pods may be improved by storing the jars in a freezer?
 
Sounds like a good idea, depends on how often you get chili's and how long they're on the shelf.  I'd say it would take up a lot of space, and if you don't use the peppers often, why leave them around to take up so much space?  I say powder em (unless you eat them dry that is)
 
If looking for long term storage of dried pods, I suggest O2 eaters.  They are really affordable these days.  Lots of sellers on ebay that provide charts for the sizes to use.  I tend to double what the charts say for jars if the pods are whole  because there is tons of air inside the pods.  Vacuum packing helps a great deal too.  Vacuum packing with O2 eaters is frigging fantastic.  I got desperate for oatmeal cookies a while ago, had no oatmeal in pantry.  Opened a five year old package of oatmeal done up with vacuum n O2 eaters, was as fresh as when I put it up.
 
AJ Drew said:
If looking for long term storage of dried pods, I suggest O2 eaters.  They are really affordable these days.  Lots of sellers on ebay that provide charts for the sizes to use.  I tend to double what the charts say for jars if the pods are whole  because there is tons of air inside the pods.  Vacuum packing helps a great deal too.  Vacuum packing with O2 eaters is frigging fantastic.  I got desperate for oatmeal cookies a while ago, had no oatmeal in pantry.  Opened a five year old package of oatmeal done up with vacuum n O2 eaters, was as fresh as when I put it up.
Click to expand...
What's an o2 eater?
 
if you have excess space in some freezer somewhere... go for it. the nature of the thermodynamics at play are such that... once the jars are cold, no extra energy will be required to keep them cold.
 
i certainly would not go out of my way to make space for a dehydrated product, but if you have the space anyway... why not?
 
the cold will certainly have an effect... i think its just not going to be a noticeable one.  what AJ said regarding the oxygen scavangers is a good point as well.
 
The whole purpose of drying food is for preservation, refrigeration or freezing is redundant at that point. You also have to be aware that when you take a frozen jar out of the freezer, moisture in the air will start condensing on it almost immediately, adding water into your dried goods.

I would not recommend freezing them in a jar. Plastic bag or foodsaver bag maybe, but I still think it's overkill.
 
parker49 said:
What's an o2 eater?
Click to expand...
You know the little package of silica gel inside a bag of beef jerky that says "DO NOT EAT"? I'm pretty sure that's an O2 eater. Think it also helps with moisture control.
 
yea its just a little packet of some metal that oxidizes in the presence traces of air.

they are not for huge amounts of oxygen btw... they are for shit thats already been purged wit nitrogen, or vacuumed.
 
in order to consume all the oxygen in a big mason jar of whole pods... you would need many of them im guessing.
 
parker49 said:
What's an o2 eater?
Click to expand...
 
I think what is actually in them is iron oxide.  If oxygen is present, they convert the O2 and iron into iron oxide (rust) thus removing it from the package.  O2 is the major thing that degrades dried food.  The other thing is most food has bug eggs in it that will hatch if there is O2.  Rice, flower and grains are notorious for this.  You can buy them on ebay now.

Oh, and they work best with a vacuum sealer but if you dont have one, if you use enough they will suck that package down so well you would swear it was vacuum sealed.  I forget the size for mason jars, but if you google it you will get your answer about which size to use.
 
queequeg152 said:
they are not for huge amounts of oxygen btw... they are for shit thats already been purged wit nitrogen, or vacuumed.
 
in order to consume all the oxygen in a big mason jar of whole pods... you would need many of them im guessing.
Click to expand...
 
Used to be that way, but now that everyone and their cousin is a prepper you can buy all different sizes.  One of the most popular is for five gallon buckets.  They even sell mylar bags to line the bucket the way those paint strainers some growers use for isolation do. 

Gotta add a disclaimer: I am not a doomsday prepper.  First year here, horrible ice storm, no electricity for two weeks.  No way to get up the hill at the end of the road cause was blocked by all the people who tried.  Grocery prices so high that we grow much of our own food and have to store it for at least six months.  So not prepping for a thing, just dealing with the way things are.
 
queequeg152 said:
if you have excess space in some freezer somewhere... go for it. the nature of the thermodynamics at play are such that... once the jars are cold, no extra energy will be required to keep them cold.
 
i certainly would not go out of my way to make space for a dehydrated product, but if you have the space anyway... why not?
 
the cold will certainly have an effect... i think its just not going to be a noticeable one.  what AJ said regarding the oxygen scavangers is a good point as well.
Click to expand...
 
Say fellas...sort of off topic but would one of these in my jar of powder keep it from clumping?
 
AJ Drew said:
If looking for long term storage of dried pods, I suggest O2 eaters.  They are really affordable these days.  Lots of sellers on ebay that provide charts for the sizes to use.  I tend to double what the charts say for jars if the pods are whole  because there is tons of air inside the pods.  Vacuum packing helps a great deal too.  Vacuum packing with O2 eaters is frigging fantastic.  I got desperate for oatmeal cookies a while ago, had no oatmeal in pantry.  Opened a five year old package of oatmeal done up with vacuum n O2 eaters, was as fresh as when I put it up.
Click to expand...
 
I agree that taking in and out of freezer will cause sweating and increase moisture. They are already dry. I bought this for storing seeds, but it would help to extend the quality of the dried pods. The kit comes with little Band-Aids that work as a valve and you can pull every bit of air out of any sized mason jar.
http://www.pump-n-seal.com
Making powder was also mentioned. Powder is good, but it seems to lose quality over time. I assume you are wanting to store dried whole pods because breaking up a stored pod to use at once is fresher tasting than already ground powder. There IS a subtle difference. If you are a person who can't tell a big difference, powder them all up and save the space.
 
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