What is a vacuum sealer?

  One of the latest and greatest things to do in the kitchen is vacuum seal your food. The act of using a vacuum sealer is known as vacuum packaging. The purpose of using a vacuum sealer is to remove all of the oxygen from the package or container holding the food. When the oxygen is removed form the food, the shelf life is extended tremendously. This process also makes more room available when you vacuum seal a flexible package. When the oxygen is reduced, bacteria and fungi cannot grow on the food particles. It also helps stop the evaporation process of the components that are volatile. You will notice a huge difference in your spending when you start to use the best vacuum sealer.

What are the uses for a vacuum sealer? 

  A vacuum sealer can either be used on plastic flexible bags or hard plastic containers. One of the most common uses for a vacuum sealer is to marinade meat and fish. You place the chicken, steak or any other type of raw meat into a plastic bag. You then pour in the marinade of your choice and vacuum seal the bag shut. This ensures the oxygen will be removed and only the juices will be infused into the raw food. You will notice a difference if you usually cook meat and marinade it without vacuum sealing it. You can also use it to freeze the fish you caught and didn’t eat right away. You can place the fresh fish in the sealer bag, seal it up and leave it in the freezer. This will make the fish last much longer than if you didn’t vacuum seal it.
  Another way the vacuum sealers are used is to seal bottle beverages and jarred jams and jellies. If you make your own jam from scratch, you don’t want it to go to waste when you start to jar it. If you stick the jam into the jars and vacuum seal them shut, they will last in the freezer for a very long time. That goes the same for bottles beverages and food items. Sealing the oxygen out of a liquid food item is very important. You don’t want to spend a lot of time making these products for them to get moldy and filled with bacteria because they weren’t vacuum sealed.
  A lot of people think vacuum sealing is only for food items. You can actually seal many different household items to make more room for storage. For examp


le, if you have pillows and blankets that are only used during a particular season, you can place them in a large bag and vacuum seal it. This will eliminate a large amount of space that is usually taken up by these items. Once they are vacuum sealed, they are essentially damage-proof. You cannot get water into the bag or any dirt particles either. Instead of an entire closet dedicated to pillows and blankets, you can vacuum seal them and stick them under the couch or under the bed.

Where to find the best vacuum sealer? 

  There are tons of different brands producing vacuum sealers. You want to make sure you are buying the best vacuum sealer for your needs. You don’t want an extremely big sealer if you only plan on using it for small food items. That goes the same if you plan on using it for large household items. You wouldn’t want a small one that cannot handle the big projects. Vacuum sealer reviews are very helpful in finding the perfect sealer for your home.

History of the stand mixer

   The first stand mixer was created by Herbert Johnson for the Hobart company. He saw a chef making bread dough using only a metal spoon and was inspired to create something to make that process much easier. The first stand mixer to be produced was a whopping 80 quart capacity mixer. This was generally used in commercial and professional bakeries. Hobart is now known as KitchenAid and has many different stand mixers known as food preparers. The first KitchenAid stand mixer started being sold to consumers in 1919. Since then, many different companies have started making and selling stand mixers around the world. They all basically have the same functions but some are more stable and durable than others.

Varieties of the stand mixer 

Whether you are a first time baker or working for a professional company, a stand mixer will help your cooking routine tremendously. You no longer have to get out the hand held mixer, put both the mixing blades in, plug it in, and mix everything by hand. You simply place all of the ingredients into the bowl, plug it in and turn it on. The rest is history. There are brands that make these stand mixers with one attachment and brands that make them with multiple attachments. The smaller companies make them to be only used for mixing purposes. These have generally have two mixing beaters that spin simultaneously to blend all of the ingredients. The stand mixers that have multiple attachments usually have one mixing beater. This beater can be taken out and replaced with many different items. You can use a dough hook to mix and knead your bread dough. You can also use the spinning whisk to beat your eggs or mix your dry ingredients easily.
   Another way these stand mixers vary from one another is the size of the mixing bowl. The smaller ones are usually 4 quarts and cannot be interchanged with larger bowls. Some of the bigger companies allow the bowls to be switched out so you can use the smaller bowl for smaller projects then switch to the large bowl for large baking projects. The bowl can also either be a silver metal or aluminum or it can be clear glass. The clear glass bowls are great because you can see exactly what is being mixed and how well it is mixing together.

   The attachments that are available with the KitchenAid mixers is an extremely long list. Each one of the KitchenAid stand mixers has an attachment hug that can house any one of the attachments produced by KitchenAid. You can now grind meat and stuff sausages all with your stand mixer. This is great because you can mix the meat and the spices inside the mixing bowl, put it through the meat grinder then use the sausage stuffing attachment. This machine essential takes the place of about 5 different appliances.

How do I find the best stand mixer? 

Finding the perfect stand mixer will be hard if you don’t know what your looking for. Reading through stand mixer reviews can be a daunting task but will help steer you in the right direction. You need to know how much you are comfortable spending and how elaborate you want your mixer to be. Once you know these things, the stand mixer reviews will help you pinpoint the perfect one for you.

History of the Immersion Blender

   The immersion blender was originally created in order to blend ingredients in the container they are being prepared. They were also intended to puree food in the containers as well. In the past, they have been known by a few different names. They were sometimes called hand blenders, because they are hand held, wand blenders and even boat motors. The boat motors strictly pertained to the larger immersion blenders meant for commercial usage. These larger immersion blenders have been used by professional chefs like Alton Brown and even Emeril Lagasse. It was originally invented back in 1950 in Switzerland. It wasn’t until the 1980s when it finally came to America and revolutionized blending. The immersion blenders are also used to emulsify sauces and puree soups. They are very different from food processors and regular blenders. Those items require the ingredients to be places in a special container in order to be used. A hand mixer only blends ingredients. It does not have the ability to chop food like an immersion blender does.   

What can I make with my immersion blender?

 

   There is an endless list of meals and dishes you can make using an immersion blender. These range from soups and sauces to smoothies and whipped cream. A favorite thing to do with an immersion blender is pureeing tomatoes. You can open a can of tomato chunks and turn them into tomato paste right in the can. The immersion blender fits perfectly inside the can and turns the tomatoes into a puree in seconds. You can also make your own salad dressing using the immersion blender. You can stick all of your ingredients you want to use for the dressing into one bowl. The blender will mix and chop all of them together quickly and efficiently.
   If you like to drink smoothies but don’t like to spend a lot of money, an immersion blender is perfect for you. Instead of buying smoothies at a restaurant every week, you can buy your own ingredients and create your favorite flavored smoothie at home. You can even prepare everything in the glass you plan on using to consume the smoothie. You can combine ingredients like bananas, strawberries and soy milk to make a healthy lunch option very quickly.
   You can also have the luxury of a coffee shop in your kitchen using an immersion blender. If you have a machine to make espresso, you probably make coffee all the time. Have you tried making your own froth before? With the best immersion blender, you can pour hot milk into a cup and pulse the blender up and down. Within seconds you will have tasty and thick froth for your latte. You can also make the best whipped cream you can possibly imagine. When you use a hand whisk, your hand might go numb after a few minutes. The trick to great whipped cream is a steady and constant whipping motion. The best immersion blender will constantly whip and mix the heavy whipping cream into the perfect bowl of dessert.  

Where to find the best immersion blender? 

 

   There aren’t many immersion blender reviews available in the stores. You would have to find someone who works in the store and ask their personal opinion. The immersion blender reviews online are much easier to access and have more than one person’s opinion about each product. Reading through these reviews will help you find the perfect immersion blender within your budget and with the accessories you desire.