Vacuum sealer

[tim]

Looking for a vacuum sealer for around $200 . Anyone have any opinions?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Prof T]

I bought a Foodsaver last summer and kick myself for not having done it years ago.  My last August walleyes are still in perfect condition. Saved a few bucks by going with generic bag material and see no difference over their product.

[tim]

That's what I heard about generic bags I have a moose in the freezer that's vacuum sealed it's been there three years and it still great


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

[King Slammin]

Couldn't live the way I do without mine. I prefer freezer paper for deer but all my fish gets the food saver.


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

[skipper19]

Great investment and worth the extra effort over zip locks. The zips are easy to use, but a few months your game or fish degrade considerably. Too much waste if you like to stockpile for off season like I do. Too many very disappointing results and shameful waste of time and money keeping frosted cardboard fillets that need trimming and never taste right.
Foodsavers are a great tool! They're much better now than ever. The last model I have now is very efficient. Not just for food preserved but anything that can degrade from oxidation or moisture. Emergency matches, polished metals storage, coins, jewelry, valuable documents and old photos, etc.
Mine has a canning attachment to preserve vacuum packed meats or other goodies. Wouldn't do without one!

Money doesn't buy happiness,
but it does buy horsepower....
I've never seen a sad person in a boat haulin' A$$...!

[Sk8man]

I probably sgould get a vacuum sealer but my old school habits don't die easily. Although it may not be as economical regarding space in the freezer. If you use ziplocks and fill with water all around the fish and slightly above them in the bag they will last a very long time without freezer burn or oxidation. I have eaten perch saved that way 3 years plus and they tasted just as though they were caught that day.

Edited April 5, 2017 by Sk8man

[skipper19]

I probably sgould get a vacuum sealer but my old school habits don't die easily[emoji38]. Although it may not be as economical regarding space in the freezer. If you use ziplocks and fill with water all around the fish and slightly above them in the bag they will last a very long time without freezer burn or oxidation. I have eaten perch saved that way 3 years plus and they tasted just as though they were caught that day.

That works too! I have done that and it works well, like you said Les, it does what it takes to stop freezer air from super freezing the meat. I like the very flat package that the vacuum machine does, and if I brain fart and forget the label, I can see the meat inside and guess at it when I take it out! Somehow I never am sure about steelhead or salmon meat ID, but it's almost no difference to me cooked ...anyway. Cher only cares if there is no bones in it. She gets a bone,...and I'm the bad guy![emoji48][emoji20]...drives me nuts to see her mush a perfect grilled fillet, just to find that bone, and let me know about it! ...oh and ketchup on the side...[emoji104][emoji45]

Money doesn't buy happiness,
but it does buy horsepower....
I've never seen a sad person in a boat haulin' A$$...!

[Sk8man]

[Gator]

I have a model that starts automatically when you insert the bag far enough. There's not even a start button. I don't hate it, but for it can be a PITA sometimes. I'd avoid an automated model and go with the button.

 

X2 on the off-label bags. Ask on here to get brand recommendations consensus, though. Some of the stuff that's out there is made of really thin single-ply material, while other stuff performs well. I found something I liked years ago and stocked up. I'm not even sure they still sell but I'll check.

[Sk8man]

Good info you guys are even influencing this dinosaur to reconsider my  "old school" way of doing things

[Xxx]

I also couldn't live with out my food vac. I'm old school and so is my wife, so guess what my kids are also, they won't eat corn out of the can, because I always blanched it and cut it off the cob, 200 ears all gets vac. Half a beef all gets vac. I think with the vac. Especially with the roasts and Hamburger you can make real flat. We also make pickled red beets because my girls will only eat mine, all my deer meat including the loins and fish fillets gets vac. For us it pays, there's no way in hell we could eat everything in the freezer before it gets freezer burned, I make our own sausage also, plus deer jerky, all for my girls. They have become so used to my way of doing things they don't like the other way, just say school lunch, they do go out for dinner and they like that type of food. I went to culinary school for 3 years and loved it. When I got out I would have had to move into the city for the types of cuisine I was taught and took second place in our class, the guy that beat me, well deserved the recognition he was amazing!! So put that along with my Pennsylvain Dutch background and you have a recipe for good eating. I do all the holidays, my girls insist that I do Thanksgiving, and Chritmas!! And there's where my vacuum sealer comes to be handy again, it doesn't matter what brand or how much $$$ they cost, I get three years out of them. I can say I should buy an industrial one but WOW if that would puke after 3 years I'd sit down and cry. 

[Xxx]

15 minutes ago, Sk8man said:

Good info you guys are even influencing this dinosaur to reconsider my  "old school" way of doing things

 

Les read my post below. If I can do it you can also, no more half gallon milk boxes washed out with fish and water froze all around the fish. I remember as a kid we used to go up on the mountain to get the deer that were skinned, and of course gutted hanging in tall trees, because the old type freezers made food freezer burnt much faster, so my grandfather and uncles hung them in a tree till we needed more. Basically it was our outdoor freezer, the meat was very dark on the outside but we cut that off. That was the best eating venison!! Not deer meat, you could cut it with a fork after it was made. Yep you can call me crazy or what ever, but I won't be starving, should there be a catastrophe or worse!!

[Prof T]

I should post that one feature I think you should look for is a removable drip tray. There are times when you draw a little ooze out before it seals and it's easier to clean. Happens more with meats than fish, and can be eliminated with a short pre-freeze.

 

Another use is to do a quick marinade. Sucks the juice into the meat, making it more flavorful and tenderizes more effectively. They sell kits with a special container and lid. I don't have one, just use the bag and it works fine.

[Xxx]

Yep proff. T to eliminate that fold a paper towel about an inch wide, then put the towel In the bag about 2" and the towel will absorb the blood. I use this method mostly with jerky brines. I also found that putting a phone book before the vac. makes for easier handling of the bags once loaded.

Edited April 6, 2017 by pap

[rolmops]

I use a 110 volt vacuum sealer together with an inverter that makes it run of my boat battery. I clean my fish on the lake and vacuum pack it before going home. This way I have no problem disposing of skin and bones and the wife likes clean very fresh fish without having to deal with the dirt and smell of dead fish. It's better than Wegmans!

[ERABBIT]

Ok , so what's the cheap bag brand that is as good as Food savers ?

[Xxx]

I don't use any other than food savers, for one reason, the others when cold just have to bump against another and it make a hole. You won't notice right away but a month later there's ice crystals on your meat or what ever. The cheaper bags are brittle like. Jmo!! But it happened quite often, it also happens with the Food savers bags if I drop them on the floor. Not just rooting things around in a floor type freezer

[Hobo]

Learned a trick in Mexico [emoji1166]. Fill a 5 gallon bucket with water then take zip lock freezer bags put your filet into the bag. Then put the zip lock in the water to the seal zip lock it shut and you have a vacuum


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

[tim]

Finally bought a foodsaver big game model. Love it 110 volt or 12 volt for use in the boat. Should have bought it sooner


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

[Scalloper 1]

I have wore out probably a dozen vacuum sealers. I decided to buy a chamber sealer a few years back. The bags are only $.04-.06 each. The vacuum seal bags are very expensive. And the chamber sealer does a far better job.

[Hobo]

I use a Mexican vacuum sealer. All you need is a 5 gallon bucket fill it with water. Take a zip loc bag put your filets in it Place the bag in the water to the blue tag and zip. It’s vacuumed [emoji1166]


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United