I'm not a person that buys a lot of stuff as I really think things need to be functional in a way that suits you. The functional part, that is where the habits comes in of trying to go for nice stuff that actually works.
One of the things that bought about a year ago is this vacuum sealer, and I just really want to rant about on how happy I am with this as it has made cooking life just so much easier.
Yes, you may certainly make the side memo on that this uses a lot of plastic, and indeed I am aware of that and that is the one thing that I don't like about it. But apart from that, this really has made a big difference in throwing less food to waste and using it in a better manner. That part I really just like about it.
Making a gigantic stew and freezing it away in perfect portions that actually last and you want to eat again
'And what about just using glass containers to freeze it away?'
I hear what you are saying and have also tried this. Meanly because I don't like the plastic part from all of this vacuum sealing. But the ice crystals that you get in a glass or plastic container because there is still oxygen in there, that is the part that still is not good about it and you still need to use the meal in just a couple of weeks.
So if you don't know the concept of this. A vacuum sealer just sucks the air out of the bag and then seals it air tight. Nothing more and nothing less.
That als means that with that sucking the air out concept is that you can also use you marinade sauce in there to seal it with. This is perfect for sous vide cooking. The concept of sous vide is that you put your bag in hot water and because of this it cooks internally.
BIG yummie!
For instance I got this huge rib from the local farmer shop, added some decent marinating sauce in there. Cooked it 24 hours on 68 degrees which makes it take in all of the flavors and makes the meat fall off the bone and then it only needs like a 2 minute grill.
Without the vacuum bag it would have never been possible to get the sauce in the meat like this. Honestly, in general most meat gets a lot better when you also spend some time sous-vide cooking it. It makes the muscle fibers get more soft and the meat just gets a lot more tender.
For me this is all a bit new this year, but I am loving the process!
Another thing that this is perfect for is for when making spice mixes. Last year I made this Kao Soi recipe where the most of the time of the preparation is in making the spices mix because you need to grind it by hand and everything turns orange and yellow because of the turmeric. Not something you want to be doing every day.
So it makes sense to get everything orange and make a bigger batch and then seal and freeze away the next bags. The flavor still stays fine in this whole process and that is just awesome.
A couple of months later when you feel like making it again, that is when you go for it again taking a baggy from your freezer.
For me this whole vacuum sealing thing was just really a game changer for dealing a lot better with food.
But I am also wondering, what do you do to keep your food preserved for a couple of months. I also can some stuff, but I don't want to do this with meat for instance. And what if you don't have a freezer?
I'm so curious, and maybe we can all help a bit on not throwing food away but doing more good stuff with it.
