I believe one of the biggest assets to this channel is the fact these Q&A videos exist. This speaks mountains to the fact they both (Jim & Pam) will go to lengths to produce the video, read/assess/answer the viewers’ comments, and deliver it with an easy explanation we can grasp without being overwhelmed.
To the lady who asked about keeping brown sugar soft: I have found that simply putting brown sugar in a jar with a good sealing lid, weather mason jar or old empty pickle jar or tomato sauce jar, keeps brown sugar soft indefinitely after opening the bag. We found that out by accident. My husband wanted some brown sugar for his coffee, so he put some in a mason jar and put it in our kitchen cabinet. He dips into it every once in a while, and that was a couple of years ago. It’s still soft. The unopened bag that I bought for storage is hard. So now we put our brown sugar in jars.
@@janicemielke7702 OXO also has a brown sugar preserver that attaches to the lids of their Pop containers. It's a terracotta toroid that you simply soak in water and then pat dry. It will slowly release moisture into the pop container and this may be useful if you get into the tub frequently.
We have an old cookie tin that fits an entire box/bag of brown sugar. That tin can keep brown sugar soft for years. We use it at the cottage. A bag that we open one summer is fine the following summer. The lid must fit tightly.
I have been canning and prepping for a few yrs now and am still so great full to listen to your advice but more important is l have the upmost confidence in recommending your channel to help new people how want to food storage. Bless you both.
Jim and Pam, thank you both so much for taking the time to answer questions and to educate us!! Many of the questions made me think about my practices. I have memories of my mom making jelly and putting it in baby food jars for my bachelor uncle. He loved her jellies and jams but didn’t eat much. She sealed them with paraffin, then put the lid on. As soon as the Ball book came out with more precise directions she stopped that practice. Mom spent her final years with us and was my canning cheerleader! She would write on the lids for me. We would stash cases of fruits, salsa, tomatoes, jams, etc under her big queen bed. We kept a map sketched out where we could find everything. She passed away in 2019 and I think of her every day!
When I was a child, my mom used paraffin wax to seal preserves if she ran out of lids. I *loved* pear preserves so sometimes I would sneak and break the seal, run the jar to mom and tell her I was checking the seal and it broke, could we go ahead and eat it, lol. I only got away with it a few times but it was yummy.
Thank you Pam & Jim for sharing your time and knowledge with us! I feel my IQ has gone up since watching your channel regularly because a new part of my brain is firing off! 😂🙏🏼😇
Allo, I just want to say I’m new to prepping, canning dehydrating and I just 💗 you. Thank you for all you do to properly inform us. A lot of utube homesteader prepper are being verbally attacked about how they do things…. That’s why the world is in the state it’s in we need to all come together and stop attacking ( not the right word to use) each other and come together to feed and help our family and friends etc… 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 again thank you from Canada
I have only been watching your videos for a few weeks, but I'm so glad I found them. After years of trying to get over the stress of pressure canning (even after purchasing one several years ago), I am now pressure canning like a pro - almost stress free. lol You deliver a wealth of information in such a pleasant voice, and I'm learning so much from your videos. I have tried the beef stew and "chicken meal" (never did I think I'd ever actually can meat), and they turned out great. I've also done my own vegetable beef soup and other things as well. I, along with many others no doubt, am so grateful to you for sharing so much of your time, work, and knowledge to help others. Preserving our own food for our families is probably more important now than ever, and I'm so looking forward to safely canning more and more delicious vegetables and meals. Thank you!
Thank you Pam!!! The trick with the cotton and alcohol method for plastic bottles was viral the last 2 years for latin america, I think it's because we don't have double lid jars like Ball. Thank you so much for testing and sharing your deep knowledge in the field! 🥰😘 Hugs from Argentina!
This has been a great series. I just wanted to share something about brown sugar. I don’t keep bags of brown sugar in my long term pantry. Because I make my own. I only make four cups at a time. If you keep white sugar and molasses in your long term pantry…you can always make brown sugar. Thank you so very much for this series, I have learnt a lot of things. Cheers 🌷🇨🇦
@@karenb3662 it’s easy four cups of white sugar and up to 1/3 cup molasses. I usually only add a bit at a time to get the color of brown sugar I want. You can mix it together with a hand mixer but I use my hands to rub the molasses 8n to the white sugar. It only takes about 5 mins of mixing by hand to get it done. I press it into a quart jar.
Regarding stacking jars, I store my jars in plastic storage bins then stack the bins. I believe the bin size I use for pint jars is 12 quart. Not sure of the bin size for quart jars but I got both sizes at Costco for a reasonable price.
In the research lab to make a container anaerobic we would take a tea light candle on an inverted petri dish lid, light it and then wait for it to go out in a sealed container. This works well for growing bacteria without oxygen but the method you tried to demonstrate never burned out the oxygen; the movement of putting the lid on was what I think extinguished the flame so it never used up the oxygen. Also with alcohol the water won’t burn off so you now have increased the chance of botulism by making a moist oxygen free environment. Yikes!
Pam, thank you and Jim for all you do!!! YOU, totally put my mind at ease at temps my jars are stored. I've been canning like crazy, but gets warm in my pantry, normal 75, bad day 85, that's summer, winter more like 60-65. That's in the house!! I was so worried it wouldn't be edible. I trust you more than anyone, at this point !!! Again, thank you both for doing what you can to educate us!! I wish you were my teachers in college 30 yrs ago!!
Ball's Complete Book of Home Preserving has a canning recipe for spaghetti with meat. If you don't want to can the meat, just make the sauce. Cucumbers: we freeze dry them , and they're awesome on salads: crispy cucumber chips! My Excalibur book rates cucumbers as "poor" for dehydrating. We love our freeze dryer, so yes it's worth the investment. Freeze dried food has a longer shelf stable life, items taste so much better, and we've made complete meals then freeze dried: stews, spaghetti with sauce, beef stroganoff, and pork and chicken fajita stuffing. Husband is pre-diabetic so freeze dried apples help with sugar cravings. These Q&A sessions are marvelous - thank you!
Investing in a Harvest Right freeze dryer was just that. An investment. We weighed the pros and cons and the pros won out big time. We ski, backpack, camp and sail. Buying freeze dried foods became so expensive. Sometimes $200 a month. Why were we buying freeze dried foods? They take up less space and weigh less which was a need when backpacking, or on a sailboat. Because we live in earthquake country here in California, freeze dried foods in containers won't break and make a mess, like our home canned jars of food. Been there done that! We also grow a huge vegetable garden and freeze dried foods retain their colour and taste better, in my view. In little over 18 months the Harvest Right paid for itself.
