The Food Saver/Vacuum Sealer Topic, 2011 to Present

[rotuts]

"""    year's worth of beef  """

 

money right there.  a long time ago, several years +   Test Kitchen did a review of ways to freeze stuff.

 

this was pre SV for me but I had the Bug , a small one at that time

 

the only item they reviewd that stood the test of time in the freezer was the Weston item w their 3 or 3.5 MIL bags

 

it was not cheap  450 or so.  but after a lot of hemming and hawwing I did get this

 

I still have stuff in my freezer that has no burn Nada from about this time.

 

maybe you know some one w 3.5 to 4MI; bags that can help you out ?

[rotuts]

BTW

 

what's a 1/16 of a cow ?  its easy to see a 1/4 front or back

 

what are you actually getting and how do they deliver it ?  

 

in traditional butcher paper ?  frozen  ?

 

what does the 1/16 cost ?  ( just curious    )

 

in this day and age it might not be hard to find a way to get those "sub-primals" Vac'd

 

as a cost over your year to be good value as there will not be any loss.

Edited October 29, 2014 by rotuts (log)

[Hassouni]

BTW

 

what's a 1/16 of a cow ?  its easy to see a 1/4 front or back

 

what are you actually getting and how do they deliver it ?  

 

in traditional butcher paper ?  frozen  ?

 

what does the 1/16 cost ?  ( just curious    )

 

in this day and age it might not be hard to find a way to get those "sub-primals" Vac'd

 

as a cost over your year to be good value as there will not be any loss.

 

1/16 of a cow is nearly 48lbs of beef. It's a sort of cow-share thing, where other people are also getting the same amount (some crazy people are even getting 1/8th!). It's delivered frozen and butchered into various cuts - I don't know what I'll be getting but according to the people that went in for it last year, it's a pretty fair and even distribution of cuts. But it's NOT in primal form.

 

Total for parts and labor, as it were, comes to just a hair over $3/lb for organic, grass-fed beef.

[rotuts]

OK

 

48 X 3 / lbs = 144 bucks

 

get some help  maybe take the paks to a restaurant you know and ask for their help

 

got a good  freezer ?

 

you do this your self, organic or not, w what you might get and try :

 

over that year you will loose at least 1/3 d to " inexperience "  also know some places as

 

"" cheap  "" and less than bright  ( ie stupid  ) 

 

do this  properly and you are on your way.

Edited October 29, 2014 by rotuts (log)

[Hassouni]

I do have a decent freezer. I want to vacuum seal so I don't lose 1/3! Surely a trip to a resto isn't required?

 

(Plus, the Anova thing)

[takadi]

I've been using the original Italian food saver for the last 6 months. Bought it on ebay for 75 bucks, though I'm sure you can get it cheaper. What's expensive are the bags. I buy vacustrip bags because they tend to be a little more sturdy.

 

I've never had any other vacuum sealing instrument before so I have nothing to compare it to, but it works decently, although there is a learning curve.  It's by no means professional or restaurant quality. You also need to make sure all the parts on it like the gaskets and seals are replaced. I tried sealing everything in the freezer with a Waring Pro vacuum gun but the bags often lost their seal in the freezer and they often got punctured in the process of vacuuming. 

 

Overall though, it was money well spent. I had to trash over half my freezer stock due to freezer burn and nasty off flavors.  Everything is now safely vacuum sealed and no reports of weird flavors or freezer burn yet

 

Btw don't want to derail too much but what program are you doing cow-shares under?

Edited October 30, 2014 by takadi (log)

[Hassouni]

I honestly don't know, a friend and his girlfriend told me about it, a friend of theirs knows a farmer, or something on those lines.

 

As for the Italian foodsavers, the ones on eBay now are pricy! Also, is there a problem with current production Foodsaver-branded bags?

Edited October 30, 2014 by Hassouni (log)

[daveb]

I use a vacuum sealer several times a week. 

 

At my hobby/job doing catering prep I seal product for SV, usually in the company Sous Vide branded strip sealer - a CHEAP machine thats probably made by Food Saver.  It works, though it huffs and puffs and occasionally fails.  Everytime I use it I wonder if it will be the last time.  But I've sealed hundreds of products over the last few years.  To ensure product stays sealed in the bath I always double seal.  Product must be dry, no marinades but seasoning rub is ok.  This machine would be adequate for home freezing, though not my first choice.

 

When I know I'll have a lot of sealing to do I bring in my home strip sealer,  a Cabella's branded unit that (I think) is made by Weston.  Faster, can do some liquid, more reliable seal.  I bought this when I was doing primarily home freezing with a little bit of SV.  Still use it with some freezing, trips to deer camp or when I want to take a sealer on the road.  It's very adequate, a little north of $200 on sale.  I would suggest this to anyone wanting a very good sealer, albeit with the limitations of a strip sealer.

 

When I started to play with more SV, do infusions, etc. I bought a Vacmaster VP112.   This is the mother for me and (I hope) my last stop in sealerville.  It's the heaviest 50 lbs I've ever picked up and is not mobile. 

 

This morning's pork tenders:

 

 

 

FS sealer:

 

 

Beef tenders:  (Knew I was doing a couple cases of them)

 

 

At the end of the day the FS can be had for under a $100, adequate for freezing, can do SV though limited to dry herbs and butter for seasoning.  A good strip sealer can do well with freezing, adequate for basic SV with minimal amounts of liquid added.  The chamber can do both well but is pricey.  The cheapest 112 I found was $600 and change.

