Vacuum Sealers

Discussion in 'Functional Gear & Equipment' started by Bubba, Mar 24, 2009.


  1. Bubba

    Bubba Monkey++

    In the same spirit as my thread about Crank Radios... I am going to ask about Vacuum Sealers. Price range from under $50 to $450 I am finding. But does anyone have experiences that they would care to share about specific units?
     
  2. Cephus

    Cephus Monkey+++ Founding Member

  3. Bubba

    Bubba Monkey++

    Do you have the Food Saver? Do you find the cost of operation reasonable? Supplies readily available? Do only Food Saver supplies work or are there generic suppliers out there? Have you experienced any quality issues or breakdown issues? Any replacement parts that you wish you had bought up front to avoid "down time"?
     
  4. dragonfly

    dragonfly Monkey+++

    I am returning my foodsaver vac unit to sunbeam as it quit working after only sealing 12 bags.
    Not their fault really, it sounds as if the vac impeller or whatever, broke into pieces inside. The motor still runs like a champ.
    They tole me to return it with a note aad they will replace that older (1 year old) unit with the newest model...an upgrade of about $60.00
    Not too bad, as I paid $99.99 for mine.
    V2220 model.
    Bill
     
  5. QuietOne

    QuietOne Monkey++

    Vacuum sealed foods with any moisture in them must be thoroughly sterilized or they will grow botulism.
     
  6. Cephus

    Cephus Monkey+++ Founding Member

    If you make sure that everything is dehydrated properly or your using dry stuff to repack or even freeze it ,one of the things ya can do is use an oxygen absorber in every bag as well.
    http://www.sorbentsystems.com/order_O2.html

    These seem to work real well.
     
  7. Bubba

    Bubba Monkey++

    Thank you all...
    I like to hear that the company stands behind its products. I have had the same experience with Cabelas - a tent zipper that failed after 3 years yielded a new tent at no cost. And our Cuisinart food processor that was not only replaced for free after 20+ years when the motor burned out, but we got a check for the shipping costs of the old unit.
    How about some of the other brands of vacuum sealers out there. Any good experiences or "stay away from" warnings that anyone would like to share?
     
  8. We bought a couple Food Savers off E bay, one for a backup and they work great. Bags are cheaper on E bay too. No air no bugs. For sealing BOB items just use your imagination, it compacts and waterproofs at the same time, watch out for sharp edges or you'll have holes in the bag.
     
  9. Sherman

    Sherman Dog Eat Dog

  10. SLugomist

    SLugomist Monkey++

    "No air no bugs."

    NO large bugs like beetles or roaches true. However microorganisms can be anaerobic. Meaning they can survive and thrive with no air. It's all about moisture, if water activity is below 0.86 then most micro's(yeast, mold & bacteria) can't grow. The ones there will still be there but no more will come.


    If you treat vacuum bag sealing like canning, i.e. pasteurize after sealing. you will have no issues, that is how MRE's are made. they seal them then they pastuerize them, so they stay clean and can't be re-infected after pasteurizing during packing.
     
  11. SLugomist

    SLugomist Monkey++


    Sealing the mylar bag is just about the amount of heat the "sealer" gives off. Not enough heat to melt and seal the mylar then it doesn't seal. Find one with an adjustable heating element, then you can seal any bag.

    The model shown looks like a a modified food saver. Not like the insudtrial sealers I've seen.
     
  12. Sherman

    Sherman Dog Eat Dog

    yeah but Food savers cant pull vacuum on mylar bags, foodsavers etc use proprietary bags. These do not, sales dept confirms these will work on mylar bags. To use a mylar bag w/ a foodsaver you have to put your mylar bag INSIDE a foodsaver bag or cut the top off a foodsaver bag ind put it INSIDE a mylar bag.

    This solves the problem. I'm putting one on my list.

    I hadnt considered foods w/ moisture, also dont plan to store nuts or anything else w/ oil for deep larder. Oil goes rancid.
    was only going to store dry goods ie rice, lintels, sugar and salt etc as well as a change of clothes for kids etc and other items to keep dry.

    I put stuff in the freezer for a couple of days to kill any beetle eggs etc.
     
  13. wein mann

    wein mann Monkey++

    For dry packing 5 gallon buckets. I use a small vacuum pump with a 1/8 inch plastic tube and a common clothing iron to seal the mylar bags. I place bay leaves and a O2 absorber in the bags prior to the sealing.
     
  14. Sherman

    Sherman Dog Eat Dog

    that's a prety good workaround.

    Hey Slugo- they have some pretty heavy duty looking vacsealers on that site too. Check it out, more than I need.... or can afford.
     
  15. Double Ott

    Double Ott Monkey+++

    We have two Food Savers and like them allot. Bought one several years ago and was given one by an elderly lady that just didn't use it...like new. I've found out the hard way that it is best to use the Food Saver brand bags. Best place I've found to buy the bags is at Wal Mart. The off brand will loose a seal or can punture easily. For foods with a moisture content, we freeze them for storage.

    I'm thawing out some steaks for the grill as I type this. They were in the freezer...they'll be as good as a fresh cut of meat.
     
  16. kckndrgn

    kckndrgn Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    My wife and I are on our 2nd "Food Saver" vacuum sealer. We plum wore out the first one, and gave it to her parents when bought our current one.

    Pretty much everything that goes into the freezer gets vacuum sealed, veggies & meat especially. We buy the veggies and meat in bulk, already frozen, get them home and put into "meal" sized bags and vacuum seal.

    I really like putting ground beef & sausage in the bags. After vacuum sealing we "flatten" the bags out so they are about 3/4" thick, this makes for much faster thawing.

    My mom on the other hand, hates the bags for vacuum sealing. She (and my late father) is a "snow bird". Lives in MN during the summer and AZ in the winter. The first year they used the vacuum sealed bags of meat in the RV's freezer they had problems with the stuff sliding around and falling out every time the door was opened. I gave several suggestions to keep the bags from sliding around, but they opted to no use the vacuum sealed bags in the RV.
     
  1. JC Refuge
  2. JC Refuge
  3. JC Refuge
  4. JC Refuge
  5. Alanaana
    Uploaded by: Alanaana, Mar 1, 2023, 0 comments, in album: Alana's_Adventures
  6. Alanaana
    Uploaded by: Alanaana, Mar 1, 2023, 0 comments, in album: Alana's_Adventures
  7. RJFab
  8. duane
  9. TnAndy
  10. john316
  11. DKR
  12. DKR
  13. apache235
  14. Ganado
  15. alaskachick
  16. Motomom34
  17. Bandit99
  18. Asia-Off-Grid
  19. oldman11
  20. Asia-Off-Grid
survivalmonkey SSL seal        survivalmonkey.com warrant canary
17282WuJHksJ9798f34razfKbPATqTq9E7