On the back of the packs of sliced ham I buy it usually says “once opened eat within x days”. I often find that I have ham left over that needs to be eaten, that I’d prefer to save for another day.
How can I reseal my large packs of ham in to smaller packs of ham?
I wonder whether a vacuum sealer is okay for meats? (I don’t have one yet)
I’d also like to buy bigger packs of bacon and reseal them into smaller packs - maybe other meats too, sliced or not.
The only sensible way is put them into the freezer:
Shortly after purchase, package it into lots that are suitable for eating within a couple of days of thawing. Place packets into a freezer and thaw as needed.
I find that this tends to cause a bit of leakage of water out of the ham, though this is strongly dependent on the quality of the ham and processing method used to make the ham.
Freezing is the way to go, but vacuum sealing into packages each of which you can use within a few days might be an efficient use of freezer space. It's not an efficient use of plastic, so I freeze ham in boxes, with reusable non-stick cooking liner in between the slices (I cut some to size for this). That means you can take out as little as you want.
My personal experience is any surface that gets in contact with air must be consumed within that time period. The rest of the piece stays fresh.
So what i do is slice the piece with its wrapping on, no peeling. Then place it in a plastic bag and make it stick to the surface i just cut, removing all air bubbles, and direct to the fridge. And remember to eat the next slice before those 2 or 3 days as noted in the packaging.
