Vacuum Food Sealers - Tips And Tricks To Operating One

My husband and I tend to be extremely sensible people, even in our present giving. One year, we gave our family members that did not previously own one a vacuum food sealer. I've used one for twenty four years and couldn't bear to be without one.

I guess that I've utilized one for such a long time that I didn't think about the "learning curve" for using one of these great kitchen helpers. My telephone line was on fire with questions from the gift receivers about the best way to make use of their new-fangled toy. So, here we go - a few tips and tricks to operating a vacuum food sealer.

Using Bags

1. Use the rolls in lieu of the pre-cut bags. You may cut them to any span you require.

2. Wrap all your items in plastic wrap. That way you may reuse the bag without having to wash it. That means cheese, bacon, hot dogs, and so on.

3. Make the bags about two times as long as you require them to be. That way, as you use partial portions of your item, you have room to reseal the bag several times.

4. Pre-freeze all meats in Saran wrap (See # 2), then vacuum seal. Make the serving sizes any size you need, but keep in mind, the smaller the size, the quicker the item will thaw.

5. Be aware of meat with jagged bones. I went through three bags once because I didn't notice that a bone was piercing a tear in my bag. I put a Saran wrap "patch" over it. Just construct a small square of several layers of folded up Saran and put it on top of the sharp area prior to your wrapping it in the plastic wrap - that usually does the trick.

6. If you are freezing items with liquids, such as stew or cooked vegetables containing liquid, freeze the items first. You can use a ziplock bag, freeze it, then vacuum seal. This may seem a bit wasteful, but everything keeps longer if it is vacuum sealed. Another word of advice for freezing liquids. When you place your zip lock bag in the freezer, form layers using cut up cardboard stuck between the packs. That way, they freeze level, like an envelope and will not bond together. You can create your vacuum seal bag big enough to hold several packages (See # 3). You can also make use of freezer bowls, but you'll have to take the item from the bowl to vacuum seal it.

7. Pre-freeze items such as pie crust dough and pizza crust dough in batches in Saran wrap, then vacuum seal them. Once you're all set to make use of them, remove the amount you require and leave them in the refrigerator the day before you require them and they're prepared to go. You can make numerous batches at the same time to save time and cleanup.

Using Wide Mouth Canning Jars

1. Nearly all of the vacuum sealers come with an attachment that can seal wide mouth canning jars. I use this to seal dried beans, rice, pasta, flour, peanuts, ground coffee, tea bags. The list is endless.

2. Make sure that the lids you make use of have never been used in a canning procedure or they won't seal correctly. Just attempt to keep them in a different part of your kitchen so you don't combine them in among the other ones. The lids will last for a long time, but if you need new ones, you may pick them up at the grocery store in the canning aisle. All you want is the flat part. Never use the screw top part with this, it isn't required and may cause the seal to break.

3. Periodically clean the attachment that fits on top of the jar with a wet paper towel since on occasion, you can have a slight build up of dusty substances, like flour.

4. You may use jars to freeze liquid things such as soups and stews if you have space in your freezer, however this will take up a fair amount of space.

Using Vacuum Seal Canisters

1. The majority of the makers offer canisters in lots of different sizes with their systems. I'm not sure if they're interchangeable or not. I would simply play it safe and use ones that my unit offers.

2. Canisters can be used for any dry goods like breakfast cereals, cream of wheat, oatmeal, corn chips, snacks, bread crumbs, baking staples such as flour, baking powder, sugar, etc. In other words - any items that you don't want compressed and anything that you would normally store in a canister.

3. I utilize them for fresh vegetables and fruits. I clean the items, dry them and vacuum seal them for refrigeration. The tall canisters are super for green leaf lettuce and celery. I will put together a large salad, vacuum seal it and it will stay fresh for at least a week in the refrigerator. One prep and one cleanup - Sweet.

4. Use them for vacuum sealing delicatessen cold cuts. They do a lot better than the bags for this function.

5. While vacuum sealing sugar or anything finely ground, place a paper towel or paper coffee filter on the top when you have poured it into the canister to stop any of the dust from getting sucked into the tubing.

6. Most makers offer a canister to marinate meat. It is typically rectangular. It is nice, but to be truthful, any of the canisters that will accommodate the quantity you require will work just as well. Simply be certain you have an adequate amount of the marinade to cover up your meat.

Well, these are merely a few pointers off the top of my head. It isn't rocket science, but following a few rules makes the learning curve a lot easier. Vacuum sealers really are a great system to conserve money and cut back on waste. There's no telling how much money I've saved ever since I have been using mine for such a long time. I just know that it would be hard for me to not have one.