horseflesh
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Posts posted by horseflesh
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4 hours ago, EsaK said:
Actually just now realized that the Jumbo series doesn't have the soft air release.
IMHO soft air release is a valuable feature.
Or, let me say, I would not want a machine that always slammed the air back in at top speed. Even if your release isn't adjustable, you don't want it to be as fast as possible at all times. Slamming the bags increases the chance of a puncture if the contents is borderline.
(Some say that fast release is ideal if you're doing something like storing meat in marinade but I don't know if it really helps.)
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Looks like Vacuum Sealers Unlimited dropped their prices, last time I ordered I swear free shipping was not included. Cool.
I use this size mostly, 6" x 10".
In a quantity of 1000 that is about 3.1 cents per bag, shipped. That is so cheap I use them without hesitation.
If I bought a bag twice as long with the idea of cutting it in half and making 2 bags... Here is a 6" x 20" bag.
These guys are about 6.8 cents each, so by cutting them in half, you aren't actually saving anything.
What I am getting at is this: As far as I can see, when you buy in bulk the cost of a bag is roughly proportional to the size of the bag. Every time I look at the prices, what makes the most sense to me is to buy the right sized bags and use them as-is. And if there was a discount for bigger sizes it would be a small savings, and not worth the extra work of cutting them down and extra sealing.
Where I break this rule is when I want to work with something like a huge block of cheese. I don't want to spend an extra 7 cents every time I use some cheese, so I use an oversized 10 cent gallon bag, cut off the seal, and re-seal it. I do this for some things I have frozen too, like bulk spices. I will also make a small bag into a TINY bag, if needed, so I don't have to stock a million sizes.
Anyway, after well over 1000 cycles in my 12" machine, this is the set of bags that works for me.
3 mil 6 x 10 @ 3.1 cents -- most commonly used size and I would NOT buy anything smaller without a special need. Need it smaller once in a while? Place it so the seal bar cuts it down when you use it.
3 mil 10 x 12 @ 6.8 cents -- used about half as much as the 6 x 10, still a real workhorse.
3 mil 12 x 15 @ 9.4 cents -- giant gallon bag, my least used size at 5-10%, but when you need it you need it.
At 3 mil I do get a puncture once in a blue moon when I press my luck... but when that happens I double-bag it and re-seal. It's worth eating the cost of another bag once in a great while compared to the cost of keeping thicker bags on hand.
I wish the more exotic bags like mylar, stand-ups, and clear front/gold back bags were cheaper. They also have retort bags which lets you seal and then do a pressure canner heat cycle to sterilize, which sounds cool... but I cannot find any home-use time and temperature instructions, and the bags are super expensive at $0.45 each in 16 oz.
YMMV.
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Makes sense. I think there's a good chance you'll really enjoy it, whether you standardize on jars or bags. I use mine CONSTANTLY and a couple of friends have them now too, after seeing mine.
I do really think that an oil pump is worth the extra dough. The 215 is a nice unit, I almost got it, then decided to go crazy and buy something even more expensive.
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I didn't know you could seal Mason jars in a chamber like that. Cool!
That said... I am having a hard time imagining when I would want to do it. Bags are so so cheap. The pint bags I use most often are about 3.5 cents, delivered. You can even use a larger bag than needed for the item, cut off the strip, and re-seal it. You can drop a bag in a sous vide bath and get good thermal transfer to the contents. You can give a bag of leftovers to someone and not worry about getting the jar back. But most importantly, bags only take up as much room as the product inside them, but a jar is always the same size.
If I used jars instead of bags I would not have room in my fridge for my various leftovers right now. And in my freezer, forgetaboutit.
But if jars are top priority, then a cheaper machine with a vacuum hose attachment made for that purpose might be a better choice. An burly chamber sealer with an oil pump, like the 215, would be wasted on jars. IMHO.
Not like I should talk about "wasting" money on potential you don't use. I'm pretty guilty of that!
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If I can seal "awake" liquid yeast, dry should be no problem at all!
if I were you I would do a little experiment: seal some at max vacuum, and some more gently. See if you can discern a difference in vitality. My guess is that there will be little difference since I have seen big bricks of yeast in the store that look like they are sealed very compactly.
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I am a home brewer and also wanted to store extra yeast slurry. I contacted a couple of yeast manufacturers and the one that replied said it should not be a problem. So I tried it, and it has worked fine. The yeast is viable for months as it was when I used other vessels.
