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how to store dried foods cheaply?

 
pollinator
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I'm looking into storing large amounts of dried vegetables. How can I do this without breaking the bank for mason jars? Will freezer bags work for a few months?
 
pollinator
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Here is an upgrade to the plastic zip lock idea:
Vacuum Sealer-Food Saver
 
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I have had good luck finding free jars on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. I sometimes use old mayonnaise or peanut butter jars as well. Check with neighbors and friends to see if they will save them for you. Or use a bag inside a five gallon bucket. Happy dehydrating!
 
pollinator
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Any old jam jar or even bottle will do. You can reuse soda bottles for small items like rice, personaly i keep large amounts of rice in 5L vinegar bottles, I keep all my spices in old jars, generally mustard or roe jars. dried vegetables are kept in huge old pickle jars. and all my beans live in large jars as well.
 
steward
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I reuse all my jars that store-bought stuff comes in so that I don't send them to a landfill. Pickles, salad dressing, mayo, jam, peanut butter, etc.

Everytime dear hubby says "put this in a ziplock bags", my first thought is to put it in a jar.

Dried foods might be best stored in glass jars.

I have not dried veggies though I dry a lot of herbs so I know to make sure they are very dry before putting them in the jars.
 
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Yes! to reusing jars

...and making sure things are crispy dry when jarred.

I like using a lot of small jars for most things.  Every time a jar is opened there's a chance of more humidity entering so for things we use a lot and open and close in the kitchen, I use pint and quart jars.  Gallons for deeper storage in the pantry though.

I've used 'baggies' a bit in the past and I think they are permeable to moisture unless super heavy plastic and with a heavy duty zip lock?  Glass is so much better storage.
 
master steward
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In line with Judith's comments, make sure the jars are dry.  I heat them up a little in a low oven before I seal them.
 
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I dehydrated a lot of food for  a while.

Stuff in ziploc bags tends to taste "off" after a few months, especially if stored with other kinds of food. I have thrown out a lot of food stored in ziploc bags, it just doesn't taste good. I tend to only ziploc bags for "going to use in the next month" stuff if I am completely out of jars, and repackaging things into individual portions for camping.

Glass jars are the longest lived, plastic jars are intermediate. I save jam jars, pickle jars, etc. Peanut butter jars and mayonnaise jars are probably my favourite plastic options. You can buy little mylar bags that apparently work well.

I like to save little silica packets from other food I buy and put them in for longer term storage, unfortunately, I store a lot more food than I get silica packets! I think they do help maintain quality, so I am planning on buying a bunch of packets for this year.

 
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