# Don't Have a Vacuum Sealer?



## old sarge (Nov 1, 2018)

I have a heavy duty LEM Vacuum sealer.  Works great and on long sessions never gets warm  But for just a few pieces of meat, say prime NY Strip from the Costco, I skip vac sealing all together.  I use Stretch-Tite.  I will pull 2 steaks for dinner and individually double wrap the remaining with plastic wrap.  The first wrapping is very tight.  The second in 90 degrees from the first so as to overlap the seams. Then zip lock and freeze.  I first heard of Stretch Tite a few years ago on a PBS cooking show which rated it best. So I started using it.  The I found it at Costco, twin 750 foot rolls with slide cutters for under $12.  1500 feet for under $12!  Well, I still use my vac sealer for large cuts if not sold vac sealed but for just a few items, I go for the Stretch Tite.  So far I have not experienced any freezer burn and this after the meat has been in the freezer for a couple of months. Just thought I would pass it on.  Stretch Tite also sells a thicker freezer wrap but not at Costco. 
https://www.costco.com/Kirkland-Sig...-78"-x-758-ft,-2-count.product.100116718.html


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## chopsaw (Nov 1, 2018)

I do the same thing , with a different brand . It does work good and you don't waste vac bags . I bet the stretch tight is a better product . Have to look for it . Thanks .


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## SonnyE (Nov 2, 2018)

Sarge, That's just not fair!
I've barely got the wife accepting the vacuum bags and sealer.
Now you want me to blow holes in all the work to get her to finally accept my wacky idea to vacuum seal?:confused::eek:

:D

Did you ever consider the huge roll?
Twice as much for a few more bucks.

:rolleyes:


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## old sarge (Nov 2, 2018)

SonnyE - My apologies. I still prefer vac sealing but some times the quantity of steak is minimal, maybe 2 to 4, after pulling a couple for dinner.  If I have to do more, then out comes the vac sealer, I get a kick out of using it. And I go to the freezer and pull some of the wrapped meats and vac seal them as well.  Just because I can! :)As for the "huge roll" it is indeed a bargain but our local Costco, 83 miles away, only sells the twin pack. And the box fits our kitchen drawer like a glove, nestled in amongst foil, parchment paper and those dreaded zip lock bags. But I do believe the Stretch Tite is easier to use and a better product that the more familiar brands.  ;)


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## SonnyE (Nov 2, 2018)

old sarge said:


> SonnyE - My apologies. I still prefer vac sealing but some times the quantity of steak is minimal, maybe 2 to 4, after pulling a couple for dinner.  If I have to do more, then out comes the vac sealer, I get a kick out of using it. And I go to the freezer and pull some of the wrapped meats and vac seal them as well.  Just because I can! :)As for the "huge roll" it is indeed a bargain but our local Costco, 83 miles away, only sells the twin pack. And the box fits our kitchen drawer like a glove, nestled in amongst foil, parchment paper and those dreaded zip lock bags. But I do believe the Stretch Tite is easier to use and a better product that the more familiar brands.  ;)



Thank You Sarge. That was more meant as tongue in cheek about the wife. She thinks Ziploc bags rule the world. :confused:
We have differences of opinion about kitchen stuff sometimes. Usually ends with her reminding me that she's been cooking for 60 years. (While it is true, a man _can_ get tired of two main dishes....) :D
I can see how the smaller packages could be better in the real world, easier to work with and use.

I'm more inquisitive, more daring, and I even enjoy browsing the kitchen and baking isles. I like to experiment, I'm like a kid in a candy store, and always interested in other friends ideas and methods.
It just never occurred to me to try using stretch wrap as a primary wrapping agent for meat. Although, thinking back on it, I do recall the occasional times someone packaged up something for me to take home in it. 
Even given that, I guess the circuit was open, or the bulb burned out, because it never did light up for me. ;)
And maybe my difficulties with Cling Wrap are what discouraged me from doing more with stretchy plastics. That crap always sticks into a ball for me, if *IF* I can get it started to come off the roll... :mad:

Being a tool guy, I naturally gravitate toward anything that involves any equipment. And maybe the slitter would be my tipping point. It has a tool to cut the wrap! :cool: :rolleyes: (The term, "Simple minds, Simple pleasures might apply here.) :D

