*Electric Mason Jar Vacuum Sealer*
By: Freya
31 October 2023
Updated 30 March 2024

Five Months Update:

I still love it! I find I'm using more of my previously empty mason jars for food storage instead of bags or plastic containers. So I'm saving space too! Haven't had a single seal failure since I started using this back in October. Just this week I opened a #10 can of freeze dried corn, and repackaged into 3 quarts and one pint after using what I wanted. (I have to keep it sealed, I can eat this corn like candy if it's open :-)

It maintains a battery charge as advertised, and recharged quickly (although I've only recharged it once during these 5 months, and it wasn't actually low but I just thought it was a good idea). The battery display that comes up after you use it is very helpful.

I usually run quart jars to 30 seconds (it has a built in second clock) but I think the 20 seconds they recommend would actually be sufficient. You can hear the sound change just like a food saver.

If you don't have one of these in your pantry I strongly recommend it. There are many listings now, I selected this one based on recommendations from a food storage group I'm in.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CD24BD36/

Original Article:

I store many dehydrated and dry goods in canning jars; both wide mouth and narrow mouth. Up until now, I drag out my Foodsaver machine to vacuum seal and re-vacuum seal jars after getting what I need out of the jar. I don't have room that I'm willing to sacrifice on my counters for the Foodsaver to stay out all the time, so I usually keep a little stash of jars on the shelf waiting to be resealed. Luckily we live in a very dry climate so there's no problem with moisture.

Then I saw a product that seemed like a really good idea: a hand-held rechargeable jar vacuum sealer. I read a lot of reviews and watched some youtube videos. And I decided to order this one: Kitool Electric Mason Jar Vacuum Sealer Kit for Wide-Mouth & Regular-Mouth Mason Jars. I purchased this on Amazon. It is made in China, which I try and avoid but there's not a similar product made elsewhere.

This is a wonderful tool to have in your kitchen. I haven't had it long enough to test the battery capacity yet, but it arrived with 57% battery and I have already successfully sealed several jars with no drop in battery level. The battery level and the time in seconds you have been running the machine are displayed on the top of the lid, a very handy indicator. It can be recharged using a solar panel with a usb-c charging port if necessary, although I haven't need to recharge it to determine the time needed.

The bottom detaches to give you access to the large mouth jar sealer. I have used this on both size jar openings, using the lids they send (cheap no-name ones) and regular canning jar lids. Every seal has been successful. The instructions say to run it 20 seconds for dry foods; being an overachiever I did 30 seconds. All the seals were good, and I will try some at 20 seconds to see if that's sufficient for a good seal. Note that the vacuum sealer does NOT turn off by itself. You must push the power button to turn on and off.

To help avoid damaging the lids when removing them, I am also going to order a mason jar opener. The seal is tight like a pressure canned lid and using a regular jar opener on the lid sometimes damages the lid so it can't be reused for this purpose.

I definitely recommend that anyone who regularly uses vacuum sealers on jar consider purchasing one of these. Not a "necessary" accessory, but definitely one that will make my day easier!



Top of lid showing battery percentage



Top of lid while sealing showing seconds



Unit sitting on a large mouth ball jar ready for sealing



What came in the package

Freya

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