Does anyone here vacuum pack. I keep wondering about this method of storing food and botulism. I mean low acid, no air. It sounds like a recipe for disaster. I would be interested in hearing anyone's take on this. Does anyone know about safety guidelines for this?

Little Bit Farm

-- Little Bit Farm (littlebit@brightok.net), July 20, 2003

Answers

I have / use it. Not as much as I dig when I first got it. I used it for everything them. It doens prevent freezer burn. OR buying a large bag of cheese or something. Works great for that also. I mainly use it during deer season, when I know the meat wil be kept for awhile.

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), July 20, 2003.

What type of foods are you speaking of that would be vaccum packed?? I have never heard of doing it except for dryed things and things to be frozen, in which case the botulism problem does not apply.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), July 21, 2003.

Well I watched a infomercial selling one and they were storing things in the refridgerator for months.I know fridge temps are supposed to slow down biological growth, but will it completely stop it enough to make storing in an airless/low acid environment safe? The infomercial wasn't very clear about these things either. Some of the segments made it seem like you could just leave these things out on your counter. Anyway, I have considered getting one. I was just curious about other people's experiences. Another thing, The plastic they supposedly use is meant to take boiling temps. Would it be possible to pressure it, and make it safe to sit on your counter?

Little Bit Farm

-- Little Bit Farm (littlebit@brighterok.net), July 21, 2003.

as I stated earlier, Ive mostly used it for meats. Did do the marinateing thing in the bags once. Did work great. Only took an hour what would have been overnight or longer. The bags can be expensive, but I keep used ones in the freezer, and only use them for meat again. I consider it another tool, in the "stocking up" methods. For long term, vacuum packing and freezing works great. I've found canning some meats dont taste as well as freezing. But others do very well. As I stated before, it will stop the freezer burn of anything vaccum packed first.

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), July 21, 2003.

I dry vac pac tomatoes, okra, swuash , luffa, potatoes, carrots, eggs and jerky. Have since 1998. I also use sulphite based preservatives as I use for homemade wines to stabalize the more risky dehydrates.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), August 04, 2003.