Meatballs & Spaghetti
Feb 06, 2010 | From the kitchen of Rose
Did you know that not all plastic bags can be boiled? Only the ones designed for that purpose such as these bags from FoodSaver vacuumer. It took me years to figure out that when I vacuum pack my meatballs in tomato sauce I can reheat them along with the spaghetti right in the bag!
A good quality vacuum machine is an indispensable piece of equipment in my kitchens. You wouldn't believe how much it increases the life-span of ingredients in the freezer.
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Adele
03/05/2010 08:50 PM
Dear Rose and friends,
I LOVE my FoodSaver. This is one of my most important tools for so many foods, not just meat for the freezer. I bought the Pro model more than 7 yrs ago. Vac sealed summer berries brought out in December are a treat. I keep nuts in the freezer-FS sealing assures freshness,which you can smell when oven toasting before using. Thanks for posting that Meatballs & Spaghetti note last month. After reading it,I had to say Thanks.
Hugs, wishing you well, as always.
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Rose in reply to comment from Beth
02/08/2010 10:28 AM
beth, i think that just as for canning, once the lids are sealed you can't reseal them. i'm not 100% sure of this but 99.9%! i make a big black X on them after first use as i just hate when i use one again by mistake only to find that after the water bath it hasn't sealed and i have to redo it!
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Beth in reply to comment from Rose Levy Beranbaum
02/08/2010 10:22 AM
I also have the tilia (foodsaver). Ditto, I haven't had much luck with the containers, and have stopped using them. The canning jars are great - you can put sauce or soup in them, then thaw them out (without the lid, of course) in the microwave. By using the jars, you also save the expense of the bags, though I do tend to use new lids, as I usually put a dent in them when I release the seal.
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Rose in reply to comment from Kara
02/08/2010 10:12 AM
the best 'home' model i've used is the tilia. of course i'd love a commercial one that you can use for liquids as well without having to prefreeze but the smallest i've seen is 2 feet by 2 feet and adding that to my living room hasn't seemed necessary, the tilia does a really good job with the bags. the containers i've had less success with--they lose their seal. the bags are excellent and canning jars also work well.
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Kara
02/07/2010 05:02 AM
Question! Any advice on what a good quality food sealer would be? I see the food savers all over the place, but some friends have given reviews that they aren't so hot... ? to really get the results you want out of a sealer do you have to spend a lot? any opinions?
Thanks!
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Rose in reply to comment from Beth
02/06/2010 02:30 PM
beth, me too! i have 15 year old parmesan that my friend anna schwartz brought to me from pec in milan and it was already super aged. she lives in melbourne but was going to italy for biannale and then stopping by ny. she offered to bring something and i asked for this not realizing that she and her husband would have to empty out every mini bar on their way back!
i don't vaccum bread because i slice it and freeeze and we take out one slice at a time so not worth it.
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Beth
02/06/2010 02:24 PM
One of our favorite uses of the vacuum sealer is for preserving our parmesan cheese. It stays so much fresher. We start with a quite long bag so that we keep using the same one each time we reseal. We use it for all of our hard cheeses. It's also great for repackaging frozen veggies - they stay fresher for much longer. I haven't been using it for my bread - maybe I should be?
Beth
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Linda
02/06/2010 01:16 PM
Great tip for vacuum sealing liquids in bags! Thanks a bunch.
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Rose in reply to comment from Anonymous
02/06/2010 11:10 AM
it may slow it down a bit but then all you have to do is increase the cooking time for the pasta until it's done. i don't find speed of cooking affects the pasta the way it would cake!
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Anonymous
02/06/2010 10:31 AM
Doesn't putting the frozen sauce in the spaghetti water cool down the water too much and increase the time it takes to cook the spaghetti? Does it affect the texture of the spaghetti? I guess this would work for a small amount of sauce but not for enough sauce for a large family
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Rose in reply to comment from Lisa
02/06/2010 10:15 AM
absolutely yes lisa or the vacuum will suck some of the sauce right out. i expel as much air as possible and fold down the top of the bag, secure it with a metal paper clamp and freeze it til solid. then i vacuum it.
the most heartbreaking thing that everyone has experienced at least once and i more than once is vacuuming a soft bread before frozen and watching it compress! very soft bread or rolls even when frozen should be vacuumed only partially or this will happen.
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Lisa
02/06/2010 10:08 AM
Wow, I just purchased a food saver vacuum sealer. I have been going a little crazy with it. Vacuum sealing everything in my freezer. lol!! Now I am so excited. I have always just frozen my regular sauce or meat sauce in containers and then had to thaw them in the microwave just to put them in another pot. I love the ideas of boiling my meatballs and sauce with the pasta. It is like killing two birds with 1 stone. Only one pot to use. Thank-you Rose for the information. Just curious, do you partially freeze your sauce so that when you vaccum seal it the liquid doesn't get sucked into the vacuum sealer?
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