Vacuum-sealed products last longer than usual, and hiking conditions this can be a great help, especially if there are no grocery stores along the way. Naturally, not all products can be vacuum sealed. But knowing their list and having built several similar jars, you can easily store your rations in such a package, while sealing it in a similar way anywhere and at any time. How to make vacuum packaging with your own hands will be discussed further in detailed master class with photo.
Materials
To work you will need:
- glass jar with a tight-fitting lid;
- transparent plastic tube;
- small T-shaped air valve- 1 PC.;
- check valve- 2 pcs.;
- large syringe;
- drill;
- scissors.
You can purchase the tube and valves at a pet store. It is important that they match each other in diameter.
Step 1. Cut plastic straw into four pieces 5 cm long.
Step 2. Cut the end of one of the tubes at an angle.
Step 3. Place the remaining three pieces of straw onto the T-valve.
Step 4. Take the check valve and examine it carefully. You will see that for correct use it is marked. With the side labeled “in” or “in,” attach it to one of the T-valve tubes.
Step 5. To the second valve tube you need to attach a large plastic syringe without a needle. The design, in the end, should look like in the photo.
Step 6. Drill a hole in the lid of the jar exactly in the center. Its diameter should be half that of your existing plastic tube. This is necessary for a tight fit of the parts.
Step 7. Use the sharp cut end to insert the tube into the hole in the lid.
Step 8. Connect the second check valve with the inlet end to the tube in the lid, and the second end to the third tube on the valve.
A vacuum bag is an indispensable item for storing food. Firstly, when air is pumped out of a bag of food, its volume becomes significantly smaller and it takes up less weight. Secondly, if there is not enough air in the bag, the food will be stored much longer, because there are a lot of bacteria in the air and so on.
In this tutorial we'll look at how to make a simple vacuum bag to hold a small amount of food, like a sandwich or something like that. In principle, you can take a larger bag, we just use a syringe as a pump that pumps out air. So it will take a long time to pump out air from a large bag. But no one is stopping you from modernizing the design.
Materials and tools that the author needed:
List of materials:
- a large-volume syringe (the author has 50 “cubes”);
- air tubes;
- tee;
- good adhesive tape, packing tape (or other);
- two air valves;
- Vacuum package.
Tubes, valves and other small items can be found in stores specializing in aquarium equipment.
List of tools:
- scissors;
- a toothpick or other sharp object.
Vacuum bag manufacturing process:
Step one. Cutting tubes
First of all, you will need to cut three pieces of the air tube. Such tubes are usually used when supplying air to aquariums. Two valves are connected to these three tubes, as well as a syringe. We use scissors.
Step two. We put the tubes on the tee
Now take the air tee in your hands and place the three tubes that you cut off earlier on its ends. They must be pulled with some force so that everything is airtight.
Step three. Installation of valves
For the pump to function properly, there are two valves in the system. One works to release air; it is triggered when the syringe piston moves to the beginning, that is, it displaces air. The second valve opens when you pull the plunger of the syringe, thereby pumping air out of the food bag. On valves, as a rule, there are designations IN and OUT, that is, input and output. If you can't figure it out, try blowing through the valve with your mouth.
What should happen in the end, look at the photo.
Step four. Assembling the pump
The pump can now be completely assembled. There was one short, unused tube left on the tee. We connect a syringe to it. Take a syringe with as large a volume as possible, so you will have to pump less. Choose syringes with rubber pistons; they last longer and work easier. To make the piston slide easier, it can be lubricated vegetable oil, for example, olive or sunflower.
Next you will need a piece of a long tube; we will insert this tube into the bag. You need to connect the tube to the valve that works to suck in air. For the author, this valve is located directly relative to the outlet of the syringe, and the “exhalation” valve is located on the side.
Step five. Hole for tube
Make a small hole in the vacuum bag for the tube. It can be made with a toothpick or other similar object. The hole should be smaller than the diameter of the tube; it will expand on its own when you insert the tube.
Step six. Food
Place food or other items in the bag. The author decided to use lemon slices as an experiment. Please note that after the air is sucked out from the outside, the bag will be affected by Atmosphere pressure, and will compress the contents.
Step seven. Preparing the straw
The tube should be sharp so that it can be easily inserted into the bag. To do this, the author cuts it at an angle with scissors. As an improvement to the design, you can use a large steel IV needle. This will save you from having to pierce the bag with a toothpick every time. You simply insert the needle and pump out the air.
