How to Vacuum Seal Food Without a Machine
Image by Serious Eats via YouTube
Preserving food is a great way to save money, ensure a constant food supply, and maintain food quality. There are different ways to preserve food – chilling, freezing, salting, drying, pickling, fermenting, sugaring, canning, freeze drying, and vacuum packing. If you live in an area far from grocery stores or have one nearby but with limited supply, food preservation is the way to go.
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If you look in the frozen section in your grocery store, you will find a lot of products that are vacuum sealed. Most are fresh foods, including fruits, vegetables, meats, and liquids. This method works by reducing the amount of oxygen in the packaging, preventing the growth of mold or bacteria. You can try this food preservation technique at home using a vacuum sealer, but if you don’t have one, do not worry. You can still vacuum-seal your goods using water! I learned about this method when I stumbled across Serious Eats‘ video on YouTube. It’s super easy to do and does not require any special tools.
Try these methods too: 5 Ways to Preserve Food Without Canning or Freezing
How to Vacuum Seal With Water
Step 1:
Fill a large container with water.
Step 2:
Place your find inside a resealable plastic bag. Close the lid almost all the way, leaving about an inch open.
Step 3:
Gently lower the plastic bag down into the water. As the food goes down, the water pressure is going to push all of the air out of the bag. Keep going down until just that little corner of the bag that you left open is about to be submerged. Before it goes underwater, seal it off.
That’s how easy it is to store food in a completely air-free bag with no vacuum seal.
