Ummm...What? I do? Yeah, you do. Why you should have one, and which one to buy.
I used to think vacuum sealers were a completely optional piece of equipment, a huge pain in the ass, a total waste of money, and generally the most gimmicky thing you could have standing around wasting counter space in a kitchen.
Until.....my sister gifted me an Anova Sous-Vide cooking gadget, and all of a sudden I needed one. Fast. So I did a bit of research, ordered it off Amazon, and only pulled it out when I did a sous-vide thing.
Until....I cooked a huge batch of shredded Buffalo chicken to bring to a New Year's party, and was informed last minute that it would be finger foods only, and all of a sudden I didn't want to chuck ten pounds of shredded chicken and thought I should freeze it in portions.
Until...these Covid times began, and I realized that this vacuum sealer thing was the coolest thing ever, because it allowed me to save both dry foods and cooked foods, defrost or restock in an instant, and now that thing sits on my counter and is one of my favorite kitchen appliances. It sits next to my other favorites...the Breville Toaster Oven, Cuisinart coffee grinder & maker, and Vitamix blender.
These vacuum sealer things are great. You won't regret owning one, even if you don't use it everyday, like I do now. They are very cost effective to own, and increase your abilities in the kitchen in many different ways...for immediate use, as well as for long term use, and lasting storage needs.
There are a lot of vacuum sealers on the market. My first instinct was to get a really good one, a professional model that cost a fortune, thinking it would do a better job and be more reliable and faster than the rest. I like high quality things...but it turns out the professional restaurant-kitchen style models actually have more moving parts, have much more complicated heating elements, are sourced differently in terms of parts, require more reliable and stable power current, and take up more counter space. In short, they're a nightmare to own, expensive and difficult to service, and a huge pain in the ass, on top of being less reliable and more expensive to begin with.
So, yeah....don't get one of those. Scratch the professional model idea, immediately.
That leaves the consumer model market products. And that's a big market. And I don't have to reinvent the wheel and review them all...especially since no one is sponsoring a budget to do that...so here is a list of links you can use to do some research. These are pretty good reviews.
As I said, I would stay away from the "ultra-powerful" and "commercial" solutions...they are prohibitively expensive and tend to be more finicky and high maintenance. I would also stay away from ultra budget friendly solutions that probably won't deliver on their promises or break after a week. I would choose something in the middle that has a well established brand, and you can readily get serviced, replaced, and re-supplied. I have a FoodSaver and it works just fine :-)
You're probably thinking, "Yeah, I really need another kitchen gadget. like I have counter space for it..." I'm telling you, I used to think the same thing. But it really helps. Especially if you're cooking for a family, or you do meal planning, or if you like to preserve or freeze stuff for later.
My net results are:
I throw away much less food - Less Waste
I sous-vide more often - More Inherent Food Flavor and Temperature Accuracy
I have lower grocery bills - Buy in Quantity & Store, Less Waste
I spend less time doing "quick meals" and meal prep - Frozen & Prepped Portions
AND...
I STICK TO MY DIET MORE OFTEN AND EAT LESS - PORTION CONTROL.
This last one is a big deal, actually. A vacuum sealer helps me portion out meals, count calories, weigh foods...etc...all those things that really help in doing the science part of weight loss, if you go that route. But most of all....the vacuum sealer allows me to pre-quantify my meals and just grab and go. One of the WORST problems people (including myself) have with dieting and losing weight is the need to eat quickly because they don't have enough time...especially at lunch times at work. These are the biggest "problem" times during the day, and fast foods, cafeteria style eateries, restaurants, lunchroom gatherings... all these events are usually high-calorie and high quantity food events where it's easy to get side-tracked off your plan.
Don't let that happen.
A vacuum sealer is like having a Swiss Army knife for your food plan.
Because....in Life as in Food....Flavor Is Free!
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