Big Reasons Why You Should Invest in a Vacuum Sealer This Fall

Which is why it’s time to talk about vacuum sealers. Built to do just what it sounds like—seal up food for easy long-term storage by removing any air—vacuum sealers can be tremendously useful for food preservation of all kinds. Here are the top 3 reasons you should consider investing in a vacuum sealer now, plus great models to buy now.Pump quality varies, and is in large part the deciding factor on the price of a food vacuum sealer machine. Many edge vacuum sealers have pups with plastic parts. They work alright and can achieve a decent vacuum, but they overheat easily. They have to cool down in between uses, and often can't withstand heavy use.Edge sealers, also called external sealers or suction sealers, are the simplest and most common type of automatic vacuum sealer. You simply fill a bag with food, place the bag in the sealer, and begin the sealing process. The vacuum is created inside the bag only, which makes it nearly impossible to seal anything but solid foods (because the pump will suck out liquid as it sucks out air). 

A chamber vac works by creating a vacuum inside a chamber. Because the pressure is equalized inside the entire chamber (and not just inside the bag), a household vacuum sealer can seal liquids. This is great for soups, stocks, leftovers, quick and easy marinades (you can get marinade results in 15-20 minutes in a vacuum sealed container), and many sous vide applications.

Chamber vacuums pull a stronger vacuum than other portable vacuum sealer. 

A significant advantage of vacuum packaging is that the pack volume is virtually the same as the product volume, with no ‘empty’ space inside the pack. However, this also means that products such as joints of meat are of unequal size, making them difficult to display. Dry goods such as pasta (provided the product can withstand the force of the packaging material being pulled around it without breaking up) lend themselves well to vacuum packaging. Products such as ground coffee and dried yeast can be packed in regular brick-shaped packs, thus minimising storage and distribution costs.

Moderate vacuum packaging (MVP) is a variation of traditional vacuum packaging, used for respiring products such as prepared fruit and vegetables. The product is packed in a rigid airtight container or a pouch and is surrounded by normal air, but at a reduced pressure (around one-third of normal atmospheric pressure). This slows down the metabolism of the product and the growth of spoilage organisms (Laurila and Ahvenainen, 2002).