I have a set of vacuum canisters that I purchased with my Foodsaver vacuum
bagger. They work well for some of the sharper things mentioned below. I
have one really big one that I keep things like flour, sugar, etc. in. The
vacuum makes sure you don't have any extra "protein" living in there. The
bags work well, but I've had to set it on the longer seal time to make sure
the seals work. Use it for ditch bag items etc. as well as food.

--


Keith
__
The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.
"Steve" wrote in message
...
I have a dehydrator and vacuum bagger and played with what you suggested.

I do my own veggies, like string beans and carrots and they work out well.
Rather than shop for them fresh, while they are in season (if there is a
season), I purchase them in the fresh frozen packages (on sale) and just
dump them onto the dehydrator trays to defrost and beyond.

Fruit is another matter because you need to do some tricks to maintain
color, etc. I had a little trouble finding the ascorbic acid, etc. It
ain't cheap, even in the food canning section of the store. Even with the
proper stuff, the shelf life for fruit is not all that long, unless you
keep it in a cool place (refrig).

Similar situation for the home dehydrated meats. The requirement for
refrigeration is self defeating and without it the shelf life (from what I
read) is around a month or so at best.

I suppose I could have cooked and dried my own meat, this last winter and
kept it refrigerated until just before setting sail.

One point I should mention, If your going to dehydrate unions, you better
do it outside and where the neighbors won't complain.

As for the vacuum sealer, I got one about a year ago and use it with some
success. The problem with some dehydrated (potatoes slices), they puncture
the bags and loose vacuum over night, even when in double bags. I was able
to vac/bag Ritz crackers in their OEM sleeve inside a vacuum bag. There
was only minor crushing.. I don't recommend vacuum bagging noodles and
other pasta (except maybe spaghetti). The same problem as with potato
slices.

The Mason jars are not desirable on board a sail boat. (as least I avoid
any glass containers onboard). Their are a few canisters available but
these are expensive and therefore of limited use except for a few galley
items.

I wanted to vacuum bag my engine parts and special tools but expect I will
need to wrap them well in cloth to prevent the puncture problems.

I am repackaging some cereals in durable vacuum bags, but not Appling the
vacuum to prevent crushing.

Now I realize that I will be able to purchase fresh or canned provisions
along the way (up and back The Inside Passage) however, I want to try and
do a full provisioning for 60 days just to find what will and will not
work on future off shore passages.

Also, before leaving, I have access to the much lower prices at the US
military commissary and want to limit my cruising purchases to only the
need for fresh provisions, like bread, etc. (not going to try to bake my
own on this trip).

My freezer is just a small Norcold chest unit and will hold my beloved
steaks (for the BBQ) and ice cream (for as long as it lasts. (Yah! I'm
really gonna rough it) and when that is gone, I won't worry about battery
power until I can fill it up again.

This precooked/dehydrated meat plan is mostly to find a better way to have
ground beef for routine daily, one dish meals. Canned meat is limit to
corned beef and I only find a couple dishes that are too my taste. Canned
stew is too expensive.

I looked into canned meats on a couple web sites (one, where I purchased
my 25lbs of dehydrated sliced potatoes), but they only offer canned meat
in institutional size cans. Much more than I could eat without
refrigeration..

Spam works for me, until I become overwhelmed by the Spam flavor. Usually
after one can in a given day.

My experiences and opinions, FWIW.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions