By: Natalie McMillan
About 30 percent of all food in the United States is wasted. The primary reason for the wasted food is spoilage. You can reduce a lot of food spoilage by using a vacuum sealer. A vacuum sealer will extend the life of the food. Vacuum sealers are also great for preparing backpacking snacks and meals.
Food Calculator
1. Save Money by Creating Smaller Packages
You can save a lot of money by purchasing food in bulk and then creating your own smaller customized packages. You can easily save up to 50% on food costs by buying in larger quantities and repacking it yourself in smaller vacuum sealed bags.
2. Boil Food Right in the Bag
Some sealable bags are safe to add boiling water to. This means you can cook your food in the bag without getting your cooking pot dirty. It’s easy to cook things like instant rice, make sauces, etc. in the bag, however cooking spaghetti would be a bit more difficult.
If you plan on boiling in the bag verify that the sealable bag is designed for this. Not all sealable bags can handle boiling water without leaching chemicals into the food. If your bag is boil safe remember to leave plenty of space for the water inside the bag.
3. Organize with Ease
By organizing your backpacking food into smaller bags it makes it easier to plan out your meals. This increases the chances you will not run out of food and will help you to keep track of the different meals you have left. It’s very important to label the bag if it isn’t obvious what it is when you transfer it over.
4. Extend the Life of Food at Home
If you buy in bulk you can typically save 50% or more. By using a vacuum sealer you can extend the life of your food by weeks. Not only can you use the vacuum sealer to prepare backpacking food, but you can also use it to preserve food at home.
A good vacuum sealer has these features:
- Dry/moist settings for automatic vacuum
- Manual setting for vacuum
- Large seal bar that crates a wide seal (about 5 mm)
- Strong vacuum
- Easily seals thick vacuum seal bags
- Easy to use
Vacuum Sealer Summary
A vacuum sealer makes it easy to buy food in bulk and repackage the food into smaller amounts. This makes the food last longer and makes it easier to portion out for individual meals. A vacuum sealer is great for preparing backpacking meals and can also be used to preserve food at home.
For a long-distance hike, a vacuum sealer can easily prepare the first few weeks of food. However, I don’t recommend packaging meals for an entire 5 to 6 month hike. Chances are you will get tired of the food. I recommend up to 30 days of prepackaged food for any hike.