Every now and then I succumb to the temptation of something that goes on sale, like chicken for $1.99/lb. I then buy up as much as my cart can hold and take it home. Then there’s the times I make Vat O’ Chili and have more than any of us will use. What do I do in those situations? Bust out the vacuum sealer and get busy.
Standard sealers work just as you think – suck most of the air out, then heat seal the bag. By getting the air out, there’s less chance of freezer burn and thus the food lasts longer in deep freeze. In practice this gets you a few extra months. I found a Channa Masala that was labeled “1/11” that I heated up for lunch the other day. Inexpensive and didn’t lose too much flavor.
The problem with many of these sealers is the heating mechanism itself. The bags get slightly melted then close up, but this all has to happen quickly, lest the vacuum snorkel get stuck in the bag and you don’t get a proper seal. Commercial sealers get around this by putting the entire bag in a vacuum and then sealing. No snorkel and no muss. But they’re upwards of a thousand dollars. It’ll take me until about 2074 before I pay that back. The sealers you find on places like Amazon have terrible reviews. “Worked for a month and then didn’t seal” was a common refrain.
About two years ago I got around to actually buying one after much searching. It’s the Sinbo DZ-280. The place I got it from came with bout a billion bags including some for jerky. Which I’l have to try some time.
Back to the sealer. The heating mechanism is easily replaceable and you can buy new cords online for a few dollars, and any other parts for that matter.
After that, it’s simplicity itself. Food in bag, bag on sealer, suck out air, seal bag, freeze. In the case of chicken, I usually marinade it in italian dressing, jerk seasoning, or (my favorite) some Brooks Chicken BBQ sauce. Add sauce, add chicken, freeze. The time it takes to thaw will be a good bit of time for all that flavory goodness to make it into the chicken.
When you want to eat, put the bag in a bowl of water, and run it over a slow tap. It’ll be thawed in under an hour. Cook, eat, yum.
You can seal whatever you want. You have to be quick with liquids, otherwise they’ll get sucked into the snorkel and you have chicken soup all over the counter. Breads don’t work all that well since they have a lot of air in them, so sucking the air out will either squash the bread, or the air seeps out of the bread after it’s sealed and you’ll still get freezer burn. It’s also better for things that you’ll stash in the freezer for a while. Less than a month or so and you can go with a standard zip-top bag and squish the air out before sealing.