Dry
pack canning is an easy way to help food last longer, also known as
preserving. A dry pack canner will can items that contain little or no
moisture. Ideal candidates for dry pack canning are foods like flour,
sugar, brown sugar, rice, brown rice, wild rice, oats, barley, pasta,
salt, Chex mix and other store-bought snack foods sold in bags (or
boxes), nuts, hard candies, jellybeans, popcorn (kernels only),
lentils, coffee (all freeze-dried, ground, individually bagged and bean
varieties), dried cherries, dry cereal, the gorps and trail mixes, and
wheat. These items are known collectively as dry goods and can be
purchased in bulk at your local club or feed store. Dry goods work well
for the dry pack canner and will store for varying lengths of time
depending on the item being canned.
Basically you want to fill the cans with the items you are canning. As seasoned dry pack canners like to joke, dry pack canning would be empty and unfulfilling otherwise. When filling your can, you always want to leave a little room for expansion. If the food is moister such as brown sugar or raisins (not listed above), you will want to leave a little more room. Maybe practice with clear jars first. Once your can is filled you put in an oxygen absorber packet. Then you take the can over to a dry pack canner and seal it shut. It is an easy process. Of course, maybe not for a quadruple amputee - dry pack canning accidents can and do occur - but even then, if the spirit is willing, it can probably be done. You can also save some money and reuse the can if you buy a special tool that will put a new lip on your can. The average canner can reuse a can about three times. I've managed five.
You can purchase a dry
pack canner at a store that sells dry pack canning equipment and
supplies. If you have a computer and access to the internet you can
Google "dry pack canners" to locate merchants who sell them. Some sites
that come up can trick you into shameful and extensively litigious
situations however. The canner itself is quite expensive too, so I
would recommend finding one that you can borrow instead, utilizing your
church circular or probation officer.
Dry pack canning also helps to keep vermin and insects out of your food storage. To prevent botulism and other contaminates it is not safe to dry pack can items that need pressure or heated canning such as fruits, vegetables, and vermin. (Some of the things I've seen people can, I just don't know.... It's why I stay dry.) If there is only one thing to remember about dry pack canning, and there is, it is that dry pack canning is only for dry goods.
Thanks again, and happy canning. If you use proper techniques, dry pack canning can create an optimal incubation and digging substrate for our most precious royal larvae.
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