I Got a FoodSaver

 

Techie Smurf almost forgot my birthday again.  What I really wanted was a Home Depot gift card because I was doing some painting, but he wanted me to ask for something he could Amazon Prime.  I had been considering getting myself a vacuum sealer as a birthday present, so I sent him a link to the basic model.

I used to have a FoodSaver.  My mom had gotten it for me.  Eventually, they do wear out.  My sealing strip had stopped working well.  In the 8 or more years since I gave up on it, I've just been careful not to let things sit in the freezer long enough to develop freezer burn, but it definitely is a useful tool for longer storage and better food quality.

I used it the day I opened it.  There was too much broccoli and cauliflower left over from Seder.  It was already blanched.  I just needed to pre-freeze it and seal.  And now I have it for whenever I need some.

My recommendation for anyone getting a vacuum sealer for the first time is to read the manual.  It's short and largely intuitive.  There are a couple of important warnings, like not vacuum-sealing anything that can often harbor botulism, like garlic.  Not in the manual, but equally important, is to use the labeling area on the bags.  I'm going to end up with many baggies of sealed chicken, and it will be nice to know which is older.

In the long run, this is going to help me to keep an organized freezer with less loss.  And it still fit in the place I used to keep the old one, so it isn't a new appliance cluttering up the kitchen.