- Vacuum sealing is a method that has survived many years because it is an effective method. For a long time, food preservation has been a constant battle people have been fighting so hard, especially in a world where environmental factors can affect food if effective food preservation methods are not adopted. It hasn’t been an easy transition from the traditional methods to the modern methods, after all, people who lived back then had a way of preserving their foods. Having an effective food preservation method is regarded as a necessity by many, some of who have been victims of poor food preservation. We can’t deny that the intervention of technology to provide a long-lasting solution to the problem of food preservation in the world has been more than a blessing. However, despite the huge fame vacuum sealers are experiencing today, thanks to the innovative effort of manufacturers like Foodsaver, Ziploc, and NutriChef, some of the old, basic methods are still very much in use today. A lot of people still manage to vacuum seal food without a machine or seal a bag without a sealer. There are many basic methods to seal plastic bags without a sealer, which is similar to making your own vacuum sealer, except that it’s not a vacuum sealer but a method that has similar functionality. In this article, we’re going to be looking at how to vacuum seal a bag without a vacuum sealer, so even if you can’t afford one, or you’re simply not a fan of these machines, you can still get things done with these wonderful alternatives.
- Having been introduced just decades ago, vacuum sealers have grown to become very popular in the world we live in today just because they always get the job done. They have become popular appliances because people are beginning to pay more attention to how they function, and, of course, the many benefits that come from using them. If you’re still wondering whether or not you need a vacuum sealer, you probably only need to be convinced of how much you can benefit from using the machine. In this article, we’re also going to be discussing some of the benefits of having a vacuum sealer in your space.
It is not a regular practice to use storage bags without vacuum sealers, and a lot of people are not just familiar with the concept yet. Vacuum sealers have played a huge role in helping us preserve our food just like we need them, and that’s a great thing to know. Long before technology was introduced, people had a way of preserving their foods with plastic bags like the Mylar bags, which worked quite effectively. That’s not to say the intervention of technology in inventing vacuum sealers hasn’t been a great thing. As a matter of fact, the invention of vacuum sealers has breathed fresh air into what people understood as an effective food preservation method.
Vacuum sealers have been made not just for home use, but for industries (chamber vacuum sealers) and hunters, and for home use which is far from food preservation but to preserve the quality of other elements like clothes, pieces of jewelry, documents, and many other things. Today, we now have an effective way of preserving our food items, which has made vacuum sealers very popular worldwide.
We now live in a world where several environmental factors can affect the quality of what we eat. This is why most people believe having vacuum sealers to combine well with refrigerators to give their food items the protection they deserve, is more than necessary, and rightly so.
One of the many advantages of living in the modern world is that there are modern appliances to help us get through different phases in our lives, like the domestic part. People are too busy trying to get things done, thereby having little time to spend on the domestic aspect of their lives, which is super important.
Thankfully, technology has ensured that we have modern appliances to help us achieve our domestic goals. The United States, for many years, has been a big player as far as home appliances are concerned. People in the country understand the importance of every appliance, and they do all they can to make sure they have them. This explains why the country had a market value of $37.8 billion for major home appliances in 2018.
Effective food preservation doesn’t have to be just about vacuum sealers. As long as you have plastic/vacuum bags available to you, there are other ways to package food without a vacuum sealer. Some of these methods have survived many years, and manage to stay relevant today because they are effective.
We can use vacuum storage bags without vacuum, and it’s a good thing for people who may not be able to afford vacuum sealers or people who just don’t want to spend their money on them. Having time away from machines is always good, because, sometimes, it’s just very okay to go natural and adopt other ways to get your food and other things preserved without using a vacuum sealer, at least not the machine.
The chart above shows the sales of electronics and appliances of electronic shopping and mail-order houses in the United States from 2006 up until 2019. We created the chart using the information provided by Daniela Coppola of Statista. Online sales have skyrocketed over the past few years as people now prefer to order their favorite electronics and appliances from the comfort of their homes.
This has made e-commerce businesses enjoy massive success within this period, thanks to the internet. From the total sales of appliances and electronics in the United States in 2006 ($13.92 million), over $9 million was realized from e-commerce.
The numbers grew over the next few years, most notably in 2019 when $51.5 million of the total revenue of $56.9 realized from the sales of appliances and electronics in the country was through e-commerce.
E-commerce sales growth makes more sense because people want both comfort and convenience, which they can get due to the existence of the internet.
The chart above shows the import value of kitchen and household appliances in the United States from 2008 to 2020. This explains why so many sales are made in the country as far as household appliances are concerned, especially in the internet age where people can shop for their favorite appliances online.
The figures grew consistently from 2009 up until 2015. In 2008, the import value of household and kitchen appliances stood at $19.36 billion before dropping to $17.13 the following year. Since then, the numbers have been consistently rising, at least up until 2020, when a value of $33.12 was recorded.
We were able to create this chart with the information provided by Arne Holst, one of Statista’s research experts.
5 Benefits of Vacuum Sealing
Vacuum sealing is an important process for those who want to keep their food fresher for a longer period. The process is such an important one that it has become a popular one worldwide, making vacuum sealers equally popular.
People only adopt a method when they think it’s going to be beneficial to them, and when it comes to vacuum sealing, there are lots of benefits. Some of them include;
Keeps Your Food Fresher for Longer
One of the reasons people adopt the vacuum sealing method to preserve their food is to keep the food fresher for longer. It doesn’t matter if you’re adopting the natural methods or using the machine, the goal is to help you preserve your food items so they can last longer compared to when you just put them in your cabinet where several environmental factors can affect them, and destroy them.
