The constant problem suffered by food in all parts of the world is its decomposition in a short time if they remain exposed to all kinds of pollutants at room temperature, this situation creates an irremediable proliferation of bacteria and fungi which are responsible for the infection process that It may be taking place. Until now there are numerous methods to be able to amend this conservation problem, among which stand out salting, oils, freezing, and many other techniques. During the year 1810 appeared an innovative method of conservation for the time; this consists of a “vacuum sealing” using heat treatment. However, this technique was only used for glass or metal containers.
It has not been until a few years that vacuum packaging has appeared by means of bags made of plastic, which has made it possible to pack and store a food without using heat, the general objective of this vacuum packaging practice has a function of preventing the growth of certain microorganisms, in addition to avoiding all oxidative processes in the foods that are packaged. Despite being an infallible technique of conservation, some circumstances prevent these processes from being applied to certain foods; then we show you the foods that cannot be vacuum packed.
One of the foods that should not be vacuum packed are mushrooms, certain vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts and ends, this is in consequence of the gases they give off over time. However, these can be packaged, blanched and stored in the freezer to extend their lifetime. The infallible technique to conserve vegetables for longer is as follows: cut them into pieces and then introduce them in boiling water for at least about 1 to 3 minutes, in order to stop the enzymatic action and do not rot with the passing of days, then remove the vegetables from the boiled water and then introduce it in ice water until they cool or leave them in a cloth to cool.
If you want to pack really delicate foods such as fruit in bags, so we need to freeze it to avoid crushing them when they are vacuum packed, for this you must place the fruit in a cookie sheet and insert them into the freezer until this product Put hard, it is essential to store this kind of food in the tappers, so you do not have to freeze it first, this step is not necessary to be vacuum packed, it is only required to put it in the freezer.
At the same time certain foods used for baking can be packed in tappers, for this it is necessary to put a napkin on top of the product you want to wrap, to make sure that the power of the flour is well sealed, in this way it is easy to seal food with dust in vacuum bags, but first it is necessary to make sure that the machine has a filter that prevents small portions of sand from entering the vacuum bag.
Other foods can be vacuum packed (with enlargement)
If we dig deep into the concept of what vacuum packaging is, we find that it consists of a packaging method whose purpose is to extract all the air from its packaging, to extend its expiration period. This sealing is done with air permeable plastic. When we do not vacuum pack, we do not have a 100% guarantee on food preservation.
Packaging can improve the quality of food over time. When we vacuum pack a large number of antioxidants adhere to the diet; likewise, there is also a thermal effect. In theory, a piece of unpackaged meat can have a shelf life of about ten days. When we talk about cured and packaged meats, we see that their life is much longer and that their tissue and bacterial activity is disadvantaged by not releasing carbon dioxide.
Limitations
This method can reduce the partial pressure of oxygen when vacuum pumps are used, which is why the growth of aerobic-type bacteria is limited. However, the birth of anaerobic bacteria that do not need oxygen can contaminate the food. Spores, for example, can be kept dormant even in vacuum seals, but are activated when the container is opened.
However, vacuum packaging has a large number of advantages, as they have benefits in food, providing hygiene and quality.
When we vacuum-pack both meat and fish, they maintain their freshness, texture, and hardness. In this technique does not appear the famous “ice burn” which is the result of cold contact with food directly. In the same way, the freshness of the food is much more stable, and there are no losses. Oxidation caused by oxygen is practically non-existent, so the possibility of food rotting is nil. Food is preserved for much longer, just as microorganisms have no place since there is no oxygen in space. You can also make a large meat purchase and vacuum packing it so that you do not go to the market every day. In summary, we have hygiene and quality in all our foods.
