About vacuum packaging and food storage
Our predecessors already recognised the advantages of vacuum packaging. They noticed that if you keep food sealed off from the air, it will stay edible longer.
But even storing fried meat in fat may be familiar to many of us. Just think of the age-old water-based butter container or keeping a variety of vegetables in oil. These can also be considered initial vacuum storage.
So, people have had a fundamental need to extend the shelf life and preserve quality long ago.
The effect of vacuum packaging on the production and delivery of food, thereby reducing the price of food
Modern vacuum packaging became widespread in the 1960s. Unfortunately, until now, this is rare, even in more developed countries.
But the worst situation is precisely where it would be needed the most in the poorer countries of Africa and Asia.
Recognising the advantages of vacuum packaging, food manufacturers, traders, and shippers in developed industrial countries protect food with industrial vacuum packaging.
A lot of money was spent on tools and the development of various technologies. Fortunately, all of this was returned, as it increased the time spent delivering goods and on the shelves of stores.
In developed countries, food waste generation from the producer to the consumer is minimal today. A few per cent. This is why storage safety also increased.
Of course, this result was motivated by a well-understood economic interest the profit.
It is a contradiction that in the poorer countries - where vacuum packaging is not yet standard - food waste production in this logistics stage is still 30-40%.
Despite all this, we can't just sit back because food waste is enormous in the European Union.
Let's take a closer look at what is the most important source of food waste. The consumer side!
So at the household level, we can do a lot against waste.
The effect of vacuum packaging on health
Vacuum packaging does not only affect economic operators through the preservation of food quality. Before that, it was more common for people to consume half or completely spoiled food, or at least at a reduced rate.
The XIX In the 19th century, when there was not even institutional food control, it was not uncommon for people to die of food poisoning. All this is due to the selfish interest of traders.
The damage from improperly stored spoiled raw materials either fell on the dealer or the consumer suffered the most significant loss.
It is proven that vacuum packaging improves usability, and the shelf life can be increased to 3-5 times the traditional storage time.
You will find an informative table at the bottom of the page. Well, let's see what your opportunity is at home!!
Vacuum packaging in a vacuum container
There is no doubt that a complete vacuum cannot be created in a rigid-walled vacuum vessel.
In the trade, we mostly come across vacuum-wrapped products, which is the most effective, since this is how we can create the most oxygen-free environment.
While we can remove almost 100% of the air in the case of the air duct, micro-grooved vacuum bag solution, some air always remains in the vacuum container, which does not provide complete protection against spoilage bacteria.
At the same time, rigid-walled vacuum food containers also have many advantages.
For example, we can keep otherwise fragile food relatively in its original texture. However, the most striking thing is that liquids can only be vacuumed in rigid wall systems.
The other is that we can preserve our food's shape and consistency and store materials in a vacuum box. So it does not shrink, unlike the vacuum foil solution.
The relationship between the storage and stored material is also essential.
Vacuum bags are mostly polyethylene, less often than other plastics, which are perfect for food storage, but limited in their physical and chemical properties.
For the rigid wall system, however, we can choose plastic, glass, metal, or other vacuum-retaining boxes of a different material, depending on the specific needs of the stored material.
Vacuum packaging with a vacuum pump
It is also worth discussing the procedure with the vacuum packaging machine instead of the vacuum pump. A pump is mainly used for rigid-walled containers, although there is also a suitable vacuum bag to be operated by pumps.
In contrast, the most common vacuum packaging machines are used mainly for vacuum bags and welded sealing.
Although most of these machines already have an additional function when a suction tube can be attached to mason jars with a suitable connector. It can be seen, of course, that this is more than cumbersome for this task, so the use of this option is limited.
With a hand vacuum pump, all this can be done in a few seconds. Not to mention that this solution does not require an electrical connection, and regardless of energy consumption, it is not tied to a place.
Therefore, it can be used anywhere.
Our solution is a vacuum pump with a jar seal, most suitable for storage at room temperature and in the refrigerator at 5 °C. Placing the vacuumed jars in the freezer is not excluded either.
The shelf life for some types of food is given below. However, these are only indicative since the shelf life depends on other factors, such as the cleanliness of the dishes and the environment, the original quality of the food before vacuuming, etc.
You can also read impartially about the advantages of vacuum packaging on Wikipedia.