OT: Vacuum Sealing Food

As my newest assignment is now chief cook and bottle-washer I note a problem...

We don't eat all that much, so, for example a pound of hamburger can cover two to three meals.

I've buying in quantity, portioning into zip-lock bags and freezing, but am seeing a lot of freezer burn... the zip-locks bags don't appear to seal all that well.

Anyone tried one of those Foodsaver (or equivalent) gadgets that draw air out of a bag, then make a heat seal?

Are they worthwhile, or not? ...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
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Reply to
Jim Thompson
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Why not go the whole hog, Jim? Think about it: if Hillary gets in...

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Reply to
Cursitor Doom

MRE's? Gag me with a spoon ;-)

Actually, most of our Mormon friends have a room (or basement) set aside to store at least six months of food of that nonperishable variety.

One of my best friends (very long term, as in at least 50 years) is Jim Dunkley... many of you will know him as a substantial semiconductor physicist (e.g. I^2L). Jim, Joyce and family are Mormon. They can let their hair down and party like they were heavy drinkers... without drinking a drop ;-) ...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
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Reply to
Jim Thompson

Food freezer burns when it sits in the freezer too long. It has nothing to do with the bag leaking really. Moisture leaves the food and forms ice crystals outside of the food but inside the bag. I suppose a vacuum bag can help since there is little room left for ice to form.

Better just to not keep stuff in the freezer for months. Freeze it for a week or two or three and then eat it! Keep it all fresh by rotating it rather than trying to make it keep it for long times.

Oh yeah, the other way to deal with freezer burn is to freeze it in ice. I buy shrimp that way and they keep perfectly. The individually frozen shrimp will burn after a while.

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Rick
Reply to
rickman

I buy the plain bags without the zipper. Put the food in, squeeze as much air out as possible, twist the neck and tie off or use a clothespin. The bags come with twist ties if you don't keep a supply of clothespins. It's helpful if you have a bowl or a saucepan to stretch the bag over to keep it open while you're loading.

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Grizzly H.
Reply to
mixed nuts

Dad has one and likes it. I forget which brand. It does help, as mentioned, not as much as better ways, but useful. They're easy to use too, just feed in the bag stock, fill, and press a button. The better ones are kind of pricey, but you get what you pay for.

Tim

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Seven Transistor Labs, LLC 
Electrical Engineering Consultation and Contract Design 
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Reply to
Tim Williams

For most people that would be (at least) four meals!

That's caused by dehydration as the ice sublimates. The traditional solution in the food processing industry is to apply a "protective ice glaze".

There is the theoretical consideration that some dangerous bacteria thrive in low-oxygen conditions. You would be wise to do a little research to check how to avoid problems. Freezing is a good starting point, but is it sufficient?

Reply to
Tom Gardner

You're right if you define "too long" as "gets freezer burn". Otherwise, freezer burn is caused by the moisture sublimating out of the meat. Of course, frost-free freezers don't help (lower humidity in the freezer). As Jim points out, the way to prevent freezer burn is to seal the meat completely. Zip-lock bags seem to work well enough for us. My wife always splits packages into several meals, though stuff rarely sits in the freezer for more than four or five months.

Reply to
krw

Thanks, Tim! Can you track down the brand/model?... seems to be a lot of rating variations. ...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
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Reply to
Jim Thompson

On Sun, 06 Mar 2016 14:11:05 -0700, Jim Thompson Gave us:

You likely do not have it set low enough and when you add something to it, the shock causes formation of ice crystals in some of the items you already have in it.

And you call yourself a cook. I have known freezer settings since the early seventies in my early teens.

Reply to
DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno

On Sun, 6 Mar 2016 16:48:16 -0500, rickman Gave us:

Nope. It happens when someone expects the performance of a deep freeze, but merely wants it slightly below the actual freeze temp of water. THAT is where the mistake lies.

Vacuum sealing definitely works. You saying "I suppose" is a huge indicator that you are guessing... again.

We used to buy and deep freeze an entire side of beef. It is NOT a problem if it gets down correctly.

"make it keep"? You are an idiot. It DOES keep if done right.

Reply to
DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno

As my newest assignment is now chief cook and bottle-washer I note a problem...

We don't eat all that much, so, for example a pound of hamburger can cover two to three meals.

I've buying in quantity, portioning into zip-lock bags and freezing, but am seeing a lot of freezer burn... the zip-locks bags don't appear to seal all that well.

Anyone tried one of those Foodsaver (or equivalent) gadgets that draw air out of a bag, then make a heat seal?

Are they worthwhile, or not?

