Vacuum bags are a necessity for anyone who stockpiles food. These special plastic bags will protect stored food from mold, the primary cause of food spoilage.
With them, you’ll never lose your delicacies to the fuzz patches, undesirable taste, and disagreeable odor associated with badly-stored food.
But, do vacuum bags prevent mold just as they promise? We’ve shed light on how these food storage bags will keep mold away from your food.
As a bonus, we’ve recommended a vacuum sealing process you ought to follow when shielding your food against mold.
Table of Contents
First Forward, How Does Mold Get Into Food?
Mold grows when its spores land on exposed foodstuff. The airborne spores are naturally available on food preparation surfaces, utensils, fridges, cabinets, pantries, and shelves. As well, mold spores are plenty in indoor air.
Like all living things, mold can only grow under the right conditions. It needs adequate oxygen, moisture, warmth, and nutrients. It grows best in damp, cool, slightly acidic, and poorly lit places.
Mold grows on almost all foods. It will grow on bread, vegetables, fruits, cheese, yogurt, mushrooms, fish, meat, and jam. When fully grown, mold will appear in the form of black, white, green, or grey patches on the surface of the food.
How Do Vacuum Bags Prevent Molding?
Vacuum sealer bags prevent molding in two major ways. One, they’ll form a tight seal that keeps protecting your food from the mold spores littered on your food preparation surfaces, fridge shelves, or pantry. Mold cannot grow without a source of nutrients.
Second, vacuum storage bags will cut the oxygen supply to the stored food. Deprived of oxygen, the mold spores that had already landed on your food before sealing won’t grow.
They will remain dormant till they get enough supply of oxygen.
How Can You Seal Food Properly Use Vacuum Bags?
Sealed food can still grow mold if you vacuum seal wrongly, or use punctured vacuum sealer bags. So, don’t just assume that the bags will automatically prevent mold even when sealed in haste. Make sure you get the process right every time.
This checklist will help you reduce the chances of sealing your food imperfectly.
1. Use the Right Vacuum Sealer Bags
Vacuum sealer bags aren’t created equal. Some are substandard. They will rip or puncture easily, thereby exposing your foodstuff to the elements that support molding. Others are made from high-quality plastic. They will seal your food completely from the elements.
So, how do you pick the right vacuum sealer bags? It is easy. Get those manufactured by reputable manufacturers like Nutri-Lock, Wevac, and FoodVacBags. Before buying, check out reviews from other customers, and pick those storage bags with an outstanding customer satisfaction score.
In case you doubt your choosing power, or you lack time to scour through shelves looking for the best vacuum sealer bags, check out our favorite vacuum sealer bags and get one that fits your preferences.
2. Prepare the Food to Be Vacuum-Sealed In a Clean Environment
Mold spores are everywhere. You’ll get them on soiled counters, utensils, and cutting boards. For this reason, it would matter to take utmost caution when preparing your food for vacuum sealing.
Clean all the utensils and food preparation surfaces, and wash your hands before handling the food to be vacuumed. That way, you won’t cross-contaminate your food with mold spores and other germs.
After preparing your food, it would matter to proceed with the vacuum sealing process immediately. Why? The spores lingering in your indoor air will land on the foodstuff you intend to seal.
3. Fill Your Vacuum Sealer Bags Properly
Filling vacuum sealer bags determine the quality of a seal. When filled to the brim, you will likely face a hard time sealing the bags properly. In fact, the seal can easily break, thereby letting in elements that support mold growth.
To avoid this mishap, experts suggest that you leave enough allowance for vacuum sealing. 3-5 inches of headspace would be enough to give you a quality seal.
Suppose you are sealing food with sharp edges like fish, pasta, and bony meat, make sure you wrap the edges with something like a cling film before sealing. Why? The edges could puncture the sealer bags, thereby exposing your food to mold.
4. Seal Your Food Professionally
Sealing is another important step in preventing mold. If done wrongly, it will leave excess oxygen in the sealer bags. As a result, your supposedly sealed food won’t take long before it starts showing signs of getting mold.
If using a countertop vacuum sealer, lay your filled vacuum bags on the counter. Then, open the vacuum sealer’s lid and place the vacuum sealer’s headspace flat across the sealing bar. Close the sealer’s lid and turn the vacuum sealing function to get the job done.
If you are using a handheld vacuum sealing machine, lay the filled vacuum bag on a flat surface. Afterward, power on the handheld sealing machine, and press it against the vacuum bag’s surface until it sucks out all the air.
5. Store Your Sealed Food in the Right Place
Storage matters a lot when looking to prevent your vacuum-sealed food from mold. It will either accelerate mold growth or stop it completely. Since mold grows above 40 degrees Fahrenheit, it would matter to freeze your sealed food below 39 degrees Fahrenheit.
Stored under such temperatures, the mold spores that landed on your food during preparation won’t grow even if they get enough supply of oxygen and nutrients.
When sealed properly and stored under freezing temperatures, your food will last five times longer.
Our Thoughts—Do Vacuum Bags Prevent Mold?
Yes, vacuum bags prevent mold from growing on your meat, cheese, bread, fruits, vegetables, and whatever foodstuff you seal.
The food storage bags shield foodstuff from mold spores which are naturally available everywhere. In addition to keeping mold spores away, vacuum sealing bags will form a tight seal that keeps oxygen and other elements away from stored food.
The mold spores that land on food during preparation will not flourish.
I am Brianna, a self-published author with a passion for sharing my knowledge and expertise on various topics with people looking to find the perfect items for their needs. I love ensuring that the right informative content is available to people looking for the right information. I am an avid horseback rider and reader when I am not writing.
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