It’s always disheartening to grab for a steak you put in the freezer weeks ago only to find it resembles an icicle-coated Jack Nicholson from The Shining rather than anything even appetizing. A decent vacuum sealer helps to prevent freezer burn and keeps food fresher for longer.
Vacuum sealers operate by sucking air out of the area around your food within a bag or canister, then sealing those containers to prevent air from escaping back in and spoiling your food.1 Vacuum sealers are excellent for sous vide cooking, preserving meat, and even protecting valuable metals from air exposure, in addition to prolonging shelf life and allowing you to buy food in bulk.
Three types of vacuum sealers
External vacuum sealers, chamber vacuum sealers, and portable valve sealers are the three basic types of vacuum sealers. Here’s a quick rundown:
External
External vacuum sealers are the vacuum sealer equivalent of Goldilocks—just powerful enough, not too huge, and easy to use—which is why we recommend them for home usage. External vacuum sealers work by inserting the bag opening’s lip into a tiny chamber over the seal bar. When you close and lock the lid, the vacuum pump draws air right out of the bag. When the majority of the air has been evacuated, the seal bar melts the plastic bag close, sealing the contents within. External models necessitate the use of “quilted” bags in order to pull air through the material when vacuuming. You’ll also need extra supplies if you want to flash-pickle food in Mason jars.
External variants provide less vacuum power than chamber sealers and are noisier to use. To minimize overheating the machine, you should usually wait 20 to 60 seconds between sealings. Furthermore, liquids must be frozen before sealing to avoid moisture from being sucked into the vacuum motor and harming the equipment. External vacuum sealers, on the other hand, are sufficient for most operations unless you want to portion and package a large amount of food at once, and they are by far the most popular choice for home usage since they are tiny, inexpensive, and generally accessible. For these reasons, we concentrated our efforts in this tutorial mostly on external vacuum sealers.
Chamber
Chamber vacuum sealers are the largest and most powerful of the group, therefore they’re a little too powerful for the average home. When using chamber vacuum sealers, insert the entire bag within the chamber, with the lip above the seal bar. When the lid is closed and the vacuum pump is turned on, the machine suckers air out of the chamber, extracting all of the air from the bag. After that, the machine heat-seals the bag, switches off the pump, and normal air pressure returns to the chamber.This tutorial relies on sealers.
Chamber vacuum sealers feature stronger, quieter motors than exterior sealers. They’re ideal for heavy use because they don’t require as much downtime between sealings. Another advantage is that liquids do not need to be frozen before being sealed. Most professional versions include a chamber large enough to hold pint Mason jars, thus no other equipment are required to seal jars. Although chamber versions offer several advantages over external devices, they are pricey (about $700 to $1,000), hefty, and take up a lot of room. One disadvantage of high-end models is that some require additional maintenance (such as pump oil), and the majority are meant for professional use.
Handheld
Because handheld vacuum sealers aren’t widely used, we decided not to test them for this tutorial.
These vacuum sealers function by sucking air out of specialised zip-top bags via a valve. However, because to their compact size, these models have significantly less vacuum strength than external and chamber vacuum sealers. The seals on such bags were found to be poor in a review by Cook’s Illustrated (subscription required): “It’s difficult to be certain they’re closed, and once they are, a firm jostle can break the seal.”
Advantages of Vacuum Sealing
There are several advantages to vacuum sealing, and each home chef will likely have various reasons for doing so—here are a few of the most important:
Save Food
As previously said, food waste is a prevalent (and avoidable!) issue. Vacuum sealing is one of the simplest methods to store food, whether it’s raw components to make later or cooked meals to enjoy later. Vacuum sealing helps food retain its optimum taste and texture by minimizing exposure to air and reducing freezer burn. It’s also useful when you’re desiring something seasonal—your future self will be grateful to find vacuum-sealed summer berries or peaches come winter.
Save Time
Meal planning, as most busy home chefs are aware, is a great time saver. Those who batch cook may keep their pancakes, roasts, and even soups for future meals by vacuum sealing them. You can also swiftly marinate food using a vacuum sealer, which is especially useful on days when you forget to do it ahead of time, and conveniently prep food for sous vide cooking.
Save Money
Meal planning, as most busy home chefs are aware, is a great time saver. Those who batch cook may keep their pancakes, roasts, and even soups for future meals by vacuum sealing them. You can also swiftly marinate food using a vacuum sealer, which is especially useful on days when you forget to do it ahead of time, and conveniently prep food for sous vide cooking.
What to Look for When Buying a Vacuum Sealer?
Now that you know what you require, there are a few factors to consider when choosing the best vacuum sealer for you. If bulk buying and meal prep are your major goals, search for a vacuum sealer with built-in roll storage and a cutting bar to speed up the sealing process. If space is an issue, a small type or handheld vacuum sealer may be the best option. The type of food you intend to seal also matters; for example, meats, which may contain some liquid, operate best when sealed with a sealer that has a wet function.
Vacuum Sealing Tips:
Are you ready to seal in the freshness? In addition to the useful principles listed above, here are a few helpful hints to remember as you begin your vacuum sealing journey:
- Use your FoodSaver to reseal potato chip or pretzel bags—just don’t vacuum them, since this will crush your treats.
- When filling a bag with food, allow enough room at the top to insert it into the vacuum sealer.
- Certain vegetables, such as green beans and broccoli, should be blanched before sealing and freezing to help keep their brilliant color.
- Have you forgotten to begin a marinade ahead of time? Vacuum sealing reduces marination time by allowing meat and vegetables to absorb liquids more quickly; meals can be ready in as little as 30 minutes.
- More than only food can be sealed! Preserve Christmas decorations to keep them dust-free and simpler to store.
