For years I've been using a vacuum seal that was given as a gift. It works OK but the bags tend to leak. Today I took the plunge and bought a Food Saver. Seems to work great. I had to try it out so I vacuum sealed a bisquit. I'll be much happier with the new one. Tonight I'm going to reseal ½dozen packages of stick I made. I think it's going to come in handy for package deer meat too.
Food Saver is awesome!
I have been HAPPY with mine.
I got a foodsaver a couple months ago and love it.
One thing I do is buy hot pepper rings by the gallon because there cheaper that way ;)
and freeze them in a large baking pan. The next day you can cut the peppers in squares and vacuum pack em, then off to the freezer. I havent been able to do that with jalapenos..I eat those too fast :D
I've had mine just over a year and have run the guts out of it. I can't even guess how many 100s of feet of bags have been through it.
I bought the bulk rolls for the longest time, but I've since switched to pre-made bags from this source:
[edit - fixed link]
http://stores.ebay.com/All-Vacuum-Seal-and-Butcher-Supply
[/edit]
They work great and are reasonably priced. A quart bag holds a pound of sliced lunchmeat, or 2 pounds of pulled pork. The gallon bags will hold 5 pounds of pulled pork, or a brisket flat.
Tip. Once you lay down a seal, move the bag a 1/4" or so and lay down a second one. Sometimes I even do a 3rd if there is a lot of moisture in the bag. Haven't had one leak since I started doing that.
My FoodSaver really gets a true workout daily.
One of the best kitchen equipment ever purchased.
Last night I resealed the snack sticks I made a week ago. Does it ever work great. Far better than my old one. There will be a little bit of a learning curve. Getting the right sized bags is the trick. Mine came with 2 rolls, 1 8" and 1 11". They're only 10' long though. Also came with some pre made bags. Slipped into the store this morning and bought another box of 2 8" rolls. They're a little pricey and have looked on line and can get them at 1/3 the price. The more I look at it the uses are almost endless.
We 've had the same FoodSaver for over 15 years now and use it at least once a week and it still sucks! :D
Squirt:
I do not see where there are any premade bags on that Ebay sellers site....am I missing something
Quote from: moodyfisherman on September 15, 2010, 09:42:46 PM
Squirt:
I do not see where there are any premade bags on that Ebay sellers site....am I missing something
Yikes. He had tons of pint/quart/gallon bag combos there yesterday... I've bought from him a couple times now.
I just got an email from them... They are setting up a new Ebay store, and he's been moving stuff around.
You can see the various bag options here:
http://stores.ebay.com/All-Vacuum-Seal-and-Butcher-Supply
Quote from: squirtthecat on September 16, 2010, 07:15:21 AM
I just got an email from them... They are setting up a new Ebay store, and he's been moving stuff around.
You can see the various bag options here:
http://stores.ebay.com/All-Vacuum-Seal-and-Butcher-Supply
Thanks Pat I had Momma save them as a fav seller for me.
I put a bookmark on them Pat. Thanks.
This morning I decided to vacuum seal a bunch of frozen burger patties that I've bought. They come in a box of 10 lbs. They're great burgers made locally by the butcher shop I frequent. They're great for a quick meal when we didn't get something out ahead of time. Anyway I noticed that they were starting to freezer burn. Worked great. I then decided that I needed more bags/rolls. I'd heard that the London Drugs had them on sale so I slipped in there. THey were cheaper that what I paid the other day so grabbed some. I also noticed they were selling the sealers on sale. The one I bought was $50 cheaper here that what I paid. I grabbed one of them to take to the cabin for fish and what ever there. I'm off the kitchen now. My wife is making cabbage rolls and I'm going to start vacuum sealing them.
Good deal!
Never hurts to have a backup...
I am awaiting my foodsaver model v3840 to show up. Looking around to see all the things I can do with it. You can do food and many other things with this little toy.
Do any of you use it to marinade?
Hello waterkc, yes I use my foodsaver to marinade all the time.
I own several of the 2 quart canister Quick Marinator's.
ahh that is what those are for. I have to make sure I get one on order. I was just going to wait and see about doing marinade in a bag.
thanks for the feed back.
Just checked the tracking # and I am scheduled to have my food saver today. I already have a Pork Roast and some Pork Ribs in the sink defrosting. I am going to marinade them both and then smoke them this weekend. Ye-Haw
The wife and I received a 3840 from my Mom as a gift about 2 months back.
We use it all the time. It came with the marinating kit as a bonus.
We've vac packed our jerky, pulled pork, wifes car keys :-), chickens, soup,
bulk bought steaks. The list goes on.
It's been a great tool for us.
I think the best 2 items a smoker can buy are a meat slicer and vac sealer.
