from liquid hot to frozen the Food Saver way

RRP

At risk of boring some people I just thought I'd answer the question about how to seal liquids with a Food Saver without gumming up the channel and suction guts.
Two words - freeze first! :laugh:

For instance take this hearty ham and bean soup


it was cooled to the touch and then poured into pint size bags using a bottomless plastic glass as a sleeve to keep the bag walls clean


and the bags were clamped shut with bag clamps and stacked flat in the freezer overnight


and then sealed in the morning and off to the main freezer for a wonderful pre made meal to just be dropped into a pot of water and warmed up again.

Unknown

Freekin' great!

I've fumbled around trying to freeze my chili and you, my friend, have handed me the answer to my problem.

Thank you.

Grandpas Grub

Thanks for posting, nice to see the individual steps.

GG

fieroguy

Carey - Yer chili is too damned hot to EVER be frozen

EggTurner

DUH! Freeze it first. Why didn't I think of that. The first time I had even a little liquid in the bag it got sucked into the channel and gummed up the gasket. Fortunately, Food Saver sent me a new gasket (gratis) but I have stayed way from any liquid. Thanks for the sharing your system; I will be using RRP's freeze method.

Little Steven

Ron,

We get our milk here in 1 litre plastic bags. There is a plastic container to pour the milk. One quart foodsaver bags fit perfectly in them. I put all my liquids and semi liquds in the freezer (or the garage most of the year) in them until they freeze and vac seal. I would be happy to send you a few.

Steve

RRP

Steve,

Happy New Year!

Thanks for the offer, but my wife, Pat aka Mrs. Thrifty, can sniff out bargains galore. A few years ago she found a store that was going out of business and bought us a dozen boxes of pint size Food Saver bags (that's 384 bags) for like $12! We'll probably still have some when our executors go through our belongings and scratch their heads wondering why we bought so many!

Ron

ranger ray

excellent idea.... thanks for taking the time to share... rrr

JonHalestrap

I am maybe missing the point , but if you have frozen in bags why would you then use a vacuum sealer ?

RRP

JonHalestrap said:

I am maybe missing the point , but if you have frozen in bags why would you then use a vacuum sealer ?

Sealed to prevent freezer burn, since I may not eat it for several months or even years! I have LOTS of soups in my freezer!

HoustonEgger

Dang it - someone left a bag of those bag clips at the gym and I didn't know what the heck they were - going to grab a handful of them tomorrow!

MeTed

One of the best tips ever! Thanks for the bump.

Hoster05

What foodsaver model model do y’all use?

MeTed

I have the cheapest one at Walmart.

MacPa

I pre freeze almost everything. An hour or so in the freezer is enough to keep the meats juices from being sucked into the sealing area making a much more reliable seal

MeTed

Thanks Mac

EggbertGreenII

I raised the same question regarding vacuum sealing pulled pork, when one of our members turned me on to freezing first. Simply a great resolution to a real problem.

GrillSgt

I prefreeze on sheet pans anything that is somewhat soft including meats. I freeze the liquids in Tupperware and then to the bags. Never had an issue. Fresh shrimp or seafood in a container and covered by water. 

Thatgrimguy

I would love some of your soup recipes!!

RRP

Thatgrimguy said:

I would love some of your soup recipes!!

Here's one of my most favorite. It may be too salty for some people so adjust to your personal tastes!

RRP’s  Ham & Bean Soup

1# navy beans prepared as described below

3 cups of diced ham

1 left over ham bone, plus any large chunks of fatty meat saved while trimming down the     ham bone – especially that which may still have some of the exterior glaze!

¼ pound butter

1 cup grated carrots (typically 1 large one)

1 cup diced onion (1 medium onion)

1 cup thinly diced celery (about 2 large stalks)

2 tsp freshly ground pepper (90 grinds)

3 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin powder 

1 tsp chili powder

2 T sifted flour

½ t Wright’s concentrated hickory liquid smoke

½ t Kitchen Bouquet

Method A. Sort through beans for any bad ones, rinse and place in large pot with 4 pints of cold water. Bring to a boil for three minutes, turn off heat, but leave on the burner and keep covered for one hour and 15 minutes. Drain beans and rinse again.

Or Method B which I really prefer! This is a recap from Cook’s Illustrated in Nov ’10 issue: For 1 pound of dried Navy beans dissolve 3 tablespoons of table salt in 3 quarts of cold water. Let soak for 16 to 24 hours at room temperature. Drain and rinse well before proceeding  

Add 4 pints of cold water, plus the ham bone. Simmer for 3 hours. First hour uncovered and next 2 hours with cover slightly ajar.

Sauté the carrots, celery and onions in ¼ lb of butter. Season with salt, pepper, cumin powder and chili powder. In a separate shaker place 2 T of sifted flour and THEN add 1 pint of tap hot water and mix thoroughly to make a slurry and set aside. 

Remove the ham bone after carefully saving any additional ham from it that becomes visible after the long simmer. Also remove the chunks of fat. Add the diced ham, sautéed vegetables and flour slurry to the pot of beans. Add the Wright’s smoke and Kitchen Bouquet and stir well. Heat thoroughly on simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. 

For reference just 1 pint of this well mixed hearty soup is a nice size serving. Normally this recipe yields 7 pints of bodacious very thick ham and bean soup!

Enjoy! BTW this freezes very well.

RRP - Ron Pratt, Dunlap, IL

Woodchunk

^thanks^

MNEggerandStuff

RRP, you should write a book on life hacks and the recipes to go with them, you've certainly saved members of this forum a lot of time and struggles....

jtcBoynton

Freeze first then vacuum seal is highly recommended for soft fruit.  Spread on baking sheet and freeze. Pieces of fruit will maintain their shape and vacuum pack as individual pieces that allow you to remove as much or as little as you need in the coming months/years.

SaintJohnsEgger

MacPa said:

I pre freeze almost everything. An hour or so in the freezer is enough to keep the meats juices from being sucked into the sealing area making a much more reliable seal

Sam here. Works wonders when sealing greasy or juicy meats and other items. Only need about an hour in the freezer to get the liquids solid.

Spaightlabs

9 year old zombie thread with more action today than it had a decade ago...

Grillmagic

Great tip Ron, I freeze in single serving Tupperware bowls then the next day just pop them out of the Tupperware into a foodsaver bag then put them back in the freezer, works great.

GrillSgt

Try vacuuming a bagel before freezing. 

Canugghead

GrillSgt said:

Try vacuuming a bagel before freezing. 

Been there 

RRP

Canugghead said:

GrillSgt said:

Try vacuuming a bagel before freezing. 

Been there 

That's kinda like me with English muffins. I will be fixing our traditional NTD breakfast tomorrow of Eggs Benedict. I'll only use 2 and they come 6 to a package. I've had fairly good luck freezing them and then carefully trying to outwit our Food Saver to seal them without crushing them - and trust me they WILL flatten if not frozen!

smbishop

RRP said:

Thatgrimguy said:

I would love some of your soup recipes!!

Here's one of my most favorite. It may be too salty for some people so adjust to your personal tastes!

@RRP  
Thank you for sharing!  I made it today!  So good!

Eggdicted_Dawgfan

Excellent as always. Thanks Ron. 

Edited to fix the sideways pics but no luck.