COOKING GEAR OBSESSION: CHAMBER SEALERS

Once prohibitively expensive for home cooks, chamber vacuum sealers have come way down in price in recent years. Since grabbing one myself, m

y chamber vacuum sealer fundamentally changed how I cook.

If you think a chamber sealer is just a fancy vacuum sealer, you’re in for a surprise. In this post, I share the many ways I use my chamber vacuum sealer.

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USE CASES

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WHAT’S A CHAMBER VACUUM SEALER?

Chamber vacuum sealers are vacuum sealers that operate completely differently from traditional vacuum sealers.

Whereas regular vacuum sealers pull air out of the bag, chamber vacuum sealers create a genuine vacuum around the bag. That’s right — for traditional vacuum sealers, the word ‘vacuum’ should remind you of a dust vacuum; for chamber vacuum sealers, the word ‘vacuum’ should remind you of A VACUUM IN THE DEPTHS OF OUTER SPACE.

There are a few benefits to the chamber vacuum approach:

• You can vacuum-seal liquids!

• You can boil things at room temperature. That’s because things under vacuum boiling at lower temperatures.

• You can use cheaper vacuum bags. The traditional ones are more expensive because they have little grooves to allow for air to escape from the bag)

Later on, I review how these features can create culinary magic.

WHY NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY A CHAMBER VACUUM SEALER

Chamber vacuum sealers used to be prohibitively expensive for home cooks — like $1,600. They also required maintenance due to their use of an oil pump. At high-end restaurants, where chamber vacuum sealers are one of the most used tools in the kitchen, these old school chamber vacs are still the norm.

But in recent years, a new type of chamber vacuum sealer has emerged, one that doesn’t require an oil pump. These new vacuum sealers are way way cheaper than the old school ones. Yes, they’re smaller than the ones restaurants use, and they take longer to create a vacuum, but those downsides are totally irrelevant for home cooks that can finally use a chamber vacuum at home.

Take a look.

Avid Armor USV32: This is what I use. Effective for home use but still big enough to vacuum seal my pork coppa chashu.

Avid Armor USV20: Nearly half the price of the USV32. Great for liquids and ferments, but too small for a big roll of meat like chashu.

PRO TIP

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PRO TIP 〰️

I’ve been brand loyal to Avid Armor since I love the sealer so much, so I use the Avid Armor bags too. They’re cheap, lightweight, and still withstand a gassy lacto-ferment or a 185F sous vide cook.

I use 3 sizes:

• 10”x13” for ferments (to have enough room for expansion)

• 8”x12” for storage of most goods

• 6”x10” for individual serving sizes of liquids and herb oils

Now for the good stuff — the things I love to do with my chamber sealer.

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THE USE CASES

Compressing fruits and vegetables

Watermelon before and after compression

When liquids boil at room temperature under vacuum, they break the cell walls of fruits and vegetables, fundamentally changing their look and texture. This process is known as “compressing”.

For example, chamber vacuum sealing a watermelon produces a fruit with an entirely differently look — one that more closely resembles salmon than it does watermelon!

Adding a marinade or an oil to the bag before compression also allows you to infuse the fruit or vegetable with additional flavors. I recently served a strawberry tart with strawberries that I compressed with reduced and oregano-infused strawberry juice, bringing the best of cooked and raw strawberry to each bite.

Fermenting more reliably

Lacto-fermentation, which requires the absence of oxygen, is simply easier and more reliable with vacuum sealing. Since chamber vacuum sealers can seal liquids, chamber vacuum sealing further increases the ease and reliability of doing lacto-ferments. Only with a chamber sealer can you:

Fermented strawberries dehydrated then rehydrated in its own juices with the chamber sealer.

• Ensure an oxygen-free environment. No need to worry about juices from your ferment when you’re sealing, so you can seal at full vacuum rather than seal just before the juices make it up to your traditional sealer.

• Open a vacuum sealed ferment, taste, and reseal. With a traditional vacuum sealer, the juices released in the bag prevent a proper reseal.

• Lacto-ferment juices. Try lacto-fermented celery root juice for a ponzu alternative! Alternatively, try fermenting one food with another food’s juice.

Rehydrating dehydrated foods

I love the chewy texture of rehydrated foods. It’s a simple process — dehydrate the food, then chamber vacuum seal the dehydrated food with its own juices. Try it for savory dishes like carrots, or bring vibrance back to a lacto-fermented fruit.

Vacuum sealing a dehydrated fruit with its own lacto-fermented juices is also a great means to prepare a lacto-ferment for room temperature preservation. Just check my suitcase on big trips — I often travel with a dehydrated ferment in a sealed bag with its fermented juices.

Quick pickling or marinating

It’s not quite a long-term pickle, but running your vegetables and a pickling liquid through multiple vacuum cycles achieves a near perfect pickle in just minutes.

QUICKly HYDRAting OF DOUGH / making low hydration noodles

28% hydration ramen noodles — made infinitely easier with my chamber sealer.

You can hydrate dough near instantly — and far more consistently — by simply chamber vacuum sealing the dough. I do this before every time I make ramen noodles, because the low hydration of ramen noodles requires flawless and evenly distributed hydration. Goodbye resting time :)

Removing air bubbles

Certain foods have air bubbles that can make the end result lose their glossy appearance. Examples include gels and dehydrated purees — an air bubble here and there can totally ruin the look! Put the puree in the chamber sealer (in an uncovered bowl is fine) and it will lose the air bubbles in an instant.

Saving money

Chamber vacuum sealers are still more expensive than traditional vacuum sealers, but I’ve personally saved money in the long-run because:

• Bags are cheaper.

• Use less marinade. The ability to seal liquids means you can marinate meats with far less marinade; I use 1/3 the amount of marinade when I vacuum seal my chashu compared to when I marinate a traditional way.

• Avoid waste. I freeze things way more often with my chamber sealer, because I can freeze liquids and guarantee a perfect seal that reduces freezer burn. This is especially true with herb oils, since herb oils (like basil oil) are way more efficient to make in bulk. I find myself making 6+ servings at once and chamber vacuum sealing what I don’t use that day. It feels like such a cooking hack to pull a serving of fancy herb oil from your freezer right before dinner!