Using desiccant to preserve your harvest.

DESICCANT INFORMATION

WHAT IS DESICCANT?
Desiccant is used to keep products dry by removing moisture from the air. It acts like a tiny sponge by adsorbing moisture into its pores and holding it there. White crystals, similar in appearance to coarse granulated sugar, are moisture adsorbent silica gel. Silica gel desiccant is approved for direct use with foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals.

Indicating desiccant, another silica gel product, contains blue crystals that turn pink when saturated with moisture, visually indicating that the desiccant needs replacement. This is very useful with highly sensitive equipment, when humidity and moisture can cause malfunctions and equipment failure. Indicating desiccant was first used to protect weapons in World War II.

Part of what makes desiccant so useful is that it can be refreshed. The adsorbed moisture can be driven out with dry heat and it can be used again and again and again... Simply place the packets in a 250 F oven for about 2 hours (but no more than five hours). You can also do the same thing in a microwave. Rotate evenly.

If stored with careful attention to keeping humidity out, desiccant will keep almost indefinitely. Our desiccant is packaged in 5 gram breathable packets allowing for maximum exposure when used. One 5 gram packet will maintain a 1 gallon volume of dry contents. Our food grade resealable air tight bucket with a handle holds two hundred (200) packets that are packed into eight separate resealable bags allowing access to only the amount you need, while protecting the rest for future use. Humidity indicating card allows visual inspection of moisture saturation capacity and reliability of the desiccant. (pricing)

Why do we say adsorption? Don't you mean absorption? Adsorption and absorption are two different things. Absorption occurs when a substance is chemically integrated into another. When you drink a glass of water, you are absorbing it, as the water becomes part of you. Adsorption occurs when one substance is being held inside another by physical bonds. If you spill a glass of water on your shirt, it is adsorbed as the fibers will hold the water until heat dries out the shirt.

HOW TO USE DESICCANT TO PRESERVE YOUR HARVEST

THE STORAGE CONTAINER

An air-tight container is essential.
The container should be sturdy so as not to degrade from the motions of long term storage (a plastic bag is not airtight nor sturdy enough). Glass and metal are excellent choices.
A seal that can be pryed off by accident or one that is too hard to re-seal is undesirable.
Mason or Ball canning jars or similar jars from the supermarket (clear or amber) with tight fitting screw top lids work best.

TECHNIQUE

IMPORTANT NOTE: Desiccant is not edible; please use care to ensure that it does not spill into your foodstuffs.

The key to storing your bounty for the long term is dry, dry, dry. It is the moisture content that determines whether you will have perfectly preserved consumable morsels in three years or not. The idea here, is to have the stock you want to put into storage, as dry as possible before going in and then take steps to deal with any moisture trapped, generated or leaked into your storage containers.

Place a large quantity of desiccant in your storage containers. Fill the remaining space with your product and seal on the lid. After about a week, unseal and replace the desiccant with fully charged dry desiccant and reseal. Continue to do this until the contents are sufficiently dry. For very moist items such as dried mushrooms, it may take a few times, but by then you can be sure the product is ready for long term preservation and storage. The amount of desiccant to use will vary with the moisture of the stock, the humidity (weather conditions and/or location) and your storage container. After your specimens are thoroughly dry, two fully charged 5 gram packets will maintain a 1 quart glass jar with a screw tight lid under almost all conditions.

SPECIFICS ON DESICCANTS AND RELATED PRODUCTS