The "secret" to vacuum sealing meat is to freeze it in portions first, then vacuum seal. A couple of days ago I pulled out a strip steak that had been vacuum packed 18 months ago. When thawed it appeared as fresh as when I put it in the vacuum bag. I hardly use my vacuum sealers except for meats; I like to catch a good sale and stock up. I bought a "pantry" prefab wooden cabinet from Lowe's several years ago and put it in the garage for my kitchen gadget overflow. I keep all my vacuum-sealing supplies on a shelf in there. I wouldn't hide Cuisinart stuff, either!!
Just saw this and the best appliance, along with my beloved Convectional Oven, is my Food Saver Vacuum sealer. The only thing that is a little extra work, is with things that have more moisture in them, like fish. But probably everyone knows this trick of putting the fish in a ziplock bag first ( just buy the cheapies for this), getting out all the air you can, then putting it in the FoodSaver plastic to suck and seal I always buy the rolls of plastic freezer bags which you seal both ends after cutting to make the bag The good thing about FoodSaver is you can buy of food wrap rolls that work also, but lately seems like same price to buy the FS brand. I am on my own so this is great for me but even if you have a mate, or family, this little air-sucker-outer works great My sister finally mentioned it enough, and I was tired of shopping all the time instead of learning to stock my freezer. Another thing this late-blooming, domestic goddess has learned is to get the air out of a baggies with food in it, is to dunk it in a bowl of very hot water, and zip it until you can only have about half in to inch open. When you dunk it all the air is pushed out the little opening and you can quickly zip it
A piece of Saran wrap will also do the job. I leave skin on, remove the seed, and press the cling wrap into the seed cavity and along the cut surface. Place the half cut-side down on a plate or directly on a refrigerator shelf. Keeps a day or two in the fridge.
hey, this is a better idea, easier, as I do freeze portions of my meats, only things I freeze as well. A portion is like 3 days worth of meat so I don't have to cook every night. But instead, I'm going to freeze the meats, especially fish, before I put them through the Food Saver. I don't think mine will ever be in there long enough to go bad as I'm not that good at stocking up yet Thanks for this tip Beth!
Hah. I raised 5 kids so I know all about stockpiling stuff in the freezer!! I usually put a sheet of parchment paper or cling wrap on a baking sheet, then put the portioned meat on it to freeze. This prevents the frozen meat from sticking to the baking sheet.
Oh!! I see you don't have to wrap it up at all to freeze it. Honestly, I didn't know anything about domestic life or children growing up except for babysitting my nieces and nephews and that was all so easy as my sis had them fed etc. I could change diapers like a trooper though They were so fun, I loved getting to do that. But I had no idea how to cook except do cereal, and I learned to make eggs or pancakes for breakfast I eventually started learning things and do pretty good now as I need to cook for myself and I really like eating, lol
That surprises me. I mean, there are tons of "don't really work" specialty avocado savers out there, and all people need is a cheap piece of plastic wrap.
I did not learn to cook growing up, but I had become accustomed to home-cooked food, so learned to do it myself in order to have good (and cheap) meals. I had 1 brother who enjoyed cooking as much as I do.
I love Avocados but have a heck of a time knowing how/when to buy them. Lots of times I've bought hard ones thinking "put them in brown paper bag" and they'll ripen, and it doesn't work, only once in awhile. I don't like that we get "seasonal" things all year round because they ship them in from Mozambique or somewhere else on the other side of the world I'd love to have my own garden, a private one I don't know how I'd do but I'd love trying. Anyway, thank you for the info on "how to" keep them fresh longer as I don't like having to pig them all in one day or two.
I hear you John, I'm trying out new things, especially figuring out seasonings, mainly in the last 8 years I've been living here.
The rule I read was to leave them sit out until they are no longer rock-hard (slightly yield to pressure), then put them in the fridge to stop ripening. I bought a bag of 4, and since I do not eat them every day, I put them all in the fridge to stop them from ripening, and pull out one at a time to ripen on the countertop. I had avocado toast for the first time a couple of weeks ago, so picked up the ingredients today to make guacamole, figuring it would be a way tastier spread on toast.
oh man I LOVE guacamole!! I made a great one from a recipe someone gave, me, used to make it a lot! Maybe have to do that again some time, thanks for the reminder. I'd have to find something I could dip in it as I so loved those chips, can't think of what they're called now, LOL! Taco chips, whatever! To high carb for me. Sometimes I wish there was some way to cure diabetes, even though I've gained a lot of health benefits by dropping certain foods, I still miss them at time. Ok, done whining, LOL!
Post that guac recipe in the Recipes Forum, Denise. And I was gonna pick up some chips, but I decided to stick to a slice of toast for it.
No, you don't have to wrap it to freeze... but you should only leave it in the freezer for a couple of hours so that no ice crystals form, then pull out and vacuum pack then back into the freezer.