To stack jars without creating a false seal, put bands on. Do NOT tighten them, they're just put on and rest there. Then cardboard, then second layer of jars. That way, the second layer does not put any pressure on the bottom layer lids. :)
I have a question about the lids.. are they only used once when canning. I am just starting to can and wondered if they are reusable. I know I can use them for non canning, like just storing stuff but after used for canning they are no good?
@@ebooboo6784 some people reuse metal lids. I don't. Not for canning. I still use them for storage and vacuum sealing. Most of my goods are canned with Tattler lids, which are intended to be reused a lot of times.
@@homesteadinginnorthflorida I use them for storing stuff as well but wanted to make sure I wasn't using them after canning with them. I guess I need to buy a bunch
My store bought supplies includes lots of sauce, as we use lots. I buy cans and jars when on sale. My spaghetti sauce jars are the backbone of my dehydrated/dry goods storage.
Marvelous video!!! Your patience is remarkable. I know it's a lot of work to review the questions and categorize them for the answers. I had not previously seen or heard about the cotton ball doused in alcohol that you helped us to see doesn't work. Thank you for that in particular!! On the whole these question and answer videos are exactly what is needed. Thank you so much 💓.
I use 1-2 tablespoons of molasses per cup of white sugar. Mixing together as needed and to taste depending on how dark you want the brown sugar. No need to store brown sugar and no worries as to if it will go hard. Works great for baking or any brown sugar needs. I learned this trick while seeing in a foreign country that didn’t have brown sugar.
The name brand companies are using thinner rubber seals on lids … on Bernardin brand which is the same company as ball … last year they started posting on packaging “seals for up to 18 months” that means they don’t guarantee the seal will last for even a day it’s up to… so 18 months is the max the seal will hold !!! It’s horrible they are doing this to people so if you can get older packages of lids they are better quality
Last year? No...they changed to the "seals up to 18 months" garbage at least 6 years ago...several years before the pandemic. As far as thinner, that is absolutely true! I have a small stash of the old-type lids and the thickness and feel of the rubber is COMPLETELY different!!! Pam is conducting an experiment using a reusable gasket/seal with a two-piece lid. The last video I caught, she was 7 months into the experiment. Since it's been successful thus far, I'm sourcing additional gaskets.
Thank you for clearing up my concern about food sticking up from the liquid when pressure canned. Think it’s a myth, but I hear it often: you don’t put anything in with your chicken because it will make its own broth. This has never happened to me and I have canned chicken for the past 25 years. The second batch I made and there wasn’t enough broth, I have since then always added broth.
Thanks for your excellent attention to answering those questions in such a precise way. It leaves no doubt. We appreciate your knowledge. BTW, your kitchen cabinets are stunning. I really like the way they have given a nod to the southwest style in very small detail. Just beautiful. Looking forward to your upcoming videos! ♥️🙏🏼♥️
Food grade diatomaceous earth is not harmful at all unless you inhale it. In fact there are ongoing studies showing there are possible health benefits to ingesting it.
To me, brown sugar is kind of a pain. About a year ago I stopped buying it all together. Instead, I now keep a jug of good quality molasses on hand, and make my own brown sugar, as needed. No more fussing with rock solid clumps! I get to decide what type of sugar and the quality of molasses used, so that's pretty cool, plus it's one less ingredient taking up space. The flavor seems more "real" to me, as well, if that makes sense. Couldn't be simpler: 1 tsp per cup for light brown sugar, and 2 tsp for dark. I hope someone finds this helpful!
I actually freeze my avocados. I slice them and squeeze lime or lemon on them. You could also salt and pepper them but I don’t. I then freeze them in a single layer on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Once frozen I put them in a ziplock bag. It’s such a great cool snack!! I love them and this way I can stop wasting my avocados (in theory anyway).
@@DutchAlaskagirl yes exactly. I have some freeze dried that I purchased. I’m not crazy about them, but you get used to them. It’s much better than not having avocado at all.
How about installing solar panels in top of your garage, and installing slim line air conditioning on your wall. I have Tesla solar panels on top of my cement house roof and slim line Medea brand Air Conditioner. I have also ceiling fans too. I keep one bedroom as storage pantry. No bed in there just storage. I live in the mountain in PR. And believe me, I keep my house cool during the day. I keep that room door closed so the room stay cool.
@@lisacarden1309 dry it? Why would you dry it? As for ratios, it depends on how dark you want it. Measure out the amount your recipe calls for in the white sugar, then stir in molasses until it is the darkness you want. Sorry, I am horrible at actually measuring anything.
I was going to suggest this as well, but I was checking to see if anyone else mentioned it first. I use one Tablespoon of molasses to one cup of white granulated sugar. You can adjust this to your desired lightness or darkness of brown sugar. I have not purchased brown sugar for close to a decade.
Knowing your summer storage situation is similar to mine in Texas, is reassuring that mine will be okay at least in rotation for the next couple years. It had been a worry in the back of my mind. Thank you
Hi there This may be a silly question, but i'll ask. How can I preserve dog food. 🐶🐕 Prudence has been my companion for many years and i'd like to make sure she's taken care of as the rest of our family. Thank you 🌹
Dry or wet? Canned dog food will keep in its original cans for at least a year. Dry dog food can be stored as you would store grain, rice etc. in sealed plastic buckets with oxygen absorber or dry ice, or in mylar bags vacuum sealed. See the videos on grain storage.
I don't have a pressure canner but, I have dogs. And I've been making protein loaded biscuits for them... so far on shelf 8 months and they've kept...i cook them like a giant slice in the oven then dehydrate until rick hard. I use tuna, chicken and beef (lean) and rice flour over regular flour as the binding agent, eggs, coconut, Apple sauce etc
Pam,today I read that USU extension came out and said NO electric pressure cookers are safe. I have an Instant Pot canner and have used it a lot. I’ve done chicken and pork and ground beef and now I am afraid to use it. It is, of in pints, Perfect for me…..
I make my own brown sugar by using regular white sugar and mixing in 1 or 2 tablespoons molasses per cup of white sugar. Works great whenever you need brown sugar. I store molasses instead. I learned this trick while leaving abroad where brown sugar didn’t exist.
