405 replies to this topic

[Paul Bacino]

You can run your vp210 for a minute...I thought it would only do 45 secs ...can I over ride that setting?

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[roygon]

You can run your vp210 for a minute...I thought it would only do 45 secs ...can I over ride that setting?

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You can set a bunch of settings and the initial vacuum time can be set up to 99 seconds although not sure if numbers above a certain point are ignored

rg

[mkayahara]

I have done sous vide with both the ziplock hand pump vacuums and one of the standard counter top ones. Both have the same problem when I do something at high temp (like confit at 176). After a while the air that is in the bag starts to puff up and the bag starts to float.

I haven't had this happen with confit and I've made it a number of times.

When I recently made sous vide duck confit for the first time, one out of the four bags did this, plus I've had it happen a couple of other times on other dishes. I suspect it may have something to do with how things are oriented in the bag, especially if they're not a regular shape, but that's a guess.

[rickangell]

I bought the vacuum packer in this photo a couple years ago. The unit appears to be currently called a DZ-260; in 2009 it was a JLW-260. The seller says the units are still available for $575 plus $281.78 for shipping = total $856. You can reach the seller at sales@jlwtools.com. They take payments via PayPal, directed to totalcontrol@jcheckout.com. Their website no longer appears to function past the top level page, hence the picture rather than a product description. They also sell an air flush version which, but for the ability to fill the bag with another gas after flushing, is identical. I'm not sure what that one costs. My unit has functioned flawlessly. I believe they also sell larger, commercial units, though this one would work in an average restaurant. I've pasted in the information re the air flush unit, for want of any on the simpler model.

This Air Flush Full Automatic Vacuum Packing Pack & Seal Machine, model 260-AF is same as our popular packing machine model but with addition Air Flush function. It allows external gas connect to the back host, and when the vacuum cycle complete, the nozzle will allow the external gas to fill in the target packing bags before seal.

BRAND NEW Vacuum packing allow the product extended the shelf life, against humility/corrosion, the package also give customer a better perceive value and professional packing..

It is great for:

food, meat, restaurant service, Skin care product, Electronics, metal/machine shop etc.

The FLAT Style Desktop Vacuum Pack and seal Machine

This commercial grade vacuum packing machine, construct with full stainless steel and high grade pump and component, design with the industrial environment. Can be use for continuous service, Stainless steel tank and chassis suitable for packing wide range of product as well as easy cleaning.

Features:

Long/wide tank design, application for food service such as sandwich, special shape product packing. ( e.g. bottle, meat, machine parts).

Miniaturize design, The right size and cost of what you need.

One had desktop operation.

Computer Adjustable vacuum timer and seal temperature control.

Wide (11" x 1/2" ) seal bar. Suitable for many type of bags.

Very fast operation. Typical seal cycle time is >15-30s.

Remark:

This is a complete system with build in pump.


Specification

Tank size: 15" x 11" x 3.5"

Sealing bar size: 10"

Required Exhaust pump volume 10 cube m/hr

Unit size; 500mm x 250mm x280mm (L x W x H)

Weight: 36 KG net, 45 kg Gross

Supply voltage 110V/220V please specify when check out.

Total power consumption: 170W (exclude pump)

Control:

computer control, Low/high seal bar temperature selection.

Vacuum time preset

Seal time preset

Power indication light

Emergency stop button

Power switch:


Operation:

1. place your product on the plastic bags

2. position the bad opening to the seal bar

3. close the cover, press it to activate.

4. This will enter the automatic process:

machine will automatically count down the vacuum time, then seal the bags(preset by the panel timer), finally will release the air and open the cover.

5. Remove your product and return to 1.

Accessory
1. Vacuum refill oil x 1 liter

2. filter x 1

3. seal bar replacement x 1

4. plastic seal x 1

[Paul Bacino]

You can run your vp210 for a minute...I thought it would only do 45 secs ...can I over ride that setting?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

You can set a bunch of settings and the initial vacuum time can be set up to 99 seconds although not sure if numbers above a certain point are ignored

rg

rg..

I pulled out the manual and it appears you can set the vacuum 25-60 secs. From the factory it is set at 35. I'm upping my everyday vacuuming to 45 sec's

[karlos]

$280 for shipping is a joke, right?

[roygon]

I ordered the VP210 through Amazon for about $900 and shipping was free for me.

rg

[Chris Amirault]

My FoodSaver just up and died this weekend. It's the second one to go belly-up in just a few years, and the more I read about other people's experiences with the FoodSaver line, the less enthusiastic I became. Then I started looking at other edge sealers like the VacMaster and Vacupak machines, all of which were getting me into the range of $250-300. Then...

Well, then I pulled the trigger on a VacMaster VP112 Chamber Sealer from Kodiak Health, $639 including free shipping. (Here's the user's manual linked above.) It's an early Father's Day/birthday gift -- seems reasonable since my Xmas gift, Modernist Cuisine, arrived two months after Xmas!

