Chamber Vacuum Sealers, 2014–

[rotuts]

thank you

 

 

btbyrd

 

you have inspired me to try this.

[horseflesh]

I can vouch for nectarines injected with Frangelico. Pineapple is another good fruit to play with. 

[Raamo]

Thanks btbyrd, 

 

Next time we're at the supermarket it'll be hmm what to try out this time

[JoNorvelleWalker]

My original plan for dinner tonight was Japanese cuisine.  But I went for plan B when I recalled it takes two hours to pasteurize an egg.  No matter, I had a couple ears of corn that need eating up.

 

The Polyscience 300 has been reliable enough I could use it in my sleep, or so I had thought.  I bagged and sealed the first ear, took it out of the Polyscience and put in the second ear.  A good vacuum was pulled and then the sound was not quite right.  I looked at the display and it said "E2".

 

Hmm.  I searched for and found the manual.  There is a troubleshooting section in the manual, though no mention of E2 (nor of E0, E1, E3, E4 for that matter).  The chamber was under vacuum but nothing was happening and by this time it was 1:00 am.  Google was no help.

 

I did read that pressing stop would release the vacuum.  So I did that.

 

Then the whole thing repeated.  It occurred to me that the machine was getting stuck on the sealing step, so I removed the sealing bar and reinserted it.  Everything was good again and I'm about to Anova my two ears of corn -- once I finish my well deserved beverage.

 

I've commented on the Polyscience 300 manual earlier in this thread, but I ought to reiterate it is the worst English language manual I've seen with any electrical appliance that cost more than $20.

 

I remain pleased with the Polyscience 300 hardware (except perhaps with the external vacuum port) but the manual is doing their product no favors.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I take back all the nice things I wrote above.  I now have a fifty pound Polyscience doorstop.  Sadly, unlike some of us, I don't have a live-in vacuum engineer.  Although the problem is not with the vacuum pump, it's with the seal bar.  I plan to call Polyscience tomorrow.

 

I also have 600 ml of prospective konbu dashi in a bag that I can't seal.  I had to make do with powdered soup mix for tonight's teppan yaki sesame sauce.  Pretty good quality powdered soup mix, but still...

[JoNorvelleWalker]

It seems Polyscience culinary is now part of Breville.  I have a Breville doorstop.

[rotuts]

any more info on that ?  poly => breville ?

[Deryn]

I looked for that info too, rotuts. All I could find was a link to a 'StreetInsider' report that I could not access that indicated some kind of 'strategic alliance' between Breville and PolyScience - but even the date was cryptic. I am obviously not an 'insider' (but it does appear there is some kind of deal between those two companies).

[Martin Fisher]

"Breville Pty Limited (Breville), a subsidiary of Breville Group Limited (ASX: BRG) and Preston Industries Inc. (PolyScience) today announced a strategic alliance whereby Breville would acquire the distribution rights for the current and future PolyScience Culinary products in both the consumer and commercial channels."

 

Source: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/05/prweb11863086.htm

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Still no response back from whatever the company is called.  I am not pleased.

[weedy]

anyone watch Chopped today? with a bunch of children as the contestants, two of them ran over and used the chamber vacuum sealer.

I thought that was pretty interesting, that they knew about it, had an idea how to incorporate it (to accelerate a marinade), and knew how to use it without any (apparent) instruction!

shows how ubiquitous they are becoming

 

and again, why I think they're going to only get more so

Edited October 1, 2014 by weedy (log)

[scubadoo97]

Weedy, I'd say those kids got some coaching before the taping

[weedy]

really?

that's pretty cynical (and I've done enough TV to be cynical in other ways)

 

I just can't see them taking neophytes round the Chopped kitchen and deciding to show them how to use the vacuum machine if no one ASKED 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I never did get a response from my support email request, let alone any help, from Polyscience.

 

This afternoon I called Polyscience and the automated phone system said to hang up and call Breville's number.  So I did.  The experience did not start well.  The first time through the Breville phone message was garbled.  The second time through the Breville phone system disconnected me.  But the third time I reached a real person.  She had to look up the model 300 information, which took a little while.  I laughed when she said she had to find the English section, as she did not read French.  Eventually she was able to tell me that error code E1 means "no vacuum" and error code E2 means "no sealing".  I think she was confused at first because she had me check the integrity of the silicone seal around the lid.  Which I did.  It looked OK to me.