 

The cheapest pre-cut bags I've found are at vacuum sealers unlimited.  They also have the sealer units. 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Get a chamber vacuum sealer.  As long as it works you will be very happy indeed.  And when it doesn't you will sorely miss it.

[Hassouni]

WAY too expensive and bulky.

[gfweb]

If you get a Food Saver, buy two because the one will give out when you need it most. Only thing in favor of FS is small size and sometimes price.

 

Unfortunately mass-market appliances have their price driven down to the absolute lowest because of demands from the Wal*Marts and Targets. Only way to get   there is to make a cheap POS.

[Hassouni]

What's the most reasonably priced non "cheap POS"?

[rotuts]

BB&B

 

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/s/foodsaver?isRedirect=true

 

129  --  149   take your coupon for additional 20 %

 

They ship free > 49.

 

Amazon

 

http://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-Kitchen-Dining/b?ie=UTF8&node=694692

 

120

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003U738ZE/ref=amb_link_361510562_5?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-7&pf_rd_r=1DAFHZTW4PTM7HY2269X&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1534312042&pf_rd_i=694692#V3240

[Hassouni]

 

BB&B

 

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/s/foodsaver?isRedirect=true

 

129  --  149   take your coupon for additional 20 %

 

They ship free > 49.

 

Amazon

 

http://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-Kitchen-Dining/b?ie=UTF8&node=694692

 

120

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003U738ZE/ref=amb_link_361510562_5?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-7&pf_rd_r=1DAFHZTW4PTM7HY2269X&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1534312042&pf_rd_i=694692#V3240

 

 

I thought these were in fact the cheap POSes that gfweb was referring to?

[rotuts]

ah, non-cheap you want.

 

I think the next step up would be the Weston/

 

http://www.harvestessentials.com/32222.html?utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=cse&gclid=CILIrqfj1MECFVNk7AodUnUAhw

 

which is what i have.   lasted 3 years w serious use, then the pump had to be repalced  :  about 150 $$

 

Cabelas I know nothing about

 

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/search.cmd?form_state=searchForm&N=0&fsch=true&Ntk=AllProducts&Ntt=vacuum+sealers&x=0&y=0

 

329 449 or so

[Hassouni]

Is the Weston good at wet stuff? 

[rotuts]

no

 

it has nothing to do with who makes it

 

it has to do with there seem to be two different kind of pumps "

 

oil-less    a bit cheaper   this has nothing to do w FoodSaver  where I guess you might have to review the posts above

 

those with oil that you change from time to time.  I have no idea how the 'oil' pumps deal with water vapor but they do.

 

the pumps that have oil are much heavier and more expensive

 

I do love the Weston.  as Ive said i work stunningly well for 3 years, the the humidity etc damaged the oil-less pump and it needed to be

 

replaced.  I got it as the Test Kitchen a long time ago reviewed sealing systems that you then put in your freezer.

 

the weston system   at that time, with the weston bags had no freezer burn what so ever.  at one month the FoodSaver 

 

had freezer burn that would have destroyed what ever you had in the freezer.

[Hassouni]

I read that the Italian made foodsavers used a piston system to pump the air out - any comments on that?

[rotuts]

so what ?

 

the issue and only one is water and the life time of the pump with water..

 

some times we read to much

 

get the thickest plastic bag you can find for the VAC you choose to afford.

 

dont waste that meat which a thin cheap bag

 

how ever, if you can eat it in a month

 

you have few worries

Edited October 30, 2014 by rotuts (log)

[Hassouni]

Sounds like the bag weight is the key issue for long-term meat storage, but for SVing, it sounds like I cant seal with liquid with anything <$300?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Freeze the liquid first.

[Shalmanese]

You can also put a strip of paper towel across the opening. In practice, I've not found a huge use for chamber vacs. If you're doing sous vide with a liquid, I prefer using ziplocs over vacuum sealing anyway. If you're prepping stuff for storage, most of the things you want to prep are either completely dry or mostly liquid. Mostly liquid stuff does fine in a ziploc using displacement which is a lot faster than vacuuming.

The one area it would be helpful is if you wanted to freeze a lot of meat with marinade which I never do. In that case, you can also freeze the meat first, then seal after it's frozen.

[philie]

So i hope some of you can help me with a small issue on my sealer i have experienced.

I own a Komet topVac sealer and am quite happy with it.

However, what i have experienced recently and whats really annoying is that i have the feeling the sealer is not working correctly.

No air is seeking but i can open the bags easily when pulling on both sides. also, the sealed area does not look quite sealed.

can someone comment on whether this structure looks normal to you? my regular sealer make a much cleaner sealing line.

thanks a lot!

 

 

[Hassouni]

So I got my Anova, barely used it, as I still don't have a vacuum sealer. I do NOT have the budget for a chamber sealer, so I was thinking, for wet items, do the ziplock thing first, seal, then vacuum seal the ziplock in a foodsaver/etc bag?  Should make the poor-handling of wet foods with the Foodsavers a non-issue, right?

Edited February 7, 2015 by Hassouni (log)

[rotuts]

this is an interesting idea.

 

TestKitchen a while ago reviewed 'zip-like bags'

 

they had a free video on how they did their testing on their " Show Me the Money, Right Now !!! " web site

 

it was hilarious

 

Id use freezer-grade zips which one of theirs was the winner.  thicker.

 

sounds good

 

let us know  ( many pics nice ) how this works out.

 

PS : if you use the water immersion method, make sure that Bag is completely dry before you

 

FoodSaver it.

Edited February 7, 2015 by rotuts (log)