Suck it Up!

[smokeguy]

Vacuum bags get expensive as a lot of you know, so I wanted to let everyone know what I've found out lately. Sam's has a pretty good deal of $60-something for some make-yourself bags last time I looked, but I wanted some that I didn't have to make each bag since I knew I wanted a gallon bag each time. Buying them from Walmart or some such place got pretty expensive.

So I started looking around.

Uline- it's a great site for most all of your shipping needs. I saw the bags here http://www.uline.com/BL_5563/Vacuum-...s=vacuum%2520b and they're a pretty good price. I called them up and they said they really couldn't tell me if it would work without a commercial food sealer (the kind that evacuates all the air out from under the lid, then seals the bag, then lets the air back in) but were not sure about mine. I have the Cabela's CG-15, which is like a regular food saver type, but leans a bit more toward heavy duty usages. They told me that they weren't sure this type could seal them. Mine has an adjustable sealing time, so they asked if they could send out some samples to let me try.
I said NO WAY can you send me free samples!

So after I got them

, I found out that I couldn't suck them down since they didn't have the "diamond" pattern that mine and FoodSaver type of machines need to do that. However, I had no problem sealing them. Opposite of what they thought would be the case.
So, if you need some bags to seal stuff without sucking them down first, these would work great for that.

But, onward ho since they weren't going to be what I needed in order to preserve my frozen meats 1 year plus. I found this site http://www.vacmesh.com/ and they said it worked with all FoodSaver type of machines, and even mentioned the CG-15. So at only 29.5 cents per bag for a gallon bag that is even bigger by couple of inches than a FoodSaver bag, I went for it. Even after shipping it comes out to 33.5 cents a bag. Well, I got them (200 of them, on sale right now) a few days ago and so far I've sucked down 19 lbs of turkey, 1 lb per bag, and they have done absolutely fantastic. They don't have the big triangle things like FoodSaver does, but instead of that they have a pretty fine little "mesh" stuff on one side that must do the same thing - allow air to transfer out. That allows me to put my sliced meats in there nice and pretty like, and you can see them very well from either the clear side, or the "almost clear" mesh side.

Anyway, hopefully if you're looking for a good deal on these this will help you out. Yes, 200 is a lot of bags, but keep them out of the sun and heat and they don't go bad. This site also offers plenty of other options if you don't need gallon size, and if you have the CG-15 or equivalent, they even offer the 15" wide bags so that you don't necessarily have to go through Cabela's to get them.

 

[bassman]

Sounds like you got a good deal. I use so many different size bags, I need the make your own style. Sam's had them yesterday for $39.00 a box. Thanks for the review.

 

[smokeguy]

I was just going back through the site thinking I could use some of the Make Your Own too for peppers and other things. Looks like they have a pretty good deal on bags already made, and on continuous rolls if you need that much of one size. They even have an example right now of I think it was an 8x24 and suggested that you could cut it in half and make two bags.

I'm going to Sam's Friday. What was included in the $39 box?

 

[kingudaroad]

Last time I bought the 6 roll box it wsa about $50 at sportsmans warehouse. Just bought 2 rolls at Target yesterday for $20.

Doesn't it seem like they designed the sealers to waste just a little bit of bag every time?

 

[mgwerks]

It sure does. I know of at least one person that actually trimmed the front cover down on his sealer so that he could get the food closer to the sealing strip, saving almost an inch per bag. That will add up over time!

 

[smokeguy]

Looks like the family running vacmesh is going into semi-retirement so they're not carrying as much as they did before, and don't have the bags I use which are the gallon 11x16. He sent me to http://www.vacnsac.com/index.php?crn=235 and they seem to be a pretty good deal too, although since I'm in TX and they're in TX I have to pay 8.25% sales tax now.

They have bags, rolls, and combo kits. For my gallon size they have 100, 200 and 600 cases. I got the 600 and after tax and shipping it was 37.24 cents/bag. The 200 case would have been 41.64 cents/bag and I didn't price out the 100 but they would have been a couple or so more cents/bag I would imagine. They only take Paypal.

Not too long ago I also got a pretty good deal on rolls and bags from http://www.jardenstore.com/Index.aspx?brandid=491 that someone had mentioned, so if you're needing some, here are a couple that might work out for you.

 

[trashcan]

I work with sonic welders, shrinking ovens and vacuum shrinkers all the time (industrial, not food) and although you do need to "waste" some to get a good even weld, my Mother's vacuum sealer seems to eat the d*** things. Not only does it leave about quarter to 3/8" around the food, but the weld is a good quarter inch. Given the thickness of the bag itself, it's like leaving a half inch bead on quarter inch plate (for all you metal workers). Self marketing right there.