GrannyJSmith – So sorry to hear about your flu. Hope you’ll be feeling better soon!
Muffy1938 & OldMtWoman – I used to think it might be a good idea to put a dessicant pack into my vacuum-sealed canning jars of dried foods along with the Oxygen absorber I usually put in there but then I read the advice on apartmentprepper.com and packfreshusa.com (and other websites), which says that an Oxygen absorber actually needs a tiny bit of moisture present in order to function properly. From what I understand now, adding a dessicant pack to a jar of already extremely dry foods could make the Oxygen absorber not work well enough. So, I don’t do that; I just make sure my dried foods are “crispy dry” and, before vacuum sealing them in a canning jar, I put them in a clear Ziploc-type bag on my kitchen counter for a couple of day, seal the bag, and periodically check to be sure no moisture condenses inside the bag. If any moisture condensation appears, I put the food back in the dehydrator for another hour or so and try again. If, on the other hand, no condensation shows up, then I put the dried food into clean, very dry canning jars, add an Oxygen absorber on top, place a canning jar lid/flat on top and vacuum-seal the jar. According to the information on packfreshusa.com, if you really feel you need to add a dessicant pack as well, then they recommend that you put the dessicant pack in the bottom of the jar, add the dried food, and then place the Oxygen absorber on top. Apparently that will reduce the chance that the dessicant pack will dry out the Oxygen absorber too much.