Over the weekend, I made a trip up to the city. One of my stops was Costco where I picked up a FoodSaver. Thanks to those of you who made recommendations! Your input was helpful!
We have about 50 feet of bean plants growing, some farther along than others, and I'm hoping we'll be inundated with beans when they start putting on flowers. I want to freeze the beans when they're freshly picked, and thought the vacuum seal option made the most sense for us. And I'll be able to use it for our meat as well. The meat comes paper wrapped from the butcher, and I worry about the amount of time it can stay fresh in freezer paper.
While at Costco, I also picked up some groceries and household necessities (while I waited for new tires to be put on the ol' Honda Pilot). There was just enough room in the cart for some fresh berries and a package of pound cakes (containing three cakes). Yum!
The cakes were fresh, and beautiful. We enjoyed one of them over the weekend, and the remaining two seemed like the perfect thing to pop into the freezer for later.
I must say, there is a bit of a learning curve with the FoodSaver and "soft" items. What started out a perfectly shaped pound cake, VERY quickly turned into...
...a not so perfectly shaped pound cake, sealed up tightly.
I guess I should have hit the "STOP" button a bit sooner!
Not to worry though... I cut open the sealed bag, let the cake sit on the counter for a few minutes to regain it's shape, and then sealed it up once more -- this time paying a bit more attention to the timing of "STOP".
I also put together some sealed packages of fresh strawberries, and some packages of chopped nuts, too! What a fun gadget! Can't wait to get those beans in the freezer!
We pre-freeze as well after Bradley mutilated some hamburger buns.
Posted by: MichelePhillips | June 25, 2010 at 10:47 PM
Oh, Anna...I couldn't help chortling when I saw the photo of that misshapen pound cake. That really looks like something I would do, and family members would tease me about it forever. The good thing is that it would taste just as yummy in its less than perfect version.
Posted by: gailanne | June 24, 2010 at 11:05 PM
I agree with the others pre freeze the breads and things that will squish. I don't know if yours came with the canisters but it is good for marinating food too - ours is a manual foodsaver so we have to do the vacuum release rest 3x but it is worth it such tender meats
I enjoy reading your site and seeing all the wonderful critters you have (oh I make homemade freezer packs with the leftover too small for food bags - just put dishsoap in a baggie - freeze - then seal in foodsaver so it won't leak - keeps lunches cool for hours and form fits around food)
Posted by: Deb C | June 24, 2010 at 02:55 PM
sometimes you've got to pre-freeze breads/berries,etc...then seal-a-meal them..I put berries on a cookie sheet/freeze, then put into bags and seal, otherwise its "mush city"..
Posted by: Kellie | June 24, 2010 at 01:25 PM
In case someone hasn't already mentioned it, the best way to freeze berries is to flash freeze them first in a single layer on a cookie sheet so that they don't turn to mush once you've got them in the freezer bag and you can freeze more of them together all at once.
Happy Freezing!
Posted by: Sonya | June 23, 2010 at 03:16 PM
Hurray, so glad you got your Food Saver! You are going to LOVE it! And Costco is SO awesome, I wish there was one near us! (there is NOTHING near us LOL) Costco has a large sheet cake, that has mousse between the layers. I had it in Memphis when my son lived there. It was to die for! He took one to a potluck lunch, and it was LOVED by all. Costco is just the BEST. I'm so glad there's one in driving distance from you. You got some great tips from your blog readers, too! HAPPY FREEZING AND SAVING! :D
Posted by: diane mcvey | June 23, 2010 at 11:45 AM
I'm so jealous of all your beans! I have had quite the saga with my beans. First, I tried to start some out inside, which one of my cats promptly ate. Then, I planted a new batch outside, and just when they started to grow, the rabbits came and ate them. I finally just gave up and planted peppers instead. GRRRR.... Maybe next year!
Posted by: Anne S | June 23, 2010 at 08:38 AM
You do plan on "blanching" the beans, before you freeze them...right?
Posted by: leslie | June 23, 2010 at 08:32 AM
Hi Anna, you will love the food saver! We can't live without ours. One thing we do on delicate or soft things is to pre-freeze them, and then use the vacuum sealer, this helps them from becoming munched. Happy sealing!
Posted by: Lisa K | June 23, 2010 at 06:08 AM
Happy Freezing! I may have to drag our food saver out. The peas are producing like crazy and the green beans are loooking like we will get a bumper crop. The vines are already 6 ft. tall and loaded with blooms. Now if the rain would let up and let the garden dry out a bit. Have a wonderful Wednesday. hugs....
Posted by: Carol Dee | June 23, 2010 at 05:20 AM
I have one of these too. Frozen beans and corn are the best. I just shuck and silk corn, rinse and dry and put into bags and seal. The corn tasts like fresh picked from the garden. So Easy!
Posted by: GLENDA BROOKS | June 23, 2010 at 02:26 AM
Anna - you want to learn to "flash freeze" things. That means freezing it individually, and then vacuum sealing it. Works for baked goods, berries, etc. You could get a ton of berries this summer, spread them out on a cookie sheet, pop them in the freezer until they're frozen. Then they're "individually frozen" and you vacuum seal them.
If you sealed berries unfrozen you'd have one giant blob. I have never used the stop button on my foodsaver. Now I wonder what it's for. LOL.
Posted by: Lisa | June 22, 2010 at 10:06 PM
Forgot to let you know when I am ready to make cookies..I put the frozen dough balls on cookie sheet and let them sit on counter for about 10 min before baking...this makes a better cookie for me. 8^)
Posted by: Deanna (Dee) | June 22, 2010 at 09:05 PM
Anna...I freeze my loaf cakes and breads first then put the Food Saver to it...works so much better...I do the same with cookies...I freeze cookie dough also the same way..I drop the dough on cookie sheets then pop them in the freezer and the next day I put them in dozen lots in the foodsaver bags and let the machine suck the air out..I also put the kind of cookie and the oven temp and time on pkg. Hope this helps. Hugs, Dee in Oklahoma
Posted by: Deanna (Dee) | June 22, 2010 at 09:03 PM
I love my Food Saver too. I'm actually ready for a new one (had my current one over 6 years and it's starting not to seal quite as well). My suggestion for soft foods .... flash freeze them on a cookie sheet and THEN seal it ! I once got a huge bag of shredded cheese at Costco and tried to seal it and it squooshed it all together. I now freeze pieces of lasagna so we end up not wasting all the leftovers.
Posted by: Simmy | June 22, 2010 at 08:58 PM