Using a vacuum sealer can save you plenty of money. First, you have to put it to good use and not use. When you regularly use a vacuum sealer, you extend the life of your food and buy in bulk. Sometimes you may buy a kitchen item and not feel comfortable using it. Do not worry, the following is eight tips to help you freeze food using a vacuum sealer:
1. Pre-freezing Food Correctly is Important
You put fresh fruit in a freezer bag and stick it into the freezer. What happens? You get watery squishy fruit. You can freeze fruits, meatballs and veggies. Just spread out the food on a cookie sheet and pre-freeze them. You can also pre-freeze other food items like pastas and soups in plastic containers. Always pack the food down using a spatula or spoon before pre-freezing it. This gets the air bubbles out of the bag. After the food is frozen, remove them and use the vacuum sealing process.
2. Know When to Leave Food Uncooked When Freezing Food
There are a lot of meals such as soups that are great reheated. You can cook these meals, freeze them and preheat later. However, other foods like that ground turkey you love buying or ground beef should not be cooked before it is frozen. The only exception is if is part of a meal such as spaghetti and meatballs. The meatballs should be cooked prior to freezing.
3. Label Your Food
It happens to everyone. You package the food knowing you will remember what it is. A couple of months later, you can’t remember what you packaged. Always write what the meal is on the package with a permanent marker. This will help you avoid making mistakes when preparing meals.
4. Use a Vacuum Sealer for More than Freezing Food
The best thing about vacuum sealing, it is versatile. You can use it to seal food that can be placed in the pantry and refrigerator like a block of cheese or dry goods. Here is a tip: you can seal flour as long as you keep it in the original package.
5. You can Freeze Extra Food
Once you start sealing your food, you can make twice the size of an original meal. Immediately vacuum seal the extra food after you finish making it. This helps to preserve the food at its peak of freshness. You can use disposable foil pans to make it easier to heat and serve the dish later.
6. Make Sure to Buy the Bags Use to Seal the Food
Source: FoodSaver® Blog
Some people want to cut corners when vacuum sealing food. For example, they want to use or bags that aren’t for vacuum sealing to save money. Never do this. Vacuum sealing bags are available for a specific reason. They are designed to seal the food better than using a regular bag. For example, they keep the moisture and air out of the food. A regular bag cannot do that.
7. You Should Always Properly Portion out the Food
You can clean and reuse most of your vacuum sealing bags. The bags you’ve used for raw meats can’t be reused. They often contain remnants of bacteria. Regardless of whether you use a new or used bag, portion the means out properly. You don’t want to have double the food in one bag. This means you have to thaw out the entire bag and possible waste some food.
8. Learn How to Cut Meat
One unexpected benefit to freezing food is that you become your own butcher. Buy meat such as hamburger, pork chops and steak in bulk. You can separate them into individual pieces and freeze them separately. You can thaw out one or more pieces for a meal later. It may take less of your valuable time to cut meat than waiting and watching your local butcher do it for you.
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