[paraquack]

We've all see the posts about using vacuum savers on food. But, I'm curious, does anyone else vaccum save cooked foods. As an example: I make up 2 quarts of spaghetti sauce and as a pound of cooked and browned ground beef. After a meal for my wife and I, we get about 4 additional serviving of 14 ounces each, that I freeze in red plastic glasses. After freezing for a day, I use hot water to release the sauce, put it on a sheet of Saran wrap and place it in a vac bag and vac and seal them for freezing. So we get 5 meals. I'll take one vac bag, remove the frozen spaghetti sauce, put it in a small pan, heat
it and put it over freshly prepared pasta.

I do the same with cuts of meat. We buy chicken, steaks, chops, brats, smoked sausage, burgers and the like in fairly large quanities, especially when they are on sale. I grill all the same meat at one time. When done, I put the meat for one meal in Saran wrap, vac seal them, and put them away in the freezer. When we want them, we throw the how vac bag in a pot of boiling water, while we cook up the other foods for the meal. When ready, the meat comes out of the bag, piping hot and tasting like it just came off the grill.

We've done this since the 1990s when we RV'ed a lot, but really got into it now that we are retired. and don't eat as much.

 

[Back Pack Hack]

I make big batches of food specifically to vac-seal and freeze. Make a pan of lasagna, have a couple meals out of the pan, and the rest is put into storage. Probably half my chest freezer is filled with it. Lasagna, goulash, potato soup, chili.....

I do the same thing with I visit family in Texas. We vac-seal it all in single-serving sizes so anyone can just have a quick, heat-n-eat meal.

 

[CapitalKane49p]

Yep. Store cooked chickpeas, beans and peas that way in the freezer. Make up large patches use them when ever I want to make humus, chilis .... no need to open cans. I'd store cooked chili that way but not economical because 20lbs of chili portioned into smaller zip lock bags lasts about a month in the freezer at my house. I make a really good chili. Just stay upwind wind when you visit.

Godspeed

 

[Robie]

Years ago, I was fortunate enough to work with a chef from a famous (now defunct) restaurant in Philadelphia, La Bec-Fin.
He said most of the time spent by kitchen staff was preparing as much as they could beforehand and vacuum-sealing it, then refrigerating/freezing it to be used when they were open for business.
It saved a lot of time during the busy hours and they didn't have to worry as much about quality as that was taken care of during the initial prep before vacuuming.
Being single and it's difficult to cook for one, I do it quite often.

 

[SOCOM42]

I do 20# of chicken at a time for the dogs, pressure cooker then into packaging, freezer.

I do my spaghetti sauce, 2 gallons at a time, pour in bags let it freeze in an upright position then vac.

I do raw chicken to prevent freezer burn.

 

[NMPRN]

I read about cooking lean ground beef, rinsing the fat off with hot water, dehydrating it and vacuum sealing it to store at room temperature. I did a small test batch back in August. It's been 6 months, it's time to give it a try.

You can eat it like high protein popcorn or re-hydrate it. ...maybe re-hydrate it in spaghetti sauce

 

[Back Pack Hack]

I read about cooking lean ground beef, rinsing the fat off with hot water, dehydrating it and vacuum sealing it to store at room temperature. I did a small test batch back in August. It's been 6 months, it's time to give it a try.

You can eat it like high protein popcorn or re-hydrate it. ...maybe re-hydrate it in spaghetti sauce
View attachment 111689

My bet is you'll find the fat is rancid.

 

[Robie]

If it was rinsed well enough under very hot water, there shouldn't be any fat to go rancid.

 

[Annie]

Years ago, I was fortunate enough to work with a chef from a famous (now defunct) restaurant in Philadelphia, La Bec-Fin.
He said most of the time spent by kitchen staff was preparing as much as they could beforehand and vacuum-sealing it, then refrigerating/freezing it to be used when they were open for business.
It saved a lot of time during the busy hours and they didn't have to worry as much about quality as that was taken care of during the initial prep before vacuuming.
Being single and it's difficult to cook for one, I do it quite often.

I used to live just a few blocks from there, in a few different places. One place was above the 16th Street Bar and Grill.

As for my freezer stuff, I usually just throw it in a ziplock or plastic container, date that and do my best to use it within the year. But I do use my vac-seal for mason jars often.

 

[Robie]

I used to live just a few blocks from there

I lived in an apartment at 22nd and McKean for 4 years back when it was an Italian neighborhood.

 

[Back Pack Hack]

If it was rinsed well enough under very hot water, there shouldn't be any fat to go rancid.

Shouldn't. Not no guarantee. Too much of a risk for me.

 

[NMPRN]

My bet is you'll find the fat is rancid.

Between the hot water rinse, oxygen absorber and vacuum sealing it should be fine. The elements needed for fat to go rancid (oxygen, moisture and light) are missing, even most of the fat itself is missing. I could be a better job of keeping light out. If this batch works I'll use silver mylar bags on the next one.

EDIT:
I didn't invent this method, it's been around a long time.

 

[Nick]

I'm not a big fan of cooking meats before I freeze them. Just a preference I don't like the way cooked frozen meat tastes as much, especially beef.

That doesn't mean I won't freeze it if I have a bunch I don't want to throw away.

 

[Back Pack Hack]

Between the hot water rinse, oxygen absorber and vacuum sealing it should be fine. The elements needed for fat to go rancid (oxygen, moisture and light) are missing, even most of the fat itself is missing. I could be a better job of keeping light out. If this batch works I'll use silver mylar bags on the next one.

EDIT:
I didn't invent this method, it's been around a long time.

Household vac sealers cannot produce a perfect vacuum. Even laboratory-grade vacuums can't accomplish that.

Then there's anaerobic bacteria...

 

[Robie]

Between the hot water rinse, oxygen absorber and vacuum sealing it should be fine. The elements needed for fat to go rancid (oxygen, moisture and light) are missing, even most of the fat itself is missing. I could be a better job of keeping light out. If this batch works I'll use silver mylar bags on the next one.

EDIT:
I didn't invent this method, it's been around a long time.

You'll know as soon as you open the bag whether to "continue" or not....lol.

 

[paraquack]

Some interesting comments, thanks, everyone!

 

[LetsGo]

I prepare food for vacuum packing frequently - doing some quail tomorrow. I noticed a seal failed in the freezer today so I have it thawing out, will filet it out, put it in the pressure cooker and then vac it back for a later date. I have always been told not to refreeze bird unless you cook it first.

 

[inceptor]

We tend to buy meat in bulk then break it down to meal size and vacuum seal it. I also do this with soups and leftovers. It makes to quick and easy meals.

 

[Annie]

I lived in an apartment at 22nd and McKean for 4 years back when it was an Italian neighborhood.

Wow, I had a girlfriend who lived in that neighborhood. I remember we'd walk around the Italian Marketplace on Saturdays. Lots of memories!

 

[Megamom134]

I have made hamburger rocks for camping several times and in fact have some made now in storage. Oldest batch we ate was 8 months old and fine. We get the leanest meat and then rinse it really good and then dehydrate it until it feels like rocks. Throw in in some spaghetti sauce for soups and made loosemeats out of some. Still alive.