Lumpy # 2
Quote from: LumpyDVC on October 01, 2010, 09:10:22 AM
I think the best 2 items a smoker can buy are a meat slicer and vac sealer.
Ditto!
Good point on the food slicer, I am working on one of them also.
but here is the Food Saver. It was a gift from my Dad. I tell ya! the man is Genius, A damn genius. I have already sealed up some salmon, two racks of rib's, and, I have a pork roast sitting in the marinader. I can't wait.
(http://i760.photobucket.com/albums/xx247/waterkc/Food%20Saver%20V3840/DSC_0034.jpg)
ok so what the heck? I have the system working and I have read the QRG, but I can't seem to figure out how to just vac and seal, not seal\vac\seal. I have pre done bags, so I just want to vac and seal. The thing seals, then wants to vac and seal. Argh what am I doing wrong.
dang it!
Are you pressing the 'seal' button first? Looking at the doc, you just need to plug it in, and slide a bag in and it will take off in vacuum mode, then seal.
1. Begin with a FoodSaver® Vacuum Sealing System Bag
(or create a bag as described in the "How to Make a
Bag from a Roll" section above.
2. Place item(s) in bag, allowing at least 3 inches of
space between bag contents and top of bag.
3. Using two hands, insert open end of bag into Vacuum
Channel (E) until clamp motor starts. The vacuum
meter lights will illuminate (see fig.4).
4. Continue to hold bag until vacuum pump starts. You
may now release bag. Note: To prevent crushing
delicate items, you may press Seal Button (C) at any
time to begin automatic sealing process.
5. When red Seal Light 11 turns off, remove bag.
Refrigerate or freeze if needed. (See FoodSaver®
Reference Guide for food safety tips.) Note: Wait at
least 20 seconds between seals to allow appliance
to properly cool.
6. See page 7 for information on the Pre-cut Bag Storage
(shown in fig 3.). This accessory is not included with
all units.
Quote from: LumpyDVC on October 01, 2010, 09:10:22 AM
We've vac packed our jerky, pulled pork, wifes car keys
wifes car keys? ??? Doesn't that make it hard to get them in the ignition?
Quote from: RAF128 on October 02, 2010, 07:22:22 PM
Quote from: LumpyDVC on October 01, 2010, 09:10:22 AM
We've vac packed our jerky, pulled pork, wifes car keys
wifes car keys? ??? Doesn't that make it hard to get them in the ignition?
They last longer in the freezer! ;D
She didn't discover them until she left for work in the AM.
She had a chuckle.
Quote from: classicrockgriller on October 02, 2010, 07:45:47 PM
Quote from: RAF128 on October 02, 2010, 07:22:22 PM
Quote from: LumpyDVC on October 01, 2010, 09:10:22 AM
We've vac packed our jerky, pulled pork, wifes car keys
wifes car keys? ??? Doesn't that make it hard to get them in the ignition?
They last longer in the freezer! ;D
Hey Squirt, Duh yeah just as you stated I figured out when the wife slipped a bag in, lol. So yeah you just put the bag in and boom it does its thing. I got two steaks, 4 full racks of Pork Rib's, two 8lbs Pork Butts, two lobster tails, 20 french baguettes of bread, 2 lbs of lunch meat, a couple of blocks of cheese. Man I love this thing already.
Thanks for the help lad's.
Everytime we get home from grocery shopping I'm anxious to re-package
and vac seal stuff we just bought. lol
Wife thinks I'm nuts!
Speaking of nuts I just vac sealed my last batch of smokin' hot peanuts.
Those suckers vac seal good!
If your looking for a great price on a food saver head to Costco. Starting next week they are are dropping the price 40$ here in Canada. I just bought the one 2 days ago from there for 169.99 and will get my rebate in a week. Its the latest model with the food preserver attachment.
I still have my original food saver from 14 years ago, but seeing the new one in stainless I had to have it haha.
Cheers,
Mike
I would agree FOOD SAVER has to be the best sealer I've ever owned. I've went through 3 others the cheaper kind and was never really impressed with them. A guy I work with showed me how nice the food savers are and I had to have one. They work gr8 on everything I've used it on form smoker bisquettes to fresh salmon.
I just picked up the V3460 from BJs today. It was cheaper on Amazon but Amazon didn't include the containers. Now what to do with all the Ziploc freezer bags? ;D
I still use the big ziploc bags for my wet brines. They always have a use ;)
I'm borrowing the tread to ask any European members were to bye bags for vacuumsealers. I must also say that the Foodsaver I have is the best tool in the kitchen!
Fast becoming a big fan of my food saver. I have found that a lot of local retailers carry the product. I never even new until I got one. hehe
Thanks again for the recommendation