You can preserve the nutrients in foods by vacuum sealing them. This process also helps food last longer, and keeps it tasting better than freezing without vacuum sealing. Here are some of the advantages of vacuum sealing your food:
How to Avoid Freezer Burns By Vacuum Sealing Food
Food can easily become freezer burned when you freeze it in a baggie, but when you vacuum seal it, it helps get all the air out of the surrounding plastic, which helps prevent it from getting freezer burned. The air is what causes the condensation and ice crystals, which in turn becomes frost on your food. Vacuum sealing your food prevents this from happening, and it keeps food fresher and tasting better for longer periods.
Preserving Flavor and Nutrients
Have you ever noticed that frozen meats and other foods often lose their flavor after being frozen for a while? If food is improperly frozen (not vacuum sealed), ice crystals form in the food causing it to change in texture at times, as well as causing food to lose flavor when it is heated due to extreme temperature changes. Also, if food isn’t frozen properly, it can absorb odors from other foods thus taking away or masking some of the original food’s flavor. Nutrients can also be lost when food is not frozen properly. The same processes that make food lose flavor can also make it lose nutrients that our body needs. Vacuum sealing food helps retain original flavors and important nutrients. It also keeps food from absorbing any other odors in your freezer.
Buying in Bulk
When you buy in bulk, you can typically save money. Food lasts longer when vacuum-sealed, so you can buy larger quantities without worrying about wasting any. It will keep well for months when vacuum-sealed. Buying in bulk is great when you find foods on sale, or when you have an upcoming event you are planning.
Meal Planning and Portion Control
One advantage of vacuum sealing your food is that you can control the portion sizes that you seal, which comes in handy for meal planning, dieting and special occasions. For example, if you want 3 oz of chicken per serving for each participant at an upcoming event, you can measure out the portion size then vacuum seal it. When you go to prepare the food, you won’t have to spend time weighing and measuring, because everything will already be portioned out for you. This makes dieting easier and more pleasurable, too. Separate, weigh and measure food as you buy it, then when you’re ready to prepare it, all of the hard work has been done, and you can cook and enjoy your food quicker.
Time Saving Benefits: Parents are especially busy people, and vacuum sealing food helps you to save time when it comes to preparing meals for your family. Plan your meals for the week, buy your food, portion it out, and then vacuum seal it. You can put the portions in labeled bins in your freezer, then simply take them out on the night you’ve planned, and then prepare the meals. You can do this with meats, vegetables, desserts and more. This is also a nice option when you’re going to be gone and your spouse or children will need to prepare dinner. If you have foods already portioned and vacuum-sealed, all they have to do is take them out of the freezer and prepare them. Or you can take them out and let them thaw in the refrigerator all day, then they come home and prepare dinner. This saves you time each day from weighing, measuring, cutting and planning your family’s meals. Additionally, you might just get less fuss from your family members when all of the work has been done. When it’s their turn to cook, there should be no more excuses.
Vacuum sealing really does have its benefits. Certain vacuum sealers such as FoodSaver V3880 comes with handy features like marinade modes, for quick marinating, and crush-free instant seal, for protecting delicate items allowing for even more versatility.
