Vacuum Sealers

Foodsaver !!!!

fearnofishy-1-1.jpg
 
We've had a couple in the family and they simply don't get used. Unless you know for sure you'll get lots of use, I would recommend not buying one. We now recycle milk cartons etc and freeze fish in water if appropriate. Just my 2 cents.
 
I bought the Foodsaver professional II model at ABC electric if memory serves me about four years ago and have bagged a lot of filets and smoked salmon with it. It is one of the few pieces of equipment I've bought that lived up to my expectations. The fish does keep longer and NO freezer burn. Bags come on sale once in a while at London Drugs.
 
We've had a couple of Foodsavers. They are pretty good but the seals fail sometimes and if you bag a lot of fish, which I used to do but not so much anymore, then the unit gets pretty tired and stops working. We've upgraded to a Vacuum Sealer Pro 2100. It is more industrial in quality and has a much wider seal. Its expensive but sealing fish is precious. We seal lots of other stuff to, even can broth, salsa, whatever we make in big batches. Good way to go.

Dan
 
I agree with Juandesooka, I think we bought the same Foodsaver cheapie model at London Drugs, works great, probably the best $100 I ever spent (actually it was less). The bags regularly come on sale and when they do we stock up.
 
I also have the london drugs food saver and use it alot. I find double sealing the edges helps to stop leaks. I also freeze any meats first then vacumme seal as the juices from fresh salmon fillets / steaks will give you a poor seal. I go to costco and buy a big chunk of cow , slice it up into thick steaks, freeze them on a cookie sheet then vacumme seal them. Very economical never mind the gas you spend to go get a steak each time. :D
 
I threw my vacuum packer away a long time ago.... waist of money and time.. best way I found is zip lock bags and a bucket of water.. this has been discussed before.. better read this thread here..

http://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4504&SearchTerms=Vacuum,Sealers

My post from this thread in 2006

"There is another option! You don't need a vacuum sealer... this will put vacuum sealers out of business! All you need is new large zip lock freezer bags and a bucket of water..! Put your fish/meat in a large zip lock bag and some water in it if you like, I prefer to add some water, submerge the whole bag under water up to the zipper! some like to even submerge the zipper, all the air inside the bag rises out!! seal the bag underwater or at the water line! done.. natural vacuum packed zip lock!! Zero air inside! Box of 30 Zip Lock or Glad bags for $3! and a bucket of water.. make sure you use NEW bags.. I've tried re used ones and they more often than not fail... I have a few zip locks done this way in the freezer that are 2-3 years old with Zero freezer burn.. and they look like they were just frozen!"
 
How big of a freezer can hold a bucket of frozen water in it as well as other items?
answer..One that I could not possibly have room for nor afford. :)
 
Mrtrailer you beat me to it, it was just going to say exactly the same thing. I used to freeze fish in a bag of water, it works just fine, but it takes up so much room in the freezer!
 
If room is not an issue freezing in water works great.. I have two large freezers in my garage.. I found with vacuum packed bags they get tossed around in the freezer and sooner or latter the smallest of pin holes.. air gets in.. and you can toss it out.. frozen in water the meat/fish is sealed with a layer of water it will never spoil.. all depends what works for you... you don't need alot of water in the zip lock! just a very small amount so it puts a layer of ice around the meat.. dunk it in a bucket of water, it gets all the air out and seal it.. the small amount of water does not take up much of any extra space in your freezer.. its not like your filling the entire zip lock full of water.. the bucket of water takes all the air out.. does a better job than any consumer grade vacuum packer..
 
quote:Originally posted by Mrtrailer

How big of a freezer can hold a bucket of frozen water in it as well as other items?
answer..One that I could not possibly have room for nor afford. :)
Click to expand...

You don't need to use water if you don't want to.. put the fish meat into the large zip lock.. submerge it under water, the air all comes out.. and then seal the zip lock while the bag is still under water.. there you go.. air free natural vacuum packed ! for $.30 cents ! LOL.. You should try it..
 
Foodsaver Costco and bags. They sell a really good Food saver. Packed fish for the last 4 years like this. It is great. Fish last about 2 years but I have rarely have fish past 6 months. Good Value for what you get.

cby
 
With the money spent pursuing these fish I think it is well worth it to use a Food Saver. Last weekend I tried canning tuna for the first time. Cost a few bucks and lots of time but I will never enjoy another can of store bought tuna again. I guess it's a matter of preference as to Food Saver the fish or to Old School it. Either way enjoy the bounty.

Clinging to my Guns and Religion. www.KoneZone.com
 
There's also the commercial vacuum packers.. you can get a commercial one for in around $1,000... seen a few on e-bay
http://cgi.ebay.com/Full-automatic-Vacuum-packing-pack-seal-packer-machine_W0QQitemZ250299807259QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item250299807259&_trkparms=72%3A570%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
I saw a commercial one not long ago, smaller version than the one above here was about $500-600.. The commercial ones the entire bag gets placed in the suction chamber.. vers. the consumer grade vacuum packers the bag is alway on the out side exposed to the out side natural preasures.. so the vacuum packer has to suck the air out againts the force of the out side natural air presure.. so you realy never get 100% of the air out.. also this causes moisture to be sucked into the vacuum packer machine.... your meat can not be wet if your using a consumer grade vacuum packer... with a commercial one it does'nt matter... it has its own vacuum chamber that the entire bag sits in so it gets equal preasure during the vacuum process. If your spending $300-400 on a consumer grade packer.. for a bit more you can get your self a commercial packer..
If your realy into vacuum packing.. commercial packer could be a good option for some..

here's another one.. even has a You Tube video clip...
http://cgi.ebay.com/Full-automatic-...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
 
quote:Originally posted by TheRock

quote:Originally posted by Mrtrailer

How big of a freezer can hold a bucket of frozen water in it as well as other items?
answer..One that I could not possibly have room for nor afford. :)
Click to expand...

You don't need to use water if you don't want to.. put the fish meat into the large zip lock.. submerge it under water, the air all comes out.. and then seal the zip lock while the bag is still under water.. there you go.. air free natural vacuum packed ! for $.30 cents ! LOL.. You should try it..
Click to expand...
I think I will try it. Sounds logical. Thanks,Rock.
 
We have tried the "cheap" Foodsavers like they sell at Walmart and they just do not stand up. About 5 years ago we got a Foodsaver Professional II. It works very well. We have found the biggest reason for a seal failure is moisture drawn out into the vacuum packer and affecting the sealing area. We freeze eveything first and then vacuum pack it. One other problem we encountered was a "cold spot" on the heat sealing tape. After 2 years we were experiencing a failed seal ratio of about 30% and I couldn't figure out why. I called Foodsaver head office and they asked me if there were any dark spots on the heat tape. There was, if the seal is over one of these dark spots it will not generate sufficient heat to make the proper seal. They mailed me enough heat tape to replace twice. You just peel off the old one and stick on the new one. I couldn't find any local source for the heat tape, no one seemed to know what I was talking about.
 
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