Vacuum sealers, what are your opinions?

Do you have a specific vacuum sealer you prefer using, i.e.-Food Saver, Pump N Seal, etc.? How long do you think herbs last in long term storage, vacuum sealed and stored in the refrigerator? Years? Months?

I store my herbs in a mason jar, vacuum sealed with a Pump N Seal, and kept in the refrigerator. I also have a desicant pack in the mason jar, just in case.

Opinions?

i think it's better than a non vacuum jar. try one without and one with a vacuum and see if it affects taste and potency after a few months.

I just use a mason jar, and store the jars in a dark place

I guess I should have directed this question to people that vacuum seal their herbs.

Ive really been thinking about getting a pump n seal for my herbs. I usually keep them in baby food jars and the lids are hit and miss. Sometimes they go on correctly, other times they get cross threaded a little, and other times they decide that they want to seal like its nobodys business and I have to get something to get the lids off.

One thing I HAVE noticed consistently is my bud has a tendency to become crispy dry by the time I get to the end of it. (So I know more air is getting to it than is ideal)

Is there a reason you prefer not to store in the refrigerator?

I store my herbs in a mason jar, vacuum sealed with a Pump N Seal, and kept in a dark place. I think the Pump N Seal was almost made for our purpose, you can't get a better vacuum sealer that works better at sealing herb jars even 5 x the price.

Cool, thanks for the replies so far.

More people than I thought vacuum seal in a mason jar. Am I making a mistake storing in the refrigerator? I am looking to be able to store my herbs for a couple years or so.

Vicki says, "I am looking to be able to store my herbs for a couple years or so."

While I don't know that this method will make your stuff last several years ^^^ it may help with whatever method of sealing 'for posterity' you choose.

Oxidation seems to be the biggest 'bug' in storing almost anything. Sure there are other factors, UV, Heat, real bugs etc... but vacuum sealing (haha) seems to be about removing as much 'air' from the package as possible. Limiting the O2 available for degredation.

Get rid of the oxygen first and then seal in your preferred method.

Two substances come to mind and are fairly readily available.

Nitrogen and Carbon Dioxide.

I'll deal with CO2 :

CO2 is safe to handle if you use your head. Look up or ask about handling dry ice before you hurt yourself. It's like a hammer, a useful tool, but capable of injuring you if you use it wrongly. Wear protection. 'nugh said !

So CO2 is heavier than air. CO2 is stable (in a normal sense). CO2 is not a poison, but don't try surviving on 100% CO2, again read the cautions... again 'nugh said...

Dry Ice is readily available. Letting the dry ice sublimate to gaseous CO2 will displace air from the bottom up in a container. A clean sink with a cardboard bottom (to catch any shake from going down the drain. Go ahead and tape off the drain hole, the P trap will stop the CO2 from escaping down the drain, but no sense loosing a speck.

So you have some sort of tub and dry ice and stuff. The dry ice will take some time to go away, don't hurry, even stir your stuff around in the sink of CO2 to ventilate it and get rid of remaining 'air'... A pound or two of dry ice would supply a sink with CO2 for a half hour or more of steady CO2 (depending on conditions... Oh, cardboard is an insulator and most sinks are heat sinks (conductor) , not good insulators so . . .

So, you have displaced the 'air' in your stuff and the intended receptacle... proceed . . . how much extra time will you get? Who knows... but if it was worth saving it was worth an extra couple bucks and a little extra effort.

+++

Colder stuff last longer. Just don't take it in and out of the reefer or freezer without letting it come to room temperature before opening. Any good cameraman or musician knows you don't open the case till everything is at room temperature or you will get condensation. Long term storage should go into the deep freezer, not your refrigerator's freezer if you have the option. deep freezers stay colder.

Thanks!


Wouldn't storing in the freezer hurt the herbs?

