Tips To Follow During Vacuum Packaging
If it’s small pieces of boneless meat, fillet or shrimps, then place them flat in a relatively larger sized vacuum-able bag. Here, it would be a good idea to drop a sachet of oxygen absorber into the bag and if possible, place a quarter-folded kitchen tissue paper over the top most piece.
The latter will absorb any juice that might be drawn towards the mouth of bag during the vacuum sealing process, whereas the former will ensure any oxygen that remains behind or diffuses into the bag during the course of storage is duly absorbed. The same goes for medium sized pieces of meat, or smaller fish. In addition, if the pieces have sharp bones jutting out, then these have to covered appropriately.
Whole chicken or turkey can trap air within the chest cavity, which can prove detrimental to your food preservation endeavor. So, if you have a powerful vac-sealer machine, then make use of its extended vacuum function to suck out the trapped air. Otherwise, pre freeze your whole chicken and vacuum seal the same in a proper meat compatible vac-bag. Don’t forget to the add the oxygen absorber sachet into the bag.
Finally, mark all bags with the seal date and make it a point to use the oldest batches first. Theoretically, vacuum sealed meats and fish products are supposed to stay uncontaminated for several months, but for all practical purposes, make it a point to reuse your packages within 4-6 weeks of packaging.