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I am testing out ideas for edible fruit cocktails that I would like to serve as an opener at a dinner party.

So far, my tests have been successful, but it occurred to me that vacuum sealing, or "compressing" these fruits might intensify the flavor and make for interesting textures. Based on these answers: Is there a way to make compressed watermelon without a vacuum machine?, it appears that an industrial strength vacuum chamber is my best bet.

Anyone know where I can rent such a machine? I'm considering creating my own, but before I commit to this insanity, I'd like to explore my options.

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Derek Hunziker
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1 Answers1

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I think you are going down the wrong route. Compressing fruit will intensify the flavor of the fruit and change the texture, but that's not really what you're trying to do. You want to get the fruit to absorb your alcohol and additional flavors. Vacuum can work well for this, but not compression. When you create the vacuum, all the air comes out of the spaces in your food. When you release the vacuum, the air fills those spaces again unless something else does first. So you submerge your fruit in liquid, create a vacuum, and then release the vacuum. The fruit will soak up the liquid rather than air. Voila! So what you're really looking for is vacuum marination rather than vacuum compression.

Fortunately, vacuum marinade machines are two orders of magnitude cheaper than chamber vacuum sealers. You can get a hand one for $15, but you'll probably have better luck with one that integrates with a food saver or some other home vacuum sealing product.

You could also try a syringe and inject the fruit with your solution of choice. Combined with soaking the fruit for a while, this might work quite well too.

yossarian
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