Great Info Tips

I think a lot of us have the food saving equipment in our kitchens, no matter what brand name you own. You do need to be careful with saving food for future use. Vacuum packaging extends the life of the food since it takes most of the air out of the bags or canisters. This helps with mold, yeast, and bacteria. You need to remember to check for any spoiling before you use a vacuum bag or container. This is very important since you won’t want to have problems later with food poisoning.

You will need to blanch (that means cook until it’s almost done in boiling water) any veggies before freezing. That helps keep the flavor and color of the veggie. There are different times for blanching veggies: peas 1 to 2 minutes; snap peas, zucchini, or broccoli 3 to 4 minutes; carrots take 5 minutes; corn on the cob takes 7 to 11 minutes. Put the veggies in cold water to stop the cooking, dry them on a paper towel, then package. Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and turnips give off gases, so after blanching you will have to freeze them.

You shouldn’t store uncooked mushrooms, garlic, or soft cheese in vacuum packaging as it won’t keep. Garlic gives off lots of gases and needs to room to “breathe”.

I love my food saver and use it just about every day. The canisters work great to keep things such as lettuce from wilting. There are different sizes of canisters, so check them out before you buy one. Try to think about what you will be keeping in the canisters. Vacuum bags also come in different sizes. I keep two sizes on hand in the cabinet as I never know which size I might need.