Vacuum Sealers

[S.D. Ice Angular]

I am looking at picking up a good vacuum sealer going into hunting season.

How important is it to have a wide sealing area I see some are up 15” or 16”. I would assume the wider the better, is this true?

For those of you who have them give me your thoughts.

[harvey lee]

If you are talking about the width of the bag, I use 8 and 11" bags and they work great even for deer. I can get roasts in those bags without a problem.

I reaaly have not found a reason why I would need a bag wider than 11 inches.

I do not use the sealer for my burger, that goes into pound and 1.5 pounds bags.

I found a great deal on sealer bags a month ago at Menards. 3 roll boxes of both 8 and 11 inch by 18ft for $11 a box. I was a bit worried they were light ply bags so I bought one box and tried them and they are nice. Went back and bought 6 more boxes or 18 rolls. I am good for a few years at least.

[Whopper Stopper]

Over the years we have had a couple of the “Food Saver” vacuum packers. The first one lasted about 3 years and then finally died. At the time it was $300 +. We then got a different Food Saver and have been pretty much fighting with it ever since.

My wife does most of the sealing. With both units the biggest complaint has been getting a good seal if any moisture in the bag gets onto the sealing strip. It seems no matter what you are dealing with this is a problem. The dryer you can keep the contents the better the seal will be. Definitely easier said than done when dealing with the likes of fish, or venison in marinade. Usually by the second deer I am reminded this was never written into her contract.

This brings me to another thought. Years ago when the sealers were just getting into homes, I distinctly remember all the hype about vacuumed packed food and the fantastic longevity of it. I remember claims of food practically lasting longer than the Grandkids. We have never found that to be true. It seems to last only slightly longer than the old double wrapped freezer paper era. At least that’s our experience.

The other day I was at the local tire shop waiting for my car to get finished up. I happened to spot an outdoor magazine ( I want to say “Outdoor Life” but not sure) and they had a vacuum packer top choice review. Anyway they tested like eight or so and the top one ended up being a Oliso Pro VS97A. I noticed two "Food Savers" and each being down the list. The Oliso is a heavy brute weighing in at 55 pounds. Anyway reviews can be found with the help of Google. The thing that caught my eye was the rave it was given for maintaining a dry seal. The editors acknowledged the moisture problems with many other brands stating that problem was nonexistent with the Oliso. That and being able to use the bags up to 10 times each.

WS

[B-man715]

Whatever you buy make sure it has a manual seal button.

The first one I had was a little FoodSaver that was fully automatic. The problem with it was that you had to wait until full vaccum was reached before it would seal. Ran into a lot of moisture getting into the seal like mentioned above.

The newer one I have now (V220) has the manual seal. Once the juices start shooting up I can hit the "seal" button and cut them off. If some get through, I swipe a paper towel through the end (right next to the seal) and re-seal again.

Most of the time deer/bird etc meat doesn't cause a problem, but fish always does. You can also pre-freeze, or fold a paper towel up behind where the seal will be to catch the moisture before it gets to it.

Hope this helps!!

[amateurfishing]

i worked in restaurant biz, we bought one bout 10 years ago & it lasted bout 3 years, was primarily using it to buy food in bulk & repackage. one of the worst ideas ever IMO. ours broke & never looked back. went back to typical ziplock freezer bags...cheaper, easier, faster, more conveneient......& if any freezer burn concerns just wrap with saran wrap b4 placing in bag. would never touch once of those machines again. the restaurant grade ones are a completely difft aninmal than what retail sells

[harvey lee]

Man, I have been very happy with mine doing venison and other meats.

I have a manual seal so when I do tomatoes, I have close to zero issues with the juices.

I also like mine for sealing up the somked salmon I smoke. How long it will last in the freezer I have no idea as it is eaten up withinj a month or less.

I would not give mine up ever.

[huntnfish]

I'm not sure what model I have but its a Foodsaver and its been great. I have moist settings on mine and usually use it on that setting. If there's juices starting to get towards the seal I just stop it and restart it and haven't had any not seal. For fish I use the ziplock filled with water. Like Harvey, I use the bags from Menards and have been pleased. If you watch the ads you can get them pretty cheap.

[Dusty]

I have a game saver model that is excellent for fish and venisen. It has a moist setting that helps seal those wet items. What works better, however is to wrap your fish and game in plastic wrap before sealing.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I have a food saver with a moist setting and also manual seal button for re-sealing.. Love it, use it a couple times a week.. its several years old.

[Eric Wettschreck]

We have a Food Saver also. Manual seal button and moisture settings. Don't remember what I paid for it but we got it a few years ago. Still works great.

One thing I've noticed is you have to use the better bags/rolls. If you get the cheapies they just don't seal as well.

[Jim Almquist]

I have a Food Saver with the manual seal. Works great on bags as well as jars with the attachment. I make 13-15 quarts of spaghetti sauce and seal them for the freezer. I like using the glass because I know the flavor will not change with time and if you take off the top you can defrost in the microwave.