 

Then she asked me to clean the area around the lid and the inside.  I thought it was clean but I said I would try that.  Meanwhile she said she would be sending me instructions on how to recalibrate the unit, to try before sending the fifty pound thing back.

 

While waiting on any forthcoming instructions I went out to the kitchen and cleaned the area around the lid and on the inside.  Particularly around the pins on which the sealing bar sits -- even though everything looked clean to me.  (The pins themselves and the sealing bar I had very carefully cleaned after getting the E2 error.)  After a bit of time to dry I ran through a cycle, and what do you know, it sealed.  I was surprised and relieved.

 

I took the bag of konbu with 600 ml distilled water left over from my failed dashi the other night and sealed it.  Even more delighted and relieved.  Better late than never.

 

As of now I am fairly happy with Breville's service.  But why couldn't Polyscience have added a sentence to the manual:  "E2 error, clean area around sealing bar pins."

[gfweb]

I think that Polyscience may have discovered that they aren't up to the support level required with consumer appliances. Hence the Breville deal. Win-win.

[rotuts]

just remember, the pump in that unit is a dry pump I believe,   not an oil pump

 

if that is so, the moisture from any water, whether water itself or water from wet foods will kill it and it will need to be replaced

 

this happened to me on the Weston model vac sealer  ( not chamber )

 

that's why I bit the bullet and got a oil-pump chanber vac.

 

then again it took 2 - 2 1/2 years.   I was very careful for that long.

 

just something to keep in mind, maybe

 

pleased it did work out for  you !

 

its probably something a pair of Japanese knives would help with.

 

as a distraction

 

Edited October 3, 2014 by rotuts (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Correct, the Polyscience does not have an oil pump.  I could not lift a chamber vacuum sealer that had an oil pump.

[weedy]

I never did get a response from my support email request, let alone any help, from Polyscience.

 

This afternoon I called Polyscience and the automated phone system said to hang up and call Breville's number.  So I did.  The experience did not start well.  The first time through the Breville phone message was garbled.  The second time through the Breville phone system disconnected me.  But the third time I reached a real person.  She had to look up the model 300 information, which took a little while.  I laughed when she said she had to find the English section, as she did not read French.  Eventually she was able to tell me that error code E1 means "no vacuum" and error code E2 means "no sealing".  I think she was confused at first because she had me check the integrity of the silicone seal around the lid.  Which I did.  It looked OK to me.

 

Then she asked me to clean the area around the lid and the inside.  I thought it was clean but I said I would try that.  Meanwhile she said she would be sending me instructions on how to recalibrate the unit, to try before sending the fifty pound thing back.

 

While waiting on any forthcoming instructions I went out to the kitchen and cleaned the area around the lid and on the inside.  Particularly around the pins on which the sealing bar sits -- even though everything looked clean to me.  (The pins themselves and the sealing bar I had very carefully cleaned after getting the E2 error.)  After a bit of time to dry I ran through a cycle, and what do you know, it sealed.  I was surprised and relieved.

 

I took the bag of konbu with 600 ml distilled water left over from my failed dashi the other night and sealed it.  Even more delighted and relieved.  Better late than never.

 

As of now I am fairly happy with Breville's service.  But why couldn't Polyscience have added a sentence to the manual:  "E2 error, clean area around sealing bar pins."

 

in the end though, that's a pretty satisfying customer service encounter.

she helped your problem directly.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Polyscience sent me an updated version of the manual.  The new version seems much improved.  And, yes, now the error codes are listed.

[scubadoo97]

really?

that's pretty cynical (and I've done enough TV to be cynical in other ways)

I just can't see them taking neophytes round the Chopped kitchen and deciding to show them how to use the vacuum machine if no one ASKED

I'm cynical enough to think they knew what was in the baskets before they started cooking. And cynical enough to believe there is little reality in reality tv.

[khcrafts]

I have been reading many of the posts on this forum and others regarding vacuum chambers. I have gone thru at least 3 of the food saver variety. I'm wanting to upgrade so I would seal more often for food storage, storing cheese, for food i want to freeze and not worry about freezer burn.