I thought I'd share some of the reasons I made this decision. First and foremost, it was at the tippity-top of my price range, placing the VP210 out of the park. The VP210 also would have been difficult to store, get out, and use given its weight.

The bag cost was a pretty compelling reason to move away from edge sealers. Try as I might -- and, admittedly, I didn't try that hard -- I couldn't find a reason not to spend what, effectively, was a few years of FoodSaver bags difference on a vastly superior product. And there's no question I'll get regular use out of it; I used that FoodSaver machine 2-3 times per week, usually with at least 3 or 4 bags each time, and my use is on the up-swing, to say the least. Say a $.20 savings per bag, 10 bags per week, 50 weeks per year: that's $100/year saved just on bags -- and from what I'm reading the savings should be more than $.20/bag.

Finally, of course, there's the added features and benefits of a chamber sealer. I'm eagerly looking forward to the increased control over time, vacuum, and sealing that the machine features. In addition, I make copious amounts of stock for the freezer, brine, pickle and cure in vacuum-sealed bags, and cook a lot of items SV that include moist or wet ingredients. Though I'm proud of my FoodSaver technique sealing bags full of chicken stock, it was always a kludgey pita, and the thought of a machine built to handle all these liquids makes me giddy.

I'll report back, in detail, of course.

[Chris Amirault]

While I'm at it: does anyone have reliable suppliers for chamber sealer bags?

[Kerry Beal]

While I'm at it: does anyone have reliable suppliers for chamber sealer bags?

Most restaurant supply stores will have them.

[RWells]

Chris I will be looking forward to your follow up posts. By the way what is your technique for stock filled bags with a Food Saver?

[Amida0616]

Chris please attempt some fruit compression and let us know how it goes.

[lstrelau]

Asked in another forum topic but since vacuum bags are mentioned here as well can you tell me if I need to use boilable bags for sous vide cooking or are regular vacuum bags food safe. Does it make a difference if a food item is cooked for a short time (i.e. hour +/-) versus proteins that need 12 or many more hours?

I purchased bags from http://www.homesteadharvest.com Also bought my Vacmaster VP112 for $675.00

[Chris Amirault]

Amida0616, I will report on a wide variety of techniques, foods, and more ,don't you worry!

Chris I will be looking forward to your follow up posts. By the way what is your technique for stock filled bags with a Food Saver?

You can see it here.

[jackal10]

Is a 240v UK version of the VP112 available?

[Paul Bacino]

I get my bags from ARY Incorporated.. it looks like.

Them make 3-4-5-7 Mil Barrier Pouches of various size they sell all in 500 and 1000

3 Mil Zipper Pouches

2.5 -3 - 4 Mil Cook in Pouches .. ( my standard ( home-use ) is 8 x 12 )

Cheers

[Chris Amirault]

Paul, which thicknesses do you typically use for which applications?

[coz]

I splurged in January and bought a Henkelman Boxer 35 chamber machine. It was built in Holland and took about two months to get delivered to me in the US. It really is fantastic. It has a large pump, 14" seal bar, double seal. I had them add the boiling point h2o sensor. I didn't think that I would use it but it works great. I put hot items in and the machine stops automatically when the boiling point is reached. The only downside to this machine is that it is pretty big and heavy 106 lbs!

[Paul Bacino]

Chris..

2.5mil is the standard!! I use cook bags for everything, the only thing you have to watch for in the 2.5 mil, is meat with sharp corners, ie bones

Otherwise it has been fine for me for what I use, I can seal them in 1.8 secs, this is just from memory.. I'm @ the office. I'm sure its correct thou.

Paul

[Chris Amirault]

Update on that VacMaster VP112 Chamber Sealer from Kodiak Health. Turns out they -- like everyone, it seems -- are out of stock, and they don't expect the factory to ship new units until mid-April.

Very nice customer service people, and this is obviously out of their hands. But... grrr.

[lstrelau]

Update on that VacMaster VP112 Chamber Sealer from Kodiak Health. Turns out they -- like everyone, it seems -- are out of stock, and they don't expect the factory to ship new units until mid-April.

Very nice customer service people, and this is obviously out of their hands. But... grrr.

Chris, try Homestead Harvest and see if they have one in stock and if they would match the price from your current supplier. They are listing it at $675 with free shipping. They were very nice to me.

http://www.homesteadharvest.com

[LoftyNotions]

Another place you could try is Pleasant Hill Grain. http://www.pleasanth...vac_system.aspx

They sell them for $670 including shipping.

I don't have any personal experience with them, but their site seems to come up quite a bit in the searches I do.