Thank you so much for answering the question about pressure canned storage and temperature.. This is not the year to be losing food! I never gave it much thought where we stored our canning goods before because I thought that it was a sufficient place. But this year I noticed when I put a actual thermometer in it was reading 80° when we had the heat wave go through and I was stressing. Thank you for putting me at ease.
I love the way you answer questions and show how to do different things. I have watched some others but I just don’t trust the methods they use. You always go by the USDA. Thank you for teaching the right ways.
Thank you Pam and Jim. Loved this and everyone's questions. Love your straight forward answers. That's why I love you guys.Take care and Jim Happy Father's Day.
I think that burning the alcohol was being confused with the lighting of sulfur and preserving food that was popular in great Britain during World War II.
For the brown sugar I also keep mine in their original bags but in addition place them into gallon ziplock bags or for the larger Costco bags of brown sugar I distribute into smaller portions into gallon ziplock bags ( only because my plastic container I keep my brown sugar in is smaller and don't fit the larger Costco bags) and then store them in a plastic container for protection and to keep critters out. If possible, store in dark dry area.
The way that I dehydrate fruit is to let it go until it’s pretty dry, then I steam pasteurize it and put it in sterilized jars with tight lids. This serves to soften the fruit a little and kills any mold spores or bacteria, so it lasts for years without molding. Do you see a problem with this method?
Thank you for reminding people to be very careful when using alcohol. I remember when I was a small child. The story my mom told me about alcohol. She had to go to a burn center for a bad scalding burn. She told me about what was left of a patient from using alcohol. She came home and threw out all the alcohol and never kept in the house again.
No matter how much I THINK I know I will always pay attention to your Q & A videos. Food preservation is serious ( and possible life threatening practice). I'm not willing to put someone in harms way. Thank you both for everything you do to help your subs receive good information.
12:00 Brown sugar tip. Don't buy brown sugar. Substitute white sugar in recipes and add molasses (a little for light brown, a little more for dark brown sugar)
I understand that a freeze dryer pays for itself in less than a year if you are running it every day for 6-9 months. That is compared to purchasing the long term freeze dried food.
Crystal: I do not know about that: But how much food would you have to buy for that time frame? What would the cost be? How much time would it take you to do that? How much would you have to spend on gas as well as wear and tear on your car? How much time would you have to spend prepping all of the foods to be freeze dried? How much would it increase your electric bill? Would you have to shop, buy, and install an AC unit (or have it installed by an electrician) in your freeze dryer room? Would you have to create a larger opening in the wall to the outside because the window was too small or cut out an opening from scratch for the AC unit? The other question is how much are you willing to pay for your freeze dryer and who will install it for you? Oh, does the freeze dryer vacuum pump use oil or not? If if uses oil, how often does it have to be changed and is there a specific type of oil that has to be purchased and how much will that cost? How long does it take to change the oil and where do you dispose the oil when you have extracted it? Those are just a few questions people may want to consider when discussing their Freeze Dryer ROI. Jim
Yeah...and then the oil changes after every 4 runs. My cousin (a male physician) is in charge of freeze-drying at his home, and he is working on an alternative method of filtering and reusing the oil in his. He was trying to explain it to me, but I don't even own a freeze-dryer, nor do I have any freeze-dried foods in my storage. The break-even point will vary, based on many factors...family size, and frankly, whether you even HAVE freeze-dried foods.
Contact tattler about the lids. I bought a soup ladle from them and the handle broke and they replaced it. Jars you buy now are not as thick as years ago. I have old ones and you can tell the difference.
Interesting regarding using glass salad dressing jars for pressure canning. I have to gasp hearing they were unsafe snd there was incidents of breakage for I and other women I know used them almost extensively. Always wanting to save money we counted them a big plus to have. This last year we went thru all my canning equipment eliminating them. My daughter “heard something that they were not safe” so out they want. I may have just avoided a nasty incident. That was tough but now have nothing but Ball jars. Thanks Pam for warning others to not use them.
I look at investing in a freeze dryer the same way I look at purchasing insurance. We may or may not get a full return on our money, but we can have peace of mind knowing we are covering an area of uncertainty.
Try and find space inside the house for home canned foods. I have my canned meats, chicken and beans under a bed and in shelves under my stairs. It's cool, dry and dark. I'm in NorCal and we get temps 90-110 in the summer
@@C2yourself Thanks! I do have some under the bed and I'm emptying out my linen closet. I'm in So Cal and have the temp set at 78 - 80. Just can't afford it any lower.
@@Jonni8 my temps Inside are like yours. I store most of what I can under the bed or in a Large closet we built. When we stored in our garage I was able to keep at the temperature down using an exhaust fan to draw out the hot air
I store my brown sugar out of the package in my Tupperware brand Modular Mate and it’s like brand new at all times … it’s the only way I’ve had brown sugar stay soft and fluffy for long periods of time
Water glassing eggs can only be done in the first 24 hrs of fresh UNWASHED eggs. Store bought eggs cannot be used because they have been washed. There are a number of excellent videos on CZcams showing how to do this
By the way, that 5 is not a recycling number or symbol. The plastic industry specifically designed the logos to mimic the recycling logo. THE SYMBOL WITH A NUMBER IS A "RESIN IDENTIFICATION SYMBOL". The only plastic you can actually recycle should say 1 PET or 2 HDPE. Most facilities cannot recycle 3-6, and 7 cannot be recycled. Please only use 5 PP for food, and be sure to check it is BPA free!
I took a store bought jar of chilli dill garlic pickles and sliced them, dehydrated and they made yummy pickle chips. I needed that jar 🤣 because of it's size
When I make popcorn and add real butter to it I let the butter brown a little and then add it to the popcorn…yummmmm…it is delicious!!! Also you can add a little honey on it too after the butter and that’s good too.
I too have heat issues in my storage room built off my garage. I live in hot Texas, I bought three small fans and keep them on low or medium and run them in three corners. (fourth is the door). I can keep that room at about 75-80* when it is 100+ outside. If it gets hotter, I place a plastic bowl of ice cubes in front of one of them in the hottest part of day (3-7 pm), then dump water in evening. Don't do this continusly, it can create humidity. This works in my case. Hope it helps anyone concerned about heat in a storage room.
Thank you. Enjoyed listening to the answers very much. The fire in the jar was interesting. I witnessed a candle stub being lit in steel drums of wheat by my grandfather all through my childhood. We always ground the wheat when the drum was opened later on.
