Cost of living expenses are going through the roof with the price of food, fuel and energy bills hitting all-time highs. As everything is just becoming so much more expensive that means that we all are trying to find ways to a bit more prudent with our money, making savings where we can and trying to not waste as much food (it is reported that the UK already throws away around 9.5 million tonnes of food waste annually according to figures from sustainability charity WRAP, most of which ends up going to landfill sites).
Little cost saving measures such as trying to drive slower and take less unnecessary journeys in the car to save on fuel costs and switching off so-called “vampire devices” are now being employed by many to save a few extra pounds but food wastage can be a big problem for the wallet and the environment. Whilst buying just what you need and actually using it is probably the best way to manage your levels of food wastage, that doesn’t always work, especially with the size of packs and families. In our house we do tend to freeze a lot of food for later use rather than throw it away but there is still wastage.
Freezing unused or leftover food is a good way to reduce food wastage and save money but unless you have a freezer big enough it can have problems due to big and bulky packaging and even leftovers can have problems with portions becoming stuck together and end up being thrown away. There is a better way to store leftover or used food and that is to repackage as portions and use a kitchen vacuum sealer to remove all the excess air from the packaging to reduce space.
If you have never seen or heard of a kitchen vacuum sealer before you may not be aware of what they do. A kitchen vacuum sealer is a very efficient and extremely effective way to store food for longer by sucking all the air out of your food bags, making storing them in the freezer much easier. Whether it is leftover or unused food, or you have made up extra portions for future use, vacuum sealing is an effective way to preserve food for longer and an excellent way to manage portion control as well, locking in all the freshness. Vacuuming sealing food bags also has the benefit of it can keep food fresher up to 8 times longer.
The benefit of vacuum sealing over just using freezer bags is that when you seal a freezer bag you are also sealing in a lot of air with the food. Whilst oxygen is excellent for getting us alive it also allows food to grow mold and bacteria, allowing food to go off quicker and become unusable, even in the freezer. If you use a vacuum sealer, nearly all of the air is sucked out of the bag prolonging the life of the food stored within by depriving it of oxygen, protecting the food from dehydration, freezer burn and bad smells. It also has the added benefit of reducing packaging sizes so that you can fit more in your fridge or freezer. With reduced oxygen in the storage bag, mold and bacteria cannot grow.
We were lucky enough to be sent a kitchen vacuum sealer with scales from Housmile for review. Not only is it a countertop sealer for vacuum sealing food bags, it also features some small kitchen scales so that you can weigh and portion out food (enough for a dinner, before sealing) for better portion control and storage, helping to create less wastage and stop us throwing away so much food.
The Housmile Kitchen Scales Vacuum Sealer comes with:
- Vacuum Sealer Machine with inbuilt Kitchen Scales
- Power Cable
- External Suction Pipe
- 2x Vacuum Sealer Rolls
- Cutting Knife
- User Manual
The Housmile Kitchen Scales Vacuum Sealer is sleek black device that sits neatly on the kitchen countertop (or in the cupboard should you prefer to only have it out when needed) – to me it looks very similar to a desktop laminator. It doesn’t really take up make space and the power cable has a storage compartment underneath to keep it tidy and out of the way. It is very simple to use and sucks the air out of the bags before automatically sealing them, locking in all the freshness and keeping the food fresher and usable for longer. It also features a built-in weighing scales, perfect for weighing out individual portions (this makes it ideal for making up individual portion sized dinners for yourself of a loved one to leave in the fridge or freezer). It doesn’t even have to be used with bags, it has a handy little attachment, an external vac, to vacuum seal jars and containers (you will need containers that are suitable for vacuum sealing).
With 5 functions on the sealer, it is very versatile. You are able to Seal, Dry Vacuum, Moist Vacuum, Soft Vacuum and use as an External Vac for storage containers.
Overall, we found the vacuum sealer very easy to operate and a brilliant way to not only save space in our freezer but to put together individual portions that can just be taken out and cooked whenever needed rather than having to cook the whole packet and waste more food. Not only does this seal food ready for the fridge or freezer, using the vacuum bags leaves no mess as the bags do not leak or pop open, the freshness of the food is sealed in and lasts a lot longer and we have a lot more space in our fridge and freezer.
The scales are perfect for weighing out individual portions, although we did find one small negative with this. Whilst the vacuum sealer is mains powered, the scales require their own separate power with 2xAAA batteries needed to operate, having the vacuum sealer and the scales running off the same mains power we feel would have been a better option.
The Housmile Kitchen Scales Vacuum Sealer is a kitchen gadget that we feel every home should have to help manage food wastage a bit better and saving some much needed money. Creating less food wastage in a time where food costs are on the rise it will soon pay for itself with the savings from not having to buy (and waste) extra food. The bags can be on the expensive side but looking around on Amazon we did find that the price varies a lot so the cost can be reduced (and they come on rolls that can be cut to size so less wastage). If the scales were powered from the mains power, just like the vacuum sealer, rather than battery it would be perfect.
If you want to reduce your food wastage, have more room and less mess in your fridge and freezer or even just want to be preparing individual meals that can be sealed, keep fresher longer and stored easier then you really do need a kitchen vacuum sealer and the Housmile is really up to the job. An excellent way to save on food wastage, help the environment with less going to landfill and help save you some money when the cost of living and food prices are becoming unmanageable.
Rating: 4.5/5
RRP: £35.99
Available to buy from Amazon here.
