How do yall freeze leftovers?

[Michael_in_TX]

Wow.....I was not expecting all the vacuum sealer recommendations! I may have to get myself one of those things!

At the risk of sounding like the obvious eludes me, clearly the notion is to get as much air away from the food as possible.

[jfmorris]

Vacuum sealers are awesome for preserving both fresh and smoked meat. I use my foodsaver to seal up pulled pork, ribs, chicken even, and drop it in the deep freeze. With all the air out there is no freezer burn. I try to make meal sized portions that we can microwave for quick meals during the week.

now, I will add this. Freezer type matters. The typical frost free freezer in a refrigerator has daily defrost cycles that will decrease quality of frozen items in a couple of months. A true deep freeze with no automatic defrost keeps items below 0F indefinitely, and I’ve reheated frozen foods after many months and they’ve had great quality.

I also cut my own steaks from primal and vacuum seal them and freeze.

[rickgregory]

Vacuum sealers are awesome for preserving both fresh and smoked meat. I use my foodsaver to seal up pulled pork, ribs, chicken even, and drop it in the deep freeze. With all the air out there is no freezer burn. I try to make meal sized portions that we can microwave for quick meals during the week.

now, I will add this. Freezer type matters. The typical frost free freezer in a refrigerator has daily defrost cycles that will decrease quality of frozen items in a couple of months. A true deep freeze with no automatic defrost keeps items below 0F indefinitely, and I’ve reheated frozen foods after many months and they’ve had great quality.

I also cut my own steaks from primal and vacuum seal them and freeze.

What do you use as a freezer?

[briano52]

Here is just one more guy who loves his vacuum sealer machine. Best gadget in the whole kitchen and pays for itself many times over in a few months in saving food like fresh. Vac sealed food is like new for 3-4 months and still petty good after that!

[SmokingSteve]

Ok, I gotta say it...I use the freezer to freeze any leftovers. I have not found anything else that does a better job than my freezer.

Sorry, couldn't resist!

[DavidNorcross]

Yeah...same here. Could not imagine not having a sealer. Sorry....

[IowaGirl]

I'm vote #147 for a vacuum sealer.

Don't scrimp on bag quality either -- thicker bags are more abrasion resistant, so less likely to loose their seal when a bone or other sharp bit pokes into the plastic.

Also make your packages as flat and smooth as possible for most efficient use of freezer space and also for faster thawing.

Portion only enough into each bag to make one meal for the number of people you normally cook for. If I'm freezing pork shoulder, for example, I'll put 6 ounces of cooked meat by weight into each bag. That makes a generous meal of burritos or loaded nachos for the 2 of us.

[Skip]

Sorry to be a broken record but a Vac Sealer for sure. I also do like IowaGirl and use a Kitchen Scale to measure a quantity that I really want in each package. You won't be sorry.

[Michael_in_TX]

Well, isn't it convenient that my birthday is coming up. Time for some research!

[rickgregory]

If you're not sure you'll use a vacsealer a lot look at the new anova and the Nescos. What you'll find is that there are always about 10% 1 star reviews of any model... but they complain about things like "This squished my muffins!" (not kidding) or something. I grabbed the baby Nesco (https://www.amazon.com/VS-02-Vacuum-...s%2C211&sr=8-4 ) and it's fine for the occasional stuff I use it for. If you do big session of vacsealing like some here, you'd want a larger capacity unit.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

I don't have a vac sealer, but for important long term freezes... I use a gallon zip bag, push as much air out as I can, then submerse in the sink without letting water in to let the water press the last of the air out.

[mgaretz]

+1 on the chamber vac. Big up front investment but the bags are cheaper than baggies. So everything going into the freezer gets vacuum sealed. And the vacuum is so much better that food lasts much longer in the freezer.

[JeffJ]

Vac sealer is a good investment. I use mine quite often.

[rickgregory]

The issue for me with the vacmaster chamber sealers is that they start at $400 and go up. You have to use a LOT of bags for that to pay off, or even make sense.

[ComfortablyNumb]

The issue for me with the vacmaster chamber sealers is that they start at $400 and go up. You have to use a LOT of bags for that to pay off, or even make sense.

Well that's you. Myself, I wanted something that lasts, the VM is commercial quality. I also wanted something more user friendly. I put the bag in the chamber, close the lid, and the machine takes over while I prepare the next bag, unlike the suction sealers with 'press and hold'. I also wanted something that would work all day without overheating and having to stop to let it cool down. I also wanted to bag liquids and powders. As for bags, I'm already ordering my second case of 1000. Finally, I can afford one, so for me, the VM chamber sealer made sense.