I don't take pains to pump down all the way, I do about 70-80% vacuum, just in case a harder vacuum might be bad for the little guys.
In the case of beer, if there is any sugar left in the liquid, they will continue to ferment it and produce CO2, even at fridge temps. A few times I have had to re-bag yeast after a couple of months when the bag swells.
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23 minutes ago, Nowayout said:
I agree with what several have said, you MUST put it someplace where it can be used without having to get it out. I have a Minipack MVS45x...
I could have written every word of this. I even have a Minipack too. It truly is one of the best kitchen tools I have ever bought.
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8 hours ago, CanadianHomeChef said:
Anyone have any good resources for vacuum sealing shelf stable ingredients? I’m worried about botulism. I think fron what I’ve read, flour, white sugar, baking soda/powder, rice, etc are fine. But I should avoid brown sugar because of its moisture. I’m also wondering about at-home dehydrated fruit.
We bake a lot and I have a restaurant supply sized sack of brown sugar in a Vittles Vault. I can't even remember how old it is and there's no sign of it going off yet. For brown sugar, at least, unless you are truly storing it for the apocalypse I would not bother sealing it.
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I use my sealer constantly. It does take up a lot of counter space, but... it earns it. Find some way to keep it handy. You'll be glad you did.
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Congrats! The 215C was on my short list and I bet you will love it.
Nice to see some activity on this thread!
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2 hours ago, m61376 said:
on on another note- I ordered Ultrasource bags from Amazon since I could get those fastest and I needed them for July 4th Sous Vide prep, but the 3mm are kinda thin. Are other brands better and/or are most people opting for 4 or 5 mm bags?
The Ultrasource 3 mil bags are definitely thinner than what Vacuum Sealers Unlimited sells as 3 mil. However, they have worked fine for me so far. Maybe they won’t protect as well for long-term freezing, I can’t be sure yet. I sure liked the free shipping though... total cost per bag was far less.
I went through 1000 Vac Sealers Unlimited 3 mil bags and rarely needed anything thicker. In the rare event of a puncture, I just double bagged. That is a lot cheaper than trying to stock bags for every occasion. Even with the flimsier Ultrasource bags, I still feel the same.
(Hey, I just realized I have calipers, I can measure the bags...)
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Yesterday I saw some of this stuff in person, we have a good showroom nearby.
I told the sales guy what I was looking for: 30" range, gas only, reliable, with at least one high-BTU burner... "high" being negotiable... everything else open to discussion. I told him my price range was up to $6k for a range and a new hood, but obviously, didn't want to spend more than I had to.
He had a strong preference for the Wolf GR304, which they did have a good price on due to one a manufacturer incentive. ($4335) It's a no-frills unit with one big burner, a convention oven, and an IR broiler. He was emphatic that Wolf was the more reliable choice among the low-end high-end. Interestingly he also thought the Wolf was easier to clean, but when I look up Wolf vs Bluestar discussions, that never seems to be the case. This Wolf also has black enamel interior, so if the blue enamel chipping problem is still a thing, I wouldn't have to worry about that.
I also looked at the Bluestar RCS while I was there. The GR304 has more features than the RCS, but at least I could see the Bluestar open burners in person finally. And I have to say, I really liked the way the Bluestar was put together, and the shape of the burners, how it looks like it'd be easier to clean, AND the bigger oven.
They had that Samsung with the split door too, which looked like a good value, but it's available in dual fuel only. I am not interested in adding electric service right now, so that's out. The sales guy also said that while the Samsungs are not unreliable, "if something goes wrong, good luck" getting service.
As long as I am talking about this much dough, I don't think I am interested in the Bluestar RCS because I'd miss both the simmer and wok burner. Right now it feels like it's between the Wolf GR304 and the Bluestar RNB. I asked for a quote on the RNB, though I guess it's just going to be the price I see online everywhere.
For hoods, I was steered to the Zephyr Typhoon, which did seem nice. It will work with my existing cabinets/ducting, it's quiet, and will move 850 CFM. I had been thinking I wanted a hood with baffles though, and the Zephyr has a different kind of grease trap. If anyone has experience with this hood I would love to know about it; the claims are very appealing.
This is a tough decision!
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15-20 is no big deal. I actually do most of my (savory) baking in a ceramic grill, so I obviously don't mind a little setup time.
