Vacuum Type Food Savers

[sherlock]

 ???
I am thinking about getting a sealer because it don't seem practical to fire up the smoker for dinner for two. I was looking at several FOOD SAVER brands to store left-overs of various types and now I see this Vac U Pak is on ebay.

I didn't think about liquid being a problem but this advertisement indicates it will be. Check out the link I have pasted below and let me know if this is just hype or if the food saver brand will actually not handle items like vegetables in juice, soups, gravy, etc.

http://cgi.ebay.com/VacUpack-Vac-U-Pak-Vacuum-Sealer-fits-Foodsaver-Roll_W0QQitemZ170133636163QQihZ007QQcategoryZ63510QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks for your input.

[Tiny Tim]

I've got a cheapy that I got from Wal Mart....thirty bucks or so I think.  Works fine, maybe not quite as high of vacuum as I'd like, but gets the job done.  I've sealed wet stuff (not a bag of water, but chicken pieces in a good quantity of Italian dressing) and dry stuff.  Sealing soups or something like that, I wouldn't use bags, but rather the canister type containers (mine has a port for a hose).

[Wildcat]

I have the Food Saver brand.  I also purchased the canisters and an attachment for sealing mason jars.  For freezing, use the bag and freeze just enough until the juice is no longer a flowing liquid.  Then seal.

[iceman]

Wildcat has the right idea on partial freezing things before sealing. Even the vacum pak has trouble sealing wet bags from past experiences. I use a sealed chamber Vac Master commercial sealer because of the volume of food I freeze and it is a sealed chamber type that will do soups and liquids no problem. The only set back was fainting when I went to pay for it. The one I got will do 12 X 16 bags and ran about 3 grand. I,d say stick with the cheaper food saver brand and partial freeze any messy food prior to sealing. The food saver will also work with the other brands of bags just like the Vacum Pak. Just my thoughts on it. If your only sealing food on a small scale it should do just fine.

[HCT]

I have the food saver also. One word of caution, cover all sharp edges and bones with a couple of layers of paper towels to prevent holes in the bags. 

[Lefty_Smoker]

I just picked up a new FoodSaver sealer, model V2860 a couple weeks ago.  It has had no trouble whatsoever sealing moist foods such as meats, even with marinades, it does a fine job.  The V2860 even has buttons that say "MOIST" and "Dry" on the control panel for setting the seal level depending on the type food – moist or dry.  What little moisture is removed from the bag just drips into the drip tray, simply dump it out and wipe clean and your done. 

For soups/sauces, I too would simply use the cannisters or jar sealers. 

[Habanero Smoker]

I don't have any knowledge of the Vac U Pak. I have a Food Saver. Semi freezing works well to prevent fluids from moist foods from flowing out of the bag.

[sherlock]

Thanks everybody.....................

I never thought of freezing/partially freezing and then sealing.

[LilSmoker]

I also have the FoodSaver brand very pleased with it, don't think you can go wrong with any of the FoodSaver models ;)

[Consiglieri]

Food Saver for me too.  So far, so good.  Using it to cure a pastrami right now, thanks to Habs and Lil' Smoker.

[Gizmo]

I recently purchased the foodsaver III replacing the foodsaver II that wore out after many years of great service.  I would be hard pressed and would need to see a lot of demonstrations from the "other guys" before I could be convinced to purchase anything else, or anything less.  I have had one of the cheaper foodsaver models as well and it wasn't up to the task.

Oh yah, ours gets used daily.  My wife keeps her coffee beans in a canister and fresh grinds them every morning.

[Oldman]

I didn't think about liquid being a problem but this advertisement indicates it will be.

This is a true statement. Keep in mind if you want to pack up stews or soups that unit will not do that.

[manxman]

cover all sharp edges and bones with a couple of layers of paper towels to prevent holes in the bags. 

Very true. I freeze whole lobster and it can be really difficult with all the sharp edges!  :D

I've got a Foodsaver too, but tend to use non-foodsaver bags as they are a lot cheaper.

[sherlock]

Again, I thank you all. I have learned a lot. :)

[NePaSmoKer]

I have the food saver also. One word of caution, cover all sharp edges and bones with a couple of layers of paper towels to prevent holes in the bags. 

Your right HCT

I use viva paper towles when i send jerky overseas to my sons. Seems the viva are a tad thicker and the jerky ends wont poke a hole in the vac bags.

nepas