Food For Net
I have done a lot of sous vide reviews over the past couple years, but had never invested in a vacuum sealer because using standard ziploc bags is pretty easy to cook proper sous vide. But when I was contacted by the manufacturer of the Sea Maid Mini Portable Vacuum Sealer, I was definitely curious …
Vacuum sealers are a popular tool for the home kitchen, offering a way of storing food effectively and ensuring that it will stay fresh for longer. At the same time, vacuum sealing is a perfect complement to sous vide cooking. While it is certainly possible to do sous vide without using vacuum sealed bags, the vacuum sealer approach tends to be less hassle and reduce the risk of air getting in the bags.
As a tool, vacuum sealers offer a powerful addition to any kitchen, partly because of their versatility. They provide a great way to keep food fresh for much longer than you could otherwise and vacuum sealing can even be used as a way to prevent rust or deterioration in some items, like jewelry or rolls of duct tape.
At the same time, vacuum sealers are perfect for sous vide cooking. With sous vide, you end up cooking your food in plastic bags. Some people simply use basic zip lock bags but vacuum sealing makes it much easier to get all of the air out of the bag and ensure that no water leaks in. With that advantage plus the ability of vacuum sealers to increase shelf life, it’s no surprise that they have become popular tools among people who cook using sous vide.
Kitchen tools are powerful ways to get more functionality in your kitchen and increase exactly what you can do and what you are able to make. In the case of vacuum sealers, you gain the ability to preserve food effectively while the tool also plays a key role in sous vide cooking. But, as with any kitchen tool, you face the challenge of picking exactly which item to purchase. With so many brands and models out there, choosing the right product is often no easy feat.
The ability to vacuum seal food offers a major advantage for any kitchen, allowing people to store food for considerably longer, while also protecting against freezer burn when freezing meals. Vacuum sealers also have the advantage of being surprisingly easy to use and many models are small, which makes them easy to fit in a conventional cooking.
For anyone interested in sous vide cooking, vacuum sealers also offer another set of advantages. For one thing, it’s much easier to get air out of a bag with a vacuum sealer than manually trying to do so with a zip lock bag. At the same time, there is less risk that a vacuum sealed bag will leak and the bags tend to be more resilient at higher temperatures and for sous vide recipes that involve long cooking times.
Vacuum sealers are perfect tools for the home kitchen, making it easier to keep food fresh for longer periods of time. In fact, they’re even popular for non-food items that degrade with exposure to air, like things with adhesive. However, vacuum sealers are also a very popular tool for anyone who uses sous vide cooking and they help to make it simpler and easier to get air out of bags for sous vide.
For anyone involved in sous vide cooking, it’s worth taking the time to invest in a vacuum sealer. Now, it’s true that you can get away with sous vide cooking using just zip lock bags and many people do just that. However, vacuum sealing does tend to be a bit more reliable and you don’t have to worry as much about water leaking into the bags during cooking. At the same time, it’s much easier to get all of the air out with a vacuum sealer, so you don’t have to worry that your bags are going have too much air and float during cooking.
If you’re going to get involved in sous vide cooking, picking up a decent vacuum sealer is a good approach. After all, the name does translate to under vacuum. Now, strictly speaking, you don’t need a vacuum sealer for sous vide cooking. Many people find that Ziploc sealed freezer bags work well, except for recipes that cook at higher temperatures or for an extended length of time.