 

In my quest I've been considering Vacmasters from the VP112 to the VP 210 and the VP 215. I dont want to under buy and wish within a month or two i had chosen differently.  Just about the time I ready to order, I find some new conversations about the differences.  I have found the 112 for $519 , the VP 210 for & $719; and the the VP 215 for $869..... so basically a $300  increase in price range.

 

I understand the sealing size of the 112 and think this will work; then i hear good things about the 210 and think i should just go with that one, and since the foodsaver doesn't have any oil, I should be happy with that model, but then I read that the 215 is the best, more quiet and should last longer.... i just dont know what decision to go with. My concern with the 215 is I might use this in sporatic cycles, and that might not be good for the oil ....

 

I had a VP210 in an online cart, and as I was processing through the checkout process... a reminder screen popped up that said this is a commercial machine, it may not be as quiet as a regular consumer item and may not be as pleasing in a kitchen... I'm not that picky about those things, but it gave me pause and feeling like I dont know whether the 112 would work just as well.... I am probably not making much sense, but since I'm willing to spend $519 would I be happier making a $200 or $300 jump?  Im thinking once i'm able to really be able to vacuum seal things, I'll want to vacuum a lot more than I think, especially if the price of bags is so reasonable (compared to what I've spent on Foodsaver type of bags.

 

I understand these are have a larger footprint and the weight of them make them not portable like foodsavers, but wouldn't have an issue having any sealer on a rolling cart.

 

Thoughts? suggestions? thank you

[horseflesh]

I went through a similar thought process... how high up the ladder do I go? I ended up choosing a model with an oil pump and I have been happy with that decision. I really like being able to work with wet and warm foods without worrying about how water vapor may damage the dry piston pump.

 

Leaving the oil to sit for a while should not hurt the pump. The oil sits around in its bottle for who knows how long before you buy it anyway. It's synthetic and very stable. My sealer has a "conditioning program" that runs the pump for a couple of minutes, heating up the oil to drive off any accumulated water vapor. They suggest doing that once in a while, and after the sealer has sat unused for a weeks. That is the only thing the manual has to say on the topic so again, I think idle time isn't a big deal. 

 

I ended up using my sealer a lot more than I had expected, and I had pretty high expectations. I don't think yours will sit idle much either. 

 

As far as loudness, my sealer is about as loud as a blender, making it the loudest thing in the kitchen. As long as no one is watching TV at the same time, it isn't a big deal. And if they are... I just ask them to pause it for a minute. 

 

From your list, I would choose the 215. I almost got one myself but decided to get a Minipack. 

[btbyrd]

From what I understand, the VP112 and the 210 have the same pump but different housings. Given that the 112 has a 12" seal bar and the 210 only has a 10" seal bar, I don't know why people would pay the $200 premium for the 210. I'm not sure where you're buying from, but when I ordered my VP112, I got the same warning about it being a commercial unit but I don't think it's any quieter than the 210 or 215. I think that's a standard warning from Webstaurant (assuming that's where you're ordering from) since they cater to professionals rather than home consumers. Chamber vacuums are somewhat noisy, but so are FoodSavers. You'll get more vibration and a bit more noise, but they only run for 30 seconds at a time so it shouldn't be an issue (unless you're wanting to have a marathon vacuum session at 3am next to a bedroom where you have company sleeping). I've only had mine for six months or so, but I'm very happy with it and am glad I didn't spend the extra $200-300 to get another model. Also, I didn't have the vertical space to store a VP210 or VP215 (or the Polyscience 300 series, which is what I was initially planning on buying). I frequently use it to seal liquids and do compression/infusion and don't really have any worries about longevity. If I had a catering operation or restaurant, I'd invest in an oil pump model (probably a Minipack) but for frequent but light home use, the VP112 does everything I want it to.

Edited October 15, 2014 by btbyrd (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I find being able to use 12 inch bags is an important feature, if I may put in a good word for the Polyscience.

[rotuts]

215.

 

its heavy.  find a place for it and then you are done.

 

I have a Weston, used it for 3 years, then needed to replace the pump.  it was oil-less

 

I did that then got up the courage to get the 215.   if you can afford the 215 and have a place for it and maybe some help to get it

 

there you won't be dissapointed.