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Need a good vacuum sealer

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dragon49

I'm looking for a good vacuum sealer.  The problem is that when I look at different units on Amazon, almost all of them have at least 10% 1 star ratings, with a lot of folks complaining about bad seals.  I've been putting all of my freshly caught fish in Ziplocs and freezing them, but the seals are never perfect, and I end up with ice inside the bags.  I can only think of 2 considerations, outside of price:
 
1 - The type of bag it will support.  I'd prefer normal Quart size Ziploc bags, but wouldn't mind a proprietary brand, as long as these aren't too price or hard to find.
 
2 - Will I lose juices when sealing?  I've been told that some of these units are a pain to clean, which makes me think that they squeeze out juice and fat, because what else could be left to clean.
 
 
Also, how much longer will fish keep in the freezer if I vacuum seal them?
 
Thanks
 
JoynersHotPeppers said:
I have this version and I have sealed 1000 pounds + easily...most food is fine up to 5 years.
 
There are settings when the food is moist and also tricks.
 
As an example, people will put soup in the bag and stand it in the freezer until mostly solid then vacuum seal.
 
http://www.foodsaver.com/vacuum-sealers/the-foodsaver-v3860-vacuum-sealing-system/T000-18003.html#start=4

I buy the 8in and 11in rolls and make all my own bags, I bought mine at Costco. 
Click to expand...
 
+ 1 on the foodsaver , had one since the day they first came out , ( yes i  upgraded ,lol ) but like Chris said 5 years easy , i cook pork , roast a couple years old , thaws to like the day i sealed it . worth the money !       :onfire:
 
JoynersHotPeppers said:
I have this version and I have sealed 1000 pounds + easily...most food is fine up to 5 years.
 
There are settings when the food is moist and also tricks.
 
As an example, people will put soup in the bag and stand it in the freezer until mostly solid then vacuum seal.
 
http://www.foodsaver.com/vacuum-sealers/the-foodsaver-v3860-vacuum-sealing-system/T000-18003.html#start=4

I buy the 8in and 11in rolls and make all my own bags, I bought mine at Costco. 
Click to expand...
Thanks,
 
I just bought one on Amazon and an extra 44 bags - I'll let you know how it works out.
 
The Amazon price $129.98 -  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CNW4VW
 
We always thought they were a gimmick like some of the "as seen on TV" gadgets, but when we got the FS v3880, that changed.  The FS really does work, as #ISH testimony points out.  It helps to "fast freeze" peppers, berries and other items that may crush under the vacuum action.  30 minutes on a cookie sheet in the freezer before sealing in a bag really helps.
 
my mom had one of those things... i vacuumed some fire crackers once. they seemed to be good when i found them like 5 years later.  i also vacuumed a bar of soap for some reason.
 
her machine also had a little tube port you could use to vacuum these proprietary jars. i remember i would put some aquarium tubing on that connector and suck all the air out of my mouth until spit started running back through the tube.
 
ive always though these things were over blown for meat storage atleast... all freezer burn is the simple the dehydration of the flesh by sublimation or by evaporation when the meat is freezing.
 
if you simply wrap the food in a zip lock bag and freeze it quickly it should be fine. when you try and freeze like 40lbs of meat at a time... it will take a shit load of time.
 
remember that freezers are extremely low capacity fixed orifice units. they are not designed to freeze huge amounts of shit. if you have ever put a warm pot of soup into the fridge you will know what im talking about. 
 
there is actually no vacuum inside these bags. there is no container wall to resist the weight of the atmosphere, so the pressure inside is approaching regular air pressure. all the vacuum does is forces the plastic to conform tightly around the meat, thereby excluding air perfectly.  its like putting a condom on your "meat".
 
vacuuming shit like cereal is entirely different. there will be a good vacuum present, and this will prevent oxidation and shit getting stale, but so will a blanket of argon or some other inert gas.
 
a vacuum will actually pull moisture out of things down to a certain temp.
 
Foodsaver, have used it allot, just bought another 5 rolls. Never had a leak as long as the bags layered down properly and no kinks, I do double heat sink the ends just in case. Nuts Grains chicken never had a problem, love it :)
 
What is the exact high expectation of appliances ?
I run 300lb+ of meat(beef,fish,rabbit,squirrel,dove,quail,pigeon) and very close to 100lbs of jerky every year
My unit SUCKS!! and I store,when she stops sucking she's gotta go and Ill buy another ;)
FoodSaver will suck a basketball thru a tennis racket
 
I use to rep the foodsaver years ago and I have 3 of them over the last 20 plus years.. They are great. You can get them at Costco cheap if you have one nearby. 
 
I'll take the counter-position, I guess ...
 
