Hi, new here. I have a question and was wondering if anyone out there had any ideas. My husband recently deployed to Afghanistan and he would like some of his favorite comfort foods sent to him from time to time. I was wondering if there was a way to preserve some of these foods without using the heavy glass canning jars. (the main thing he's wanting is homemade chili) Is it possible to preserve chili in vacuum sealed bags and mial it to him without it spoiling? We can't ship with dry ice and it takes roughly one to two weeks for the mail to get there. I can use the jars, but I would prefer not to (be worried they would break in shipping, and could send more if I didn't have to use glass jars) Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.
They are doing this stuff in foil packages, MREs, tuna, but it is all commerial, I don't know anything for in home use. I have two suggestions that might be worth trying. Make just a chili base and send him canned beans and tomatos to add to it. Glass jars would be smaller that way. But still leaves you with the same issues. My other thought was a food dehydrater. Make your chili, dry it to a mix, and send it to him that way. Where he can add water and heat. You'd have to play with this at home first, but it might just work.
Hi, I have the food saver vacuum system. I have vacuumed sealed liquids before in their bags. You either have to be really careful & use extra large bags so the stuff does not spill out, or freeze it before hand, then put it in the bags & seal it. Then it can thaw out & be sealed securely. Also, they make all kinds of plastic vacuum jars that could work too. But like on the other post, it probably would be a great idea to vacuum seal all the special ingredients seperately in little bags, then he can just add water. But you should definetely get the food saver! Make sure you get the one that can accomodate the bags & canisters though. Good Luck, Rachel
One of the UPS drivers I work with was sent to Iraq. I made him boiled peanuts and homemade cookies and vacaum sealed them. They were fresh when he got them.
You can buy FOOD GRADE mylar bags (similar to that used for backpacking foods) here on eBay. That might be an alternative to glass jars.
There's also a site on the internet that sells stainless steel lunch containers (for tree huggers like me, to cut down on the use of plastics) called To-Go Ware (with shipping overseas, I'd still seal it all in plastic, THEN ship the plastic in a To-Go Ware canister to prevent leaks along the way).
There are also some GREAT canned meats available, including pre-cooked canned ground beef, ground sausage, ground chicken, or bacon (yes, pre-cooked canned bacon - YUM!). I buy canned meats & cheese (& even butter) from seller scyros35 at MREdepot here on eBay. *Note: The ground beef tastes best when allowed to brown in the skillet a bit longer than you would with fresh burger.
Personally, I'd ship the perishable/wet ingredients still in their store cans, then add your spices, etc. combined together in another sealed bag (so that it is still "homemade"), then add a bottle or two of water for cooking, plus of course your recipe for putting it all together, maybe a bag of Fritos Scoops, & of course, a good can opener, & maybe even a large electric skillet, wooden spoon, & ladle. :-) Then maybe a photo of you cooking chili at the stove, & maybe one of you (& family) sitting at the table eating chili & looking at the camera, so he can look at the photos as he eats & feel like you are all eating together. That way it still seems like a care package from home, but without the risk of shipping the final product. All the extras you include will give it your personal touch, even though he combines everything there himself.
Seriously, though, I wouldn't take the chance of food spoilage during shipment - he'll have a hard time passing up your chili, even if it arrives "off", & you don't want him to get stomach discomfort. An earlier poster suggested shipping it all still in the cans, & letting him combine it all there, & I whole-heartedly agree with that.
I posted eBay auctions with some of the products mentioned. Hope these ideas helped. :-)
Must use Buy It Now and PayPal.
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