Larry

[OliverB]

I'll probably get one of these eventually, but the food saver works fine enough for me right now, I so far had no need to seal any liquid. Of course, once MC arrives that (as so much) will most likely change

but I'm curious now, seems these machines still seal in a bag, just better. How is commercial sealing of meats and cheeses done, where there's no "bag overhang" for lack of a better word. Like the corned beef from Trader Joe's (similar at safeway etc) where there's a chunk of meat plus marinade/sauce/brine vac sealed in plastic, but sealed just around the edge of the meat (or cheese bricks etc)? Not to take this off topic, but I'm curious how that's done. All that overhang of the bags sometimes gets in the way of 'just perfect' placement in my SV machine.

By the way, Kodiak has a nice video on their site showing how this machine works. Though he only seales an already sealed piece of cheese

[blackp]

I'll probably get one of these eventually, but the food saver works fine enough for me right now, I so far had no need to seal any liquid. Of course, once MC arrives that (as so much) will most likely change

but I'm curious now, seems these machines still seal in a bag, just better. How is commercial sealing of meats and cheeses done, where there's no "bag overhang" for lack of a better word. Like the corned beef from Trader Joe's (similar at safeway etc) where there's a chunk of meat plus marinade/sauce/brine vac sealed in plastic, but sealed just around the edge of the meat (or cheese bricks etc)? Not to take this off topic, but I'm curious how that's done. All that overhang of the bags sometimes gets in the way of 'just perfect' placement in my SV machine.

By the way, Kodiak has a nice video on their site showing how this machine works. Though he only seales an already sealed piece of cheese

The commercial machines have multiple sealing wires. Usually one of these is a cut off wire so that any excess bag can just be torn off. My Henkelman machine has this feature.

[OliverB]

so it comes out like it was shrink wrapped? The meat and also cheeses are sealed tight all around I can't figure out how that can be done with even more than one sealing wire, since the items are of odd sizes. Is there a vacuum and shrink wrap machine out there?

I guess there's also some kind of ultrasound sealing, like what you see with salami etc that's sliced and sealed tight all the way to the meat (I actually hate those), super tight and close to the product being packaged.

[Anna N]

so it comes out like it was shrink wrapped? The meat and also cheeses are sealed tight all around I can't figure out how that can be done with even more than one sealing wire, since the items are of odd sizes. Is there a vacuum and shrink wrap machine out there?

I guess there's also some kind of ultrasound sealing, like what you see with salami etc that's sliced and sealed tight all the way to the meat (I actually hate those), super tight and close to the product being packaged.

Didn't I read somewhere on eG, very recently, that this is done by heat-shrinking the plastic bag?

[blackp]

so it comes out like it was shrink wrapped? The meat and also cheeses are sealed tight all around I can't figure out how that can be done with even more than one sealing wire, since the items are of odd sizes. Is there a vacuum and shrink wrap machine out there?

It's not the same as shrink wrapping, but if you use a bag close to the size of the item being packed the effect is similar. All the air is excluded from the bag and it is held tightly against the item. The multiple sealing wires are all in the same unit (ie parallel and close together - in my machine about 5mm apart).

[Chris Amirault]

Another, more successful update.

After trying to figure out options at both Kodiak Health and Pleasant Hill Grain, I talked to Conrad at Homestead Harvest. Here's their link to the VP112.

He very kindly informed me that (1) they have 4-5 in stock, and (2) sure, he'd be happy to knock $25 off the price, bringing it to $650 with free shipping.

So, I placed the order with Conrad and said no thanks to Kodiak Health and Pleasant Hill Grain. I also assured Conrad that Society members would probably scoop up those remaining units PDQ.

Should be here Monday or Tuesday of next week.

[Rob Babcock]

I'm anxious to see how you like it. I really considered buying that machine but my SVS package included a cheapo edge sealer; I decided I may as well hang on to the money until I determined whether or not the included vac was adequate for my needs. Eventually I imagine I'll get the chamber machine, though, for many of the same reasons you listed:

1) Stronger vacuum.
2) Cheaper bags.
3) Being able to compress items.
4) Making pickles.
5) More versatile in type of bags.
6) The ability to easily vac liquids.

I also like to camp & hike so if I had cheap yet heavy bags I would vac survival items like matches as well as food and camping supplies.

The only knock I could see on the VP-112 is that it's a lot of money, and if I was gonna blow that much it would only be another couple hundred to get one that would seal retort pouches as well. While that's not a huge issue I have been interested in trying pressure canning food in retorts to make my own MRE-type foods for camping.

[lstrelau]

Chris - glad Conrad was obliging - they were very good to deal with when I purchased mine (though I couldn't get free shipping to Canada unfortunately) but shipping was prompt and it was very well packed for safe shipping. I bought bags from them as well (they are REALLY heavy though!!).

Rob:

I have had my machine for several months and it works very well. It does all the things on your list (well, I have't made pickles yet!).

It also has a side port that you can plug a hose into (be sure to seat the hose end firmly in the socket) and use for either FoodSaver storage jars or with their attachement you can seal mason jars of two different sizes if that would be of any use.