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8 hours ago, Barrytm said:
horseflesh, I timed it today - it took 18 minutes for the oven light to go off when set to 350 F . Some suggest that the oven be allowed to cycle off and on a time or two to settle in before baking, but I did not time that. I did adjust the oven dial the other day, and when set to 350 , it varied from 340 to 360, which I thought was pretty good for a gas oven. I am not a fan of the knobs - they are metal, but the attachment to the controls feels flimsy. I much preferred the knobs on the Viking, and the ones on the Wolf look substantial too.
Barry, thank you for doing that. 18 minutes isn't bad at all, and neither is that temperature swing.
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I've read elsewhere that the preheat on a Bluestar RNB oven is pretty slow. I saw one poster somewhere say they won't bother using the oven on a weeknight, which sounds nuts to me. How slow is it?
Has anyone gotten time on the Bluestar "Platinum" series? It lists a faster oven preheat. It also costs a heck of a lot more, but setting that aside for now...
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It's been a while, anyone have something new to share in the hunt for the ideal range? My oven just started stinking up the house with gas. I am sure it can be repaired, but since it's a 30 year old builder special, I am considering this an opportunity to upgrade. I'm looking for a 30" unit which should include a high-output wok burner. I'm flexible on other features and price, but reliability is critical to me. (Baker-friendly features would be a bonus, my wife likes to bake but she is not a gearhead like me!)
I've read that BlueStar is good, though you can expect to need to calibrate the oven and replace igniters on the range, though these are also said to be jobs you can do with just a screwdriver.
As far as hardware store brands go I like the look of the dual-oven-zone Samsung that was posed upthread. I'm not opposed to getting something "boring" like Samsung or GE if it meets my needs.
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I have a different sealer, but I assume they all operate in similar fashion.
If the bags only have marks on one side, then it sure does sound like they aren't getting pinched right.
The seal bar is probably lifted by vacuum power, so I would guess that you aren't developing enough vacuum, or that the seal bar isn't moving smoothly for some reason. Since the machine isn't releasing the vacuum either, my guess is that something is fubared in the seal mechanism, preventing it from lifting all the way and then dropping and initiating release. Examine all the moving parts carefully, maybe there is some debris in the way.
I cannot think of a reason the textured bags would cause the problems described.
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I already have a sealer but I passed this info on to a friend of mine and he went for it. Thanks for sharing!
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59 minutes ago, Nowayout said:
How does the gas flush work for things such as Artisan Breads?
This is what I am most interested in, too. If I can use a nickel of plastic and gas to extend the life of $5 of bread, that would be great.
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Thanks for looking in to this. I bought a Minipack in part because I wanted the option for gas flush, but I never pursued it. After using my sealer for a couple of years I am not honestly sure how much use I'd get out of the gas flush add-on, so I would love to hear from anyone who has one.
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Wow, great score on the Minipack!
I have a Minipack 35, and have always been interested in the gas flush option. Too bad about the cost. I don't know what's in the kit, not sure if it can be duplicated with off the shelf parts, or if it has new electronics in it as well.
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Yep, that is where I got my bags 2 years ago and at that time I don't think they had the variety packs.
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On 1/13/2016 at 6:54 AM, rotuts said:
I do think it would be nice to order 250 of selected bag sizes at a decent price rather than 1,000
No kidding!! I am surprised that none of the vendors are offering smaller packages for us home users. When I got my sealer I got waaaay more bags than I needed because I wanted access to several sizes.
After having the sealer for a while I have found that by far I use more of the pint bags than anything else. I probably use 5 pint bags for every quart bag, and 20 pint bags for every gallon bag. That's because a lot of what I do is package single/double servings for sous vide cooking, or package single/double servings of leftovers when I have made a big batch of something. I also make a lot of smoked salmon, cheese, and jerky, and the smaller bags are pretty good for that too.
It is definitely true that using a bag which is too small is an exercise in frustration. Too many times I have found myself with a bit of a mess, all for the sake of trying to save a nickel. Someday I'll learn.
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If you think you'll not go through 1000 bags, you probably could have bought a cheaper sealer. I have had my chamber about a year and a half, and I have gone through 953 cycles. (Probably 2/3 of those were pint bags.)
Chamber Vacuum Sealers, 2014–
in Kitchen Consumer
Posted
On mine the air return can make things flap around and if I am doing multiple bags, they'll bonk in to each other. So again, I guess it is about punctures.
But, I guess everyone else is getting by without so maybe I am too worried about that.