On 9/7/2016 at 0:41 AM, btbyrd said:Even if you're doing the water displacement method for sous vide, it can still (almost) make sense to buy chamber vacuum bags. They're cheaper than Ziplocs and you can just clip them to the side of your SV container. I do this quite frequently even though I have a chamber vac. If I'm cooking a few items (like a couple of steaks, a chicken breast, or a single rack of ribs) I just put the food in, pop them in the water, and either clip them in or place the lid on top so the bags are secured. You see the ChefSteps crew doing this a lot in their videos. I mostly seal for large batches, long cook times, items that have a lot of liquid in the bag (which also tend to be long-cooking), and anything that will be chilled and stored (or frozen). I'm somewhat overstating the case here... it doesn't make total sense for someone without a chamber vac to buy chamber bags. But it also sort of does make sense. Almost.
On 9/7/2016 at 9:38 AM, rotuts said:i agree .
I hemed and hawed years ago when I thought Id begin studying SV. I know the foodSaver level would not really be worth it for me in the long run.
so I got the Weston which was about 350 or so. it has an oil-less p[ump. i loved it . after fairly heavy use , I needed to send it back for repair
to replace the pump. that was not easy to do. the gaskets were replaced and it never worked at well after that : it was very hard to get an even seal for
some reason. so when the Vacmaster 215 from somewhere in TX went on sale , I negotiated free ' in - home ' delivery
its close to 100 lbs. somehow I got it onto a counter and haven't looked back.
this is a big investment for occasional use. if I knew what I know know , Id have started w the Vacmaster.
If I was unsure about how often Id SV , id get a low cost FoodSaver , and if that gave up the ghost then move to a Vacmaster
( or any changer vac w an oil pump ).
Thanks everyone! Very valuable feedback. I will go back and add more details about Chamber Sealers, I see I am inadvertently ignoring people that a chamber sealer would be well suited for.
I am also looking into a way to get discounts on buying bags and rolls. I think I can set up some sort of group buy to get a discount for everyone involved. Would anyone want to sign up for something like that?
