Vacuum packing is used a lot in the food industry, but it is now possible to use this at home. The Siemens vacuum drawer offers a great variety of uses in the home. Preparing food for sous-vide cooking or marinating meat, fish and poultry provide a great opportunity to reseal foods to store. For example, you can reseal washed salad packs after only using a handful, seal the large pack of crisps to stick to that diet plan, keep your coffee beans fresher by resealing.

Food storage is a less well-known aspect of its use but because the vacuum drawer offers three levels of air extraction, as well as three levels of heat sealing, it really expands your capabilities. The crisps and salad examples above only need a level 1 extraction to avoid crushing the food and the heat-sealing, if in their original bags, will only need gentle heat or it will ruin the bag.

So now think about all the lovely fresh fruit and vegetables you buy which sit in the fruit bowl or fridge drawer. They either get eaten very quickly or sit getting tired before being thrown away.

First, we need to understand what vacuum packing does - it removes the oxygen from around and within the fruit and vegetables. Creating an oxygen free environment reduces the growth of aerobic bacteria and fungi (which need oxygen to feed) and prevent the evaporation of volatile chemicals (which is often the food flavour) and moisture from the food avoiding wrinkling and desiccation which becomes visible.

Vacuum sealing fruits reduces waste but think about their texture before packing. Apples can be peeled and sliced or cut into wedges for lunch boxes or ready for that fruit pie. Pineapple can also be cut into wedges or slices, ready to eat. Typically, these will last five times as long and will not discolour. Some fruits such as watermelon, mango and papaya should be peeled sliced and frozen then vacuum packed and can then be used in smoothies, fruit salads or eaten straight from the freezer as a healthy ice lolly and will store more easily in your freezer. Seasonal berries can be stored in vacuum boxes which help protect as well as preserve them, keeping raspberries and blueberries fresh and ready for a handful on your morning breakfast.

Vegetables can also be prepared and stored under vacuum. Cruciferous varieties e.g. cabbage, sprouts and cauliflower need blanching before storing to avoid giving off gases that inflate the bags up and create fermentation (unless you want to make your own kimchi). Placing in boiling water for one minute then plunging into ice cold water removes those gases. Now drain well and vacuum pack. They will store for up to three months without freezing and up to two years if you do freeze. Most vegetables store better if prepared and sliced; they are both ready to use and store more easily in flat packages. Sliced avocado will store for three weeks without discolouring in a vacuum bag in your fridge.

A few exceptions to the guide above are mushrooms and garlic, these have anaerobic bacteria present which can thrive without oxygen meaning bacteria could still grow and become toxic.

Always label what you pack and work on first in first out (FIFO) rule.

Most vegetable storage uses extraction level 2 and seal level 2 if using the bags supplied with the Siemens drawer.

Finally, extraction level 3 is used for fresh meat, fish and poultry storage, both to minimise bacterial growth but again for space saving. This is also the best way to marinate food, so prepare your marinades and pack your steaks in the freezer, when the sun shines, there will be minimal defrosting time and no effort to get that BBQ going. Seal is still level 2 but different varieties of bags may require the hotter seal to ensure closure.

Make the most of your Siemens vacuum drawer and it will pay dividends reducing your preparation time, food waste and grocery bills.

View our vacuum drawer here.