The number of times we have ended up with frozen vegetables and fruits in the refrigerator, which can’t be used further for cooking. There are so many times; there are small leftovers that you would want to use for the next meal but can’t because they are of no use after being dehydrated in the refrigerator. Most people end up throwing away those leftovers, which is simply a wastage of food. This is why we have vacuum sealers, which help us vacuum seal our fruits and vegetables, maintaining the freshness that they are supposed to have.
Having fresh ingredients available chopped up and ready to be cooked is the best feeling any cook or chef can go through. Keeping these fresh ingredients as fresh as they were when plucked out of the farm, is what any vacuum sealer does. You can keep fruits and vegetables stored which grow for a particular season and still cook them when they are not in season, by vacuum sealing them for later use.
Why vacuum seal fruits and vegetables?
A lot of people have debated upon the freshness of food after vacuum sealing them. It is still one of the best ways to do the prep for any meal in advance or to keep your vegetables fresh for later use at any point in time. There are certain benefits to it, which is why vacuum sealing food products at home has become very popular.
- Bacteria free food: The biggest benefit of keeping fruits and vegetables under vacuum seal is that they stay away from bacteria, which is the main reason for diseases that spread through food.
- Easy storage: It’s cheap and easy to buy in bulk, but most people avoid that because of storage issues. It is possible to do it with the help of a vacuum sealer in your kitchen. You can chop up the vegetables and fruits you have and compactly store them.
- Fresh food always: the aroma of the food is what matters the most and retaining that freshness is what vacuum sealing is all about. The rich flavors of fruits or vegetables also remain intact when they don’t come in contact with air.
How to Vacuum Seal Fruits and Vegetables?
There is a lot that goes into using a vacuum sealer on your food, but none of it is too complicated to handle. If you follow these steps to Preserve Fruits and Vegetables, we have here religiously; then, you will sail through very easily and have properly sealed food to store in your refrigerator.
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Prepping
Before you go onto actually using the vacuum sealer, you must prepare fruits and vegetables for it. The idea is to avoid any growth of bacteria, which will hamper the freshness of the food. For this, you have to clean up all of them and ensure there is no dirt on them. You should wash all of it properly and cut them if needed. Smaller vegetables will do fine just like they are. After cutting, it is important that you boil the food for around five minutes and then quickly put them in cold water. This will stop the ripening process and keep them fresh longer.
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Freezing:
most people miss this step, but it has proven to be one of the most helpful steps for vacuum sealing. If you want your food to stay fresh for longer than just a few months, you must do this step especially. What you have to do is freeze the food for a few minutes before vacuum sealing it. Once the food you have put in is covered in ice flakes, take it out because it is ready to be sealed up by a vacuum sealer now.
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Vacuum sealing:
The last step of all is actually doing the sealing using a vacuum sealer. Put all your vegetables and fruits in the bag, which comes with the vacuum sealer itself or the ones recommended by the brand of your sealer. Leave some space in the bag and try not to overfill it with food. There should not be any moisture as well because that will ensure that bacteria doesn’t grow on your food. You can create bags based on your use. Follow how vacuum sealer works very strictly from the manual that comes along with it. Most vacuum sealers just need you to put the bag under them and push the start button. The bag will shrink right in front of you and you will know that the task is done.
Vacuum Sealer Tips and Tricks
Vacuum sealers are not a tricky appliance to handle, which is why people are using them regularly these days. The task of keeping your food fresh for a longer time becomes extremely easy with it and if you know these vacuum sealer tips and tricks, you can even ace using the appliance.
- It is always best to buy bags for storing vacuum-sealed food. These bags are designed to maintain a tight seal once the food has been put inside them. They also keep moisture out, so always use the bags recommended for use with your vacuum cleaner.
- Make smaller bags and portion out your leftover food properly so that you don’t overfill any of the bags. Overfilling will stretch out the bags over time, which is not a great thing for durability.
- One trick that will always help you is to mark the date of sealing on your food package. This way, you will know which is the oldest of all and you can consume that first.