Vacuum sealed foods remain fresh and preserved for a longer time. Vacuum sealing protects the food from oxygen, liquids, and bugs. A vacuum sealer machine works in a way that it sucks the air out of a container or a plastic bag and seals it so that no air can get back in. You should also have an idea about how long food lasts in a vacuum sealed bag, as only knowing the uses of a vacuum sealer is not enough.
Furthermore, you must know the advantages as well as the disadvantages of a vacuum sealer. Read on to find that out.
The Lasting time of Vacuum-Sealed Food
It is important to know the vacuum sealed food shelf life chart. Why so? Because you would know for how much time a certain sealed food is safe to be used. Furthermore, it is crucial to know for how long the taste of food lasts in a vacuum sealed bag.
Dry foods, frozen foods, raw foods, and cooked foods all have different lasting duration when they are vacuum sealed. Dry foods like pantry items e.g. flour, cereal, rice, and pasta can last from 1-2 years when they are vacuum sealed. Otherwise, they can last up to 6 months if remain in the pantry and are not vacuum sealed.
When frozen meats, poultry, and fish are vacuum sealed, they can not only last and stay fresh but also stay safe from freezer burn for up to 3 years. And when they are packaged conventionally, they can last in the freezer for up to six months.
The vacuum sealer also keeps the raw food fresh for longer. Like cheese will last from 4 to 8 months if vacuum sealed, as compared to storing in the refrigerator where it will last from 1 to 2 weeks. Moreover, the vacuum sealer doubles the life span of fruits and berries by keeping them fresh for up to 2 weeks, as compared to the refrigerator storage in which they stay fresh for less than a week.
The cooked foods or leftovers stay fresh in the fridge for 1 to 3 days, whereas if they are stored in vacuum sealed bags they can stay fresh for up to 2 weeks.
Advantages of Vacuum Sealed Foods
Vacuum sealed foods have many advantages. You will hear people frequently asking the question “how long will food last in vacuum sealed bags?” It is because the use of vacuum sealers has been widening for its various advantages.
- Vacuum sealers save you money and time. Instead of buying meats, vegetables, and other foods every time from the counter, you can buy them all at the same time and preserve them for later use.
- Vacuum sealing protects the food from dehydration and freezer burns.
- The shelf life of the stored foods is increased by vacuum sealing.
- Vacuum sealing efficiently organizes the foods in such a way that it takes less place in the refrigerator or fridge.
- In the conventional storage of food, it is easy for food to lose its taste. But the vacuum sealing holds the juice, moisture, and flavor of the food and thus its taste is not lost.
- The vacuum sealed foods stay fresh for a longer time. The rice lovers will be concerned about how long does vacuum sealed rice lasts? And to their delight, the vacuum sealer keeps the food this fresh that it can last for up to 2 years.
- You can even store the leftovers with the help of vacuum sealers, and in this way, the food doesn’t get wasted.
Disadvantages of Vacuum Sealing Food
Well, where there is light, there is dark too. Food vacuum sealing has its disadvantages as well.
- Yes, the main advantage of the vacuum sealed packaging indeed lies in the removal of oxygen. Certain bacteria cause spoilage of food that needs oxygen to grow. And, when this oxygen is removed, there is no chance that the food will get affected by that kind of bacteria. But, there also some kinds of bacteria that need low oxygen to grow. So, you can’t diminish this fact.
- There are some misconceptions regarding vacuum sealed packaging i.e. only sealing the food would be enough to make it last longer. But, no, only vacuum sealing of the food doesn’t guarantee that it will not be spoiled. You need to place and store it carefully as well.
- Adding to the list of dangers of vacuum sealing food are the sealed bags. They can be fragile. Even a hole in a sealed bag can make it useless. Moreover, the sealed bags are expensive too.
- You need to buy a good vacuum sealing machine and also a good stock of sealing bags that can get very expensive altogether.
The vacuum sealed food remains only fresh until the sealed is opened. So, you need to be careful about the quantity of food you are going to store.