Tricky
is one Smokin' Farker
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2010
- Location
- Ventura County, CA
Yesterday I was at our local grocery store and saw they had "pork shoulder blade roasts" for $.99 / lb. The packages were cryo sealed and looked like they had two 7-8 lb. butts in each one. So I bought a few for the freezer.
Since I usually only need one butt at a time, I removed the cryo and repackaged the individual 7-8 lb. pieces into FoodSaver bags. In doing so I had to wipe down the area of the bag that I was sealing to remove the meat juices that got on the bag when I was sliding the meat into the bag. I think I did a pretty decent job but my vacuum seal was not as tight as it usually is. The seals looked solid, but there was still a little air in the bags when it stopped vacuuming.
I figure one of the following was happening:
1. My FoodSaver is losing suction generally and needs to be adjusted or replaced.
2. The liquid residue on the bags somehow prevented the sealer from sucking enough air out.
3. My FoodSaver itself got some meat juice inside the area where it holds the bags while sucking out the air, again preventing the sealer from doing its job completely.
I've never torn apart my Food Saver to see how the mechanism works. Any ideas of what might be going on and whether there is anything I can do to improve my sealing action?
Since I usually only need one butt at a time, I removed the cryo and repackaged the individual 7-8 lb. pieces into FoodSaver bags. In doing so I had to wipe down the area of the bag that I was sealing to remove the meat juices that got on the bag when I was sliding the meat into the bag. I think I did a pretty decent job but my vacuum seal was not as tight as it usually is. The seals looked solid, but there was still a little air in the bags when it stopped vacuuming.
I figure one of the following was happening:
1. My FoodSaver is losing suction generally and needs to be adjusted or replaced.
2. The liquid residue on the bags somehow prevented the sealer from sucking enough air out.
3. My FoodSaver itself got some meat juice inside the area where it holds the bags while sucking out the air, again preventing the sealer from doing its job completely.
I've never torn apart my Food Saver to see how the mechanism works. Any ideas of what might be going on and whether there is anything I can do to improve my sealing action?