Vacuum sealing - tips and recommended units?

I can't afford vacuum sealing units. I tightly wrap the item in very clingy plastic wrap, which almost creates a vaccuum. THen I throw those wrapped items into 1 gallon or 2.5 gallon zip locks for insulation. Works quite well.. never get freezer burn. And so much more affordable. I do use the wrapmaster device though because it makes wrapping very fast and safe. It's like $30.

I have had them for years and years.

I have found that I have better luck with pre made bags. They are more money but I get them from Vac Master, not Food saver, they are a lot better of a bag and cheaper.

I find the factory seal on the 3 sides hold better and are more reliable than make bags from rolls. Even after double sealing both ends.

Tricky said:

Uh oh, Ozric . . . now you're gonna get me in trouble. I'd love to be able to sous vide and if I do enough research about chamber vac-sealing, I'm sure I'll convince myself that this is something I never knew I couldn't live without!

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You're a wise person, even with a name like Tricky! :eusa_clap

For what it's worth, here's a pic of my Easter lamb loin chops. I cooked them sous vide for 3 hours at 131°F with their marinade/sauce (garlic, rosemary, EVOO, worshy, brown sugar, salt, fresh GBP and mustard powder), and then seared over a Vortex on my Weber kettle for 2 minutes per side total, flipping and rotating every 30 seconds. They were perfect.

I have a food saver 2460, it is quite versatile and includes a hose to vacuum seal containers. besides being able to vacuum seal and freeze raw or cooked food, I also found that a separate company (UMAI) sells bags made to dry age meat that works with the food saver. I've dry aged primal cuts of NY strips and ribeyes that turned out excellent. Bags can be pricey so I've pretty much switched to rolls. I have no complaints so far. I find it very useful especially since i generally just cook for the wife and I and end up with tons of leftovers. They now get vacuum sealed and frozen for later use.

I'm a big fan of VACMaster and have a VACMaster Pro260. Lots of info and good deals here ........ http://www.vacuumsealersunlimited.com/Smoking_Meat_Supplies.html

Weston pro 2300

ButtBurner said:

I have had them for years and years.

I have found that I have better luck with pre made bags. They are more money but I get them from Vac Master, not Food saver, they are a lot better of a bag and cheaper.

I find the factory seal on the 3 sides hold better and are more reliable than make bags from rolls. Even after double sealing both ends.

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Where do you buy them ? Online from Vacmaster or elsewhere ?

Food saver here too. I order bulk bags from Amazon and cut to length. One tip is to use a alcohol wipe on the seal of the unit before each sealing session.

I have the Weston Pro 2300 and have had great results. I typically use the pre-cut bags, but have multiple rolls to choose when needed. In over 200 bags filled/sealed I can only remember one that didn't get a good seal.

The one trick that I have utilized is to cut the bottom out of a large McDonalds plastic cup. I then use the cup to load my bags. This keeps the grease or juice off of the top of the bag to ensure a good seal. It is also less frustrating than slopping things on the side of the bags trying to hold the bag open!

Hope that helps.

Food saver is where it's at. I use my weekly.

frog13 said:

I'm a big fan of VACMaster and have a VACMaster Pro260. Lots of info and good deals here ........ http://www.vacuumsealersunlimited.com/Smoking_Meat_Supplies.html

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^^ x2

Lisa is great to work with, and her prices are excellent.

I too am a fan of the Weston Pro-2300. I had two foodsavers that lasted less than a year each, and they do not repair them or sell parts.

After that I decided i needed something built a little better with user serviceable parts available. I am going on 3 years with the Weston and have had no problems. A perfect seal every time even with liquid between the sealing bars.

Be forewarned, this is not a unit you can tuck away in a cabinet until you need it.. It weighs about 40 pounds and has a large foot print. We have a second mini-kitchen we built in the basement for BBQ, canning, and other food prep. It is a permanent fixture there and we vac-seal 10-20 bags per week. Best money I ever spent for freezing food... I found items that got lost in the freezers for over 2 years, I thought they would be bad after all that time, after opening them there were no signs of freezer burn and when cooked for a lunch to test them, they were just as fresh as when they were sealed.

Keep in mind that whatever model you decide to go with, unless you have a chamber sealer they do not like liquids. There are way around this like chilling the contents before sealing to thicken the chili, soup, broths...

Good luck on your purchase.

+1 on foodsaver. And the roll refills.

I smoked two racks of ribs and vac-sealed one. I do believe they tasted better 2 weeks later than the fresh ones. Already smoked brisket, ribs, chicken etc. does real good vac-sealed.

Tricky said:

I think I'm leaning toward a FoodSaver, just because we don't butcher our own meat or game or have any substantial amount of home grown produce to freeze. Our uses would basically be from buying items in bulk and breaking them down into smaller serving sizes so we could use them as needed.

To that end, are the standard FoodSaver bags wide enough to wrap a rack of pork baby backs or St Louis cut spares? I imagine I will frequently be buying Costco multi-rack cryovack packs and wanting to individually freeze the racks.

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You can buy 8" and 11" rolls for the FS, and cut them to length. It might be heresy to say the I cut the racks in half before sealing, but I do (either fresh or already Q'd). One note of caution when vac-sealing ribs (or anything else with a bone in it)...be careful to check the ENTIRE bag after sealing for small punctures from bone edges/tips.

You might want to check the bag and roll prices (economy and premium) for the VacMaster bags and rolls (they work on FS and S-a-M, too) at Vacuum Sealers Unlimited. Better bags. Less money. And choice. Somewhere on the VSU site (I couldn't find it just now; you can email Lisa and ask), you can get heavier duty bags (like 4 mil instead of the standard 3 mil (there might even be 6 mil bags)). Those would be for bony things, like those racks of ribs.

Foodsaver. I've vac sealed cooked chicken, full racks of ribs, and pulled pork. It all comes out tender and juicy like right off the grill. I use an electric roasting pan with about 2 inches of water in it to reheat the meat while still sealed in the bag. The bag holds its integrity at 250* for at least 4 hours.

Weston pro 2300 the only one that will seal 15 inch wide bags they offer
it will seal Food saver or Weston brand bags/rolls its super duty seals liqueds very well I have sealed several gallon bags of Brunswick
looks good works good

Been happy with our Foodsaver. A few things to consider... Sign up for emails from Foodsaver. They ALWAYS have sales and you can get one cheap. When I'm bagging cooked food, I'll put it in the bag (usually chilled, never hot off the cooker) and let it sit in the freezer for an hour or two BEFORE I seal it. Let the juices etc set before sealing, otherwise you run the risk of the sealer pulling the juices out of the meat.

Cabelas sells there own which from what i read is a Weston rebranded by Cabelas. I have a Cabelas pro and my wife loves it. she uses it with the bulk rolls all the time