Vacmaster air bubbles in bag...

AndrewH

Well-Known Member
4F5C8975-682C-4E1F-AAA1-83E007759684.jpeg Using a VP210 machine and half of my fish/bags turn out perfect the other half I find these little air bubbles after freezing. When I vacuum seal the fish, it looks perfect until I freeze.

Does anyone know what I am doing wrong?
 
ANY slime or film on the bag will cause a "loose" seal over time it will VERY slowly leaks out i made a jig up from duct work reducers that the bags fir over the reduced part about 4 inches just drop the fish in zoom complete clean seal.
I have 2 of them 2 different sizes on screwed on to a 1 x2 and then attach it to side of table big end up slide bag under small end drop fish in

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ANY slime or film on the bag will case a "loose" seal over time it will VERY slowly leaks out i made a jig up from duct work reducers that the bags fir over the reduced part about 4 inches just drop the fish in zoom complete clean seal.
I have 2 of them 2 different sizes on screwed on to a 1 x2 and then attach it to side of table big end up slide bag under small end drop fish in
Wet seals don't matter on chamber vac machines like they do on Foodsavers.. But if you are having that issue with a chamber machine on your seals then try turning the heat/seal time up a bit on your machine. Chamber machines are meant to be used on all kinds of wet foods. I use mine for soups, marinades, stews, sauces etc all the time and never worry about moisture on the seal area. A Foodsaver machine though, yup lot's of issues with that kind of thing.

View attachment 47321 Using a VP210 machine and half of my fish/bags turn out perfect the other half I find these little air bubbles after freezing. When I vacuum seal the fish, it looks perfect until I freeze.

Does anyone know what I am doing wrong?
If the fish is frozen solid when vac packing the bag can actually kind of stick/freeze to the fish in spots and leave little gaps (air pockets) around those areas.

To see if that's what the issue is simply quickly wet the piece a little bit that you are putting in the bag and see if it does the same thing. If not then you've found the issue. If it still does it with wet pieces you may have another issue with the timer setting on your vacmaster.. Make sure you have your timer setting set so that the needle drops below the green area completely. I go to the beginning of the "M" past the bottom of the green area to ensure full air removal.
Also make sure your oil is not under filled or overfilled. Both situations mess up the vacuum. I keep my oil half way on the bubble like the book says to do.

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Edit: Sorry just re read your post and you say "after freezing" I was thinking frozen before vac packing.. If you look at that bag in your hand in the picture it looks like there is a little crease in the bag where it sealed. In that case any little crease in the bag will allow air to get in. Wet seal usually doesn't matter at all cause if the seal bar gets hot enough it cancels out any moisture where it is sealing but if there is a crease then yup for sure it will let air in there. You can avoid creases by leaving yourself extra room at the top of the bag where it is gonna seal then make sure the bag is put nice and flat and up and over the seal bar. If the bag is too full and the seal area of the bag gets scrunched up there when sealing then it will seal in little creases.

One other thing to consider too is your vacuum time can be different for different size pieces of food you are doing. The vacuum time is displacing air... you many not be getting 100% of the air displaced on some pieces so adjust your vac time more so it is removing all the air.
 
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Ive seen slime effect the seal , saying will it all the time? maybe maybe not but why take that chance maybe im a bit anal but I make sure products and machines are clean as possible and free of crap i like it that way...
 
I usually dry mine over night and on the occasional piece get that effect from time to time The wetter the piece the less likely it is to happen All the things said by chasin dreams and wolf apply apply Most important is to not overfill the bags and if you are as fussy as some guys Cut the bag open mist the salmon and reseal it I vac pac about 4000 pieces a year It doesn't happen on other meat cuts
 
Had that happen before, just had to turn the length of time up on the burn heat seal dial, and more suction...
my chamber sealer will do it wet or dry, i've had them soaked and it sealed... make sure the seal bars are clean and bag
is flat on the heat bar no creases..it looks like air loss or not enough suction... hope this helps
 
What thickness of bag are you using? I found that I had more issues like that when I used 3mil thickness compared to 4mil - I noticed that the thinner bags stretched more during the vacuum process and they sometimes trap a bubble (even at a vacuum). Also, I've had that issue when the bag is too big for the fish (doesn't seem to be your issue) or when the fish is smaller compared to the chamber. I often will put a block of wood or an extra cutting board or 2 in the chamber if i'm sealing smaller fillets. I didn't go to school long enough to know for certain but I think if there is a big enough chamber, even at a significant vacuum, there is still enough air molecules in the chamber (and bag too) that there could be small bubbles. I'm guessing that with more of the chamber taken up by fish or another solid that displaces the air the vacuum gets more of the air molecules out.

I'm not an expert but just what I've figured out based on experimenting with a few different set ups.
 
Hey for those of you that have Vacmasters... would you buy them again? 210 or 215? I ordered a 215 off amazon and it arrived damaged. I sent it back and now the price has gone up. When I hear about people having issues with them I get cold feet! It is a lot of dough
 
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Hey for those of you that have Vacmasters... would you buy them again? 210 or 215? I ordered a 215 off amazon and it arrived damaged. I sent it back and now the price has gone up. When I hear about people having issues with them I get cold feet! It is a lot of dough
we have processed over 3000 pieces in the last 4 seasons. saved so much product and money. get one. 215. set it right, keep it clean.
 
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