Vacuum Sealers

[Buehler445]

I know the Sous Vide guys use them, anybody else here use them? I have some questions about them.


I would be looking to use them for mostly meat, both raw and prepared, probably look at some produce options, and maybe down the road Sous Vide.

What does it cost for bags and supplies? Is it cost effective to bag/freeze for ~1 month?


What kind of things do I need to look for for hardware? I'm a pretty n00bish with this stuff.

I was looking at this one. Link

I tried to use one when we put up sweet corn and it sucked a bunch of juice out of the bags and into the machine? Is this a common problem or was there something I was doing wrong?

Advice would be appreciated. TIA.

[Baby Lee]

1. Vacuum sealers are easy to use and just need the unit and the containers/bags. No accessories. The only one I have is a holder/stand that stores the bag rolls on spindles behind the unit and doles them out underneath where there is a razor strip thingy you can slide across to cut the bags to size. If you have room and a sharp knife, that's not even that necessary. I think it was a freebie with my particular unit.

2. Bags are pretty hardy and reusable [sort of]. You have to cut off the first inch or so where the seal is, so the bag is eventually too short to fit anything in it as you cut more and more off it with reuse/reseal. They can be pricey, but you can buy in bulk when you find a sale, and that bulk will last a long while, particularly with reuse.

3. It does require bags appropriate for your sealer. They have a small corrugated grid on one side of the inside of the bag that creates channels for the air to escape as it's vacuumed out. If you try a plain plastic bag, you run into two problems. The lack of channels means all the air won't be sucked out, as there is a seal at the opening of the bag as the sides are pressed flush, and the heating element that seals the bag may be either too weak or too strong resulting in either no seal or completely melting the end of the bag. With approved bags, it heats just right to seal the bag then stops.

4. Excess liquids are a persistent problem inherent in the system. The vacuum has to be strong enough to suck all the air out, which means it's strong enough to suck up liquids as well. If you're sealing a lot of moist stuff, go with solid plastic containers with sealing ports in the lid offered by the manufacturer. They have flat dishes for marinating as well as barrel shaped containers for soups and stews. Those containers suck the air out the top, leaving the liquid intact in the basin below. Otherwise, it's sufficient with meats and such to simply freeze them before sealing sufficient that liquids won't drip from them in the short time you take to seal the bag [ie, fill the bag, freeze, seal, refreeze long term]. Of course, you have to set the bag upright in the freezer so the liquid doesn't leak out the open end until it's initially frozen.

[FlaChief58]

I love mine. I've been using one for years. We like to buy in bulk and break it down into meal size portions. The containers are great for cereal, crackers, fruit or anything that could get crushed.

[Fire Me Boy!]

That sealer will do the job at a low cost and at least tell you if it's something you'll keep with. My experience with Food Saver (I've had four different models over the years, ranging in price from low like this to their more expensive models with more bells and whistles) is twofold: Mine have all broken down after a couple of years; and you absolutely must double seal if you don't want the seal to fail after a month or so. Even double sealed, my vacuums usually fail after 3-4 months.

I replaced my last one back in May with this model:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So far, I haven't had a bag lose vacuum without a double seal, which I attribute to a slightly thicker sealer element. The Weston also has a pulse feature that I like since it allows me to control the amount of vacuum put on the food - you can do this with a Food Saver, too, just by manually pressing seal before it's finished pulling the vacuum, but I find the Weston a little easier to use. The Weston overall pulls a stronger vacuum, IME, if that's what you're going for.

Most sealers will work with off-brand bags. But the cheaper and thinner you go, well, you get what you pay for. They break and puncture more easily, and the vacuum breaks on them easier. I typically just stick with brand bags - Food Saver makes good bags, and I've been really impressed with the Weston brand bags, too.

As for moist foods, most sealers will pull a strong enough vacuum to force the food to expel liquid. Two things you can do - force the sealer to stop the vacuum before it gets to full strength so that almost all of the air is out of the bag but it's not pulling liquid, or you can par-freeze. For corn, just put the corn in the freezer on a tray for an hour, then bag and seal.

[Bwana]

I just used mine today to seal up a couple of bags of ham. I love the thing and it keeps things from becoming freezer burnt for at least a couple of years.

One tip I will give you is avoid name brand bags or rolls. You can get the same quality for a lot less. Here is a couple of examples.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by Bwana

I just used mine today to seal up a couple of bags of ham. I love the thing and it keeps things from becoming freezer burnt for at least a couple of years.

One tip I will give you is avoid name brand bags or rolls. You can get the same quality for a lot less. Here is a couple of examples.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

YMMV. I bought some of these exact kinds and no exaggeration, half of them failed to seal. I used an old and a brand new sealer (I originally thought it was my sealer being difficult) and ended up sealing probably 20 bags or so. Wasted 11, IIRC.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

That sealer will do the job at a low cost and at least tell you if it's something you'll keep with. My experience with Food Saver (I've had four different models over the years, ranging in price from low like this to their more expensive models with more bells and whistles) is twofold: Mine have all broken down after a couple of years; and you absolutely must double seal if you don't want the seal to fail after a month or so. Even double sealed, my vacuums usually fail after 3-4 months.

