A vacuum sealer has a primary function of removing air before sealing a product inside a plastic bag. It is often comprised of a powerful vacuum pump connected to a basin, lid, and heated seal bar. A product intended to be sealed is placed inside a special plastic bag laid inside the machine. Closing the lid and activating the vacuum pump draws air from the chamber, whereupon the heat bar melts the open edges of the plastic bag together. The process creates an air-free package, extending the shelf life of its contents and limiting or slowing bacterial growth. (An oxygen-free environment presents food safety issues itself, so care must be taken when sealing ingredients that are susceptible to anaerobic bacteria, such as meat.) Unlike other vacuum sealers that pull air through the bag—as opposed to vacating air around and inside the bag—a chamber vacuum sealer has the ability to seal liquids efficiently, making it well suited for culinary and cocktail uses.
Innovative chefs learned to adapt the technique, created for food preservation, to cooking, immersing the bags for many hours in a constant-temperature hot water bath. This “sous vide” technique has been adopted for cocktail use, allowing bartenders to explore the application of heat with sealed infusions (previously difficult due to alcohol’s evaporation with applied heat) and in syrup production. Controlled heat acts as an asset in targeting specific flavors. See
A chamber vacuum machine can also be used to rapidly infuse flavors into liquid or garnishes—much like rapid iSi infusions. This process involves placing a shallow pan containing a porous ingredient and an infusing liquid in the vacuum chamber. When the vacuum is activated, the lowered pressure will break air cavities inside the ingredient, thereby allowing liquid to enter. When air is returned into the chamber, the liquid is pulled from the ingredient—and along with it flavor, color, and aroma. Conversely, a liquid can be used to flavor an edible ingredient.
Chamber vacuum sealers are often expensive and, depending on the location of its use, may trigger greater scrutiny from local health department regulators due to heightened food safety concerns when sealing volatile ingredients such as meat.
See also infusion.
Arnold, Dave. Liquid Intelligence. New York: W. W. Norton, 2014.
“How the Chamber Style Vacuum Sealers Work.” Chef Steps. https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/how-chamber-style-vacuum-sealers-work (accessed April 7, 2021).
Myhrvold, Nathan, Chris Young, and Maxime Bilet. Modernist Cuisine: Techniques and Equipment, vol. 2. Bellevue, WA: Cooking Lab, 2011.
By: Alexander Paul Day