How to freeze...ideas needed please

[Sandy61]

My Foodsaver system recently broke after many good years of use. I would buy the heavy foodsaver bags and the machine would suck out the air and seal the bags. This worked very well and my food kept in the freezer very well. I would even wash the bags and use them again because they were so heavy-duty.

Now that it has broken, I am using Ziplock freezer bags and they aren't working. The food is getting ruined from freezer burn. What do you do to keep your food from freezer burn? I am throwing out a lot of food or eating it and it isn't good! Help!

 

[Cjmuma]

Unfortunately... My best advise is to get a new foodsaver....That is all I have to protect from freezer burn. Glad press and release isn't too bad either....in a pinch

 

[jjsmom]

My Foodsaver broke 2 years ago, and I've never replaced it. Here's what I do: I usually only freeze meat (purchased bulk on sale) and vegetable scraps for use in soups and stews. I've had decent luck with generic freezer bags, although I my preference would be the Ziplock brand. I wrap the meat in plastic wrap first and then put it in the freezer bag. I then "roll" to flatten (such as ground beef) and remove air from the bag. I stack one on top of the other to help eliminate air flow between. I hope this helps. Also, make sure there are no temp. flucuations in your freezer.. Good luck!

 

[mlschwartz]

I would purchase a new foodsaver...It's the only thing I've found that keeps food from getting freezer burn.

 

[katie26]

I use the Ziploc hand pump vacuum sealer and I love it. The pump and bags can be hard to find, though - I get mine from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Johnson-Ziploc-Vacuum-Pump-Storage/dp/B001DRNESE

I'd totally love a Foodsaver, but they're so pricey! The Ziploc bags are a pretty decent way to get most of the benefits of a real vacuum storage system.

 

[Sadie22]

I use Ziploc bags and Rubbermaid plastic containers. I have no problem with freezer burn in my ancient frostfree freezer. I wonder if those of you having the freezer burn problems are keeping products longer than recommended or something.

 

[Sandy61]

I notice ice crystals after a few days and then freezer burn later. I usually use the meat within a couple months. I assume it is air getting around the food but I'm not sure. I keep the frozen veggies in their original bag and have no problems with them. It is mostly meat and pancakes (my husband will make a big batch once in awhile).

 

[pixiewings71]

I use Ziploc bags on things that will be frozen for extended periods of time, I use Target Ziplocs for items that will be used within 1-2 months.

 

[Dizneydaz]

I use Ziplocs and they did seem to form ice crystal pretty quick. Sometimes I will double bag things. Wrapping in plastic wrap first seems to help.

BTW, don't ever buy Walmart brand (Great Value) bags. The are so annoying to use. They have a double zipper and area really hard to close. Many times you don't know it's unsealed until it's too late.

 

[atp]

What seems to work for me is the following:

Since we don't have Foodsaver here or even heavy duty ziploc bags, I had to buy some that were imported from the US, and that were VERY expensive. Since I can't exactly buy them all the time, even if they were cheap, as they are hard to find, I reuse them. But only if they don't get dirty and never with chicken/meat, and I still wash them before reusing.

To prevent them from getting dirty, I use cheap plastic bags they sell here, like the ones you would put produce in, and just put that inside the ziploc bag. If it's something specially "sensitive" I double bag with the cheap bag, and then put in the freezer bag, making sure to remove as much air as I can before closing the bag.

This system seems to work well for me not only to prevent freezer burn and ice crystals, but also to prevent foods from getting a weird taste from the freezer or other foods.

I don't know if the brand of the bags makes any difference, but I'm using Glad freezer bags that are thicker than the regular Glad zip top bags. The regular ones don't work as well.

 

[KristenF]

Target is clearancing some foodsavers right now. Dont know what the price was off the top of my head.

 

[chris31997]

I roll my food that I am freezing in the ziplock and than seal it.