It it worth the cost and effort to Vacuum Seal Food?

[Leveraction44]

It it worth the cost and effort to Vacuum Seal Food?

How long of a shelf life could I expect from vacuum sealed food?

What vacuum sealers do you recommend?

What are your experiences with vacuum sealers and vacuum sealed food?

 

[jeep78]

It extends the shelf life of frozen food. The systems I use are similar (I have 2), but I can only fine one brand of bags, so they all appear to be the same.

 

[Klif]

Before Y2K I got a vacuum sealer and bags and sealed up 1 pound bags of rice and then put them in pails with oxygen absorbers and sealed and labeled/dated the pails. Opened them 10 or so years later and the rice, beans (in another pail), macaroni (the cheese from mac and cheese was left in its original sealed pouch), popcorn (which I ground for corn meal) and a few other things were fresh as the day I sealed them. Cooked up and tasted great. You can't go wrong doing long term storage like that.

I also had 10 55 gallon barrels full of water. I closed them up with a few teaspoons of unscented bleach and when I cracked them open they were as fresh as the day I closed them up.

Everything was stored in a cool basement in the dark.

 

[Ringleader]

I use FoodSaver brand and could not be happier with it. I vacuum seal peanuts and snacks for hiking, meats and chicken for use later - usually freeze it. As to shelf life...I've sealed and used meats from 2 years old and snacks about 1 year with no issues. I also have sugar, flour, beans etc vacuum sealed from a couple of years ago and they are still sealed tight. You can seal ammo but I don't.
Just don't go cheap - buy a good sealer and good bags for the best result.

 

[Ringleader]

Before Y2K I got a vacuum sealer and bags and sealed up 1 pound bags of rice and then put them in pails with oxygen absorbers and sealed and labeled/dated the pails. Opened them 10 or so years later and the rice, beans (in another pail), macaroni (the cheese from mac and cheese was left in its original sealed pouch), popcorn (which I ground for corn meal) and a few other things were fresh as the day I sealed them. Cooked up and tasted great. You can't go wrong doing long term storage like that.

I also had 10 55 gallon barrels full of water. I closed them up with a few teaspoons of unscented bleach and when I cracked them open they were as fresh as the day I closed them up.

Everything was stored in a cool basement in the dark.

You Sir, are doing it right.

 

[rbstern]

It it worth the cost and effort to Vacuum Seal Food?

How long of a shelf life could I expect from vacuum sealed food?

What vacuum sealers do you recommend?

What are your experiences with vacuum sealers and vacuum sealed food?

We've gone two routes:

Foodsaver vacuum sealer, bought about 20 years ago at Bass Pro. Still works, and we've used it many times for pasta, beans, rice, medicines, etc. We've had dry stuff like pasta stored that we've used after ten years. No problem.

Canned-by-hand supplies from the Mormon Church's Tucker warehouse. A close friend is a member of the church, and they provide limited public access to their warehouse where you could buy from bulk, can in 5lb. cans., paying by the pound. We still have a lot of those cans on the shelf. We just used some rice recently from a can that was at least ten years old. Was perfect.

I actually like the canned storage better. Seems more durable to me.

 

[the_great_white]

YES! I use a vacmaster commercial grade. It's a little pricy, but it seals better than a food saver and the bags are a fraction of the cost. The cost of the bags will eat you up depending on how much you do.
https://www.vacmasterfresh.com/vacuum-sealers/chamber-vacuum-sealers/

 

[Just1more]

We use the Foodsaver brand. Everything going in our freezer gets the treatment. We have clear plastic trays that we place the bags in once sealed to stack and locate easier. Oh and you can vacuum seal liquids too but they need to be frozen first. We just put up several bags of garlic basil tomato sauce made from all our tomatoes.

 

[Nat]

Only if your freezer works.

 

[KnifeGuy]

Thanks for the Link! buying meat and freezing it when I have found great prices is perfect