Step eight. Pumping out the air
Now insert the straw into the opening of the bag and close the bag securely. After this, you can use the syringe to pump out the air. The larger the volume of the syringe, the faster you will pump out the air. Hold the entry point of the tube into the bag with your fingers just in case.
Step nine. Closing the package
Many of you, dear friends, have already become familiar with what I wrote about, and some, as far as I know, successfully use it at home. This means that I don’t have to talk for long about the main drawback of this technology, which at the same time is an obstacle to its appearance in the kitchens of not only people who are passionate about food, but also ordinary housewives: the relatively high “entry price”, that is, the amount that you will have to pay to cook your first or sous vide. There is nothing surprising here: some kind of meat grinder or blender that is always in use is one thing, but if we're talking about about devices whose purpose is not entirely clear, few will rush to fork out for them.
To try it out new technology, however, additional costs are not necessary - for example, you can pack food in a vacuum (well, almost) without vacuum sealer. This method can be called displacement of air by water, and once you master it, you will realize that it has many uses. These include:
- Cooking in sous vide. This method can not only completely replace a vacuum sealer, but also in a number of cases (for example, if you need to pack a liquid in a bag - marinade, etc. - or products that are extremely sensitive to squeezing) is more preferable.
- Storage. Of course, a “real” vacuum is preferable, but by packaging the product in a bag using the water displacement method, you can expect that it will be stored in the refrigerator significantly longer.
- Freezing. One of the enemies of frozen food is chapping, but packaging in a bag from which the air has been removed can significantly slow down this process, extending the shelf life of food in the freezer.
This method has other applications, but the ones I described above are enough to interest those who have not heard of it. Therefore, without further delay, I move on to its description.
Air displacement method with water
To get started, you'll need to buy plastic Ziploc bags, which are usually sold in the aisles that stock foil, cling film, and sandwich bags. Ziplock is a closure that looks like a zipper and moves back and forth to open or close a bag. An example of such packages is shown in the photo below:
When choosing packages, make sure that this is exactly what you need food grade plastic, and be guided by the fact that their size exceeds the size of the products that you will pack: in order to remove maximum air, it is necessary that there is free space around the product - ideally at least 2 centimeters on the right, left and bottom, and at least 5 centimeters on top . The sequence of further actions is as follows:
1. Place the product (a piece of meat, fish, cheese, etc.) in a bag and close the ziplock almost all the way, leaving the bag open only a couple of centimeters.
2. Fill a large saucepan or other container that will easily fit your bag with regular tap water.
3. Carefully lower the bag into the water, which will squeeze the air out of it so that the bag seems to stick together. The bag must be lowered into the water almost completely, leaving only a slightly open part above its surface, from which air will escape.
4. When all but a small part of the bag is under water and you see that almost all the air has come out of it, close the bag and remove it from the water.
5. You have packaged your food in a virtually airless environment, and now you can cook it sous vide or store it in the refrigerator or freezer.
After using the bag, you can throw it away or, if desired, wash it and reuse it. At the same time, be aware that some Ziploc bags may begin to leak air over time, so I do not recommend using them for long-term storage.
I hope I described everything more than clearly, but if you are one of those who would rather see once than hear a hundred times, pay attention to this short and clear video:
What is the device for? First, vacuum packaging extends the shelf life by 2 or more times.
The most impressive thing about this table is the shelf life of vegetables and fruits in the freezer - as much as 2 years! Well, in general, by and large, are such deadlines necessary? We don’t buy sausage to sit in the refrigerator for 40 days.
Therefore, we move on to the second property of vacuum packaging.
This is the preservation of the original taste of the product, because the oxidation processes under the film, deprived of air, are slowed down, and an apple, for example, freshly picked and sealed under the film, smells as divine as when it was picked. The same goes for a freshly fried cutlet, chicken wings, barbecue and more.
And third, in vacuum packaging you can prepare products using sous-vide technology, which has become popular in the 21st century. In short, this is cooking in a vacuum at low temperatures, from 52 degrees.
First, I'll introduce you to the functionality.
Product arrives in cardboard box with color printing. You don’t need to invent anything for a gift. 
The set contains as many as 15 packages. But the packages are far from cheap. These are special bags that have several layers - a layer of polyethylene alternates with a layer of polyamide or lavsan, and to suck out air, a third layer with corrugation is applied on one side. It’s very helpful that they put the bags, so you can sit down and pack right away. 
On the top cover you can see a control button combined with an LED; in the middle there is an orange rubber valve, which must be pulled to release the vacuum. 
