Is there any limit to the benefits of vacuum-sealing? Apparently not: The process, which involves a suction device that removes the oxygen from plastic food packaging (which is then sealed), can extend the shelf life of a wide array of meals and leftovers. Among the best ways to use your personal vacuum sealer are to preserve amounts of broth or soup that would, in traditional containers, occupy your refrigerator like an invading army; save leftovers from a chilly demise in the freezer; and keep both areas free of the miasma of scents from stored food in various states of cooking and consumption.
Vacuum-sealing -- or reduced oxygen packaging (ROP), if you want to get technical -- is, for many home cooks, among their favorite food storage containers. But is there a downside to vacuum-sealing?
Discounting the baffling TikTok trend of sucking the air out of a Ziploc bag as a sort of DIY vacuum seal (don't store your food this way unless you're fond of food-borne bacteria), there is one very serious danger to vacuum-sealing, and it's in regard to fish. Specifically, ROP fish pose the risk of exposure to potentially life-threatening bacteria if stored or thawed incorrectly. Having possibly scared you silly with that information, let's look at the right and wrong way to thaw frozen, vacuum-sealed fish.