How I Learned to Use My Vacuum Food Sealer

I really love my vacuum sealer. I can't say enough about owning one and finding new uses of its sealing power. Mostly I use my vacuum sealer for storing foods. I love to have the ability to seal and freeze our fresh veggies through the garden. There is nothing more gratifying than eating our home grown veggies in winter months in the event the garden is certainly put to bed. I have become more creative through the years. At first I would only freeze single vegetables inside a pouch. Now I store mixes of vegetables for stews, soups, stir fries or simply mixes for side dishes. I started out with simply a food sealer. It was a single wire unit that sealed the bag closed. I manually squished the maximum amount of air out from the packages as I could. clear packaging didn't understand what I was missing until we visited with a few relatives and so they had a vacuum sealer we were holding using with fish. I was very impressed with the sealing power as well as the freshness that came with vacuuming out all the air.

I now own a Deni Supreme Vacuum sealer that allows for sealing only or vacuum and sealing. It comes with several neat features like having the ability to create your own size bags from rolls possesses the possibility for canister sealing. Being able to make a custom size bag comes in handy. I hate the need to waste a quart size bag when I only want to freeze green pepper slices in small bags. I make custom size bags when sealing our dried herbs for storage. Custom size bags also work ideal for sealing important paperwork, like our legal documents and children's artwork for very long term storage. I have quite a stack stored away for kids to share when they have their particular children someday. I sealed their projects by year in addition to that year's school photo.

I try to save money by purchasing in big amounts. I often buy large packages of meats and break them down into smaller sizes. The same for dry goods like flour and oatmeal. They both freeze well to hold for amounts of time when sealed with the vacuum sealer. I seal my brown sugar to hold it from getting lumpy. I keep it rolling around in its original bag then again put it within a food sealer bag.

I like to make meals ahead of time to ensure that I have a list of dinners within the freezer. On really busy weeks I can just grab the foodstuff out and microwave them or throw them in a slow cooker and still have healthy meals without all the work. I make batches of stuffed peppers then store them uncooked for slow cooker meals. Whenever I make stews, chili, meatloaf or lasagna I make extra in order that I can store meals away for the next time. It keeps my children from getting sick and tired of leftovers. Making meals in advance also works well for going camping. You can spend time experiencing the outdoors and activities while not having to spend the whole time cooking.

Another nice frugal living feature I like concerning the vacuum food sealers could be that the bags are reusable. If the bags are used for greasy items they frequently have to be disposed of but bags that can be used fruit and veggies may be washed and used again. Most bags can be from freezer to microwave. I ensure that you open the bag before cooking so it won't explode inside microwave or damage the bag. I love to place the bag in the sturdy container so that the contents don't spill inside the microwave. I often wash the baggage manually but they can be turned back to front and place in the dishwasher as well.

I also use my sealer for things that I don't use usually, like my garden seed packages when carried out with them in the spring. They are usually great for many year and yes it keeps them from being dumped out unintentionally. I reseal the potting soil bag also.