Ziploc Freezer Bags & "Water Displacement Method"
While a chambered vacuum sealer is the best way, they are several hundred dollars and overkill for many home kitchens. Many people turn to FoodSaver-type sealers, which can be convenient but they are expensive to buy bags for.
These Ziploc freezer bags are great for sealing your food and they work almost as well as a FoodSaver sealer if you know the trick to removing the air from them. It is called the "Water Displacement Method" or the Archimedes (ark-a-mead-ees) Principle. This trick simply uses the pressure from the water to force all the air out of the bag.
Getting all the air out of Ziploc bags is easy. You just place your food in the bag, including any liquids or marinades, and seal all but one corner of the bag. Place it in a container of water, being sure everything below the zip-line is covered by water. As the water pushes down on the bag, air comes out and the result is a surprisingly effective imitation of a vacuum seal. You can see how all of the air is being forced out of the pouch as it descends deeper into the water. Once all of the air is out, then seal the rest of the bag.
Another thing I really like about using Ziploc bags is that they are easy to open and re-seal.
A slightly more advanced version of this is to use Ziploc specially made Ziploc Vacuum pump system. The vacuum bags are more durable and reusable than traditional Ziploc bags and have a valve built into them, but are about twice the price per bag. Instead of using water to force the air out, you can use a handheld Ziploc pump to suck air out of the bag through the valve. An important drawback of this method is any liquid could or can be drawn up into the Ziploc pump, but I did find this to have a tighter seal than Ziploc that just used water displacement. If using oil along with the cheese, you just have to pay a little bit more attention when the oil is getting really close to the Ziploc pump.
Here is what I do for my cheese, whenever there is a chance of the cheese lasting longer than 1 week:
Fill a Ziploc bag or other type of re-sealable, with about 100 g (1/2 cup) of olive oil, extra virgin,(the oil prevents the individual portions from sticking together and it helps to cut down on bacteria from attacking the cheese.
Note: The exact amount of oil is not critical, it should be just enough to coat the portions. Over a long period of time, even the Ziploc freezer bags will allow trace amounts of air into the bag that can create some degradation in the flavor and possibly the development of food pathogens.
Then start removing the air using either of the above mentioned ways.
I will make a video showing both methods and post it on YouTube, maybe I can do it tomorrow, but will post link back here and maybe start a new thread as well on "Water Displacement Method".