This is Highly recommended, a column dedicated to what people in the food industry are obsessed with eating, drinking and buying right now.
I’m in the kitchen sucking all the oxygen out of a bottle of wine that I haven’t finished.
I vacuum seal a slice of apple in a crushed brick for someone special’s lucky dessert.
I look almost expired leek preserved in plastic, squeezed and squeezed together like a sister of the sorority in a bandage dress.
I love my vacuum cleaner.
While looking for new kitchen appliances, because it’s my job and my passion, I came across something Zwilling is fresh and safe Vacuum food storage system. Not me under vacuumSo I’ve never had much use for vacuum sealing – but what a world I missed! A world without oxygen.
The Zwilling Fresh & Save vacuum pump is a hand-held, cordless, rechargeable mini vacuum cleaner the size of a pepper mill. By vacuuming your leftovers, from lasagna to parsley to Spelled flouryou can extend their shelf life by days to weeks or months. (You can also use them to store dry grocery items, like in the photo above.) Zwilling says groceries last an average of five times longer when vacuum-sealed, and because ~ 30 percent of the groceries we bring home from the store is wasted (oof), it’s nice to think that we could waste a little less with this thing. If you’re only cooking for one, the vacuum sealer is a godsend for leftover ingredients that might otherwise go bad, like avocado halves. (You don’t tan!)
Photo courtesy of Zwilling
How it works
First of all, you will need the reusable plastic bags and / or containers that come in plastic or Glass– that Zwilling participates with the vacuum pump (This part is annoying because I hate having mismatched containers. But this is a whole system, so Zwilling imagines this is your only one, I think.) The containers are dishwasher safe, but you’d better get yourself hands wash the bags so you can get into the corners.
With the vacuum sealable bags, you can use sous vide if that’s what you’re interested in, or use them for compact storage Cookie dough and so on in your freezer like I did so you have more room for your quart containers Martinis for meal preparation.
Both the containers and the bags have these round plastic belly buttons that you align with the circular rubber nozzle on the vacuum pump. Press a button on the pump and a small motor hums as the oxygen is sucked from the canister. When there is no more oxygen left to suck on, the vacuum is automatically turned off and you press the red belly button of the canister to seal it tightly.
