Vacuum Sealer

resurrected · Aug 5, 2015

Hi Guys,

Thinking of getting a sealer.

With me being the only meat eater in the house, I need to be able to store food.

Having never owned or used one I'd like to know if I can vacuum pretty much anything or what the limitations are with them.

This is the one I'm looking at

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/19653/FoodSaver-Vacuum-Sealer

wade · Aug 5, 2015

Hi Paul

I have not used the Foodsaver but I have used the Eiffel Freshpack Pro - which gave me several years of good service before I moved to a chamber vac pack.

Danny has the Andrew James Commercial vacuum sealer and he should be able to give you the low down on this

I hope these help.

resurrected · Aug 5, 2015

Wade said:
Hi Paul

I have not used the Foodsaver but I have used the Eiffel Freshpack Pro - which gave me several years of good service before I moved to a chamber vac pack.

Danny has the Andrew James Commercial vacuum sealer and he should be able to give you the low down on this

I hope these help.

Thank you, Wade.

Can you vac pretty much anything?

kettlecooker · Aug 6, 2015

i've got the foodsaver one, decent bit of kit, the rolls are pretty thick(argos sell them) so stand up to things like chop bones etc, you can either just seal and make bags, that is great for throwing things like a couple of chicken breasts in marinade for a few hours, or you can obviously vac, we use that for freezing stuff, leftover ppork or the likes.

the only limitations with it are the bag width, you have got 11" but you can make the bags as long as you like.

would deffo recomend one.

kc.

kettlecooker · Aug 6, 2015

dunno if you will be interested, but i have just noticed this....

http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-2491.htm?action=showDetail&id=25912

for that price, it's got to be worth a punt.

kc.

tombirmingham · Aug 6, 2015

Has anyone got one of these ? That is cheap !

tombirmingham · Aug 6, 2015

...just found these thoughts > http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=6&TopicID=219583. Might be false economy ?

wade · Aug 6, 2015

The important things to look out for really depend on what you are wanting to vac pack for and how often.

The important things are really sealing width, vacuum achieved, the power of the heat sealer and the duty cycle

Sealing width - I found that the 30 cm of the Eiffel would do almost all of what I needed - There were a couple of times when I would have liked a larger seal but they were very rare
Vacuum - Look for one that will do -0.8 Bar to -0.9 Bar. This is not as high as the in the chamber sealers but is good for a side suction unit
Heat sealer - Along with the thickness/quality of the bag this determines how well the bag will remain sealed. The ideal is to have one that provides a twin heat seal but this is uncommon in this type of packer. Instead you should ensure that the unit can also do "seal only" as this will enable you to add a second seal if required. For thicker bags (e.g. sous vide) you will also need to have a more powerful heat seal.
Duty cycle - check its usage rating by looking at the product reviews. Some are only designed for casual kitchen use and will overheat if used constantly without being allowed to cool. If you are only planning to seal the odd pack of leftovers this will not matter too much bit if you plan to pack 20 bags of smoked cheese at a time then this is a consideration.

I cannot see the vacuum rating or the sealing capability of the Foodsaver though I expect that they are out there.

For this type of machine you will need the embossed pouches as it is a side suction packer. These are readily available from a number of sources on the net and if you shop around you can get some good deals. When buying though make sure that they are food grade. Many of the really cheap ones on e-bay or Amazon are not.

You really need to get a selection of sizes as you will be packing a lot of different things. This is best achieved by buying the "bags" on a roll as a tube and cutting and sealing them to the desired length as required. If you buy two different width rolls you will be able to create an almost infinite number of bag sizes. Don't forget though that both the Foodsaver and Eiffel Freshpack Pro can handle a maximum width of bag of 11" (28cm) so don't buy rolls or bags that are wider than this. (This may sound obvious but learn from the mistake I made when buying my first stock of bags!)

I mostly used to buy mine from Lava Vacuum Packaging http://www.lava-vacuum-packing.com. At the time they were among the cheapest and the quality of the bags/rolls were good. Usually 90 micron bags will be fine for packing most things but you can also get extra thick 160 micron bags for sharper objects and for a longer packed life..

gav iscon · Aug 6, 2015

tombirmingham said:
...just found these thoughts > http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=6&TopicID=219583. Might be false economy ?

Theres also a comment on UK-Preppers from last year which wasn't favourable. Mines on this years xmas list :)

resurrected · Aug 6, 2015

Thanks everyone.

mummel · Aug 6, 2015

I'm getting this one next weekend. $50 at Costco.

FM2100-000-1.jpg

mummel
Aug 6, 2015

kiska95 · Aug 6, 2015

Just to chip in I got the Eiffel Pro from Ebay. They are normally around £99 but got mine for about £68 on the auction (same firm)

s-l140.jpg

kiska95
Aug 6, 2015

resurrected · Aug 6, 2015

kiska95 said:
Just to chip in I got the Eiffel Pro from Ebay. They are normally around £99 but got mine for about £68 on the auction (same firm)

s-l140.jpg

kiska95

Aug 6, 2015

Chip away :biggrin:

Brian,

Does it work with individual bags or does it take a roll?

wade · Aug 7, 2015

They will all use either rolls or pre-made bags. Some have the ability to store a roll within the unit but most do not. With either you simply cut the roll to the length of the bag required and then seal one end to create the bag. You then put in your food and vac pack it, sealing the other end. Most of these units will only create a single seal (which is usually fine) but they have a "seal only" function which allows you to add a second seal if necessary.

okie362 · Aug 7, 2015

I have the Food Saver V3860 and would not recommend this unit. I thought all the automation would come in handy but it's been a bigger pain than anything. It needs an automatic/manual mode so you can make it do what you need it to at times.

tombirmingham · Aug 7, 2015

The Andrew James one is 40 quid at the moment, anyone used it ? All reviews are good on Amazon.

dirtsailor2003 · Aug 7, 2015

I don't know what the shipping would be to the UK, but you should check out Vacmaster. They are a sponsor here and they give us a 10% discount code every month for their products. Lisa's customer service is top notch and the vacmaster reviews are excellent.

https://www.vacuumsealersunlimited.com/

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/newsearch?search=vacmaster

smokewood · Aug 8, 2015

I am looking at these at the moment:

http://www.fresherpack.co.uk/sections/1/vacuum_sealers/

resurrected · Aug 8, 2015

smokewood said:
I am looking at these at the moment:

http://www.fresherpack.co.uk/sections/1/vacuum_sealers/

Same as the one Brian mentioned above.

smokewood · Aug 8, 2015

dirtsailor2003 said:
I don't know what the shipping would be to the UK, but you should check out Vacmaster. They are a sponsor here and they give us a 10% discount code every month for their products. Lisa's customer service is top notch and the vacmaster reviews are excellent.

https://www.vacuumsealersunlimited.com/

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/newsearch?search=vacmaster

I am not sure that they would work in the UK as our electricity is 240 v

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