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Coogles

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Posts posted by Coogles

  1. When I'm bagging liquids I load an 8" x 10" pouch in to a 22 ounce plastic pilsner glass, with the pouch reaching all the way to the bottom of the glass there's enough height left to fold over the rim by about 1".  Makes it easy to pour int he liquid without getting any on the bag where the seal will be.

     

    When bagging thick liquids (like pizza sauce) that may have air incorporated from whisking/blending I'll usually put them in the chamber in a bowl first and run a cycle to pull out the air, makes it much less likely that the sauce will expand while bagging and spill out in the chamber.  I'll do the same thing when I need flat beer for a recipe and don't want to wait around for it to happen naturally.

    • Thanks 1
  2. On 12/17/2019 at 8:52 AM, Raamo said:

    This is on their site: (https://www.nomiku.com/)

     

     

    Not surprised, I backed in the KS, had problems with it and was told clean it much more often.  So I rarely use it - our polysci model has larger tubing or something for the water so it just keeps on trucking other then the electrical problem I had to send it in to get fixed.  Though it's a real work horse for us.

     

    I loved the original Nomiku, it was a workhorse and had such an easy to use interface that even my non tech-inclined parents could use it (it lives with them now).  The WiFi model was not a good experience, had to send it back for replacement multiple times due to bad water level sensors that would just shut the circulator down with no warning or notice and once when the plastic housing cracked during a high-temp cook and steam got in to the electronics.  Last time I sent it back to be replaced I ordered an Anova and ended up never even taking the Nomiku out for the box it was shipped back to me in.  These days I primarily use a Joule with the Anova as a back-up, the WiFi Nomiku is still sitting in the box in case I need a back-up to the back-up.

  3. VacMaster has recommended settings for their various machines here...

     

    https://www.vacmasterfresh.com/seal-time-product-comparison/

     

    I usually leave mine set for 30 seconds vacuum time, for thick liquids like soups or sauces I'll have my finger hovering over the "Stop" button in case the liquid starts expanding and moves too close the open end of the bag.  I'll go to 60 seconds vacuum for fruit compression and instant pickles.

     

    Mine did come with a sample pack of various sized bags and it did have a little oil in it when delivered, probably from QA testing at the factory.  You will need to add enough oil to reach 1/2 to 3/4 on the sight glass.  They recommend changing the oil after the first 24 hours of run time and every 60 hours of run time after that, at 30 seconds vacuum time that's about 2880 cycles before the first change and every 7200 cycles after that but keep an eye on the oil and change if it gets milky or looks dirty.

    • Like 1
  4. 8 minutes ago, fledflew said:

    I finally something to contribute to this thread...

    https://home.woot.com/offers/vacmaster-vp215-chamber-vacuum-sealer

    Woot.com (amazon subsidiary that is a daily sale site) has the VacMaster VP215 on sale for $499 for the next 20 hours or so (until 10pm PDT 10/18/2019) or until they sell out.  

    This is the oil pump model and it is a new unit (not refurb).  Price is about $400-$700 off most other places selling it. 

    Shipping is flat rate of $6 for the entire order or free with Amazon Prime account - most places charge $30-$80 for shipping.  (I must be one of the last 14 holdouts that doesn't have a Prime account).

     

    I've been casually shopping online for a chamber sealer for almost a decade now, but could never justify the cost.  I have endured endless frustration with a few different foodsavers over the years, and that is about to come to an end!  I was just thinking to myself the other day, "why do I even bother checking Woot anymore? They never have anything that I want and the discount isn't very good either".  Ha!

     

    The Woot deal is already sold out, must of just had a few.

    • Sad 2
  5. 20190407_061942.thumb.jpg.f6f7783c79bf51d988eeb72a292ce6d1.jpg

    Here's how my gasket looks, the ends should be butted up right next to each other to minimize leaks.  If your machine was new when you got it the gasket should be in good shape and you might just be able to tug the ends together a bit to close the gap, just be gentle so you don't tear it.  If you got the machine used and the gasket is worn or hardened you can get replacement ones pretty cheap.  The machine should work fine for most things as-is, but you might have an issue trying things that require a strong vacuum like vacuum compression of fruits.

    • Like 1
  6. 9 hours ago, CanadianHomeChef said:

    It arrives :)

     

    just curious how far on the gauge you can get the needle? I can get about half way through the green zone. 99 second vacuum with filler plates. It kind of maxes out after about 30 seconds. Is this normal?

     

    I get almost all the way to the end of the green zone after 30 seconds.  Check that your lid gasket is in good shape and properly seated.  Also check that the rim of the chamber which the gasket seals against doesn't have any dents or deep scratches and that your oil level is at 1/2 or a little higher on the sight glass.

  7. 3 hours ago, Paul Bacino said:

    My Bad on this Post!!  ( Maybe one of the Mod's, can add rectangular to my topic post )

     

    I wanted a rectangle one .

