You can use wide or regular canning lids, and you can use them over and over. Just make sure they are clean and not bent. You must use glass jars but they need not be mason. If you are short of jars like I was, try putting out the word to family and neighbors who may want to clear out old bottles. Lots of people have dozens of unwanted jars and don't can anymore. I offered to pay .25 a jar. One nice lady was glad to give me a couple of boxes if I wanted to take care of the 30 year old contents! We composed it and the jars cleaned up nicely.
The wide mouth jar sealer accessory.
After filling your jar, place a clean, dry lid on the rim and press the accessory firmly over the jar. Follow the instructions from your seal-a-meal appliance and the whole process takes a short minute.
Mark is not a neccesary part of the sealing process, but his newly lost tooth provided a distraction while I was taking pictures. He was anxious to show how his tongue liked to squeeze through the new gap.
It's doing it's thing!
After the lights blink off, press the Open/Cancel button. A soft hissing sound, and you're ready to take the sealer off the jar and . . .
Wa-la! Your oatmeals' freshness is sealed for . . . a long time! Dark and cool will extend its life even longer. Of course you can take off the lid any time, use what you want and reseal it again and again. COOL!
Note: If you're sealing something powdery you need to put it in a plastic bag like a zip-loc, squeeze out the air, then put it in the jar. Otherwise, the powder may gum up your machine. You can seal storebought things too, like individually packaged granola bars. You need to cut into each wrapping, put it in jar and vacuum seal. No oxygen - no spoilage!