I was absolutely appalled at the idea of putting isopropyl alcohol into a food container. You aren’t even supposed to breathe the fumes. My sister-in-law worked in a nursing facility that saw a lot of alcoholics. Many of them were so desperate for alcohol that they would drink isopropyl alcohol. Many died. At the very least it causes liver failure. Many of the survivors ended up blind. When we were in college, a less than brilliant friend discovered that you could drop a match into a bottle of (recently emptied) booze and flames would come out. They thought it was great fun until the bottle exploded.
I saw many videos that were from different Latin American countries that use the plastic liter bottles for their food storage. Some pack the food in like beans or rice to almost the very top then add a small piece of aluminum foil on top to create a small bowl to hold a small amount of alcohol. Once lit you let it almost die out (most of alcohol is burned out) then put the plastic cap on top and tighten. The plastic bottle will begin to compress like it’s being vacuum sealed.
I've only recently found your videos. It started with wanting to make Ghee and then I started watching about canning. I do can but wondered about all the whys. Understanding the reasons why it is recommended to do this and that helps me feel safer and better able to make decisions when canning. I had quit canning for a while because I was worried about if the food was really safe to eat. I am so glad you give so much information. I'm also very thankful you warn us about crazy shortcuts and no no's. THANK YOU to you and your husband for sharing your knowledge and taking the time to test and show us the tests.
OK ... I've watched the videos on vacuum sealing flour and was HOPING that my question would be answered HERE. That is ... HOW LONG DOES THE FLOUR LAST after vacuum sealed??? Someone asked about it in THIS video and I STILL didn't get the question answered. PLEASE help me with this. I would SO appreciate it. Thanks SO very much. :)🙂😊😊
I just noticed Ball does make a smooth side Mason jar..Walmart & Hobby Lobby carries them, along with other places. They are advertised for all purposes, including canning. I think the smooth side is primarily for labels
I absolutely LOVE all of your videos Pam and Jim. QUESTION: Have you ever done a video with your freeze dryer? If not, could you please do one? Thank You Both!
Can’t thank you enough and your hubby for do these videos! Such a blessing for sure. We live in the northeast and my hubby thinks he needs to make me shelves in our basement but I know me and I won’t go down there for any reason. Living in an old farmhouse does have its drawbacks but I love it. He made me a pantry off my kitchen that I’ll put a thermometer in and check it out. I doubt it’s over 75 degrees and the air conditioner in the kitchen will help. Thank you both again.
I have experience in fermenting cabbage for kraft and cucumbers. I have the air locks and I use my cooler and reusable ice packs. I rotate them from the freezer 2xs a day and it keeps the inside about 58-60 degrees. That way it takes a little longer to ferment like at least 2 weeks but this way the product is crisper. Better quality. Or do it in a cool basement.
I stopped using bought brown sugar when I discovered that 1 TBS molasses mixed with 1 cup white sugar makes a just fine brown sugar. I can store white sugar and molasses just fine.
I use ball mason jar. I also repurpose use the Classico spaghetti jar which I waterbath homemade cranberry juice and pressure can my homemade spaghetti sauce from garden never have any of those jars break a seal or jars broken.
So glad I listen to this in the background while I was working at my desk. I had just sealed bulk brown sugar into Mylar bags using oxygen absorbers. This video prompted me to do a bit more research, looks like I could have cause my storage of brown sugar to become infected with botulism, moist items should not be oxygen free. Yikes! I just reopened the bags and took out the absorbers, and also did the same for my white sugar. Thanks for taking the time to teach and prompt others to do their due diligence.
I believe one of the biggest assets to this channel is the fact these Q&A videos exist. This speaks mountains to the fact they both (Jim & Pam) will go to lengths to produce the video, read/assess/answer the viewers’ comments, and deliver it with an easy explanation we can grasp without being overwhelmed.
To the lady who asked about keeping brown sugar soft: I have found that simply putting brown sugar in a jar with a good sealing lid, weather mason jar or old empty pickle jar or tomato sauce jar, keeps brown sugar soft indefinitely after opening the bag. We found that out by accident. My husband wanted some brown sugar for his coffee, so he put some in a mason jar and put it in our kitchen cabinet. He dips into it every once in a while, and that was a couple of years ago. It’s still soft. The unopened bag that I bought for storage is hard. So now we put our brown sugar in jars.
If you make your own with white sugar and molasses, it’s really moist and stays that way in a jar or oxo container.
@@pistachio57 Thanks for the tip!
@@janicemielke7702 OXO also has a brown sugar preserver that attaches to the lids of their Pop containers. It's a terracotta toroid that you simply soak in water and then pat dry. It will slowly release moisture into the pop container and this may be useful if you get into the tub frequently.
We have an old cookie tin that fits an entire box/bag of brown sugar. That tin can keep brown sugar soft for years. We use it at the cottage. A bag that we open one summer is fine the following summer. The lid must fit tightly.
@@pistachio57 Yep! I started doing this about a year ago and muchly prefer it!
I have been canning and prepping for a few yrs now and am still so great full to listen to your advice but more important is l have the upmost confidence in recommending your channel to help new people how want to food storage. Bless you both.
Michelle: Thanks! Jim
Jim and Pam, thank you both so much for taking the time to answer questions and to educate us!! Many of the questions made me think about my practices. I have memories of my mom making jelly and putting it in baby food jars for my bachelor uncle. He loved her jellies and jams but didn’t eat much. She sealed them with paraffin, then put the lid on. As soon as the Ball book came out with more precise directions she stopped that practice. Mom spent her final years with us and was my canning cheerleader! She would write on the lids for me. We would stash cases of fruits, salsa, tomatoes, jams, etc under her big queen bed. We kept a map sketched out where we could find everything. She passed away in 2019 and I think of her every day!
That painted a really beautiful image of your Mum. I am glad she had her final years with you.
What a wonderful blessing for you both.
I am sorry you lost your mom. I am glad you have fond memories of her time with you. I am glad you shared.
That is such precious time with your mom. Thank you for sharing your memories.
@@garliclovers1416 I thought the same thing. 💚
When I was a child, my mom used paraffin wax to seal preserves if she ran out of lids. I *loved* pear preserves so sometimes I would sneak and break the seal, run the jar to mom and tell her I was checking the seal and it broke, could we go ahead and eat it, lol. I only got away with it a few times but it was yummy.
Too cute
Mine too! But now they say it isn’t safe….idk…I’m 69 and alive…I didn’t do that though! Cute!
