pre cooked vacum sealed food.
Submitted: Sunday, Oct 30, 2016 at 18:54
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mike q1
How long can you keep pre cooked food , vacumed sealed in the fridge. i have been told up to 6 weeks.
Reply By: Dean K3 - Sunday, Oct 30, 2016 at 19:36
Sunday, Oct 30, 2016 at 19:36
I've had fresh meat last 3 weeks but at 4 weeks gets bit on the nose, to point I wasn't prepared to take risk.
However cooked should be perfectly ok at 4 weeks best if it frozen but not everybody has that ability when bush. Personally with fresh meat I'd go no longer than 2 weeks but last trip dictated I carry bulk and use it fairly quickly.
If it was a really logn trip ie months at a time pruchase as you go vacuam seal them up as you go, safer than fresh meat in bag for a month or so .
AnswerID:
605530
Reply By: Member - Terry W4 - Sunday, Oct 30, 2016 at 19:37
Sunday, Oct 30, 2016 at 19:37
That's what my butcher tells me. The longest I have kept it is 3 weeks but all fine.
AnswerID:
605531
Follow Up By: gbc - Sunday, Oct 30, 2016 at 20:04
Sunday, Oct 30, 2016 at 20:04
There's a fair difference between a proper butchers cryovac and a domestic vac sealer too. I like my sunbeam but it's not a patch on a 'real' one.
FollowupID:
875286
Reply By: Rangiephil - Sunday, Oct 30, 2016 at 19:54
Reply By: The Bantam - Sunday, Oct 30, 2016 at 22:27
Sunday, Oct 30, 2016 at 22:27
Mad Chef, Heston Blumenthal has done a lot of work on cooking and storage in vacuum sealed bags.
It might be worth doing some reserach with that in mind.
IF the food is actually cooked in the sealed bag in a hot water bath, its reasonable that vac sealed bags may come close to the performance of canned food
A lot of it will depend on what sort of food and how it is prepared.
cheers
AnswerID:
605539
Follow Up By: gbc - Monday, Oct 31, 2016 at 10:04
Monday, Oct 31, 2016 at 10:04
Sous vide is the method you are talking about if anyone wants to do any homework. Not sure that the intent of it is long term storage, however cooking in a vac sealed bag is indeed a very similar theory to canning. It is a great way of doing eggs and fish and other delicate foods.
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Reply By: get outmore - Monday, Oct 31, 2016 at 11:05
Monday, Oct 31, 2016 at 11:05
you should NEVER store vaccume packaged cooked foods. Sure many do and get away with it but its EXACTLY the same principle as canning which stores vaccume packed cooked foods ...
difference is the food is cooked after canning for sufficient time and temperature to kill all Botulism producing spores and your pre cooked vacume sealed packs are not
AnswerID:
605550
Follow Up By: Shaker - Monday, Oct 31, 2016 at 18:00
Monday, Oct 31, 2016 at 18:00
I spoke with a butcher about vacuum sealing pre-cooked food, as he sold various cooked meals, he said it's ok but if it has onion to use it within 7 days as it will "blow".
We have eaten perfectly good butcher packed bone free red meat after 6 weeks.
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875303
Follow Up By: The Bantam - Tuesday, Nov 01, 2016 at 10:34
Tuesday, Nov 01, 2016 at 10:34
This is why at least part of the cooking should be done in the sealed bag.
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Reply By: Member - John and Lynne - Monday, Oct 31, 2016 at 18:00
Monday, Oct 31, 2016 at 18:00
We have never done it because it would seem to be a very risky idea and even a mild tummy upset is no fun when camping. Much better to use the fridge space for professionally packed meat and fresh vegetables so you can simply
cook as you go and then
shop where possible! Root vegetables like potatoes and onions travel
well for lengthy periods without refrigeration. A thermal cooker makes cooking stews and soups easy and economical when travelling and each effort usually makes enough for two or three meals for us. For those times when shops are few and far between we carry some dried food, powdered milk, rice, flour and a few cans. We can manage easily for two or three weeks without shopping if necessary - a lot longer if we put our minds to it. Lynne
AnswerID:
605565
Follow Up By: gbc - Tuesday, Nov 01, 2016 at 06:37
Tuesday, Nov 01, 2016 at 06:37
I'll often pre
cook stews/bolognaise etc for trips and
Use the vac bags to store them for freezing. It is an excellent space saver in the freezer - no air, no gaps, no Tupperware. Just drop the bag in hot water to heat - no washing up or mess. We also vac fresh fish and freeze it if we are lucky enough to get a big one we can't eat all at once. I have been known to break meat into meal packs ready to open and
cook which is convenient on the road and saves mess. Having a fridge/freezer is my point of difference though. I wouldn't keep pre cooked bolognaise etc in a domestic vac bag in a fridge for much longer than a week I think.
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Reply By: Member - Russler - Monday, Oct 31, 2016 at 20:18
Monday, Oct 31, 2016 at 20:18
Depending upon the type of cooked foods you're talking about, have you considered dehydrating after cooking. I've been doing this for a while with a few different types of meals for my hiking, and it works a treat
AnswerID:
605577
Follow Up By: Member - silkwood - Tuesday, Nov 01, 2016 at 21:10
Tuesday, Nov 01, 2016 at 21:10
I agree. I
cook and dehydrate almost all of my lightweight camping meals nowadays, prior to vac-sealing. Brilliant results, lasts for months. Sure you have to have the water to rehydrate but you have to carry the same weight anyway, if carrying non- dehydrated meals.
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Reply By: The Bantam - Tuesday, Nov 01, 2016 at 10:40
Tuesday, Nov 01, 2016 at 10:40
There are all sorts of exotic food storage methods that have been used for many years by the space program, the military and in commercial food industry ...... in the past they where not practical for private individuals, but, now many of these things are
well within the reach of the private individual ...... Vacuum packing and cooking in the bag among them.
Dehydration has been mentioned.
If you are interested, it will be
well worth researching these methods ...... but you MUST make sure you know the detail and the procedures to make it safe.
cheers
AnswerID:
605598
Reply By: Alloy c/t - Tuesday, Nov 01, 2016 at 19:06
Tuesday, Nov 01, 2016 at 19:06
How long is it safe would be the real Question , when we head off I generally
cook up 3 or 5 'wet' type meals then vacuum seal , lay flat in bottom of 15lt Engle which we use as a dedicated freezer , sweet and sour chicken [sans rice] , spag bogg [sans spag] , curried mince and veg [ no spud ] etc and vac pack meal size steak, chook breasts [skinless] , pork fillet , pure beef snags etc , longest we have ever kept and the consumed one of the self pre cooked / vacuumed meals is 42 days no problem , steaks [ no bone ] etc has been upto 8 weeks no drama , keep it frozen at -15 / 18 constantly is go and only defrost what you need until you need it .
AnswerID:
605617
Reply By: James L10 - Tuesday, Nov 29, 2016 at 14:22
Tuesday, Nov 29, 2016 at 14:22
Relating to fruit and meat, or vegetables, as soon as the original packaging seal is broken, it can be subjected to new air. Even putting your food components in the fridge only prolongs the inevitable rate of decay. It might seem that placing poultry in your freezer guarantees it will continue to be preserved for a long time, and you’d be right. Poultry that is vacuum-packed and sealed with a
Crazysales food vacuum sealer will last longer and suffer little to no freeze burns while it’s in storage, however.
AnswerID:
606308