Not only have ground meat and steak gotten more expensive over the years, but chicken prices have also increased significantly. You’ve probably started swapping out chicken breasts for chicken thighs recently, and even then, you’re experiencing a bit of sticker shock. One popular trick for keeping your grocery bill to a minimum is buying in bulk. For rice, beans, and grains, a set of Ball 64-ounce jars makes storage easy, while a sleeve of garlic bulbs can avoid sprouting in a closed container, like the Fox Run garlic keeper. Some groceries, even if they’re stored incorrectly, will take a while for them to turn.
Buying meat in bulk, though, means storing your chicken thighs properly so they don’t go bad, something that happens fairly quickly. Popping an open bag of raw chicken right into the freezer isn’t recommended, and regular freezer containers aren’t the best either. I reached out to professional chefs for tips on how to store chicken thighs—and frankly, any kind of meat you buy in bulk—and they all said the same thing: get a vacuum sealer. Here’s how you can enjoy your savings for weeks to come.
Pro Chef-Approved Vacuum Sealers
FoodSaver Compact Vacuum Sealer Machine
Amazon
David Leite, the James Beard Award-winning food writer, cookbook author, and founder of Leite’s Culinaria, is familiar with Costco bulk buys and always turns toward the FoodSaver compact vacuum sealer to save meat for later. Meat only lasts in the fridge for a couple of days, according to FoodSafety.gov, so you need to freeze any extra before it rots. But when it comes to the freezer, the tighter the meat is sealed, the less likely it is to form ice crystals or get freezer burn. A vacuum sealer can help you achieve the tightest seal.
The FoodSaver compact vacuum sealer features dry and moist food settings, an 11 x 8-inch roll, and quart- and gallon-sized bags included. It’s easy to operate once the bag is lined up in the sealer, and you can purchase an accessory sealing hose for using with FoodSaver attachments.
Leite has used a FoodSaver vacuum sealer for more than 30 years, and it consistently performs well, but that’s not the only reason to love it. “It stores vertically, so it doesn’t hog counter space (we just store ours in a drawer), and it costs way less than commercial-grade sealers, which do the same thing,” he says. He also recommends vacuum-sealing in a single layer, as opposed to packing all your chicken thighs together, similar to how they are at the grocery store.
Leite has another tip for vacuum sealing: use it for better cookies. He’s the chef who popularized allowing your cookie dough to rest for 36 hours before baking. “Sometimes I simply can’t wait 36 hours when I’m jonesing for cookies!” he says. “So I form the dough into balls, put them in the bag, and vacuum seal. They’re almost as good as the real deal within a few hours.”
NutriChef Food Vacuum Sealer Machine
Amazon
Lindsey Schoenfeld, chef, registered dietitian, and co-founder of To Taste, prefers the NutriChef vacuum sealer for preserving her bulk chicken thighs. It also features “moist” and “dry” food settings, plus an additional “gentle” food setting for more delicate groceries, like chips or berries. In addition to its 7.8-inch-wide vacuum sealer roll and a handful of vacuum bags, the NutriChef comes with an air suction hose and a wine stopper cork for saving wine and other ingredients stored in bottles.
With vacuum sealers, you’ll find yourself reaching for the roll-over bags soon enough, as the roll allows you to create the bag size you need. “[The NutriChef is] affordably priced, and replacement bags are easy to find,” says Schoenfeld. “They come in a roll and are also customizable. The vacuum removes air efficiently, simplifying chicken portioning, storage, and preserving freshness. There’s also no learning curve, which is so helpful for busy people like me!”
Bonsenkitchen Vacuum Sealer Machine
Amazon
If you know you’ll be vacuum-sealing a lot, you need a few more features beyond the food types and a gentle setting. The BosenKitchen model is a step-up from more compact vacuum sealers. With this, you have more control over the suction level with the “pulse vac” button, and you can achieve an extra-tight seal with the “extended seal” setting. This also has internal bag storage, so you don’t have to worry about the vacuum sealer roll going missing.
Chef Chuck Hayworth recommends the BosenKitchen model to clients who have started buying chicken thighs in bulk, whether that’s to save money or for easier meal prepping. “It seals well and has a ton of bags that come with it,” he says.
Anova Culinary Vacuum Sealer
Amazon
Another recommendation comes from our own testing. Julie Laing, a professional recipe developer, food columnist, and cookbook author, knows how to preserve food bought in bulk before placing it in her deep freezer. Though she originally went the simple route of freezer bags and food storage containers, too much freezer-burned food caused her to reconsider the vacuum sealer.
She turned to the well-respected sous vide brand, Anova, and didn’t look back. This sealer is exceptionally slim and compact, measuring 16.73 x 4.8 x 3.14 inches. It doesn’t have a “gentle” setting, but it comes with a “pulse vac” function, which comes in handy when sealing anything with a bit of moisture, like blanched vegetables.