According to Food VacBags, the less air you have in your food, the higher the chances of your food surviving for a longer period. Even if you place your food in the refrigerator, it is only a matter of time before it begins to get exposed to the air, which will destroy it. Vacuum sealing removes the air from your food, inhibiting the growth of bacteria and mold in your food.
This allows you to preserve seasonal items or food that spoil quickly.
Keeps Your Refrigerator Organized
The truth is that when you have your food in vacuum bags, it leaves your refrigerator looking more organized than just having your food lying around in the refrigerator. This is another reason people adopt the vacuum sealing method, and apart from helping them keep things more organized, it also leaves them with enough space to store other things in the refrigerator.
Saves You Money
When people purchase in bulk without an effective way of preserving the food items they’ve bought, they end up wasting their money because the food items will get spoiled, and that’ll only leave them lamenting. When you vacuum seal your food, you can be confident of long-term storage, which means that even the most perishable food product in your refrigerator can last for a long period without losing its freshness or great taste. This way, you’ll reduce waste and also money.
It Is Quick and Efficient
If there’s any reason people love to vacuum seal their items (food or any other thing), it is because the method has proved to be very quick and efficient over the years. There’s no quicker way to preserve leftover meals, dry foods, wet foods, meat, and any other food item you can think of than vacuum sealing them. As long as you have quality plastic bags at your disposal, you can quickly get things off the mark, even if you don’t have a vacuum sealer.
Protects Freezer Burn
Another important benefit of vacuum sealing is that it protects your food from freezer burn, which is quite common when you just place your food in the freezer without placing it in a bag.
Freezer burn occurs when the freezer begins to take moisture from the food, leaving it dehydrated. It means air is present around the water crystals in the food, and the best way to prevent that is to keep your food in a bag without the presence of the air. Consuming food with freezer burn may not be dangerous to your health, however, it will have you compromise on the quality of the food which includes its freshness and good taste.
Who Needs This Method?
You may need the popular vacuum sealing method without knowing you need it. Below are some of the categories of people that will find vacuum sealing very helpful;
- Families
- Hunters
- Bachelors
- Travelers
- Homeowners
- Preppers
How To Vacuum Seal a Bag Without a Vacuum
Regarded as one of the most effective methods to preserve food, a lot of people have adopted vacuum sealing over the past few years, and it has worked great for them. The mystery surrounding its usage, however, remains whether or not it can be done without a vacuum sealer. The truth is that you can vacuum seal your food items, clothes, and other things without the machine itself, although you’ll need a plastic freezer bag to get things done, and, of course, some basic methods.
These methods are ideal for people who don’t see a need to purchase a vacuum sealer because they seldom will need it, and see purchasing it as an unnecessary investment to make.
Vacuum Seal with Water
STEP 1: Fill a bowl with water and ensure you have a clean towel beside you so you can clean things up when the process starts to get messy, although it’s very unlikely things get messy if you follow the instructions properly.
STEP 2: Put the food you’re vacuum sealing in a plastic/vacuum bag. Simply Recipes advises arranging the food in an even layer to make sure it freezes more quickly.
STEP 3: Use your hand to almost seal off the bag, but leave a little space at the top of the bag. Press the bag as hard as you can but be careful not to destroy the content of the bag when you’re pressing. This is to get as much air as possible out of the bag.
STEP 4: Still holding the top of the bag unsealed, lower the bag into the water while you use the other hand to press air bubbles out of the bag.
STEP 5: While holding the bag, once you reach the unsealed top of the bag, press the seal closed immediately to make sure air doesn’t get trapped in.
Vacuum Seal with Straw
STEP 1: Place your food in the vacuum bag in an even position so the bag can freeze quickly once you place it in the refrigerator.
STEP 2: Press as much air as possible out of the bag using your hand before sealing it but leave a straw at the top corner of the bag.
STEP 3: Suck the air out of the bag through the straw until you see the bag collapse and fold around its content.
STEP 4: Pull out the straw slowly while still maintaining suction before quickly sealing off the rest of the bag.
Vacuum Seal DIY Valve with Hand Pump
STEP 1: Place your food in a freezer bag.
STEP 2: Pull the valve apart into upper and lower parts.
STEP 3: Place the lower part of the valve inside the zipper bag and the upper part of the valve outside the bag to tighten the grip on the other one.
STEP 4: Seal the bag tightly.
STEP 5: Put a pump on the upper valve tightly and suck out the air to create a vacuum and a great environment for your food to stay fresher for longer.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Are there Foodsaver bag alternatives?
There are bags from other brands that offer quality service. Foodsaver bags are great, but other brands like Ziploc also produce quality bags.
2. How do you seal jars without a vacuum sealer?
Some of the methods we’ve highlighted in this article are also great for jars, wet food, dry food, solid, and liquid food.
3. Can you seal liquid without a vacuum sealer?
Yes, you can.
Conclusion
One of the most effective food preservation methods is vacuum sealing, and over the years, it has become the go-to method for people who are looking for something very effective. However, others who think getting a vacuum sealer is not necessary don’t think of any other way to preserve their food. It is possible to vacuum seal without the machine, which is what we’ve discussed in this article. You can vacuum seal using water, a hand pump, and a straw to get the air out of your vacuum bag without using a vacuum machine.
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