Watch teh outlet section over at Vacmaster for a chamber vac - https://www.vacmasterfresh.com/outlet/
 
1) Waaaaaaay better seal ...
2) Seal with liquids and marinade ...
3) Cheaper bags offset initial cost, and come in thick, poke-free versions ...
4) Rare clean-up ...
5) Compressed watermelon etc is glorious, and so is instant cold-brew coffee ;) ...
6) Quick picking and marinade is useful ...
 
Key is to watch for the deal, I snagged mine 40% off ...
 
Also, check for used restaurant supply, locally, and try to steal one ...
 
I'm gonna take Grant's advice on this one if anyone would notice a weak seal it would be when sous viding and I now own said appliance lol.
 
I'll be honest, the seal isn't that important for the bath ...
 
Hell, you can use Archimedes principle, or even the hand-pump Ziplocs to deal with the liquid issue ... which, actually do a perfectly good job on the seal for the cook itself ...
 
Where the seal is key, and real benefit to sous vide'ing, is in the storage of cooked or partially-cooked food in the freezer ...
 
The chamber vac seals food (relatively) COMPLETELY comparatively, and it makes a clear difference in the freezer-burn and/or length of storage of the leftovers ...
 
You get A LOT of freezer burns and air space in the Ziploc bags, and food doesn't last well, for long ...
 
The chamber vac'd packs have no air space, no humidity, and no freezer burn - at least not appreciably - for months and years ... I know, because I've had both, and have been delighted in that regard ...
 
 
 
Quick pickling in 20 seconds is pretty cool ...
 
Rapid infusion is neat, and you can use it to great benefit ...
 
Same for quick marinade ...
 
 
 
Besides cost, the downside to the chamber style is the heft/footprint ...
 
So far, I'm LOVING my foodsaver
 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CNW4VW
 
Thanks JoynersHotPeppers!
 
A a test, I vacuum sealed a bagel, then I used it to vacuum seal a number of fish that I caught.  I've used it approximately 10 times, with Foodsaver quart bags.  The process removes all of the air from the bag, and the seals are good.
 
Two important issues to note, both of which I had found on the internet, before the purchase, which I am perfectly fine with:
 
1 - The unit doesn't work well when attempting to vacuum pack more than 2 bags, right after each other.  On one occasion, when trying to vacuum pack a third bag, immediately after the second, the sensor failed to notice the bag and nothing happened.  On another occasion, when trying to vacuum pack a third bag, immediately after the second, the unit immediately went into seal mode, before grabbing the bag and vacuuming out the air.  With both instances, the unit functioned properly after a few minutes rest.  I am not a commercial user and the quantities that I will need to vacuum pack are so small, that this isn't an inconvenience.
    
      
      
 2 - For freshly caught fish (I imagine this would be true for any other food that isn't already rock solid) it is important to first freeze the items, before using the machine.  When I used the unit to vacuum pack some fish without freezing, it looked like some of the juices were being sucked out.  This happened even when I changed the setting from the default "dry" mode, to the "moist" mode.
 
Those sound like big inconveniences to me. I don't have patience for little quirks like that, even a web page taking 6 seconds to load, and I have to wait 1 minute for the machine? :lol:
 
And freezing first sounds like a huge inconvenience.
 
Okay I just saw a tip on another site. Wrap your fish well in plastic wrap first! This helps with your issue as well as sealing all the nooks and crannies. The tip came from Ryan at Good News Tuna.
 
dragon49 said:
So far, I'm LOVING my foodsaver
 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CNW4VW
 
Thanks JoynersHotPeppers!
 
A a test, I vacuum sealed a bagel, then I used it to vacuum seal a number of fish that I caught.  I've used it approximately 10 times, with Foodsaver quart bags.  The process removes all of the air from the bag, and the seals are good.
 
Two important issues to note, both of which I had found on the internet, before the purchase, which I am perfectly fine with:
 
1 - The unit doesn't work well when attempting to vacuum pack more than 2 bags, right after each other.  On one occasion, when trying to vacuum pack a third bag, immediately after the second, the sensor failed to notice the bag and nothing happened.  On another occasion, when trying to vacuum pack a third bag, immediately after the second, the unit immediately went into seal mode, before grabbing the bag and vacuuming out the air.  With both instances, the unit functioned properly after a few minutes rest.  I am not a commercial user and the quantities that I will need to vacuum pack are so small, that this isn't an inconvenience.
    
      
      
 2 - For freshly caught fish (I imagine this would be true for any other food that isn't already rock solid) it is important to first freeze the items, before using the machine.  When I used the unit to vacuum pack some fish without freezing, it looked like some of the juices were being sucked out.  This happened even when I changed the setting from the default "dry" mode, to the "moist" mode.
Click to expand...
 
 
my moms vacuum sealer had a deep well with a gasket all around it.
 
this well is what is being evacuated... the juices would flow into this well during vacuuming and you would have to suck out the juices later.
 
does yours not have a well to accumulate fluids? yours looks alot fancier than the one she had when i was a kid.
 
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