There is also a secret button that you press when you just need to seal the package. There is no physical button, but you need to press it in the inscription area
vacuum packing system, there is a switch underneath it. Why they made it so complicated is unclear.
If you open the device you can see from the front a heating element. And further away is located vacuum chamber limited sealing cuffs. It is in this chamber that the edge of the bag should fit. 
At the bottom there is a sign with information. There are also two built-in magnets, with which the packer can be stored on the wall of the refrigerator. 
I'm starting to use it. To begin with, I sealed a dry-cured smoked sausage. 
Now I’ll cook the pork using sous vide technology.
The meat was chopped and sprinkled with prepared spices. 
Placed it in a bag, and the bag in a packer. This is how the process happens
Result.
Professionally, products are prepared using sous vide technology in thermostatic baths. Of course, I don’t have such equipment and never will. So I put the meat in suitable pan. Here you need to choose larger dishes so that the temperature is more or less constant.
Installing on desired temperature. I took the cooking time and temperature from this table
Cooked for three hours. I take out the bag and cool it. It can be seen that liquid was released during cooking.
The next day I decided to print the package, and it could be stored in the refrigerator for at least 10 days. I take out a piece of meat and finally smell the food. The fact is that when cooking in a vacuum, no odors are released, this is unusual, there is nothing to focus on. So this smell reminded me of marinated barbecue meat. In principle, I sprinkled the barbecue spices on the meat. Next time - no spices or salt. All only during final roasting.
Before frying, I dried the meat using improvised means.
I apply a little softened butter to the meat and place the pork in a frying pan, well heated and fry for a minute on each side.
I don’t know what should happen, I have nothing to compare with. But it’s more like shish kebab, but suspiciously juicy and at the same time fried. It’s a pity that the piece is large and cools quickly while you eat it. Here the thought struck me that it would be very nice to fry the meat as needed in small pieces on alcohol burner type of fundus.
Now for the beef. No seasoning or salt here
After 4 hours of cooking at 57 degrees. The smell of the product is like fresh cow's milk.
And here is a steak made from this meat, fried for 2 minutes on each side. Seasonings and salt are added during frying.
Cooking a beef steak is more impressive than cooking a pork steak. Namely, to make a beef steak you need to have very good, young meat. And here you are guaranteed to get a juicy, marketable steak, and the beef can be quite mediocre.
You can experiment with the temperature and cooking time as much as you like, but it is quite obvious that the product cannot be spoiled by this method of heat treatment.
It is attractive to be able to prepare barbecue meat, beef steaks, chicken breasts and so on, put in the refrigerator or even freeze (which is more acceptable for the prevention of botulism). And as you go out into nature, take this with you... And there, in the lap of nature, prepare delicious delicacies in a couple of minutes.
Thank you for your attention. Planning to buy +142 Add to favorites I liked the review +79 +172 1. First, let's talk about food. Place the food in a regular ziplock bag and close it, leaving the zipper slightly open. Insert a regular tube into this place and press the bag around. Make sure that air only passes through the straw. We begin to blow air out of the bag. When you see that all the air has been blown out, carefully remove the tube and close the bag.
2. If you don't have a string lock bag on hand, you can make your own. To do this, take a regular bag of food and two preferably wide straws. Cut one of the tubes lengthwise. We wrap the second tube around the top of the bag, and then put the cut tube over the bag wrapped over the tube.
3. To ensure that your things take up little space on the road, use vacuum bags. Prepare a stack of the items you need and place them in a large bag or trash bag. Before doing this, be sure to check that there are no cracks or holes in the bag. The package should be a maximum of two-thirds full.
4. Take the remaining third part of the bag in your hands and insert the vacuum cleaner pipe into the hole. Press the bag tightly against the tube. Turn on the vacuum cleaner and remove the air. Make sure that the vacuum cleaner tube does not touch the bag, otherwise the vacuum cleaner may become clogged or simply tear it. After this, quickly pull out the tube and, after twisting the bag, tie it.
5. If you want to pack your things, but you don’t have a vacuum cleaner at hand, you can use another method. This method is less effective, but also produces results. Place your items in the bag and check that there are no holes or cracks anywhere. Tie the top of the bag, leaving a small opening. Fill the bathtub or sink with water to such a level that your items in the bag are completely covered with water, but the top of the bag is not.
6. Having lowered the bag into the water, begin to press it with your hands, expelling the air. Be careful not to let water get into the bag. Once most of the air is out, remove the bag, twist and tie the top. This is how easy it is to create vacuum bags with your own hands. Stay with us and learn more and more new, useful and interesting things.