pbleic

Yes, that is what I shoot for. It depends how much you have put in the bag. The scotch tape is a pretty minimal step, though. The Ziploc system makes a pretty effective vacuum, and the whole system is certainly as good as a Food Saver, and probably easier to do for each bag. Links: Grizzly Impulse Thermal Sealer (this is a heavy, substantial piece of equipment) Ziploc Vacuum Starter Kit (the Ziploc bag refills after the starter kit come in quart and gallon)

As someone new to sous vide, I read a good deal about the various issues with vacuum sealers here and elsewhere. I came up with a combined method I haven't seen described, and wanted to share it. It seems to work well for the home cook: Start with the Ziploc Vacuum system (they say "sous vide" on the bag). Starting at $3.29 on Amazon. Zip the bag and use the hand pump to create a fairly effective vacuum. Put a single piece of scotch tape over the pump hole. Use an impulse thermal sealer (16" variety, $49 on Amazon), and seal the bag below the "zipper." This seems to last without leaking for a substantial period. It gets around some of the issues of fluid and the pumps, and concerns about leaking through the one way ziploc valve or zipper.

It isn't necessary to pay $10,000 for a rotary evaporator. The Yamato RE-200-1-A Rotary Evaporator is sold at many places on the web for ~$2,400 (diagonal condensing tube) or ~$2,900 for a vertical condensing tube which looks and works exactly like the $10,000 variety from Polyscience. It will be one that holds substantially smaller volumes, but has a continuous feed inlet for adding more starting liquid. The setup requires a vacuum pump capable of 30 CFH, and there are many with 6 times that capacity that can be purchased for $100. $2,500 to $3,000 is still quite expensive for the home cook, but could put this capability in the hands of more restaurants.