I love my Foodsaver and use it to freeze many different things. From sauces, to produce and meat, most things that go in my freezer get the Foodsaver treatment. The Foodsaver makes it so food doesn’t get freezer burn.
Before we left for vacation I had some broccoli that we were not going to use in time. I decided to blanch the broccoli and then freeze it for later. The issue was that broccoli is very watery. When you use the Foodsaver it will draw out the water and the bag wasn’t sealing.
My solution was to place the blanched broccoli in a Foodsaver bag. I placed it upright in the freezer.
Once the broccoli was frozen, I then used the Foodsaver to seal the bag!
So, if you have produce to Foodsaver, try freezing it before you use the vacuum sealer. Once the item is frozen solid, the vacuum process won’t be able to draw out the liquid from the produce! Plus the produce won’t be squished!
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April 6, 2014
Hi Renae,
I just came across your info about your foodsaver and wanted to know if you blanched your broccoli first then froze it becasue I didn’t see that part in your information please let me know I am new to using a foodsaver and really want to learn diff things on using it
thanks again
Hi Terri,
Yes you need to blanch the broccoli first. Blanch for a couple of minutes and then put it in ice cold water to stop the cooking. Drain the broccoli and then place in a foodsaver bag. Stand upright in freezer until frozen. Once frozen, you can then use your foodsaver to seal the bag. It will work better this way instead of trying to vacuum when the broccoli is not frozen. Too much water in blanched broccoli! Hope that helps!
Renae
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Good Morning,
I forgot to also ask about when you blanch and freeze veggies like greenbeans etc. since they are still not soft when you cool off and freeze how do you cook them after they come out of the freezer? when we make fresh veggies (example) greenbeans or broccoli I would put them in my steamer until soft then serve but do I do something diff with blanced veggies?
Hi Terri,
You would cook the blanched frozen vegetables like any other frozen vegetable you would buy in the freezer section at the store. They most likely have blanched those vegetables too! I usually cook mine in the microwave in a covered dish with a little bit of water in the bottom of the dish. Depending on the vegetable and how much I am cooking, it only takes a couple of minutes. I don’t like my vegetables too soft. I hope this helps! Sorry I don’t have an exact time for you!
Renae
Thank you so much for getting to my question so fast your great! I am sure I will have more questions in the future please don’t mind LOL! I am real new to using my foodsaver and want to learn it all I also would like to know if you would do fresh corn on the cob the same way.. clean them then put in the blanching water then ice water and then just freeze or pre freeze corn then vac & seal bag after they have been in the freezer for a bit
Hi Terri,
So sorry for the late reply! Yes, you would do the same with corn on the cob! I really love comments and questions!!! So no problem at all!
Renae
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Ok got another question: when taking out frozen foods like sausage, or frozen spigetti do you defrost in the fridg without cutting the foodsaver bad open or leave on counter top to defrost? I am so confused and also do you suggest using canisters to store bakery things like bread or rolls not real sure on that either I also got a ham for easter and know that it will not be all eaten how should I seal that for the freezer ? now I do have several types of foodsaver bags so that shouldn’t be a problem
thank you
Hi Terri,
I defrost the frozen food in the fridge without cutting the bag open. I just lay it on a cookie sheet just in case it were to drip and let it defrost. Most of the time I try to take it out the night before I need it (this is were meal planning is helpful!). I do have the canisters but honestly don’t use them much. They are great for extra flour. But unless you keep the foodsaver really handy, it can be a pain to reseal every time you need to use the item.
For the Easter ham, I would dice it or slice it before freezing. I usually portion it out into meal size amounts then place it in the freezer bags to seal. Then it is really easy to grab a bag of diced ham from the freezer when you need it!
Hope that helps!
Hi again,
well more questions for you , I went to costco and bought some blueberry muffins now I want to freeze half so I put them on a cookie sheet wait till they are frozen then should I put into a foodsaver bag and vac & seal or use the pulse button to take air out? don’t know which would be better if using the pulse button would that really store the muffins well in the freezer, Now I just bought some foodsaver canisters so I have yet to try those out so please be ready for more questions if you don’t mind have a great wk-end
Hi Terri,
I honestly haven’t used my foodsaver on muffins before! However, it sounds like a good idea! Those costco muffins are so good! If they are frozen, I would think you could vac & seal without an issue. If it looks like they are getting crushed, use the pulse. Good luck!
Here I go again, help, I froze some steaks last wk and they were semi thick anyway it took 2 days in the fridg to defrost and when we wanted to put them on the bbq they were real dark brown no they still were vac sealed so there were not any air leaks but we were afraid to eat them so we ran to the store and bought n ew steaks I asked fs why and they said that is normal to be dark brown but when I buy steaks from the store and freeze just like I got them I don’t have any issues is it really safe to eat them do you think? I am just wondering if my fs should only be used for other things and not meat help I am so confused thanks again
Hi Terri,
The meat probably turned brown due to a lack of oxygen. When you use a foodsaver it sucks all of the air out and can change the color. It is perfectly safe! It is normal to take 1-2 days to defrost for thick meat. I use the foodsaver all of the time for meat and have never had an issue. In fact butchers use vacuum sealer systems when they package meat (like if you raised a pig and brought it to a butcher. My neighbor does this so I know!).
Hope it helps!
Renae