lstrelau

I can appreciate the need for a larger capacity if one was doing large quantities of product. New version of the 210 found here (link below) for $889.00 which is pretty good, not that many more days of penny pinching!! http://www.qualitymatters.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=QMVP%2D210 VP210C: $889.00 Chamber: 15.5” x 11” x 5” Overall: 19” x 12.5” x 15.5” 10 inch sealer bar Max vacuum is: 27ï ½hg - 29ï ½hg Motor: Dry rocker piston much smaller footprint but a lot higher. Motor sounds the same ad 112. VP112: $638.99 (from same source as above, www.Qualitymatters.com Chamber 12” x 11“ x 5” (total unit dimensions are: 24” x 16” x 9” Overall: 24” x 16” x 9” 12 inch sealer bar Max vacuum is:28 (assume same units) Motor: Dry rocker piston takes up a lot of counter space (but of course would fit under a top cabinet). I have the room to purpose build a drawer with heavy duty glides so I can tuck it away when not in use. Think the same motor - no indication of max vacuum achieved. So you won't gain anything for depth or increased quantity of liquids. Certainly you can fit a longer bag in though so that would have helped Chris with his ribs. 210 does have greater control of functions like being able to add inert gas and has a cooling function and ability to set levels (didn't look for an online version of the manual so not sure what the controls do though). As far as the hinges are concerned, I don't see any reason that they would fail any sooner than on the 210 with the exception that it is a TWO HAND job to open and close the 112 - that can be a bit of a pain when you have a bag of food with liquid in one hand and no where to set it down (that happens to me a lot!). It sounds like the 210 has a double seal wire. The 112 has the external vacuum port for use with canisters or jar sealers which I really find useful. Apparently doesn't work with retort flasks/bags but since I don't yet have MC I don't know what I would use them for even if I could (please god, no more new toys for a while!!). Sure is easy to spend money on toys (tools). Best, Llyn

If you want to make multiple seals with the VP112 all you do is push start and then push Stop and the seal bar will pop up and it will seal. You can use up all your leftover foodsaver bag rolls to make your own bags. I did have to use max seal time for the heavier patterned foodsaver bags though

Lost my post somehow...? My compressed watermelon looked like the pictures too. Nice and red (probably even better if the melon was ripe as it would be at peak of season rather than this time of year). If you wanted to do multiple compressions couldn't you vacuum the bag without having the end of the bag over the sealing bar (would need to prop it up with something so liquid doesn't boil out). Then do two or three compressions and finally seal it the final time.

Sorry Phaz - didn't mean to push your budget - good thing your wife is understanding - I am sort of in the same boat, if something new comes in something old is supposed to leave (but I keep finding new spots to put things so the atttition is not as successful as my partner would like. Just comandeered a new bookcase for the eventual arrival of MC. Finally had a chance to buy a little watermelon - tried 4 bags, one each with: white wine tequila with a touch of salt and some ground chili orange juice syrup left over from preserved meyer lemons They all look quite dense, definitely took on deeper colour. But won't have time to taste them til tomorrow so hopefully that won't take too long. The mangoes I compressed with lime juice the other day were very nice though. Chris, my unit still has the cm/H rather than Bar's. Wonder why/when they change that? I would say I reach a max of 64 cm/H by maybe 30 seconds but kept it going for 60, the liquid boils starting at about 25 seconds or so into the game. Haven't had any problem with the bags sealing even when I tuck the end of the bag between the seal bar and the front edge of the chamber but then I don't stick it really far down I guess. Have some duck legs curing in salt and spices now ready to cook SV on Friday morning for Friday night.

Vengroff, Your app sounds great - will it work on an iPhone (and will you port it to this platform) or would the size of the screen simply be too small to be functional? Don't have an iPad yet (spending my cash on things like MC, SV Supreme and chamber vacuums!!!)

Marc is just a white spirit distilled from the skins, stems, pulp (called pomace) etc left after the primary fermentation of Champagne (in this case) - same as grappa or marc de bourgogne or brandy and cognac. Except the two latter products are usually aged in barrels and will be amber coloured (either from the wood or because of added caramel colourant rather than the colourless spirits like marc and grappa. I expect the champagne cork is just to make it pretty. It should keep quite a while once open, over a long time you could lose some of the more delicate fragrances but doubt it would make a difference once incorporated into the ganache or whatever you are using for the filling. You could decant the leftover into smaller bottles with minimal airpace and keep in cool dark place. It would be interesting to make the same truffle using the marc de Champagne and basic grappa (you can get grappa from some of the wineries in the Okanagan by the way) and see if you can detect the difference. Check out www.okanaganspirits.com- they make grappa from different grapes (Pinot Gris, Gewurtztraminer, Pinot Noir etc). You can make "Local" truffles! You can also use spirits distilled from fruit like apples, pears, raspberries etc. Not the sweet coloured liquers types but the clear distilled ones - (a.k.a. eaux de vie)Okanagan Spirits has some of these too. noticed that they also had 60% alcohol fruit 'fragrance' that would be good for culinary use. (edited for spelling and content)

Many thanks Kim - can't wait for my own copy to arrive but this will help tide me over.

