topic Re: Food Vacuum Sealer - What do you use it for most? in Kitchen

Food Vacuum Sealer - What do you use it for most?

house_cat — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 04:26:38 GMT

I resisted for years and finally broke down and purchased the Food Sealer.

Now I'm wondering if I really needed it.

For what do you use it most?

Re: Food Vacuum Sealer - What do you use it for most?

jb20 — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 04:49:45 GMT

I use mine mostly for meat. If I buy an economy package of meat like hamburger or chicken breasts, I break it up into smaller quantities and vacuum seal it and then freeze it. Then I use it when I need it. I also vacuum sealed the leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and will use it later. I also vacuum seal cheese so it lasts longer in the refrigerator.

Re: Food Vacuum Sealer - What do you use it for most?

sissel — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 05:17:00 GMT

Two of us and love it. I vacuum hard cheese & meats. I do freeze any pastries 1st then vacuum seal (not all the way) them. So much better than freezer bags. When fresh veggies on sale, blanch them vacuum seal. You can even have flat bags & stack them on top to save room in your freezer. I even boil them in the bags if I have cooked meat & gravy for a fast meal. I have even put (not raw meat) bags in the dishwasher to reuse again. I can portion food for 2 people. I love the sealer & will never be without it.

Re: Food Vacuum Sealer - What do you use it for most?

Kachina624 — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 05:47:29 GMT

I've had two and neither worked for long so I'm finished with them.

Re: Food Vacuum Sealer - What do you use it for most?

libbyannE — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 06:41:22 GMT

Never bought one. I use freezer bags for such things as cheese, blueberries, meat that I buy in bulk and divide.

Re: Food Vacuum Sealer - What do you use it for most?

stampingpaperdoll — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 12:30:23 GMT

Love my vacuum sealer-would never be without it as I never have to throw frozen meat away. I buy in bulk and cut up and freeze. I also marinate meat in it-it is just the best.

Re: Food Vacuum Sealer - What do you use it for most?

Sweetbay magnolia — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 13:05:27 GMT

Hi, and Seasons Greetings, @house_cat! I checked, and Cheryl Mendelson has no specific recommendation (chuckle).

Thank you for recommending that book last year - one of the best gifts my husband has bought me!

Re: Food Vacuum Sealer - What do you use it for most?

momtochloe — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 14:00:22 GMT

@house_cat as it's just me, I use mine all the time. I overbought on cut up butternut squash at Thanksgiving so I sealed the reminder up and will use it for Christmas. I too like to buy in bulk (but I do need to get better at labeling the packages as sometimes what I planned for dinner suddenly changes course so to speak . . . ).

Mine is from Aldi's and does a good job for the money.

. . .

debic — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 15:17:13 GMT

Everything. I have over a hundred canning jars for dry goods. I buy in bulk and have a large storeroom in my basement.

Pretty much the same for the bags. I dice up onions and freeze them in 1 cup bags, garlic gets cooked and mashed and put in cubes before vacuuming. Meat, broth, fruit, vegetables.

Re: Food Vacuum Sealer - What do you use it for most?

KaySD — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 16:34:26 GMT

Yes to all the ideas so far. It really does keep food in better condition than wraps or bags. And it's genius for portion control of anything perishable. I freeze most things in the bags before I seal them.

On a recent trip, I sealed my liquid toiletries for my check in suitcase. Nice flat pack and no worries about spilling. Didn't work on the trip home, of course!

I've also sealed small hardware parts that go with things I've purchased--those pesky extra screws, tiny Allen wrenches, that sort of thing. They don't get separated and lost.

You can seal a paintbrush if your project gets interrupted and you're not sure when you'll continue. Just squeeze out as much paint as possible first. The brush is protected from dirt and drying out. I love to use good brushes and hate washing them.

Re: Food Vacuum Sealer - What do you use it for most?

froggy — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 16:44:21 GMT

I regularly buy meat and cheese in bulk, then divide and seal when I get home. It really prevents freezer burn and keeps everything fresh for months. I also use it for breads.

Re: Food Vacuum Sealer - What do you use it for most?

Abrowneyegirl — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 16:49:46 GMT

I have say I quickly found it a pain to store and I never really could make the time to use it......I donated it to the Thrift store.

Re: Food Vacuum Sealer - What do you use it for most?

house_cat — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 16:59:10 GMT

I'm so glad I asked!

You made some suggestions that wouldn't have occurred to me.

