Member -Walkabout(NSW) replied:

Have you bought your vacuum sealer yet? Mine came with a booklet that will answer all your questions.
Cheers,

Member - Davoe (Yalgoo) replied:

yep - dont do it. theres a good reason why all comercially available vacume packed RTE meals are subject to additianal heat treating after packaging

Member - RFLundgren (WA) replied:

Just to hijack the thread a little while we are on the subject of cryovacing :)

What is the situation with the likes of cold meet ect. Sliced chicken roll, ham, salami etc. Is it safe to cryovac, if so for how long will it keep. Just that if we go entended trips it makes it much easier for lunches if it is a single pack we can open for lunch rather than having open packets on the fridge.

Also buying by the kilo is damn site cheaper than buying those little prepacked items. On our last trip bying one of those at a readhouse wsa the equivalent cost of $60 kilo for pretty ordinary ham that you could purchase in Coles for about $14 kilo.

Member - Chris G (VIC) replied:

Hi Maggiel
You mentioned 'rice'. A few years ago our Health Inspector ran a little exercise at our business. Coolroom at correct temp. Rice cooked and cooled. Tested sample each day at Govt Lab. By day four it was dangerous to eat. Rice cooks in 12 minutes, easy.

Middle Jeff replied:

HI
It can be done, but you have to follow some rules. The first thing is to cool it as quickly as possible, easiest way is to pour it onto a tray and get it in the freezer and when it gets down to fridge type temp ( 2 - 6 ) then put it into a container, making sure you get no air pockets and freeze, once frozen you can vacuum pack it. If you have things like mushrooms or cream or any soft veggie it should be good for two weeks below 4 degrees, you can not reheat food in the same bag unless you know someone who can get you some pretty specialised wrap.

You are better off doing rice and potatoes separately for a whole lot of reasons, safer, less energy overall needed and quicker cook time.

With the question about processed meat, if it is already packed look at the use by date and half it, if you get it from a busy deli with a fast turn over at 4 degrees or below I would think 7 to 10 days, just make sure you lay it out flat so you can get max air out of it.

Have fun

Craig

Shaker replied:

We have a vacuum machine & do pack cooked meals, be careful if they contain onion as it will reduce viable storage time to around 5 or 6 days.

KiwiAngler replied:

I have had a sunbeam vac unit for a few years now and am confused by some of the previous posts re how to and how long for.

I cook all sorts of meals pasta and meat, casseroles, and veges that I have blanched and put into the vac bag and then frozen.

When it is time to eat, if I am at home I take the fork and make a couple of holes and into microwave for a 'couple of minutes'

If I am camping I boil a billy of water, drop the bag (no holes) into the boiling water for a 'couple of minutes'

When shopping I buy bulk packs of meat and chciken, come home split them into 'meal sizes' then vac and freeze - again they stay in the freezer.

I label and date the packs so that I can 'track' them

Some of these packs have been in the freezer for months - I havent got sick and as you can see (by this post) I havent died