Mylar bags vs Vacuum sealing

Some ramble, hopefully of some use also
Oxygen is an issue for food storage, if you remove by vacuum [bags] or take it out of the air chemical reaction [oxygen absorbers turn iron into rust aka FeO2] or replace it with a non reactive gas such as CO2 or Nitrogen it will retard/stop breaking down of various foods. We can't really remove 'all' air or all oxygen very easily so we will get some levels left, though it slows it down because it's in lower concentrations.

Water is a factor also which is why dehydrated/freeze dried works so well. Heat another factor which is why freezers and storing in a cool place work and lastly light can have effect also, particularly UV light. So we want to keep it as dry as we can with as little oxygen as we can, in a dark place and if possible cool to get the greatest duration we can. Our main issues are food safety, water and temperature being important there. Also age has an effect so even if safe and even if kept well, food will degrade over time, losing it's taste, color and nutrients. Cans for instance if sealed should maintain being sterile [safety] and despite having high water content [which promotes degradation] will last a considerable time and yet we still get food degradation with loss in color, taste and nutrients.

In terms of the subject at hand, "Everything leaks slightly but the rate of leakage [glass tubes] is so slow that the performance has not been effected" - Professor Sir Martyn Poliakoff.


What all of this means is that Myler or vacuum bags both do fairly well and both leak slowly, letting in oxygen. Oxygen absorbers are a little helpful here. Myler with it's aluminum layer, particularly the thicker examples tends to do better over time but neither are as good as sealed glass for instance. So we want to slow the leak as much as possible, though at the same time we want to have it affordable.  Both will work, as we're getting rid of the oxygen [2 different method].  Both leak slowly.  Which is best?  I don't have the data, my guess is myler a 'little'

As I mentioned before you can also store things in other ways, recently [and it's in my links below] I described using a candle with a sealed bin.  The burning candle that was situated up high as CO2 sinks, used up much of the oxygen before going out.  Because it has an o-ring on the lid [you could probably use wax/silicone] it's fairly air tight, again it will leak slowly, though not too slow as the plastic is much thicker than myler or vacuum bag material and o-rings are pretty good seals also and obviously thicker. 

In terms of prices, if you ate chips you could re-use the myler bags they come with and seal them with an iron and they'd be free.  You can also use plastic drink bottles that are food safe and have a silicone seal up the top, keep them out of light and they're a great way to store grains/rice etc for free.  Better if oxygen absorbers are in them of course. 


In terms of storing 2 years, if you ate longer lasting foods then you could very well do that.  I also found that even a few months food took up 3 cupboards and that I didn't have the storage for more and even with the 3 months worth of food in practice I often have things running 18months in storage, so I don't want to be wasting it.  I also found that I would be unlikely to retrieve food if it were not in those 3 cupboards very often so chose a different strategy to have 3 tiers.  1st is the fridge that I could keep going for a few days without too much issue, 2nd is the cupboards with 2-3 months of food and third my long term storage which was in various places around the house that is in buckets and is all designed to last well past 10 years in storage.  This food I only go to if things are dire and I add a little more every year.  I'm more than happy to throw the oldest stuff out [put it in the compost] if need be, though I have been fine thus far and have ... well past a year in my 3rd tier.   


Yes, they help food last longer as do lots of other options that may also be cheaper and as good or perhaps better which is why I gave a description initially

Sugar - lasts practically forever even without proper storage. 
Wheat - lasts a generation [at least] even without proper storage.  - add a good grinder or sprout [get a few large sprouting/mesh bags so you can have ongoing supplies.  A side note, the cheapest and perhaps unbalanced [yet would keep you alive] food storage is 50kg of wheat which you could sprout [vitamin c] which would give you 86 days of food.  

Do you mean the Ball jars [used in pressure canning], as you can get a manual vacuum pump for them ? I've seen vacuum pumps for various bottles such as wine and so on also. If we're talking about the same things, their long life and ability to reuse.

We never keep the metal rings on our jars, its either water bathed or pressure canned so you dont need it or we use the plastic lids.

also fyi, ozfarmer have half gallon ball jars
www.ozfarmer.com/ball-mason-weck-and-bell-jars-and-bottles/jars-by-size/mason-jars-sizes-over-1000ml/ball-mason-half-gallon-2-litre-wide-mouth-jars-and-lids-case-of-6.html

I've had some really bad expirences with kmart glass. I had one of those immitation pyrex storage containers spontaneously combust... It just... Exploded. It was about 5m away from any person, empty... Just sitting on a table and BANG. Glass everywhere. I wouldnt believe it if I wasnt there.

I now stick to genuine pyrex and ball brand products only.

So back to the OP, Mylar bags *probably* have a slight advantage for keeping out o2 over vaccum bags due to the aluminium layer and will keep out light. You still need to vaccum seal them I'm guessing? The light issue would be sorted by just keeping your bags in a bucket... So is there an angle I'm missing?

Looks like Joeys order is happening so I just want to wrap my head around this and see if its somthing I should get in on.

Fair point mate. So they're interchangable with standard vaccum bags, just with the extra strength and protection?

I dont have a vaccum sealer yet and the price range is increadable... What sort of price should I be looking to pay and what sort of vaccum pressure should I be attempting to achieve... There seems to be a big spread to be sure.

Can anyone reccomend an entry level vaccum sealer?

Which vaccum sealer do you have? You happy with it? You mentioned you could hook it up to a ball jar which I really like the idea of as we already have plenty of them around.

This is the one ive got mate. Works well, has the suction feature for jars as well, but you still have to ensure the bags are fitted into the gutter correctly and then play with pulse to ensure its getting the air out. Im a meat man, i very much enjoy hunting and harvesting and then getting it to specific cuts etc. With a vac sealer you can 'wet age' the meat in the fridge to get it like restaurants that charge you upwards of $50 for a steak, or you can blanch the meat by throwing the vac sealed meat or fish into boiling water as well. Good preservative machine.

www.ebay.com.au/itm/Sunbeam-Food-Saver-Vacuum-Sealer-System-VS7800-/222245783798?hash=item33bee188f6:g:eLkAAOSw9IpX0~Ox

I spent a bit more than I should have when I bought the vacuum sealer - got the Sunbeam VS7800 - but it is really a good machine. I've had it for a couple of years now. The jar sealing attachment is an extra bit that I bought from somewhere else - perhaps ozfarmers??

I can't remember why I chose that model of vacuum sealer, but I think there was something it had that others didn't like perhaps the spot to attach the jar vacuum hose. There was definitely something that I thought I'd be disappointed to not have as a feature.

I got that attachment primarily thinking of vacuum sealing salad greens into jars to keep in the frig so they last longer and could be prepared for the week in one go making me more likely to use them, but I don't often use it for that. I do love vacuum sealing dry goods like dried fruit into jars though, and I'll gradually get more of the large ones so I can include more things - it is extremely convenient to just grab the next jar in a row for use, rather than opening a bag and emptying it into a container. And of course, the jars are great for reuse. If you have lots of jars I'm assuming that you preserve in them - it is very convenient to just use these jars for everything - jams and preserves for the shelf, leftovers in the frig, dry goods for the shelf, the jars without shoulders are great in the freezer with soup, etc. (Actually I have a stash of vacola jars which I use for preserving too.)

The sunbeam bags/rolls are expensive though. I have found that online stores sell bags/rolls much cheaper, but I try to get thick bags. I bought aldi roll of bags once, but returned it without even trying them as I didn't want to risk having poor quality bags.