Any prepper will find having a vacuum sealer very helpful in getting food prepared for long term storage quickly and easily. By using a sealer you can store most perishable foods for the maximum amount of time, increasing the shelf life by up to five times in some cases.

This makes it a lot easier to organize yourself when it comes to bulk food storage and in fact makes it more convenient to purchase food in larger quantities when you can get better value for money.
However, making the most of your vacuum sealer takes a little forethought and planning. You must remember that even though food is vacuum sealed, it still, in the majority of cases, will need to be stored in a freezer or refrigerator at the very least to stop it spoiling.

After your food has been sealed it will then be able to be stored for very much longer inside your freezer without suffering from freezer burn or the loss of taste. It’s very important in a survival situation to be able to have food to hand that is both palatable and nutritious to keep your health and morale high.

What Type of Vacuum Sealer Should You Buy??

If you’re a prepper looking to buy a vacuum sealer, then all things being equal, the volume of food that you want to vacuum seal will largely determine the type of vacuum sealer that you should buy.

Another major factor that should affect your choice should be whether you will be vacuum sealing liquids as some types of sealer are much better at sealing wet and liquid foods.

Really what you should be looking for is a sealer that is capable of being used to seal larger quantities of food without the sealing mechanism overheating. So you should be looking for a semi-professional type of machine such as those made by Weston or similar.

These types of machine are capable of performing lots of sealing operations before they begin to overheat. This means that you can get your food sealed up quicker without the machine cutting out so often saving you lots of time and frustration.

If on the other hand you need to do a lot of sealing and you also want to be sealing liquids, then you might be better having a look at a chamber sealing type of machine such as the VacMaster range which are manufactured by Ary.

Another benefit of choosing a chamber sealing type of vacuum sealing machine is that the pouches that are used to store the food are very much cheaper than the special bag and roll material used in external clamp type of sealers.

How to get the most from your vacuum sealer

  • Always use the recommended pouches, bags or rolls with your particular sealer. If you do not use the correct materials then you could damage your vacuum sealer. You could also have problems with the seal on any packs and pouches failing prematurely causing your foodstuffs to become spoiled .
  • Make sure that you leave plenty of excess material inside bag when forming the seal at the top of the pack. You can then remove some of the contents of the bag and reseal it afterwards.
  • If you don’t have a chamber sealer then always make sure if sealing wet food or liquids that you either pat wet foods dry with a kitchen towel or you freeze them prior to sealing. This will stop liquid getting inside the machine causing damage to the electrical parts and will also help you get a good seal.
  • Soups and stocks and other liquids can be frozen in more convenient shapes by using square containers and then will not take up as much space in the freezer when stored.
  • When sealing the bag make sure that the bag or pouch edges are free from creases as this will help you get a better seal.
  • Don’t forget that all fruits and vegetables must be prepared prior to vacuum sealing by proper cleaning and discarding any damaged specimens. Proper blanching must also take place so that any living cells are killed and do not continue to metabolize inside the bag spoiling the food.

I hope this short article has given you some information to help you in choosing the correct vacuum sealer for your needs.

There are several other helpful articles on this site that can give you more ideas about what you might use your vacuum sealer for.

Please feel welcome to stick around and have a look.