Thank you Pam & Jim for sharing your time and knowledge with us! I feel my IQ has gone up since watching your channel regularly because a new part of my brain is firing off! 😂🙏🏼😇
I add Italian seasoning, onion and garlic powder on tomatoes before I dehydrate them and the I grind or chop the dried tomatoes before I store them.
Allo, I just want to say I’m new to prepping, canning dehydrating and I just 💗 you.
Thank you for all you do to properly inform us.
A lot of utube homesteader prepper are being verbally attacked about how they do things…. That’s why the world is in the state it’s in we need to all come together and stop attacking ( not the right word to use) each other and come together to feed and help our family and friends etc… 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 again thank you from Canada
I have only been watching your videos for a few weeks, but I'm so glad I found them. After years of trying to get over the stress of pressure canning (even after purchasing one several years ago), I am now pressure canning like a pro - almost stress free. lol
You deliver a wealth of information in such a pleasant voice, and I'm learning so much from your videos. I have tried the beef stew and "chicken meal" (never did I think I'd ever actually can meat), and they turned out great. I've also done my own vegetable beef soup and other things as well.
I, along with many others no doubt, am so grateful to you for sharing so much of your time, work, and knowledge to help others. Preserving our own food for our families is probably more important now than ever, and I'm so looking forward to safely canning more and more delicious vegetables and meals. Thank you!
Thank you Pam!!! The trick with the cotton and alcohol method for plastic bottles was viral the last 2 years for latin america, I think it's because we don't have double lid jars like Ball. Thank you so much for testing and sharing your deep knowledge in the field! 🥰😘 Hugs from Argentina!
This has been a great series. I just wanted to share something about brown sugar. I don’t keep bags of brown sugar in my long term pantry. Because I make my own. I only make four cups at a time. If you keep white sugar and molasses in your long term pantry…you can always make brown sugar. Thank you so very much for this series, I have learnt a lot of things. Cheers 🌷🇨🇦
That’s what I do as well. I was going to mention it, but you beat me to it 🥰
How do you make brown sugar?
@@karenb3662 you add molasses until you have the desired color. Light brown or dark. And molasses stores pretty much for ever
@@karenb3662 it’s easy four cups of white sugar and up to 1/3 cup molasses. I usually only add a bit at a time to get the color of brown sugar I want. You can mix it together with a hand mixer but I use my hands to rub the molasses 8n to the white sugar. It only takes about 5 mins of mixing by hand to get it done. I press it into a quart jar.
@@karenb3662 Tbsp spoon molasses per cup white sugar to start.
Regarding stacking jars, I store my jars in plastic storage bins then stack the bins. I believe the bin size I use for pint jars is 12 quart. Not sure of the bin size for quart jars but I got both sizes at Costco for a reasonable price.
That’s a great idea! I was thinking about using boards supported by something to create extra shelves between my metal shelves
Excellent Idea. Thanks for the suggestion.
In the research lab to make a container anaerobic we would take a tea light candle on an inverted petri dish lid, light it and then wait for it to go out in a sealed container. This works well for growing bacteria without oxygen but the method you tried to demonstrate never burned out the oxygen; the movement of putting the lid on was what I think extinguished the flame so it never used up the oxygen. Also with alcohol the water won’t burn off so you now have increased the chance of botulism by making a moist oxygen free environment. Yikes!
Thank you. Your channel has kept me busy for two years now. I am still learning.
Pam, thank you and Jim for all you do!!! YOU, totally put my mind at ease at temps my jars are stored. I've been canning like crazy, but gets warm in my pantry, normal 75, bad day 85, that's summer, winter more like 60-65. That's in the house!! I was so worried it wouldn't be edible. I trust you more than anyone, at this point !!! Again, thank you both for doing what you can to educate us!! I wish you were my teachers in college 30 yrs ago!!
Ball's Complete Book of Home Preserving has a canning recipe for spaghetti with meat. If you don't want to can the meat, just make the sauce. Cucumbers: we freeze dry them , and they're awesome on salads: crispy cucumber chips! My Excalibur book rates cucumbers as "poor" for dehydrating. We love our freeze dryer, so yes it's worth the investment. Freeze dried food has a longer shelf stable life, items taste so much better, and we've made complete meals then freeze dried: stews, spaghetti with sauce, beef stroganoff, and pork and chicken fajita stuffing. Husband is pre-diabetic so freeze dried apples help with sugar cravings. These Q&A sessions are marvelous - thank you!
Investing in a Harvest Right freeze dryer was just that. An investment. We weighed the pros and cons and the pros won out big time.
We ski, backpack, camp and sail. Buying freeze dried foods became so expensive. Sometimes $200 a month. Why were we buying freeze dried foods? They take up less space and weigh less which was a need when backpacking, or on a sailboat.
Because we live in earthquake country here in California, freeze dried foods in containers won't break and make a mess, like our home canned jars of food. Been there done that! We also grow a huge vegetable garden and freeze dried foods retain their colour and taste better, in my view.
In little over 18 months the Harvest Right paid for itself.
To stack jars without creating a false seal, put bands on. Do NOT tighten them, they're just put on and rest there. Then cardboard, then second layer of jars. That way, the second layer does not put any pressure on the bottom layer lids. :)
I have a question about the lids.. are they only used once when canning. I am just starting to can and wondered if they are reusable. I know I can use them for non canning, like just storing stuff but after used for canning they are no good?
@@ebooboo6784It can be done, but isn’t recommended.
@@cynthiafisher9907 ok, I want to be safe.
@@ebooboo6784 some people reuse metal lids. I don't. Not for canning. I still use them for storage and vacuum sealing. Most of my goods are canned with Tattler lids, which are intended to be reused a lot of times.
@@homesteadinginnorthflorida I use them for storing stuff as well but wanted to make sure I wasn't using them after canning with them. I guess I need to buy a bunch
Great hair day!
Start using jars from the store that contain sauces etc, I’ve reused them many times and they always pop and seal.
Carol: For more information, we did a video recently on repurposing glass jars. Jim
My store bought supplies includes lots of sauce, as we use lots. I buy cans and jars when on sale. My spaghetti sauce jars are the backbone of my dehydrated/dry goods storage.
Marvelous video!!! Your patience is remarkable. I know it's a lot of work to review the questions and categorize them for the answers. I had not previously seen or heard about the cotton ball doused in alcohol that you helped us to see doesn't work. Thank you for that in particular!! On the whole these question and answer videos are exactly what is needed. Thank you so much 💓.
