Food vacuum sealer?

[Texas Proud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wmc1000 We use the webstaurant website to buy 11 1/2 x 50' rolls for less than $10 bucks a roll. Have to buy in quantity to get reasonable shipping costs. Otherwise can buy on Ebay for about $16 each including shipping.

What was the site?

My main problem is that it cost around $1 or so to seal anything up... so not worth it for most things...

[wmc1000]

webstaurant.com or see ebay member swisspac03 - based in ohio

this is for 50' rolls 11 inches wide

[OldShooter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texas Proud ... My main problem is that it cost around $1 or so to seal anything up... so not worth it for most things...

I don't think I could spend $1/bag if I tried. My 8" rolls, bought carefully, run about 20 cents per foot and most of my bags are around 8" deep. So, closer to 14 cents/bag.

[easysurfer]

Bag cost is one of the main reasons I went the chamber route (but the chamber machine was not cheap). That said, there still are pros and cons vs more common external sealers. I still use an external for jars and just sealing bags like potato chip bags.

[Texas Proud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldShooter I don't think I could spend $1/bag if I tried. My 8" rolls, bought carefully, run about 20 cents per foot and most of my bags are around 8" deep. So, closer to 14 cents/bag.

I did not know about these on Ebay... bought from Walmart or other similar and it was like $15 for 16 ft x 11 in....used a bit more than a foot per bag...


I agree that with this it is like you say... so I am going to be getting some and freezing some more good meat when it goes on sale again...

However, I still have prime meat from Dec 14... bought so much of it at a really cheap price... almost all gone now so will be looking for another big sale... BTW, the meat is still great when I cook it... I read to only go a year but have not seen any problem except the color is not pink when thawed... the taste is the same and if you did not look at it before cooking you would not know...

[easysurfer]

The most effective vacuum sealer bags I think are the ones with a strip in the middle that allows air to get sucked out. Others are more hit or miss.

I bought a bunch (no sure of brand name) year back vacuum bags (no strip in middle) that are terrible. The don't seal well at all.

[Lakewood90712]

Well I am going to have to buy something new. In the past, the thrift stores always had several at any given time. Went to the huge salvation army thrift store nearby , and ZERO in stock .

[wmc1000]

Easysurfer: The ones we use have a mesh side on the inside of the bag that allows the air to be sucked out prior to the sealing.

[easysurfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wmc1000 Easysurfer: The ones we use have a mesh side on the inside of the bag that allows the air to be sucked out prior to the sealing.

A lot of variables, such as the machine itself.

Yes, the external sealers have special bags like a mesh side or middle strip to allow air to get sucked out. I've had the tightest seals with the ones with a middle strip (either as individual bags or self made to custom sizes). But one negative is sometimes the seal is too tight that when using, I've had to run some warm water briefly over the strip to defrost as just opening and separating the seal would leave some particles of the strip on the meat.

Attached is picture of what bag with strip looks like...

[Badger]

When I was single I had a "seal-a-meal" with the bags you could reheat in boiling water. I would spend a day making large amounts of chili, stew, etc. that I could package up, let cool, and freeze flat. Later I would arrange them upright like records. It worked well for me because I would have about a months worth of meals. Kind of like a convenient MRE.

Now that I'm married for 30 years, retired, and like to have fresh fruits, veggies, and fresh seafood I haven't done that for a loooooong time. Anything that is left over from dinner can be stored in a zip-loc or plastic container for lunch or snack the next day.

I saw vacuum sealers in Costco but they were much more expensive that the one I had years ago and didn't see needing to use one again or having to spend the money and then find a place to store it.

Cheers!