Food Preservation with a Foodsaver Vacuum Sealer

It is very easy to save a significant amount of money in your food bill each month through food preservation with a Foodsaver Vacuum Sealer. Buy your food products in bulk at wholesale locations like Costco and Sam's Club and then repackage the items when you get home into meal sized portions using your a vacuum seal machine in your kitchen.

These are perfect for homes concerned with maximizing their food budget and eliminating being wasteful. The foodsaver 2244 is an excellent machine that is easy to use. The machine only has 2 buttons, a Seal button and a Vac/Seal button. The Seal button allows you to seal without actually running the vacuum portion which is a very nice feature for doing a quick reseal on a bag of chips or other consumables. The machine is equipped with an accessory port which allows for using a tube for attaching things like the wide mouth jar sealer for sealing glass jars. It has a double wide sealing strip for completing an air tight seal.

While it is possible to preserve with a vacuum sealer just about any food product item there are few type of foods that you can really save money on when using a foodsaver machine.

Buy in bulk and repackage is the most common use for a foodsaver, but they are also perfect for people that harvest their own food from hunting and fishing as well as gardening and picking fruit and berries.

1. Meats - Whether it is beef, pork, chicken, or fish. Save money buy purchasing large quantities when on sale and freeze them in individual meal sized portions in food saving freezer bags. Hunters and Fisherman can get a lot of use out of a machine. Catching a salmon can result in over 20lbs of meat or more per fish and the best way to keep it fresh for later consumption is through proper preservation which would either be smoking it or freezing.

2. Dried Fruits & Nuts - A foodsaver is perfect for keeping dried goods like dried fruits, nuts, and other dry good products fresher longer. After opening the bag you have allowed air to reach the food and they will eventually go stale and bad. Preserve the items by repacking them in foodsaver bags.

3. Vegetables - If you have a garden and do not want to can the produce for eating through the year, you can freeze them and they will last longer and stay fresher if you process them in meal sized portions and seal them without any air in the bags.

4. Snack foods and Chips - One thing that many people do not realize that they can do with a foodsaver machine is reseal a bag of chips or packet of cookies. Simply place the original chip bag into the machine like you would normally and reseal the bag. If you use the vacuum function and remove all the air you will likely crush the chips, but simply resealing it properly instead of folding over the top and using a clip will keep the chips fresher for a longer period of time.

5. Fresh Berries - If you have access to fresh blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, marionberries, etc. during the seasons that they are available, you can save them for making all of your favorite berry desserts and treats through the year with a air removing vac seal. The trick to making berries not burst inside the bag when removing the air before the seal is made is to freeze the berries on a cookie sheet for about 45 minutes or until hard. This will ensure that they are all still individual berries and do not break when packaging.

The process

• Use a pre-made bag or make a bag by cutting the length of bag from the roll that you want and sealing one end by using just the seal button.
• Add the items that you want leaving a couple of inches at the head to allow for placement in the sealer. Place the open part of the bag into the drainage slot.
• Lock down the seal, you have to press it down pretty hard to make it click.
• Press the vacuum and seal button and allow the machine to work. It will remove the air first and then when finished will engage the seal feature.
• When the seal is completed the machine will click off and you can open the lock and remove the bag.
• When finished sealing your food items remove the drainage slot that easily lifts out and rinse out with soapy water. Allow to dry before putting away back in the machine.