This study shows that freezing halts the decomposition of the active ingredients while refrigeration only slows it.

http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.additional-resource.php?resourceID=000187

Another vote for the pump n seal. I have 2 year old product that is excellent. I also like the setup Lo has. As mentioned low oxygen is a big deal. Freezing isn't an option for me. Some or most if the benefit of freezing is to limit the chemical reactions with oxygen. I can say the stuff slow cures really well under vacuum. Not sure freezing is as convenient.

I thought vacuum sealing would negate the need for freezing.

Airbags don't negate the need for seatbelts. If you see what I mean.

Your question was about 'LONG' term storage of a valuable product. CO2 - Vaccum - Freeze ... it's the best advice I can give, doing any one will help, doing any two will help more. Doing all three? Well, why put something away long term, then not go all the way, to be as safe as possible? You're not storing schwag, right?

And the post about freezing vs. refrigeration should give you a clue that temperature is important and room temps are obviously less desirable.

I believe it does to a degree. Both vacuum and freezing reduce the degrading effects of O2

That does make sense. No, I'm not storing schwag.


I was just concerned about freezing glass mason jars.

Didn't think you were, that's why the extra trouble.

They make jars specifically for the freezer extra thick walls and sloped with a wide mouth. These are precautions for freezing liquids (which expand with considerable force when frozen) you won't break a mason jar just freezing it, but the extra thick glass is worth getting IMO just for safety, broken glass from a bump can still happen. These small freezer jars you can stand on.

I wasn't aware that Ball made mason jars that were safe for the freezer. I'm glad I didn't put my regular mason jars in the freezer!

Like the above comments say, I along with a few other people find long term storage in the freezer (vac, or not vac sealed) works a treat.....

I personally use a foodsaver compac II, it works great....

I have a piece of bread vac sealed (and not refridgerated/frozen) from about ~2years ago that would set you straight..

Ill upload a photo of it later...
Peace

Oh, just thought id also mention...

I VERY rarely use jars, and almost exclusively use vac seal bags, I just find the storage factor, and also the fact that the bag is obviously air tight and has the smallest possible amount of air/bacteria/mould spores etc....

What works for me mightn't work as well for you tho, im in Australia and I have been told its backwards land down here... lol

I checked and can confirm the breads was actually sealed around June 2009... As you can see time has taken its toll and dont think the toaster would help this one (maybe a furnace)... it looked fine for a few months, and then went downhill with white mold looking patches appearing and althought the growth seemed to eventually stop (I figure as the air and moisture ran out) and even though the bread looks not to bad for something 1.5years old the vac sealing definately didnt stop mold growing, but in the freezer i would put money on the fact that this same bread in a glad zip lock bag would have done MUCH better over this time.....


This is the one I use and can seal glass jars and glass bottles with the attachment, and obviously the vac seal bags which I use most of the time.

Thanks for all the info!

Someone told me that if the herbs are not cured totally or properly, freezing draws moisture to the surface of the buds, which can harm the resin glands on the surface. That's another reason I have avoided the freezer.

I always try to seal a 'clump' if that makes sense rather than a thin layer (trying to limit surface area herbs<>plastic bag) but i know what your saying,, although haven't really experienced much of a problem there myself.. A friend of mine solely stores his in the freezer in normal glad bags, (due to the fact he once had a whole shit load go moldy), I guess if its not cured well (like his sometimes isnt when he gets it) it could loose a little potency (but I wouldn't expect a a big loss) but in saying that, the same "not cured properly" weed obviously wouldn't last long at all in a bag outside a freezer it could possibly go moldy in a month or less...

Ive also been told before glass is better than plastic because (as ive found over the years) the resin seem to magically fuse with the bags and after a while you have very milky white looking bags floating around.. As a habbit i always reuse the same bags over and over when sealing to avoid new bags getting caked, although dont know if this actually helps at all....

Maybe someone else that uses mason jars alot could tell us,, is it the same with jars after a while turning opaque almost because of sticky christals? I also dont know if static has anything to do with it so im just curious now...