On the other hand, just because the individual packages are too expensive,
it is still a good idea, you just have to do some work yourself.
A dehydrator is around $50.00 and a vaccuum packager is around $100.00 (and
the vaccuum packager is handy for so many other things...I have my parachute
flares, matches and many other items in air tight waterproof packaging).
You can make your own beef jerky, fruit roll-ups, dried fruit, dried
peppers...etc.
I have not tried drying beef cubes and then using them for cooking, but I do
not see why it would not work, cube the beef (lean), soak it in a salt
solution, dry it, bag it (it should last weeks) and just make sure that when
you cook with it you remember that it already has salt added (it's a
preservative).
With no water and no oxygen in the package you should be able to store it at
room temp for days or weeks.
There is a handy little attachment that lets you use wide mouth mason jars
to store things.
If you are a full time live aboard and spend most of your time away from
shore power, this might not be a good alternative, but if your a weekender
or have good access to shore power a little work can save a bundle of money
and in some ways be a fun hobby (homemade beef jerky is almost as fun as
homemade wine, the two together...)
The initail investment is a little high (figure around $300.00) but it is
one of those items that once you start using it you will keep finding more
and more uses for it until you wonder how you ever got along with out it.
Another advantage is that ANYTHING vaccuum packed tends to take up a lot
less space and be easier to store...OK, bread and potatoe chips may not like
the vaccuum packing (pringles?) but you would be surprised at how many other
things do better.
For you regular crusiers, have you ever checked your spare parts store and
found corrosion? Bearings stored in a vaccuum package will not corrode, nor
will electrical componants.

Eric

"fred" wrote in message
...
On the other hand, just because the individual packages are too expensive,
it is still a good idea, you just have to do some work yourself.
............................snip.................. ........
For you regular crusiers, have you ever checked your spare parts store
and
found corrosion? Bearings stored in a vaccuum package will not corrode,
nor
will electrical componants.

Eric

Very good Post......Thanks

Jim Carter
"The Boat"
Bayfield

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

Steve: What is your itinerary? When and where?
Just curious.
Jay

I also try not to let glass on the boat, but am interested in canning
as a long term food storage option.

Does anyone know if there are lexan canning jars, or the equivalent? I
googled the term, but found nothing concrete.

Mike.



just me wrote:
Steve: What is your itinerary? When and where?
Just curious.
Jay

"beaufortnc" wrote in message
oups.com...

Does anyone know if there are lexan canning jars, or the equivalent? I
googled the term, but found nothing concrete.


I have a couple that my son got for me from Boat US. I'm not sure how much
they cost since they were a gift.

These look very much like glass and I didn't know they were Lexan until I
saw them in the store display. They have a Lexan top with a wire bail to
hold the cover on and use the standard Mason jar rubber seal. I don't know
if they would stand the heat of a pressure canner but I'm sure they would
work for 'hot-pack' canning where the vacuum is achieved by the cooling of
the contents rather than the pressure cooker/canner.

If your really serious about canning for a cruise, you can get cans, lids
and device for crimping the lids to the can edge. My old boating mentor use
to can his own tuna in metal cans with a pressure canner.. He seldom had any
can failures and his tuna and fish chowder had a shelf life numbering in
years. He never canned other meat, but that was mostly because he did
coastal sailing and could by it fresh when needed.

My Grandmother (before we had electricity) use to can meat but there was
always a high risk of it failing and it was not uncommon to have a mason jar
explode in the cellar.. My Mother preferred to pay for a "freezer locker"
that she rented in a near by town.

(Yes! It's true! I'm old enough to have lived in the era where we rural
folks lived without electricity, indoor plumbing, went to one room school
house and in bad weather my father took use to school on one of his plow
horses. Finally got electric when I was about 13yo,1950) (Never had heat in
a bed room and a glass of water would freeze if I didn't drink it.)

Oh! Presently live in W. Washington and heat with wood (pellets), but have a
heat pump/AC that is too expensive to run in temp below 30 degrees.

Life is great when you can look back at what it was like 60 years ago..

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

"just me" wrote in message
...
Steve: What is your itinerary? When and where?
Just curious.

"a good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving" Lao Tzu

That said, (my brother and myself) will be leaving the Puget Sound area
about May 25th, heading for the San Juan Is., then over to clear-in at So.
Pender Is.. I want to stop at Nanaimo to say Hi! to Tom and the gang there
(maybe pic up another crew member). Another 1-2 weeks to make it to Port
Hardy. Wait and watch the weather before entering the Queen Charlotte Sound
(open water). Enter the protected passages at Calvert Is. Explore some of
the back waters along the way (Bella Coola, Gardner Canal, Kitinat,
Greenville Chan., etc). I expect to arrive at Juneau by the first week of
July, with a visit to Tracy Arm either going up or coming back. I don't plan
to go to Glacier Bay (nor play dodge the cruise ships, there). I want to
stop at Ketchikan either on the way up or coming back.. (Sorry Bruce, not
going over your way).

As you can see my itinerary is rather loose, as I like it. I'm not sure what
my 'daily runs' will be. I plan to utilize the tidal currents as much as
possible. Around here, is possible to pick up 3 to 5 knots in the narrow
passes, for the duration of the peak run. Well worth the investment in the
fine tide/current books available for the BC waters.


Steve
s/v Good Intentions

In article ,
"Steve" wrote:

(Sorry Bruce, not going over your way).


Steve
s/v Good Intentions

Your loss.....My stock of HOGinDos bars is doing very nicely this
spring.......



Bruce in alaska
--
add a 2 before @

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