Unfortunately, I can't even check our Costco. Seems when the wife got her Costco cards, she gave one of the _two_ Costco issues to the Daughter. Between the two households, they usually make enough in rewards to pay for the annual membership dues. So, I can't go to Costco. No card for me. :(
When we joined our nearby Sam's Club I made damn sure I got a card. The kids rolled it into a business account, and now they pay the dues. But Grandpa has a card. ;)

Unfortunately, when I go to Sam's that "Kid in a Candy Store" comes out.
I went there early because we can get in before ****General Public****  can. I went to gas up the Granny Van. Then got diverted  (via Text message) to get *1* gallon jug of milk, and chicken legs and thighs with the skin on to BBQ for dinner since we had the 3 Grandkid's all day.
You cannot put me in that store alone and send me anywhere near the meat. I got Baby Backs and the chicken, and the *1* gallon jug of milk. Then I went shopping....
We call it the hunnerd dollar store. It's hard to get out for less than a hundred dollars for us. All said and done, it cost me $342+ to escape. :eek:

I even got a computer display to replace the old one (2nd) that died last month. We have the 3 little grandkids quite a lot.
Often two want to do things on Grandpa's computer at the same time. When the cutest little 2 1/2 year old Mia came up and tapped my arm and said, "Elsa Grandpa?" and I had to tell her we couldn't, because her sister was doing ABC Ya! at the time on the main display.
So Grandpa _just had to_ get a replacement display so both can share Grandpa's lap and do their time with the computer.
Grandma didn't care because she absconded with over half my wages for driving the last two weeks for "Bills". (Usually all of it goes into savings. So the kid in the candy store was also a little retaliatory as well.)
But I'm not frivolous about my spending, I'm cold and calculated about it. And if I think she would snipe at me, I just do it and let her fume if she needs to. A Man's gotta do what a Man's gotta do.

I'm going to print out that ad so she knows what I want her to get, and why. She's a great gal and will get me special requests usually.


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## old sarge (Nov 2, 2018)

Costco is an 80 mile drive  for us. I get lost in the meat section when we go. And then there is the Beecher's Mac and Cheese - something special from Washington State.  Very good! We keep a cooler in the vehicle for the few things we usually buy.  So a few months back, went a little crazy.  The collapsible cooler was way too small. Costco to the rescue! Bought a 100 qt igloo cooler to hold everything cold/frozen. Lots of twin pack whole chickens, pork chops, ribeyes, NY strips, and a host of other  edible necessities. It wasn't a month later we went to visit my son and his family in the Phoenix area, a 3 hour drive. Packed the collapsible cooler with some homemade goodies to take with us. On the way home, wife says lets stop at Costco for just a couple of items.  Shopped and got to the car; too much for the cooler.  Got another, 52 qt. That NEVER leaves the vehicle.  I am cooler poor. 

You like tools?  Here is a link you might enjoy (even has a few vintage kitchen items from France for the missus).

https://www.garrettwade.com

I wonder how many folks know what an adze is, besides a few of us?


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## SonnyE (Nov 3, 2018)

You and I know what an Adze is, the rest can catch up.
Garret Wade... much drool over their catalogs and web site.
I have a few hand tools from my Grandfathers handed down to me by my Dad.
And Disston hand saws pretty near 100 years old now.
The times I use them there is a reverence of my sweat melding with their's.
Time Honored Respect. Lost arts.

Too soon Old, Too late Smart. ;)


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## old sarge (Nov 3, 2018)

Have a few relics myself.  Hard to find that kind of quality these days.


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## johnmeyer (Nov 3, 2018)

I don't have quite as long a drive to Costco, but it's far enough that we started using a cooler. I use an old one I bought in the summer of 1976 when I took my one and only vacation and we did a long cross-country drive to see all the bicentennial sights. The handles long ago fell off, but I managed to snake some RG6 coax cable through holes I drilled through the insulation where the handles used to attach. I bound the ends up with electricians tape and Gorilla tape, and the handles are actually better then the original. It's no Yeti, but its perfect for keeping things cold for an hour or so. I use some of those cold packs that come with mail order food. I wonder if there are better cold packs? I've never researched that.

As for that Stretch-Tite wrap, we discovered that about two years ago and find it to be absolutely amazing. There's no going back to Saran or Glad or any of the other usual brands. The amount we gopt at Costco, for absolutely no money, is enough to last the two of us until our diaper stage.


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## old sarge (Nov 3, 2018)

Stretch tite is definitely the way to go for plastic wrap.


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