Author Topic: Vacuum food saver  (Read 2278 times)

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Online Pandora

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Vacuum food saver
« on: February 20, 2011, 03:39:20 PM »
Vaccum food saver?
Post by johnflorida on Nov 18, 2010, 4:39pm

Anybody have one? If not any opinions on the subject?I'm not sure if it's worth buying.Re: Vaccum food saver?
Post by irondiopriest on Nov 18, 2010, 4:51pm


Nov 18, 2010, 4:39pm, johnflorida wrote:
Anybody have one? If not any opinions on the subject?I'm not sure if it's worth buying.


I don't have one but I know people who do, and they're definitely worth it. Of course, for frozen food, you need a freezer, which means you need 'tricity (duh). But for dried food like jerky, beans, rice, pasta, dehydrated stuff, etc, they work excellent from what I'm told.

I have one of those light-duty things that use the (I think) Glad bags with the valve-hole. You put the rubber gasket of the vacuum device against the hole, and suck the air out. It's great for freezer stuff if you want to add a not-unsubstantial amount of freezer-life to frozen food. But for long-term vacuum sealing, they're not ideal.Re: Vaccum food saver?
Post by Pandora on Nov 18, 2010, 5:39pm

I've been using one and it's very good, as IDP writes, for longER-term freezer life and the same for dried food. Also, we got a large economy-size container of band-aids that we sectioned into smaller quantities and sealed those for longer life. I mentioned I have a pressure-canner? I bought an extra rubber lid gasket - they don't wear out real fast, but I wanted to have one - and I sealed that. In 20 years, that gasket will still be good as new if it isn't used by then.

Anything that you want to store for any longer length of time will benefit from lessened exposure to the air.

I've found it increases the time it takes for cheese to mold up in the refrigerator as well. I bought a lot of cheddar, cut it into smaller blocks and vacuum sealed it and it was still fine when we were ready to eat it weeks later.

WalMart sells the plastic bag rolls in a large quantity box. The directions say the bags can be re-used, but to do that you need to make the bag bigger than you need for the item at hand, and there's a lot of "lip" all around the item as it is (until you get the hang of keeping the waste to a minumum) and I don't re-use them if I've sealed meat in them. Which is most of what I use it for, for freezing.

Hope this helps.Re: Vaccum food saver?
Post by johnflorida on Nov 18, 2010, 6:48pm


Nov 18, 2010, 5:39pm, Pandora wrote:
I've been using one and it's very good, as IDP writes, for longER-term freezer life and the same for dried food. Also, we got a large economy-size container of band-aids that we sectioned into smaller quantities and sealed those for longer life. I mentioned I have a pressure-canner? I bought an extra rubber lid gasket - they don't wear out real fast, but I wanted to have one - and I sealed that. In 20 years, that gasket will still be good as new if it isn't used by then.

Anything that you want to store for any longer length of time will benefit from lessened exposure to the air.

I've found it increases the time it takes for cheese to mold up in the refrigerator as well. I bought a lot of cheddar, cut it into smaller blocks and vacuum sealed it and it was still fine when we were ready to eat it weeks later.

WalMart sells the plastic bag rolls in a large quantity box. The directions say the bags can be re-used, but to do that you need to make the bag bigger than you need for the item at hand, and there's a lot of "lip" all around the item as it is (until you get the hang of keeping the waste to a minumum) and I don't re-use them if I've sealed meat in them. Which is most of what I use it for, for freezing.

Hope this helps.


Helps a lot.Re: Vaccum food saver?
Post by rocketman on Nov 21, 2010, 7:39am

They are great!
One of the better things I use it for is multi-colored bell peppers. During their season, I buy lots of red, orange, and yellow (we both hate green), clean them, slice them, and then vacuum pack 'em. I use the peppers for EYEtalian, Messikan (fajitas), and Chinese meals I cook.
When you unpack those babies, they're as good as fresh.
It works just as well for fruits and jerky - yummmmmmmm ...

Re: Vaccum food saver?
Post by johnflorida on Nov 21, 2010, 9:46am


Nov 21, 2010, 7:39am, rocketman wrote:
They are great!
One of the better things I use it for is multi-colored bell peppers. During their season, I buy lots of red, orange, and yellow (we both hate green), clean them, slice them, and then vacuum pack 'em. I use the peppers for EYEtalian, Messikan (fajitas), and Chinese meals I cook.
When you unpack those babies, they're as good as fresh.
It works just as well for fruits and jerky - yummmmmmmm ...



You should try sun dried peppers I promise you will love them.Re: Vaccum food saver?
Post by peachykean on Jan 31, 2011, 3:07pm




Watch the video form BYU Living Essentials on canning meat and vacuum storage at http://www.byutv.org/watch/597-412

Scan the site for other good ones like cooking with legumes, they have some good ones.

Keep your nose in the wind and your eyes on the horizon!Re: Vaccum food saver?
Post by irondiopriest on Jan 31, 2011, 3:12pm

Welcome, peachykean! Thanks for the link.Re: Vaccum food saver?
Post by michelleo on Jan 31, 2011, 3:25pm

I have a Food Saver vacuum sealer. Love it. I buy bulk meat and portion and freeze. There's an attachment available for vacuum sealing small mouth jars, too, for dried goods. I buy bulk dried stuff, transfer to quart jars and vacuum seal those. I've used it for freezing veggies from the garden. When I had a tooth pulled, I got a Vicoden prescription filled I ended up not using and asked a doctor friend about preserving them to have on hand just in case. He said vacuum-seal and freeze which I did ( with the original prescription bottle so you have proof they were issued to you legally just in case).
Re: Vaccum food saver?
Post by irondiopriest on Jan 31, 2011, 3:46pm


Jan 31, 2011, 3:07pm, peachykean wrote:



Watch the video form BYU Living Essentials on canning meat and vacuum storage at http://www.byutv.org/watch/597-412

Scan the site for other good ones like cooking with legumes, they have some good ones.

Keep your nose in the wind and your eyes on the horizon!


What a great video. Just watched it in its entirety, and I have to admit that for some dumb reason, it never occurred to me to seek out resource material on responsible long-term food storage from the most prominent organization engaging in the practice!

Bravo! Bookmarked, and I'll be going to BYU for more.
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