VACUUM AND NITROGEN PACKING

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To store grain and dry goods for years, keep them in plastic bags filled with nitrogen and seated inside plastic tubs or metal cans.

You can have food-quality nitrogen delivered and empty containers picked up by medical gas suppliers. It comes in pressure bottles similar to propane tanks (don't try liquid nitrogen). The long bottles must be supported upright in a rack or wheeled daily, and you'll need to rent or buy a nitrogen pressure regulator to keep the gas at low pressure.

For easy filling and sealing, store everything to be nitrogen-packed-even if it is to go into a hard container-inside plastic pouches. (Ziploc-style is easiest, as the bags are boilable/sterilizable alone or with produce inside and are washable and reusable.)

To fill with nitrogen, seal all but a corner of the Ziploc, then squeeze out as much air as you can. Hold bag upright so heavy nitrogen will fill the bag and force lighter oxygen up and out. Fill to puff-full with nitrogen; continue to hold bag upright for a few more seconds, then press out most of the gas and seal.

As an extra safeguard, get one of those inexpensive barbecue lighters with a plastic handle that produces its little flame with a piezo-spark at the end of a long, metal snout. As you fill the Ziploc with nitrogen, hold the flaming lighter at the opening. When the flame goes out, you know that all the oxygen has been driven out.

Preserving Vegetables And Fruits
Freezing and Canning

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