...Jim Thompson ==========================================================================

I have a friend who hunts deer and vacuum seals/freezes all the meat he gets. Don't know which brand sealer he has but he is happy with it. America's Test Kitchen reviewed some a couple of years ago:

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They do a good thorough job on their tests, I've bought several items they recommended and have been happy every time. I bought him a roll of bag material for Christmas
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had good reviews on Amazon and he said it worked better than the ones he had been using and was cheaper.

----- Regards, Carl Ijames

Reply to
Carl Ijames

Aha! "Bags" of good advice ;-)

I'm a fan of Cook's Illustrated and should have thought to check their testing/reviews.

Thanks! ...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
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Reply to
Jim Thompson

Finally learning how to be a housewife?

I throw a few ice cubes into the baggie, which theoretically helps. Better yet, just cruise the freezer every few weeks and eat whatever's there.

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John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 

lunatic fringe electronics
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Reply to
John Larkin

the ones Ive used seemed to seal OK. but if you have a temperature gradient the water will migrate inside the sealed package.

I've done the DIY version al-foil to sheld the seam and and a clothes iron for heat. it worked well.

yeah

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Reply to
Jasen Betts

For me that's 1.5 burgers. :)

Ice crystals also puncture the plastic. That's why thicker plactic works better.

Reply to
Tom Del Rosso

One of the big issues is freezer temperature. One answer touched on it, and I want to amplify it.

Normal home refrigerator freezers are designed to keep food at 0F. This is the point where ice cream stays soft, but does not melt. It's cold enough that food will freeze, but you will get big crystals.

It is however cold enough that food frozen at a lower temperature, without the large crystals will stay that way.

It is not cold enough to kill the eggs or larve of parasites, including the eggs in flour, pasta, rice, etc.

So what you really need is two freezers. One big freezer set to at least

-10F, and the one on your refrigerator set to 0F.

The big freezer is used for long term storage and freezing things that are to be kept. The refrigerator freezer is used as a staging area.

When you go shopping, anything already frozen goes out of the big freezer and into the refrigerator freezer, IF you intend to use it before you go shopping again.

Anything new goes in the big freezer and stays there until you go shopping again, or if it is not cooked, a week.

Flour, pasta, rice, etc, can come out, and if sealed properly, stay at room temperature.

As for vacuum sealers, they are great devices if you get really good bags.

Seal, but not vacuum cooked food because the sealer will suck the juices out.

For meat, vegetables, etc, it is better to just squeeze the air out by hand and seal.

Dried foods can and should be vacuum sealed. Including dried meat.

In the case of the burger meat, you may be a bit less picky than if it were a good steak.

I recommend getting a sealer machine, you can get a good one in the US for about $40 on eBay. Try sealing some meat and vacuuming some and freezing both. See which one you like.

If you do have a deep freezer, then you should IMHO, freeze the meat in it, and then the next week transfer it to the regular freezer.

Someone mentioned Mormons keeping 6 months of food in their basement. It is important to understand that it is not a 6 month supply that was put there and is ignored, like the stock of a 1960's fallout shelter.

The food is there on a first in, first out basis. So if they use a case of canned peas a month, this month's case goes down into storage and the oldest case comes upstairs to be eaten. No food is more than 6 months old.

Geoff.

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Geoffrey S. Mendelson,  N3OWJ/4X1GM/KBUH7245/KBUW5379
Reply to
Geoffrey S. Mendelson

I spent July thru September of 2011 living in a hotel on Long Island. Fortunately the room had refrigerator, microwave _and_ a real cook-top.

I tried the TV dinners routine for about a week, then learned to cook the real stuff ;-)

Do you have a brand name for the vacuum packer?

...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
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Reply to
Jim Thompson

The bad freezer burn taste is from the food oxidizing. Because a typical ziplock baggie is not gas tight moisture and oxygen can slowly diffuse through the plastic, resulting in freezer burn. And a freezer with a defrost cycle will add to the problem. Vacuum sealer bags are kinda spendy for small amounts of food, it becomes cheaper to just throw the food out. What I do for food that I will eat within a year is to wrap it in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. The plastic wrap holds the liquid in and the foil stops gas exchange. Then the food goes into the deep freeze for long storage or the regular freezer if it is going to be eaten within about two months. I wrap with the dull side of the foil out because it is easier to write on with a Sharpie. For really long term storage I can the food. Canning done properly will keep food edible for many years, practically forever if kept in the dark. Some loss of nutrients occurs over time and light exposure can accelerate this loss as well as changing the taste of the food, but it will still be edible, even though it might taste bad. Eric

Reply to
etpm

Storage bags intended for the purpose work better, too. Water vapor can go through some of the thinner bags.

Reply to
krw

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