Oxygen Absorber for Cakes & Pastries Fresh Keeping

What Are Oxygen Absorbers?

Oxygen absorbers, also called "oxygen scavenger", "O2 absorber" are little packages containing iron.  When you put the oxygen absorber (OA) into an airtight container, the oxygen molecules "stick" to the iron.  OAs can reduce the amount of oxygen in a container to less than 0.01%. (1)

Keep in mind that air is about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other gases.  Oxygen absorbers only remove the oxygen. However, nitrogen does not cause food to spoil.

Benefits to Using Oxygen Absorbers:

• Keeps food from degrading due to oxidation

• Prevent mold and bacteria from growing on the food (mold and most bacteria* require oxygen to grow)

• Preserve flavor

• Prevent vitamins from being destroyed by oxidation

• Kill pests (tiny pest eggs that are invisible to the eye may be on your food; without oxygen, they cannot hatch)

How Many Oxygen Absorbers Should I Use?

Oxygen is in the food container in two places:

In the space between the food

Inside the actual food

If you want to keep the food safe for long-term storage, you'll need to remove virtually ALL of this oxygen. This means making sure you use enough OAs.

Below is a general guideline of how many oxygen absorbers you will need. However, the amount can vary depending on whether your batch of beans is uniform in size (lots of air space between the beans) or varying in size (less space between the beans).

If you want to know precisely how many OAs you need, you'll need to do some math. I've included the math in the dropdown for those who are interested.

It is always best to play it safe - use more oxygen absorbers than you think you need!  Using extra oxygen absorbers won't impact the food. OAs are cheap, better to spend an extra 25 cents on an additional oxygen absorber than throw away 5 gallons of food when it's needed most.

What Foods Can Be Stored with Oxygen Absorbers?

Just about any dry and low-fat food can be stored with oxygen absorbers. This includes foods like:

• Flour

• Whole grains

• Pasta

• Dried beans

• Powdered milk

• Cereal

• Freeze-dried food

• Spices

Note: Not all foods are oxygen sensitive.  For example, whole grains, peas, and beans aren't too sensitive to oxygen.  If you plan on using the foods within 5 years, there won't be too much difference in freshness regardless of whether you use an OA or not.

However, oxygen absorbers do protect against pests and have other benefits like preserving nutrition.  Since OAs are pretty cheap, I recommend using them with all dry foods you want to store for 12+ months.

How to Store Unused Oxygen Absorbers

The moment you take oxygen absorbers out of the package, they will start to absorb oxygen. After around 2-4 hours, they'll have absorbed their maximum capacity of oxygen.

You must plan what to do with any unused oxygen absorbers before you begin working. Ideally, you will reseal oxygen absorbers in the packaging they came in.  Then you vacuum seal them.

If this isn't an option, you can also store unused oxygen absorbers in a mason jar.  Fill up any extra space in the jar with marbles (or something similar).  The less air that is in the jars, the less air the unused OAs will absorb.   Be sure to seal the jar tightly!

Configurations and packing details

Relative products--food vaccum sealer bags (rolls):