Are you wondering how to vacuum seal liquids? Read our article to explore various methods and techniques to retain the taste of your food.
Many of us ask: “what’s the best way to preserve the natural taste and freshness of the food although it’s kept in the refrigerator for weeks”?
Our busy lifestyle has greatly reduced our kitchen hours. Face it! We don’t have time to cook new meals every day, that’s why most of us cope up by preparing food beforehand and store it in the refrigerator.
But sadly, your delicious dishes lose their natural taste when stored. So, how to deal with it? You should vacuum seal your food whether it’s marinated meat or soup. By vacuum sealing, you are preserving the food in its original form.
Do you don’t know how to vacuum seal liquids? The best method to vacuum seal liquids is by the use of a vacuum sealer machine.
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Conventional Storing & Vacuum Sealing
With the vacuum sealing trend at its peak, you are bound to question: Why should you vacuum seal the liquids rather than simply storing them in the refrigerator?
Storing the food in the fridge won’t guarantee that its taste would remain the same after a week or so. The rapid oxidation of food takes place, and hence your food gets spoiled more quickly. But by vacuum sealing, you can avoid it. By sucking out the air from the food bag, you can preserve your food’s taste. If you have an upcoming party, then vacuum-sealing food is the most efficient one.
Why Should You Buy A Liquid Vacuum Sealer?
Let’s first explore why you need a liquid vacuum sealer.
Firstly, it’s a piece of cake for vacuum sealers to seal food like meat and veggies, buts it’s a different story when liquids are in the scene.
Your main priority is to safeguard your food. If you use a regular vacuum sealer, there is a high risk that your stew or soup would be sucked out of the food bag, leading to less food than you originally had.
Secondly, if the liquid food gets sucked out of the food bag, your sealer machine can get damaged. In short, your device’s durability is at risk. Therefore, you should seal liquids with a special vacuum sealer for liquids.
Types Of Vacuum Sealers
Vacuum sealers are of 2 types
- Chamber Vacuum Sealers
- External Vacuum Sealers
Chamber Vacuum Sealers
The chamber sealers are perfect for liquid-rich foods like soups, stew, dips, sauces, etc. These machines flawlessly suck out the air without sucking the liquid food. These machines are quite famous but unfortunately, their popularity is limited to only businessmen. For households, they are not compatible because of their unreasonable price and beefy size.
If you are interested in this fella, you can go for Vacmaster VP210.
External Vacuum Sealers
As a passionate food preserver, the external vacuum cleaner can be your best appliance. However, this vacuum sealer works best for only solid food. It’s not designed to handle liquid foods. However, you can easily encounter this problem by freezing the liquid food. Then you can easily vacuum it without worrying about the machine sucking up the liquid.
FoodSaver V4400 can be a good appliance for you.
What Are The Various Methods To Vacuum Seal Liquids?
Let’s explore the various methods which can help you on how to vacuum seal liquids.
Vacuum Chamber:
As discussed above, this chamber is specially designed for liquids, when the internal pressure within the chamber reduces, the pressure within the vacuum bag also cuts down. As a result, the liquid doesn’t get sucked into the vacuum sealer and stays inside.
Before putting the liquid into the vacuum bag, you should let it cool down first. Don’t put piping hot food in the bag. This is because as the internal pressure in the bag reduces, the boiling point of the liquid takes a similar turn, leading to the wet food boiling out of the vacuum bag.
Pros:
- Mess-free
- Durable
Cons:
- Expensive
- You cant put hot liquids in the bag
Freeze Method
Let’s say, you don’t have a vacuum chamber and you only own a cheap vacuum sealer. You can still be able to vacuum seal the liquid with the freeze method.
In this method, pour the liquid food into the vacuum bag. Then place it in the upright direction in the refrigerator. Once, the liquid is frozen, you can easily vacuum seal the frozen liquid food with your vacuum sealer. In this way, the liquid won’t get sucked into the machine.
Although this method is quite effective, you need to do some prep work for this technique to work. Similarly, you would need plenty of refrigerator space to place the bags upright. If you have issues with this method, you can go for the ice cube method, discussed below!
Pros:
- No mess
- Compatible with all types of vacuum sealers
Cons:
- Requires preparation
- Not Space-efficient
Ice Cube Method
If you don’t have enough room in your refrigerator, you can use the ice cube method, but like the above freeze method, you also need to prepare beforehand.
Firstly, take a nice ice-cube tray and pour your liquid food into it like sauce, soup, etc. After this, put the ice tray into the refrigerator and wait for the liquid to freeze. When the wet food is completely frozen, take it out from the ice cube tray, and put the ice cubes into the vacuum bag. Seal the bag and store it in the fridge. Easy peasy!
Pros:
- Easy technique
- Mess-free
- Harmonious with any vacuum sealer
Cons:
- This method requires preparation
Paper Towel Technique
In the paper towel technique, take a paper towel and keep on folding it until you get a thin, slim strip. Place this strip inside the vacuum bag to create a liquid dam. What’s the advantage? When the vacuum sealer sucks the air under low pressures, then the paper towel inside the bag will prevent the liquid from getting sucked. This method is very effective and makes your machine last for longer periods.
Pros:
- Best for suction vacuum sealers
- Lacks any preparation
- No freezing required
Cons:
- Only effective under low settings
- Not foolproof
- Not best for sous-vide
Gravity Method
With the earth’s gravity, you can keep the liquid away from the opening and prevent it from getting sucked into the machine. However, you need extra help with this one. Place your vacuum bag filled with liquid over the edge of the countertop, in a way that the liquid rests on the countertop. Have someone, seal the opening with the vacuum sealer. You have to be very swift with controls that’s because a single mistake can lead to plenty of mess.
Pros:
- No preparation needed
- No additional equipment is needed
Cons:
- You cant do this method solo
- It’s not foolproof
Cabela Liquid Blocker
The Cabela Liquid Blocker is an adjustable, flexible plastic strip that is best for suction vacuum sealers.
You just place this specially designed strip over the top of the bag. And seal the bag above the blocker. This usually acts as a liquid dam and prevents the fluid from getting sucked. The Cabela Liquid Blocker is cheap and reusable. It’s even able to resist high temperatures.
Pros:
- Versatile
- Good durability
- Reusable
Cons:
- Not foolproof
Apart from these methods, you may give a read to How to vacuum seal a Ziploc Bag
Important Features You Should Consider Before Purchasing
If you are aiming for a good liquid vacuum sealer, then you should consider the following important features:
- Weight
- Settings
- Bag size
Weight
For daily use, your appliance has to be lightweight and portable. The machine also shouldn’t occupy much of your kitchen space. For this, the nutrichef vacuum sealer is a good choice as it’s only 2.9 pounds.
Settings
Do you like technical stuff? If yes, then you would certainly like the LED buttons and digital displays of the vacuum sealers, designed to provide you with iconic control. However, some types of vacuum sealers are plain and have few features, making things as simple and easy as possible.
Bag size
When you dig deeper into the vacuum sealers, you will find that various vacuum sealers are compatible with varying bag sizes. Some are compatible with 7.8 inches bags whereas some work best with 8 inches bag. While purchasing, you have to make sure what sort of vacuum bag you want to use. This choice will help you select your vacuum sealer.
Wrapping Up:
Vacuum sealing your food is important. Air oxidizes your food and spoils it. However, if you vacuum seal your food, you can easily escape this unfortunate experience. We have discussed how to vacuum seal liquids. You now know the various techniques you can use to preserve your food.