Vacuum Packing Fresh Meat and Seafood Tips
Vacuum packing fresh meat and seafood, here are some tips to make the job easy!
The benefits of vacuum packing or vacuum sealing are definitely worth the small amount of effort required. Freezer burn will not happen. Fish fillets can be frozen for 12 months or longer and will still pan fry just the same as fresh fish. Red meats can be frozen for 5 years plus and still come out in pristine condition. You will save around 20% freezer space because of the flat packs, and you will get a nice even defrost, either in the fridge with no leakage, or in cold water. You can also age red meat in the fridge for 3 to 5 weeks in the vacuum bag. Below are some tips and ideas which will help you get the best result with the least fuss.
There are two main issues when trying to achieve a satisfactory result with these food types. For this article I will use the term meat which refers equally to either meat or fish.
The first is achieving as good a vacuum as possible with the ever-present issue of air locks in the bag, air locks with these types of food are caused by the meat trapping air in the bag.
The second issue is liquid being dragged up the bag and into the sealing area which can compromise the seal causing leaks which release the vacuum from the bag.
Air locks – The most common cause of air locks is because the meat is touching the sides of the bag causing an air lock at the bottom of the bag. The solution is to leave a small gap up each side of the bag. To achieve this, once the bag is loaded, pinch the sides of the bag with your thumb and finger to push the food away from the side of the bag and allow a small gap.
The exception to this is mince, when vacuum packing mince load the mince into the bag and push the mince into the bottom corners of the bag, then lay the bag down and push it flat. Put the bag into the vacuum sealer machine and while the vacuum function is running, press down on the top of the mince to dislodge any air locks which are forming on the top. You can never achieve a perfect vacuum with mince but using this technique it will be close.
The technique of pushing down on the top of the meat can also be used when packing larger cuts of meat where you start to see an air lock forming on the top surface. The other common cause of air locks is leaving gaps in the centre of the food, so when packing multiple fish fillets or cuts of meat try not to leave gaps in the middle. Air locks can also be minimised by packing smaller bags, the less in the bag the less opportunity there is for air locks to form. Laying the food as a single layer in the bag will have less air trapped and also give a nice flat pack that is easy to defrost later.
Liquid getting into the seal area – The solution is simple, minimise the amount of liquid in the bag. Never wash fillets before vacuum packing, make sure the meat is well chilled, once meat starts to reach room temperature it will release liquid. If you need to remove any scales or foreign objects from the meat or fish use a paper towel. Try and get the food into the vacuum bag as quickly as possible after filleting or breaking down. If it sits on a board or tray it will start to release liquid then you will need to pat the surface with a paper towel to remove excess liquid. Always leave a gap of around 50mm or more between the front of the vacuum sealer and the food in the bag. This creates a buffer zone for any liquid which does happen to be dragged out of the meat. Then finally if you do manage to get some liquid residue in the seal area do another seal on the bag straight away