I was thinking of prepping individual salads to take to work each day. I do that frequently, but even in my cherished L&L they look a little saggy by Friday.

I resisted for a long time because the reviews were not stellar, but I decided to give it a try. I won't really have time to play with it until tomorrow, but I tried a package of sliced cheese and it worked beautifully. I'm making homemade sauce and meatballs tomorrow and looking forward to sealing some meatballs for another time. Normally, when I freeze meatballs I first freeze them on a cookie sheet so they stay separate. I suppose it's the same process for this?

I don't have a lot of kitchen space, so I purchased the flip-up model and I'm very happy with the size of it.

Again, thanks for all the suggestions.

Re: Food Vacuum Sealer - What do you use it for most?

Nightowlz — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 17:05:08 GMT

We use it mostly for meat. I buy it when it's on sale & vacuum seal it. Our freezer in the garage is full.

We eat bacon on the weekend so I vacuum seal it so it stays good until we finish the pack. If we open a pack of sandwich meat we will vacuum seal it because we hardly ever eat it. I also seal yeast so it will stay fresh.

I also seal stuff like diced onions, celery etc when I have extra & freeze for soups/stews.

We basically seal anything we have opened that will not get ate fast. LOL!!!

Re: Food Vacuum Sealer - What do you use it for most?

Chicagoan — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 18:17:23 GMT

If my Foodsaver broke down today, I would be getting a new one today! I live alone but still cook like I am cooking for a family, when I cook it has to be worth my effort. I freeze meals in individual serving and it always tastes like I just cooked it when thawed and reheated. About a month ago I made spaghetti and meatballs in the pressure cooker, I froze about 5 Foodsaver bags. I thaw out overnight in the fridge and warm up, it tastes better than the day I cooked it. Just had it for lunch today. I divide up meat and freeze by individual servings. I make 3 lbs of taco meat at a time and freeze in packages, always ready for Mexican cooking. I also use canning jars to vaccum seal and marinate meat. I never put my machine away, I am using it constantly and if I put it away, I probably would not be using as often.

Re: Food Vacuum Sealer - What do you use it for most?

chickenbutt — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 19:44:35 GMT

Put me down for pretty much everything, too.

It's invaluable if you want to properly store different foods.

If you are setting out to vac seal meats, my recommendation is that you either fully freeze, or you can even just par-freeze, the meat first. That way it's already expanded and you can have a perfect seal. Furthermore, it precludes liquids from being sukked out and into the machine, which you totally don't want!

This is the only way to preclude breakdown and freezer burn. Anything short of vacuum sealing allows air to enter to th food and the oxygen in air is what will cause degeneration.

Some dry goods I just put in Lock & Lock, but some of those I even vac seal in measured portions because it takes up less space and I KNOW that the food will be perfectly good for years.

Re: Food Vacuum Sealer - What do you use it for most?

house_cat — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 14:29:18 GMT

@chickenbutt

I don't have enough room to store anything for a long period of time. Any meat I buy is used within the month. In this case, do you still think it's necessary to par freeze it before vacuum sealing it?

Thank you.

Re: Food Vacuum Sealer - What do you use it for most?

Zhills — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 19:01:34 GMT

I believe that par freezing keeps the Food Saver from sucking the liquid out of the meat so it will not get into the maching. Like freezing soup. Freeze it in a bown and then vacuum seal.

Re: Food Vacuum Sealer - What do you use it for most?

chickenbutt — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 19:26:14 GMT

Zhills wrote:
I believe that par freezing keeps the Food Saver from sucking the liquid out of the meat so it will not get into the maching. Like freezing soup. Freeze it in a bown and then vacuum seal.

Exactly. Plus, when meat is frozen the fibers expand a bit. Having it at least par-frozen before vac sealing it gives you the best seal without stretching out the bag material. I know it is minor but I'm a bit of a perfectionist with doing stuff right.

Or, you could at least wrap it in cellophane and that would help. You just don't want to destroy your vac sealer by having fluids get in there. Plus it's messy.

None of it really has much to do with how long you will be storing it.

Re: Food Vacuum Sealer - What do you use it for most?

Bigbear52 — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 19:49:19 GMT

I have sa Waring Pro pistol vacuum sealer,it's rechargeable. Wotrks great, I just csn't afford the bags. Can't find them in the big box stores, so it's either HSN where I purschased it or Amazon. I was wondering, and going try the Food Saver zipper vacuum bags to see if they would work.