Kim (or anyone who already has MC (My copy won't be shipped til April 14 ). I have 6 duck legs thawing as I type and plan to confit them sous vide tomorrow. Could someone give me a brief (is that possible?) method for the MC recipe? I am a jewellery designer so have a couple of little scales at work that I plan to liberate one for precise measuring at home. I can find methods online I know but the spice/herb mix sounds great. I assume the legs are cured with the salt and spices first but timeing and then temp/details for the SV portion would really be great. Thanks,

I find garlic odour will migrate through the bags and other spice smells too. My understanding is that the bags are slightly permeable to small molecules. However I have been using 3 mil vacuum bags until I got some boilable bags recently. Don't know if they are as permeable to odors - will experiment with them now too.

Thanks Anna, A Bulk Bark apparently just opened in Calgary (there are some in Edmonton already) Will check it out.

Does anyone know where (preferably in Canada) to buy powdered buttermilk? We used to be able to find it at the grocery store and used it frequently but last few years it has disappeared. We used it in biscuits/scones, pancakes and other baking. Didn't think about more contemporary uses in savoury cooking but it makes sense.

Guilty pleasure - a big Mac and fries with rootbeer, thankfully I don't get the urge often. Haven't been to the East Coast in far too long but remember seeing Lobster Rolls on the menu of McDonalds in Boston area. They might offer Poutine in Quebec too.

I didn't get a chance to find watermelon but last night I vacuumed some filets of mango with lime juice. Set the VP112 to 60 seconds of vacuum - it reached -65 cmHg in that time. Slices were nice and dense (meaty) and infused with the lime flavour. Calgary is approximately 3400 feet elevation (1048 metres). That, according to Chris's chart would be around 84% vacuum at sea level, Chris, you can translate this to degrees of vacuum for me - the math is beyond me if we need to account for elevation. MSK, I agree, this machine ia a beast by weight. What I did was convert a base cabinet to a large drawer with heavy duty full extention glides (and an electrical plug on the wall inside the drawer) so now I just pull the drawer out to use the VP112 and then tuck it back out of the way when finished. Of course you need a large enough space to accomplish this but it works well for me.

I will buy some (TERRIBLY) out of season watermelon and try compressing it and see what happens. Should have time tomorrow and will report back.

Are the bags boilable (or does it really matter if they are or not - I am still confused about this.

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.

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

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

Regular 3 mil chamber vacuum bags versus boilable bags. Hi, is there a substantial difference between these? Are regular vacuum bags okay to use for short time cooking but would boilable bags be best to use for long time proteins like short ribs or shanks? When I bought my Vacmaster (and bags from same company) they just suggested regular vacuum bags. I have some boilable ones coming soon so will have both. Thanks for any info

Well, I am SAD, Amazon.ca just emailed me and my already delayed copy of MC shipping date is pushed back another 10 days from April 8 to April 18!! I ordered on Dec 9th too. The only consolation is that is only costing $410.00 Canadian versus the 'current' price online of $530.00 Canadian or $462.00 US (on amazon.com). Not sure what that is all about but I am happy with the price. Oh well, I can read all the other books that just arrived I guess (including the Achatz bio).

You can buy the same chamber vacuum machine (without the Sous Vide Supreme label) from another company for $675.00. Still not cheap but but beats $800.00 http://www.homestead...uumsealers.html Prompt delivery, they also sell bags. It is a great unit and the least expensive chamber machine I could find. Bit of a beast (I built a special deep drawer to tuck it away in so it isn't on the countertop) but it works very well and is robust. Nice additional feature is a vacuum port to use for sealing mason jars (with the accesory from FoodSaver or other manufacturers). Have been using it for a couple months now and it works well. Haven't tried watermelon yet though. I thought that the expansion of air in the bag doesn't have anything to do with the quality of the seal but rather it is the result of water vapour from the liquids in the food that is sealed expanding as the liquid is heated in the bag. Higher temperatures in the bath will show more expansion than lower temps.

You can buy the same chamber vacuum machine (without the Sous Vide Supreme label) from another company for $675.00 (probably other distributors for Vacmaster as well). Still not cheap but but beats $800.00 http://www.homesteadharvest.com/vacuumsealers.html Prompt delivery, they also sell bags. It is a great unit and the least expensive chamber machine I could find. Bit of a beast (I built a special deep drawer to tuck it away in) but it works very well and is robust. Nice additional feature is a vacuum port to use for sealing mason jars (with the accesory from FoodSaver or other manufacturers). Llyn