vacuum sealers?

gulfislander

gulfislander

Member
anyone have good or bad reviews of vacuum sealers? used one on my last deer and cant believe I've gone so long without one!
 
I have a food saver. I love it. I got mine for Xmas, and like you, I can't believe I went so long without one.
 
I've got the Costco food saver. I think I saw they're on sale again. Pretty good deal, $40 off.
 
I have been using a Food Saver sealer for a few years. Really watch how I do it and make sure every bag is properly sealed. Never the less, about 20% loose their sea. I collect those nd use them for smoking but it is annoying. Perhaps thicker bags but I am getting tired of the bags loosing their seal so I am also open to ideas.
 
Theb55 said:
I have been using a Food Saver sealer for a few years. Really watch how I do it and make sure every bag is properly sealed. Never the less, about 20% loose their sea. I collect those nd use them for smoking but it is annoying. Perhaps thicker bags but I am getting tired of the bags loosing their seal so I am also open to ideas.
Click to expand...

After putting the fish in we clean the sealing area with paper towel. Then seal it twice - one above the other. It's a bit more time but seems to help.
 
I posted in the other thread previously. I have gone through 3 foodsavers now and no more. These machines are the cat's azz and will last you a life time.

http://www.qualitymatters.com/VacMaster-Chamber-Vacuum-Sealer-with-Oil-Pump-p/qmvp-215c.htm

Ha ha I just noticed they added Ali's (the owner of Bloody Decks website) video to the site. If you join BD you get a discount as well. You can't use thicker bags with the foodsaver. I have tried and it does not work. The only disadvantage to this machine, and I mean the only one, is that you can't do whole fillet sides of salmon. Other than that it is a no brainer. Soups, stews, crab, or anything with liquid is fully bagged and DOUBLE sealed. You can get bags that are over twice as thick as the foodsaver bags and they cost about 1/3 of the price.

I wish I had looked into these units before I spend the money on three food savers. Yes the price at first seems high but I would still be going through food savers. This thing I can pass down to my grandkid's for pete's sake if I look after it!!!!
 
I have tried double sealing both ends, freezing first, total deboning. They are great when I put them in the freezer. I make sure the top is clean and dry but 20% still loose their vacuum.
 
Theb55 said:
I have tried double sealing both ends, freezing first, total deboning. They are great when I put them in the freezer. I make sure the top is clean and dry but 20% still loose their vacuum.
Click to expand...

I was sick and tired of the "popped" bags and the freezer burn. The thicker bags are awesome and I have not had a single "popped" bag yet this year since I went to the chamber sealer and the ultra thick bags. Not one. I have frozen seafood chowders and some crab in it's own juice. You can't do that with a sucking type food saver.
 
My experience is that the seal a meal bags from canadian tire work better on my food saver compared to the actual food saver bags. Dry the sealing area before vac and seal. Also, make sure meat is not wet. If fluids gets sucked over sealing area, won't work well. My 2 cents
 
We use the Tilia food savers and while we do get some bags that loose their vacuum, 90% if it stays great. We reuse bags and because of that, the version Costco has didn't work for us. Recycled bags often are a bit curly at the open end and it was very hard to get it to feed into this version. We had one of the original models and went up to the 4200 series which have a wider seal strip and some other nice gagets. Just bought another at London Drugs for $80. We think most of our loss of seal is from banging them around in the freezer. The chamber sealers look great, but tres expensive. The Tilias work good for us. You can also buy different brands of bags. There is a vacuum sealer sales company in Victoria that sells a heavier bag that works great, only issue we found with them is they have ribs running lengthwise that don't like to be vacuumed sideways where the foodsavers can be vacuumed both ways. And speaking of price, the cheap part is the machine. Damn bags are expensive.
 
Stress Medicine said:
And speaking of price, the cheap part is the machine. Damn bags are expensive.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I bought 1000 bags that work out to 9 cents each and are over twice as thick as food saver bags. Over how many years are you saving on bags? How many cheap machines are you going to go through over those years. Buy the fancy stainless steel, stainless oil pump, chamber sealer, and be done with it. Cheap out over the years, pay for marked up bags (or roll's), replace machines every couple of years, and be behind the game. It's your choice I guess.

My grand kid's could write a thread on here about the same machine I bought last year.
 
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Anyone tried the Weston pro 2300? They are a heavy duty unit and look quite capable?
 
I started with the Food Saver units and just accepted their performance for several years. I got the opportunity to use a full size 'chamber sealer' at a lodge one year and got an eye opener on how much better a chamber machine can be.
Once I priced out a chamber machine ( ouch $$$$!!!) - I gave up on that idea, but researched other brands of 'bag sealers'
I bought a Weston 2300 from Cabelas ( CG-15 ) and have found it to be MUCH better than the Tilla/ Food saver style. The Cabelas bags are also WAY better for fish and other 'wet' foods because the bag has a porous membrane attached to the inside of the bag. The membrane lets the juices and air draw out of the bag much better than the style of bags with the embossed channels.
 
tykkyt e blue said:
I started with the Food Saver units and just accepted their performance for several years ... I bought a Weston 2300 from Cabelas ( CG-15 ) and have found it to be MUCH better than the Tilla/ Food saver style.
Click to expand...

I have had a similar experience except that I purchased a Weston 2300 from the Quality Matters retail store in Oregon last summer. No shortage of sucking power and, unlike the Foodsavers, it doesn't shut down repeatedly in the middle of large batches fo sealing. To date, it has been great for all of the seafood we have used it for. We looked at the Ary VP215 at the same time ... if we had intended to use the vacuum sealer for soups or sauces we may have spent the additional $$$ for it instead.
 
I bought the Vacu Pac Elite based on the previous thread and am very unhappy with it. It does not pull a vacuum as well as an old Food Saver Unit. I sent it back to the importer who is in Washington. He returned it 2 weeks later and said there is nothing wrong. I put 3 pieces of cooked crab between 2 paper plates and vacuumed at the same time with the Elite and with the food saver. The food saver crushed shells as the air was being withdrawn. The elite did very little cracking even on manual. It is a waste of a lot of money.
http://www.amazon.com/Vacupack-Elite-Vacuum-Sealer/dp/B003XW0Q5Q

http://vacupack.com/review/product/list/id/275/category/124/ This is the site of the importer. He refuses to allow my comment about his poor machine or his lack of service.

Please do not misunderstand me, the Food Saver is cheaply made and has to be replaced every few years - but at least it isn't so expensive.
 
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If you're ever in a pinch and don't have access to a vacuum sealer try the "poor man's method". Take a zip lock with your food in it and immerse it in a large bowl of water right up to the zip lock (but not so deep that water gets in the bag). Once the water pressure forces the air out of the big simply seal the zip lock. It works everytime and no power is required!
 
Theb55 said:
Anyone tried the Weston pro 2300? They are a heavy duty unit and look quite capable?
Click to expand...

I have had the Weston pro 2300 for 2 years now and it out shines the food saver by a mile. Bags are of better quality and it has away better vacuum. I was directed by the seller in the U.S. to place the fish in the bag then take a single sheet of paper towel and fold it. Then place in the bag and seal above it. The paper absorbs the moisture and gives the bag a better seal. I've never had a bag loose vacuum yet with this method.
 
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