Love your curls! Love your channel
I use 1-2 tablespoons of molasses per cup of white sugar. Mixing together as needed and to taste depending on how dark you want the brown sugar. No need to store brown sugar and no worries as to if it will go hard. Works great for baking or any brown sugar needs. I learned this trick while seeing in a foreign country that didn’t have brown sugar.
Pretty flowers 🌸
The name brand companies are using thinner rubber seals on lids … on Bernardin brand which is the same company as ball … last year they started posting on packaging “seals for up to 18 months” that means they don’t guarantee the seal will last for even a day it’s up to… so 18 months is the max the seal will hold !!! It’s horrible they are doing this to people so if you can get older packages of lids they are better quality
For Jars Lids are great, prices are reasonable and have generous seals. I’m loving them.
Last year? No...they changed to the "seals up to 18 months" garbage at least 6 years ago...several years before the pandemic.
As far as thinner, that is absolutely true! I have a small stash of the old-type lids and the thickness and feel of the rubber is COMPLETELY different!!!
Pam is conducting an experiment using a reusable gasket/seal with a two-piece lid. The last video I caught, she was 7 months into the experiment. Since it's been successful thus far, I'm sourcing additional gaskets.
Thank you both!
i reuse tomato /other prepared sauces jars to store dry produces eg: kidney beans /rice.
Thank you for clearing up my concern about food sticking up from the liquid when pressure canned. Think it’s a myth, but I hear it often: you don’t put anything in with your chicken because it will make its own broth. This has never happened to me and I have canned chicken for the past 25 years. The second batch I made and there wasn’t enough broth, I have since then always added broth.
I don't know if you know that there is food grade diatomaceous earth and people take it (internally) for certain ailments.
I use food grade in my beans and rice so I was concerned when she said no. Yikes
I takediatomaceous earth health food grade ours comes from Queensland Australia.
Love how you provide safety warnings with USDA. Thank you Jim and Pam, you are a blessing.
Thanks for your excellent attention to answering those questions in such a precise way. It leaves no doubt. We appreciate your knowledge. BTW, your kitchen cabinets are stunning. I really like the way they have given a nod to the southwest style in very small detail. Just beautiful. Looking forward to your upcoming videos! ♥️🙏🏼♥️
One could also learn to make brown sugar instead of storing it. It's not hard, and you always have fresh brown sugar this way. I would recommend that.
Food grade diatomaceous earth is not harmful at all unless you inhale it. In fact there are ongoing studies showing there are possible health benefits to ingesting it.
Agree .. ask a farmer . We put on our garden plant because we don’t want to use chemicals.. plus it is in animals feed to help from caking .
To me, brown sugar is kind of a pain. About a year ago I stopped buying it all together. Instead, I now keep a jug of good quality molasses on hand, and make my own brown sugar, as needed. No more fussing with rock solid clumps! I get to decide what type of sugar and the quality of molasses used, so that's pretty cool, plus it's one less ingredient taking up space. The flavor seems more "real" to me, as well, if that makes sense.
Couldn't be simpler: 1 tsp per cup for light brown sugar, and 2 tsp for dark.
I hope someone finds this helpful!
Another great segment. Thank you to everyone who presented questions and thank you both for answering. Truly appreciated.
I actually freeze my avocados. I slice them and squeeze lime or lemon on them. You could also salt and pepper them but I don’t. I then freeze them in a single layer on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Once frozen I put them in a ziplock bag. It’s such a great cool snack!! I love them and this way I can stop wasting my avocados (in theory anyway).
But with freeze drying you don’t have to worry about power outages or space. If I had a freeze dryer I would probably do some of both
@@DutchAlaskagirl yes exactly. I have some freeze dried that I purchased. I’m not crazy about them, but you get used to them. It’s much better than not having avocado at all.
How about installing solar panels in top of your garage, and installing slim line air conditioning on your wall. I have Tesla solar panels on top of my cement house roof and slim line Medea brand Air Conditioner. I have also ceiling fans too. I keep one bedroom as storage pantry. No bed in there just storage. I live in the mountain in PR. And believe me, I keep my house cool during the day. I keep that room door closed so the room stay cool.
I use a vacuum hand pump to remove oxygen. Seals the lid to jar. It is only temporary not for long term storage.
I don't even try to store brown sugar, sore white sugar and molasses and make brown sugar as needed. It is soooo much better and easy to do!
Oh wow!!! What are your ratios and do you dry it in the oven?
@@lisacarden1309 dry it? Why would you dry it? As for ratios, it depends on how dark you want it. Measure out the amount your recipe calls for in the white sugar, then stir in molasses until it is the darkness you want. Sorry, I am horrible at actually measuring anything.
I was going to suggest this as well, but I was checking to see if anyone else mentioned it first. I use one Tablespoon of molasses to one cup of white granulated sugar. You can adjust this to your desired lightness or darkness of brown sugar. I have not purchased brown sugar for close to a decade.
@@virginiaheden4568 thank you Virginia
@@marcietherington3684 soooorreee 🙄 I was thinking about making it and storing it. ...
Knowing your summer storage situation is similar to mine in Texas, is reassuring that mine will be okay at least in rotation for the next couple years. It had been a worry in the back of my mind. Thank you
Same! I have been worrying about the Oklahoma summer temps and my new food storage in the garage!
Hi there
This may be a silly question, but i'll ask. How can I preserve dog food. 🐶🐕 Prudence has been my companion for many years and i'd like to make sure she's taken care of as the rest of our family. Thank you 🌹
Dry or wet? Canned dog food will keep in its original cans for at least a year. Dry dog food can be stored as you would store grain, rice etc. in sealed plastic buckets with oxygen absorber or dry ice, or in mylar bags vacuum sealed. See the videos on grain storage.
Either , thank you for replying 🌹🐕🌹
I don't have a pressure canner but, I have dogs. And I've been making protein loaded biscuits for them... so far on shelf 8 months and they've kept...i cook them like a giant slice in the oven then dehydrate until rick hard. I use tuna, chicken and beef (lean) and rice flour over regular flour as the binding agent, eggs, coconut, Apple sauce etc
Pam,today I read that USU extension came out and said NO electric pressure cookers are safe. I have an Instant Pot canner and have used it a lot. I’ve done chicken and pork and ground beef and now I am afraid to use it. It is, of in pints,
Perfect for me…..
