Vacuum Sealer, Food Saver, Coupons and Saving Money.

[charlz]

My machine has a setting for wet foods and that does help keep the problem of sucking liquids into the machine, or onto the area to be sealed, to a minimum but it still does happen once in a while. Just letting the foods freeze a little on a cookie tray or something really helps. I just wish I had a commercial freezer which could flash-freeze vegetables so they don't get soft.

I was just thinking, and did a quick search. Has anyone tried using dry ice to flash freeze vegetables? I see some references to it, I wonder how well it works?

 

[Bird]

I've thought a lot about buying a Food Saver, but we still just use the Ziplock Vacuum bags and manual vacuum pump, although we did buy a Food Saver (don't remember the model) for one of our daughters a few years ago. But the only thing we use the Ziplock Vacuum bags for is meats that we'll then freeze.

 

[troutsqueezer]

I've had one from Sears for over 20 years. The only thing I don't like about it is when you do bloody cuts of meat or marinades, anything wet, really, in a bag, the juice gets sucked into the vacuum tray and makes a mess.

Easy solution: Take a paper towel, fold it into thirds (longwise) and place it between the meat and the opening. The towel prevents the juice from flowing into the seal area. For hamburger patties, we freeze them first, then seal.

 

[Combustix]

Our food saver is on its last leg. Friend in Alaska has the cabelas stainless model around $400. Seals great better than out food saver with a 1/4 in seal. That is our next one as I know his gets used an awful lot more than I have used ours. And we process a lot of animals every year

 

[techwrtr2]

I am on my second food saver, last one the sealing element began to fail. Upright models seem to waste a lot more material than the others. Certainly a negative. The bag material is expensive. I just bought a box of these - Amazon.com: Weston 30-0101-W 8-by-12-Inch Vacuum-Sealer Food Bags, 100 Count: Kitchen & Dining , at a current price of .29 per bag, it's a nice savings. Have not yet tried them but the reviews are good.

I tend to buy my meat in significant quantities (for a single guy living alone) and after freezing I vacuum pack all of it. I have pulled meat from the freezer years after putting it in and there's no trace of freezer burn or taste. That, I think, is where the real savings comes in. I even freeze soups and then vacuum pack them in single serve sizes. The vaccum packer gives you the option of buying in larger (and cheaper) quantities with a lower chance of wasting half of it. Again single fellow without lots of cash to waste, I think worth it.

 

[creekbend]

Tips & Tricks to Using Vacuum Food Sealers | eHow.com

 

[2LaneCruzer]

We have one, and use it a lot. I'll like to buy the marked down or on special meats... but our biggest use is for sweet corn. We usually buy a couple bushels right out of the field; clean, blanch and freeze them all the same day. You have to freeze the corn overnight and then vacuum pack them the next day, but the flavor of the frozen corn is as good as it gets. I usually double seal my packages; they sometimes lose their vacuum in the freezer.

 

[dmccarty]

We have used one for many years. One thing we do for bloody cuts of meat is to freeze it before vacuum sealing. My wife will put it on a flat tray or freeze it in the package it comes in before sealing. We do the same thing with strawberries. She set a tray in the freezer for about a hour or so then takes them out and vaccum seals.

You beat me to the comment. :laughing: What I had read was to freeze the products before sealing which seems kinda back a...wards. But if it works....

The newer machines have moisture sensors that is supposed to help with this problem but I don't know how well it works.

I am glad to hear that TBNers have been using these things for so many years.

Later,
Dan

 

[nikdfish]

We bought our first machine 15+ years ago for re-packing paper wrapped meat from when we'd buy a side of beef processed by a local packer each year. That machine was still running fine when we passed it to our daughter after we bought a newer machine last year.

You can wash & reuse the bags quite a few times either manually or inside-out in the dishwasher. We usually cut bags a bit long so they can be used more times before getting too short to be practical.

The machines are also good for marinating meats when used with a rigid container. I always took advantage of that function when preparing meat for jerky. The model we have now has a marination cycle that varies the vacuum through multiple cycles to help with penetration. It also has removable trays that make it easier to clean up after packing "juicy" items. The down side to the new one is a wider margin when sealing, about an inch instead of the 1/2" I could manage with the manual model.

They are definitely handy things for folks who buy bulk items at Costco or Sam's or freeze garden products.

Nick

 

[ray66v]

I have had a food saver since the first generation.

I am not sure if it has saved us any money, (no large family here), but I did not buy it for that reason.

We fry, and freeze the corn I grow, make large batches of spaghetti sauce and freeze it in dinner portions, and I like to use the larger vacuum containers, when I marinate things.

One of the best parts is, you can lay the bag of frozen food down in the microwave, punch a small hole in the top, and heat things right in the bag.

You can also reseal most bags that food comes in, like potato chips, crackers, etc. and greatly extend their shelf life. You just use the sealer, but don't vacuum.

I would replace it in a minute is it ever dies, but after probably 20 years, there is no sign of that happening.