Kitchen Essentials: Reynolds Handi-Vac
Friday, January 9th, 2009
I wouldn’t go so far as to call freezer burn the bane of my existence, but it’s pretty darn close. When you’re in the habit of stocking up on meats when you find them on sale, it kinda defeats the purpose if freezer burn renders them un-usable by the time you get around to using them.
Well, after doing some comparison shopping, we’ve settled on the Reynolds Handi-Vac, and so far it’s proven to be money well-spent. The vacuum unit looks like a miniature dust buster, and the bags look like your standard Ziploc bags, but with a little porthole thingy (forgive the technical jargon) for the vacuum. We’ve frozen veggies, beef, chicken, and hot dogs thus far, and have been satisfied with the results. I won’t go so far as to say it eliminates freezer burn, but it comes pretty close; the trick is to “burp” the bags before and during the vacuuming process so that you don’t have air pockets that lead to patches of freezer burn. A London Broil that we bagged and froze about three weeks ago still looks the same as it did the day we froze it.
The starter pack is ten bucks, give or take, and includes the vacuum with three quart-sized bags. Boxes of bags cost about $3.29 for either 14 quart-sized bags or 9 gallon-sized bags. While that’s more expensive than average freezer bags*, it’s less expensive than the fancier countertop models, not to mention less expensive than throwing out meats and veggies that look like they came from between a yeti’s toes.
For information from the manufacturer, visit the Handi-Vac website.
*Although less labor-intensive since you don’t have to wrap, then burp, then bag.