I make my own brown sugar by using regular white sugar and mixing in 1 or 2 tablespoons molasses per cup of white sugar. Works great whenever you need brown sugar. I store molasses instead. I learned this trick while leaving abroad where brown sugar didn’t exist.
Love these Q & A sessions,very informative. Thank you. Also will you be having a preorder on your book. Anxious to see it. Thank you.
Thank you so much for answering the question about pressure canned storage and temperature.. This is not the year to be losing food! I never gave it much thought where we stored our canning goods before because I thought that it was a sufficient place. But this year I noticed when I put a actual thermometer in it was reading 80° when we had the heat wave go through and I was stressing. Thank you for putting me at ease.
I love the way you answer questions and show how to do different things. I have watched some others but I just don’t trust the methods they use. You always go by the USDA. Thank you for teaching the right ways.
I really appreciate the Q&A videos. A wide variety of information on many topics. Thanks Jim & Pam💕
Thank you Pam and Jim. Loved this and everyone's questions. Love your straight forward answers. That's why I love you guys.Take care and Jim Happy Father's Day.
I think that burning the alcohol was being confused with the lighting of sulfur and preserving food that was popular in great Britain during World War II.
If in the USA you can get squared food grade storage bins with the screw top at tractor supply and they can have it shipped from website
For the brown sugar I also keep mine in their original bags but in addition place them into gallon ziplock bags or for the larger Costco bags of brown sugar I distribute into smaller portions into gallon ziplock bags ( only because my plastic container I keep my brown sugar in is smaller and don't fit the larger Costco bags) and then store them in a plastic container for protection and to keep critters out. If possible, store in dark dry area.
The way that I dehydrate fruit is to let it go until it’s pretty dry, then I steam pasteurize it and put it in sterilized jars with tight lids. This serves to soften the fruit a little and kills any mold spores or bacteria, so it lasts for years without molding. Do you see a problem with this method?
Thank you for all that you do!
Thank you for reminding people to be very careful when using alcohol.
I remember when I was a small child. The story my mom told me about alcohol. She had to go to a burn center for a bad scalding burn. She told me about what was left of a patient from using alcohol. She came home and threw out all the alcohol and never kept in the house again.
😂
No matter how much I THINK I know I will always pay attention to your Q & A videos. Food preservation is serious ( and possible life threatening practice). I'm not willing to put someone in harms way.
Thank you both for everything you do to help your subs receive good information.
Dutchgram: Thank you and you touched on three of our major ideas. Jim
12:00 Brown sugar tip. Don't buy brown sugar. Substitute white sugar in recipes and add molasses (a little for light brown, a little more for dark brown sugar)
What a wealth of knowledge you are! Also, the fact that you don't toy with the information adds more value than can truly be measured. Thank you!!! 😊
I understand that a freeze dryer pays for itself in less than a year if you are running it every day for 6-9 months. That is compared to purchasing the long term freeze dried food.
Crystal: I do not know about that: But how much food would you have to buy for that time frame? What would the cost be? How much time would it take you to do that? How much would you have to spend on gas as well as wear and tear on your car? How much time would you have to spend prepping all of the foods to be freeze dried? How much would it increase your electric bill? Would you have to shop, buy, and install an AC unit (or have it installed by an electrician) in your freeze dryer room? Would you have to create a larger opening in the wall to the outside because the window was too small or cut out an opening from scratch for the AC unit? The other question is how much are you willing to pay for your freeze dryer and who will install it for you? Oh, does the freeze dryer vacuum pump use oil or not? If if uses oil, how often does it have to be changed and is there a specific type of oil that has to be purchased and how much will that cost? How long does it take to change the oil and where do you dispose the oil when you have extracted it? Those are just a few questions people may want to consider when discussing their Freeze Dryer ROI. Jim
Yeah...and then the oil changes after every 4 runs. My cousin (a male physician) is in charge of freeze-drying at his home, and he is working on an alternative method of filtering and reusing the oil in his. He was trying to explain it to me, but I don't even own a freeze-dryer, nor do I have any freeze-dried foods in my storage.
The break-even point will vary, based on many factors...family size, and frankly, whether you even HAVE freeze-dried foods.
Contact tattler about the lids. I bought a soup ladle from them and the handle broke and they replaced it. Jars you buy now are not as thick as years ago. I have old ones and you can tell the difference.
I've used a slice of bread with the brown sugar the bread gets hard first.
Interesting regarding using glass salad dressing jars for pressure canning. I have to gasp hearing they were unsafe snd there was incidents of breakage for I and other women I know used them almost extensively. Always wanting to save money we counted them a big plus to have. This last year we went thru all my canning equipment eliminating them. My daughter “heard something that they were not safe” so out they want. I may have just avoided a nasty incident. That was tough but now have nothing but Ball jars. Thanks Pam for warning others to not use them.
Freezing avocado pulp is fantastic - restaurant supply stores sell frozen avocado for easy use and consistent quality.
I look at investing in a freeze dryer the same way I look at purchasing insurance. We may or may not get a full return on our money, but we can have peace of mind knowing we are covering an area of uncertainty.
I totally agree! Well said.
Fabulous now off to Part 1 and Part 2. Thank you.
Concerning the square food buckets, I just this week purchased a set of 4 thru Amazon. Very expensive. $79/4
Awesome! Being in California I have been concerned about storage temperatures too. Thanks for answering that!
Try and find space inside the house for home canned foods. I have my canned meats, chicken and beans under a bed and in shelves under my stairs. It's cool, dry and dark. I'm in NorCal and we get temps 90-110 in the summer
@@C2yourself Thanks! I do have some under the bed and I'm emptying out my linen closet. I'm in So Cal and have the temp set at 78 - 80. Just can't afford it any lower.
@@Jonni8 my temps Inside are like yours. I store most of what I can under the bed or in a
Large closet we built. When we stored in our garage I was able to keep at the temperature down using an exhaust fan to draw out the hot air
@@MaryWehmeier Thanks!
I don't know where to post questions so that you will see them and they don't get lost.
You're so thoughtful and thorough to answer everyone's questions 😊❤.
I store my brown sugar out of the package in my Tupperware brand Modular Mate and it’s like brand new at all times … it’s the only way I’ve had brown sugar stay soft and fluffy for long periods of time
Water glassing eggs can only be done in the first 24 hrs of fresh UNWASHED eggs. Store bought eggs cannot be used because they have been washed. There are a number of excellent videos on CZcams showing how to do this
Hogwash!!! You can waterglass eggs that are up to a week old.