     

    How large?  Here is a 9.5" x 13" cast iron lasagna pan but it might be a little deeper (3") than you want...

     

    https://www.amazon.com/112010-01-Artisan-Preseasoned-Rectangular-Lasagna/dp/B072QGBNHG/ref=sr_1_4?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1550164844&sr=1-4&keywords=cast+iron+lasagna

     

     

  8. 10 hours ago, chromedome said:

    I don't know if the equivalent US agency has an email mailing list, but I get updates from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency all the time. The subject line/header tells you what the recall is about (E. coli, salmonella, listeriosis, allergens, etc).

     

    USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service does have an email notification list you can subscribe to here...

    https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/current-recalls-and-alerts

     

    If you scroll down the page a bit it shows a list of current recalls.

    • Like 2
  9. The vacuum removed some of the moisture but not enough to dehydrate the herbs, I don't think the volume of the Ball jar (1 quart) is big enough to allow enough of the water to boil off under vacuum.  After repeating the vacuum procedure several times the leaves had shrunk significantly and gone limp but were still moist to the touch.  Something like a vacuum degassing chamber would probably have a better chance of doing this successfully due to the larger chamber size and the ability to keep it under vacuum indefinitely.  

  10. Never tried it before, but since I needed to prune the basil growing in my Aerogarden anyway I thought I'd give it a go.  My chamber sealer doesn't have the option of holding at vacuum so I sealed up the basil in a Ball jar at high vacuum (45 sec, ~99.9% vacuum according to the gauge) along with a little rice to act as a desiccant.  I'll open up the jar in a few hours to see how it looks and repeat the vacuum a few times if the herbs aren't dry enough.

    • Thanks 1
  11. On 12/24/2018 at 8:50 AM, lemniscate said:

    I could swear this "cooking with light" revolutionary oven has been done before.

     

     

    from 1993:   https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/09/garden/an-oven-speeds-cooking-with-light.html

     

    and I remember one of the major appliance companies had one with a high-tech name, Advantium.   It looked like an oversized microwave.  One of my friends was supposed to get one in her uber tricked-out kitchen-stadium in a custom built house back in the late 90's (She doesn't cook O.o, but it was the "new" thing).  

     

     

    GE still makes the Advantium ovens, we have one of the older over-the-range oven/exhaust hoods in our kitchen.  Only used the "cooking with light" feature a few times before it got old.  Now its just used as a microwave and rather inefficient exhaust hood.  Biggest issue we've had is that the plastic they chose to make the door out of became brittle over time, I've had to epoxy the handle back on several times when the plastic it was secured to gave way.

  12. 5 hours ago, liuzhou said:

    These might be as common as muck, but it's new to me. The handle (actually a bamboo chopstick) is 24 cm/9½ inches long and the blade is 13x3.5 cm/5¼x1¾, also bamboo.

     

    Obviously, it could be used for many purposes, but was sold with a specific one in the description.

     

    thing1.thumb.jpg.144b0a1efcbf6ad6a85e5c2aa1e7e10d.jpg

     

    thing2.thumb.jpg.7e1d0baed6798915b6935c9ed92c3182.jpg

     

     

    It's a Chinese pancake rake.  End of the dowel fits in to the hole where the zip tie is now.

     

    https://m.asia5b.com/goods.php?id=272128

    • Like 5
  13. I never did find any reviews of the VAC-VIDA sealer online, the only thing I did find is a thread (now deleted) on Reddit asking the same thing I did here (the manufacturer responded to that thread).  While I was trying to decide they sold out, then another vendor on Amazon put up a Vacmaster VP215 for $670 so I ordered one of those instead.  

  14. Anyone have any experience with the VAC-VIDA VS301 Vacuum Chamber Sealer?  Specs seem quite similar to the VacMaster VP215 but it's selling on Amazon for ~ $125 less.  Only has 4 reviews, all 5 stars but Fakespot gives those reviews an F for reliability (75% questionable).  I've been saving up my credit card points/Amazon gift cards to use towards a VP215, if the VS301 is of decent quality I could afford it sooner but I don't want to end up with a $625 door stop because I was impatient.

     

    VAC-VIDA VS301 Vacuum Chamber Sealer

  15. This is the brand I usually find in the international aisle of my local grocery store, but it's only $4 a tub rather than the $10 Amazon wants.  The most common way I use it is to mix with mayo, ponzu sauce, toasted sesame oil and shichimi as a dip for fries.  I also add it to crushed tomatoes along with garlic and oregano for pizza sauce and I've made the sauce from the ATK episode to drizzle over scrambled eggs.  Very versatile ingredient to have on hand, and it seems to last forever in the fridge.

    • Like 2
  16. 21 hours ago, StevenHarris said:

    Do any air fryers go above 400 degrees?  I saw a video in which a woman set her very large (brand unknown) to 480 degrees.  Could she have meant 380?

     

    Steven

     

    The Big Boss oil-less fryer can supposedly go up to 480° according to some reviews I read.

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