Are oxygen absorbers necessary?

[Rebel Prepping]

Trying to experiment with home made MRE's at low cost but oxygen absorbers are pushing the price up. From what i've seen people always use oxygen absorbers in mylar bags. However having looked into the history of food storage it doesn't seem like oxygen absorbers actually make a big difference. If you squeeze all the air out by hand and have an air tight seal it shouldn't affect the longevity. I was just wondering if anyone has stored food without oxygen absorbers in mylar bags and had positive results. thank you.

[Deeps]

Not mylar but I vacc seal dehydrated meals in the plastic ones. I 'armour' the bag by putting the contents in smaller open bags within the vacc sealed bag. Probably the longest I've had is about 18 months and it was fine.

[itsybitsy]

I always use them when I store food in mylar and in my opinion they definitively do a good job os sucking any residual air from the bag.

[Brambles]

I think it all depends how long you want the contents of your MRE's to last. For long term food storage it's advisable to remove the oxygen by either displacement, exclusion or absorption.
This paper gives all the info you are likely to need and best practices.

http://www.terrapsych.com/Prudent%20foo ... %20FAQ.pdf

[ukpreppergrrl]

Mylar has the advantage of opacity but if you're keeping these things inside a box or other opaque container that is less of a requirement. I've had varying results with oxygen absorbers - I guess it depends on their state when you get them: some of them remove the oxygen, others don't. The problem with that is when they don't you have to open up the bag, add another and seal the bag again. So I go along with Deeps' policy now: I store in vacuum sealed plastic and then in an opaque box. Or I store in Mason style jars and use a break bleeder and Foodsaver Jar adapter to remove the air.

[itsybitsy]

Mylar has the advantage of opacity but if you're keeping these things inside a box or other opaque container that is less of a requirement. I've had varying results with oxygen absorbers - I guess it depends on their state when you get them: some of them remove the oxygen, others don't. The problem with that is when they don't you have to open up the bag, add another and seal the bag again. So I go along with Deeps' policy now: I store in vacuum sealed plastic and then in an opaque box. Or I store in Mason style jars and use a break bleeder and Foodsaver Jar adapter to remove the air.

I prefer take a belt and braces approach. So I leave my product in its packaging, but prick the packaging a few times, then I put it in the mylar bags, with oxygen absorbers. I then store those in a plastic tote box. There's no one *right* way, it's all down to personal preference.

[Post]

I’ve got a question, if you are prepping rice/flour/pasta etc. Do the oxygen absorbers go in the bag with the food or in the container separate from the food?

[ukpreppergrrl]

If the food is in a sealed bag they go in with the food. You need to remove the oxygen around the food itself. If the food is in a bag that has been pricked as itsy says then it doesn't matter: the holes in the packaging around the food allow the oxygen to be absorbed. But generally the less oxygen there is to absorb the better the absorbers work. So pricking a bag and putting it into a large container with an absorber in the container isn't as effective as opening the bag, putting the absorber in the bag and then resealing the bag

[Stonecarver]

With the dry goods ie rice lentils I use my vacuum sealer with my mylar bags to suck air out from then. Add a oxygen absorber for extra safety

[hobo]

With the dry goods ie rice lentils I use my vacuum sealer with my mylar bags to suck air out from then. Add a oxygen absorber for extra safety

Ooh, I was wondering if I could use my Mylar bags that way. Thanks!