@@joannathesinger770 you go for it
czcams.com/video/Lr0fR6yRoZM/video.html
By the way, that 5 is not a recycling number or symbol. The plastic industry specifically designed the logos to mimic the recycling logo. THE SYMBOL WITH A NUMBER IS A "RESIN IDENTIFICATION SYMBOL".
The only plastic you can actually recycle should say 1 PET or 2 HDPE. Most facilities cannot recycle 3-6, and 7 cannot be recycled.
Please only use 5 PP for food, and be sure to check it is BPA free!
Earthly: Thanks for the information. Jim
I took a store bought jar of chilli dill garlic pickles and sliced them, dehydrated and they made yummy pickle chips. I needed that jar 🤣 because of it's size
Thank you so much for doing these Q&A videos! Even though I don't can food I still learned a lot. I simply dehydrate & freeze dry food.
When I make popcorn and add real butter to it I let the butter brown a little and then add it to the popcorn…yummmmm…it is delicious!!! Also you can add a little honey on it too after the butter and that’s good too.
I too have heat issues in my storage room built off my garage. I live in hot Texas, I bought three small fans and keep them on low or medium and run them in three corners. (fourth is the door). I can keep that room at about 75-80* when it is 100+ outside. If it gets hotter, I place a plastic bowl of ice cubes in front of one of them in the hottest part of day (3-7 pm), then dump water in evening. Don't do this continusly, it can create humidity. This works in my case. Hope it helps anyone concerned about heat in a storage room.
Living in Florida, I appreciate the Q @A about heat and storage. We keep our home at 78. But I worry about grid down.
Thank you. Enjoyed listening to the answers very much. The fire in the jar was interesting.
I witnessed a candle stub being lit in steel drums of wheat by my grandfather all through my childhood.
We always ground the wheat when the drum was opened later on.
I have learned so much from you!! You have given confidence in processing food through canning and dehydration. Thank you dear Pam and Jim!!
Sue: Our pleasure 😊 Jim
Hi Red and Jim! Tfs the questions and answers with us. I love this channel 💜 Please stay safe and sending hugs your way 💜
Thank you for all of your videos. I love that you experiment and show us while you do it. Thank you for sharing your experiences.
I was absolutely appalled at the idea of putting isopropyl alcohol into a food container. You aren’t even supposed to breathe the fumes.
My sister-in-law worked in a nursing facility that saw a lot of alcoholics. Many of them were so desperate for alcohol that they would drink isopropyl alcohol. Many died. At the very least it causes liver failure. Many of the survivors ended up blind.
When we were in college, a less than brilliant friend discovered that you could drop a match into a bottle of (recently emptied) booze and flames would come out. They thought it was great fun until the bottle exploded.
I saw many videos that were from different Latin American countries that use the plastic liter bottles for their food storage. Some pack the food in like beans or rice to almost the very top then add a small piece of aluminum foil on top to create a small bowl to hold a small amount of alcohol. Once lit you let it almost die out (most of alcohol is burned out) then put the plastic cap on top and tighten.
The plastic bottle will begin to compress like it’s being vacuum sealed.
Thank you guys once again for answering all the questions. There were some really good questions and answers.
See ya next time.🙂
I've only recently found your videos. It started with wanting to make Ghee and then I started watching about canning. I do can but wondered about all the whys. Understanding the reasons why it is recommended to do this and that helps me feel safer and better able to make decisions when canning. I had quit canning for a while because I was worried about if the food was really safe to eat. I am so glad you give so much information. I'm also very thankful you warn us about crazy shortcuts and no no's. THANK YOU to you and your husband for sharing your knowledge and taking the time to test and show us the tests.
A wealth of knowledge!! Thank you so very much.
OK ... I've watched the videos on vacuum sealing flour and was HOPING that my question would be answered HERE. That is ... HOW LONG DOES THE FLOUR LAST after vacuum sealed??? Someone asked about it in THIS video and I STILL didn't get the question answered. PLEASE help me with this. I would SO appreciate it. Thanks SO very much. :)🙂😊😊
Love your videos. People are also having problems with Ball jars. Some don’t have rubber some are scratched on inside of lid and some don’t seal
I just noticed Ball does make a smooth side Mason jar..Walmart & Hobby Lobby carries them, along with other places. They are advertised for all purposes, including canning. I think the smooth side is primarily for labels
Those glasses look so beautiful on you!
I absolutely LOVE all of your videos Pam and Jim.
QUESTION:
Have you ever done a video with your freeze dryer? If not, could you please do one?
Thank You Both!
Can’t thank you enough and your hubby for do these videos! Such a blessing for sure. We live in the northeast and my hubby thinks he needs to make me shelves in our basement but I know me and I won’t go down there for any reason. Living in an old farmhouse does have its drawbacks but I love it. He made me a pantry off my kitchen that I’ll put a thermometer in and check it out. I doubt it’s over 75 degrees and the air conditioner in the kitchen will help. Thank you both again.
Rosz: You are welcome! Jim
I cant wait to ask my questions I love you guys so much!!!
I have experience in fermenting cabbage for kraft and cucumbers. I have the air locks and I use my cooler and reusable ice packs. I rotate them from the freezer 2xs a day and it keeps the inside about 58-60 degrees. That way it takes a little longer to ferment like at least 2 weeks but this way the product is crisper. Better quality. Or do it in a cool basement.
Kraut.
I began fermenting this year, kimchi, and it has turned out great.
Thank you for answering my question on flour and I learn so much fun your videos.
Thanks so much to you both for taking the time to answer these questions! You are the best on the web!!
As always learn something most every time. Thank you both for the great important information.
I stopped using bought brown sugar when I discovered that 1 TBS molasses mixed with 1 cup white sugar makes a just fine brown sugar. I can store white sugar and molasses just fine.
I use ball mason jar. I also repurpose use the Classico spaghetti jar which I waterbath homemade cranberry juice and pressure can my homemade spaghetti sauce from garden never have any of those jars break a seal or jars broken.
So glad I listen to this in the background while I was working at my desk. I had just sealed bulk brown sugar into Mylar bags using oxygen absorbers. This video prompted me to do a bit more research, looks like I could have cause my storage of brown sugar to become infected with botulism, moist items should not be oxygen free. Yikes! I just reopened the bags and took out the absorbers, and also did the same for my white sugar. Thanks for taking the time to teach and prompt others to do their due diligence.