I replaced my last one back in May with this model:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So far, I haven't had a bag lose vacuum without a double seal, which I attribute to a slightly thicker sealer element. The Weston also has a pulse feature that I like since it allows me to control the amount of vacuum put on the food - you can do this with a Food Saver, too, just by manually pressing seal before it's finished pulling the vacuum, but I find the Weston a little easier to use. The Weston overall pulls a stronger vacuum, IME, if that's what you're going for.

Most sealers will work with off-brand bags. But the cheaper and thinner you go, well, you get what you pay for. They break and puncture more easily, and the vacuum breaks on them easier. I typically just stick with brand bags - Food Saver makes good bags, and I've been really impressed with the Weston brand bags, too.

As for moist foods, most sealers will pull a strong enough vacuum to force the food to expel liquid. Two things you can do - force the sealer to stop the vacuum before it gets to full strength so that almost all of the air is out of the bag but it's not pulling liquid, or you can par-freeze. For corn, just put the corn in the freezer on a tray for an hour, then bag and seal.

Thanks for the info.

Just so I'm understanding this right, your machines break down after a couple years, and you double seal the bags or the seal on the bag will fail after a month or so. Is that right?

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Thanks for the info.



Just so I'm understanding this right, your machines break down after a couple years, and you double seal the bags or the seal on the bag will fail after a month or so. Is that right?

That has been MY experience with Food Savers over maybe the last 8-10 years. I have not had that experience with the Weston since I bought it in May.

But others' experiences may be different.

[FlaChief58]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Thanks for the info.

Just so I'm understanding this right, your machines break down after a couple years, and you double seal the bags or the seal on the bag will fail after a month or so. Is that right?

I've had 3 food saver brand sealers over19 years. The first one lasted 10 years before breaking. The second one was still working fine, but I upgraded this year and gave the old one to a friend. The only time I've had trouble with the bags is when trying to seal bone in pork chops. The bones sometimes puncture them. I use the Wal-Mart brand to save money

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Thanks for the info.

Just so I'm understanding this right, your machines break down after a couple years, and you double seal the bags or the seal on the bag will fail after a month or so. Is that right?

Durability can be quirky. My mom is on her third or fourth. But she does it a lot, and she's always looking for more bells and whistles, so I'm not sure how many of hers broke and how many were simply upgraded. I've had a basic Foodsaver unit for nearly a decade, and although I've taken it completely apart several times to clean all the channels and adjust the vacuum tubing, it still performs well in it's essential functions of vacuuming and sealing. MoF, I just cleaned it throughout this fall and I sealed about 10 pounds of freezer goods [about 30 or so bags] as well or better than ever.

The key failure point, outside bells and whistles, is the neoprene seal that forms around the bag entrance to keep the sealer from sucking ambient air and vacuuming from the bag only. Neoprene is soft and pliable, thus prone to cracks and stiffening, which deteriorates how well it can vacuum the bag itself. [in this sense, think of the neoprene seal as the tires or oil of your unit. it will wear out regardless of how expensive your unit]. If you can, try to research if you can get replacement neoprene before investing heavily in a unit expecting long-term durability.

[gblowfish]

Mine is a very basic foodsaver, and it works great.
They can save you a lot of $, especially on things like ground beef. You can buy a big five pound package, cut it down into smaller packages, and freeze them. Since it's just my wife and me, I usually put them into one pound packages and use those. Also good for freezing chicken and other stuff. It lasts a lot longer, and doesn't get freezer burn. You can buy bags on line. They're cheaper that way then buying them in the store.

[stumppy]

So....you're looking for something with tremendous sucking power ?

Sounds like a job for TU, he's got family references.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

Durability can be quirky. My mom is on her third or fourth. But she does it a lot, and she's always looking for more bells and whistles, so I'm not sure how many of hers broke and how many were simply upgraded. I've had a basic Foodsaver unit for nearly a decade, and although I've taken it completely apart several times to clean all the channels and adjust the vacuum tubing, it still performs well in it's essential functions of vacuuming and sealing. MoF, I just cleaned it throughout this fall and I sealed about 10 pounds of freezer goods [about 30 or so bags] as well or better than ever.

The key failure point, outside bells and whistles, is the neoprene seal that forms around the bag entrance to keep the sealer from sucking ambient air and vacuuming from the bag only. Neoprene is soft and pliable, thus prone to cracks and stiffening, which deteriorates how well it can vacuum the bag itself. [in this sense, think of the neoprene seal as the tires or oil of your unit. it will wear out regardless of how expensive your unit]. If you can, try to research if you can get replacement neoprene before investing heavily in a unit expecting long-term durability.

My first one (a fairly basic model many moons ago) lasted longer than any other I've had. I wonder if their quality has gone downhill.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

My first one (a fairly basic model many moons ago) lasted longer than any other I've had. I wonder if their quality has gone downhill.

My sense is. They used to just suck, then seal. Now they try to incorporate a bunch of sensors and circuitry to give the user more control, and that's the part that fails. Kind of like the durability of a WWII Army Jeep compared to an AWD Hyundai with traction control.

[WilliamTheIrish]

Used to do it. Outsourced it. Saved time, money, frustration.