The boys and I have been busy preserving the bounty on our homestead, so I thought it was a great time to team up with some of my favorite self-reliance blogging friends for another food preservation equipment giveaway. I’ve also included a shortlist of my food storage and preservation articles on the website, and a chart showing how much longer vacuum sealing can extend shelf life for stored foods.
Food Preservation and Storage Posts on Common Sense Homesteading
- New to Food Preserving – Start Here
- Getting Started With Home Canning
- Getting Started with Home Food Drying
- Getting Started with Solar Cooking
- Root Cellars 101
- Getting Started with a Home Grain Mill
- View Full List of over 30 Food Storage Recipes
Preserving the Bounty Giveaway
What’s included in the giveaway:
Stainless Steel Ball Hot Water Canner – (List price $120.) This is a water bath canner for high acid foods like fruits, tomatoes and pickles. It holds up to seven quart jars at once. The triple layer base of thick aluminum fused between stainless steel provides even and efficient heat distribution is safe for all stove tops, including smooth top ranges. The double-riveted, loop side handles are encased in silicone for a safe, comfortable grip. The tempered-glass lid with steam vents lets you spy on your canning jars.
FoodSaver V3240 Vacuum Sealing System – (List price – $139.99) – I love my vacuum sealer for preventing freezer burn, and I also use it to extend the shelf life of dry goods. You can add an inexpensive attachment to use it to vacuum seal mason jars. This model has an upright design to save counter space, moist/dry settings to make sure you get the best possible seal, “CrushFree” sealing and a built in roll holder and bag cutter.
How much longer will vacuum sealed food last? FoodSaver offers the following food storage guidelines:
| FREEZER | Ordinary Storage | FoodSaver System |
|---|---|---|
| Beef, Game & Poultry | 6 months | 2-3 years |
| Fish | 6 months | 2 years |
| Soups & Stews | 3-6 months | 1-2 years |
| Coffee Beans | 6-9 months | 2-3 years |
| Vegetables | 8 months | 2-3 years |
| Bread | 6-12 months | 1-3 years |
| REFRIGERATOR | Ordinary Storage | FoodSaver System |
| Cheese | 1-2 weeks | 4-8 months |
| Lettuce | 3-6 days | 2 weeks |
| Berries | 1-6 days | 1-2 weeks |
| PANTRY | Ordinary Storage | FoodSaver System |
| Flour & Sugar | 6 months | 1-2 years |
| Rice & Pasta | 6 months | 1-2 years |
| Cookies | 1-2 weeks | 3-6 weeks |
I know I’ve seen a huge difference in the quality of my food storage since I started using my vacuum sealer. It was a very good investment.
Tattler Reusable Regular Canning Lids and Rubber Rings, BPA Free, Dishwasher Safe (Pack of 12)
Back to Basics 286 5-Piece Home Canning Kit
The giveaway also includes these books:
- Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
- Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving
- Preserving with Pomona’s Pectin (book)
Plus these bonus items…
- Ball Collapsible Funnel
- Pomona’s Pectin
- Hand Forged Lantern Hook
- Soap Nuts, wash bag and clip set
The total value of all the prizes is over $250!
Join in while we help you learn to Preserve the Bounty!
Here are the blogs participating and the extra prizes they are donating in this giveaway. Please try to take a moment to visit each one and maybe leave a comment.
- Simply Living Simply - Tattler Reusable Canning Lids
- Timber Creek Farm – Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
- Survival at Home
- Lil’ Suburban Homestead – Ball Collapsible Funnel
- Spring Mountain Living
- Common Sense Homesteading – Preserving with Pomona’s Pectin
- Peaceful Acres Farm
- Pasture Deficit Disorder
- Homestead Chronicles
- Homespun Seasonal Living - one box of Pomona’s Pectin
- Trayer Wilderness – Hand forged Lantern Hook
- Melissa K.Norris - Pioneering Today by Melissa K. Norris
- Whole New Mom – Soap Nuts, wash bag and clip set
- Game and Garden
- Amazing Graze Farm – Ball Blue Book of Canning
- Frontier Blessings
This contest is open from August 18 at 12:01 am eastern time and closes on August 24 at midnight. Anyone over the age of 18 and a legal resident of the contiguous 48 United States and the District of Columbia, may enter. (Sorry, Amazon prime does not cover Alaska and Hawaii.) Winner will be notified by email (so use an email that you check!) and the winner will have 24 hours to respond and claim the prizes. If we do not hear from the winner within 24 hours we will choose another winner with the same terms applying.
Please continue on to the rafflecopter widget below and get your entries in! We hope to get to know each and everyone of you as you visit our blogs and facebook pages. Thank you and good luck!
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