Vacuum food bag sealer machines

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Plottered

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Vacuum food bag sealer machines
« on: June 10, 2012, 19:18 »
Anyone own one of these food bag vacuum sealer machine thingies? Im thinking of buying one to try and save a lot of food getting wasted especially as I have a glut of salad stuff this year and cant eat it fast enough  :D Im torn between the cheapo JML job and a dearer but better model available on ebay

  product link

Does anyone own either and could let me know if the cheaper jml ones last the distance. Ive bought a few jml gadgets and been disappointed but the ebay ones are going for up to £80.00.

thanks
« Last Edit: June 10, 2012, 21:01 by mumofstig »
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Val H

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Re: Vacuum food bag sealer machines
« Reply #1 on: June 11, 2012, 00:36 »
Val
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Plottered

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Re: Vacuum food bag sealer machines
« Reply #2 on: June 11, 2012, 08:56 »
Take a look at this post http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=93097.0

thanks a lot Val i'll have a look at that.

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Trillium

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Re: Vacuum food bag sealer machines
« Reply #3 on: June 11, 2012, 14:09 »
The features in the one on your ebay whatsit look very similar to my Foodsaver unit. I think the key will be in the type of bags used/supplied. Pay the extra and buy good bags, ones with a sort of weave/rough texture on one side. These are channels that help the bag to seal better because two smooth sided surfaces will not seal properly or will weaken very soon.

and since the instructions don't mention it, always have the rough side facing up - it seems to make a big difference.

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Plottered

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Re: Vacuum food bag sealer machines
« Reply #4 on: June 11, 2012, 15:08 »
The features in the one on your ebay whatsit look very similar to my Foodsaver unit. I think the key will be in the type of bags used/supplied. Pay the extra and buy good bags, ones with a sort of weave/rough texture on one side. These are channels that help the bag to seal better because two smooth sided surfaces will not seal properly or will weaken very soon.

and since the instructions don't mention it, always have the rough side facing up - it seems to make a big difference.


thanks for the info trillium...points noted  :)

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Trillium

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Re: Vacuum food bag sealer machines
« Reply #5 on: June 11, 2012, 17:42 »
Just realized I kept saying 'bag', but that isn't the case. You can buy the special bags, but more economical are the rolls of bagging material, which is what I prefer. You cut to the size needed and allow a few more inches for the machine to process. This will self explain once you try a few test bags.

It looks like you have 'port' which I think is the best feature of sealers. You simple attach a hose unit that should come with your machine (if not, try their websites to purchase) and you can seal bottling jars of product. If you purchase cannisters, you can seal smaller non-kilner jars with their own lids.

Watch this video for a fairly comprehensive list of what they can do here.

There is a universal lid sealer available but it does only regular sized kilner jars. I'm in love with my sealer unit and it saves loads of money on purchased food that might not get eaten up quickly. Do note that perishables such as dairy, meat and fresh produce must either be frozen or refrigerated after sealing.

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Plottered

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Re: Vacuum food bag sealer machines
« Reply #6 on: June 11, 2012, 20:07 »
Thanks again for taking the time to reply trillium. That video is very informative. We have decided to go with one we have seen on Lakeland website at £54.99...It has the port on it for sealing jars so cant wait for it to arrive now and we can start messing :)


thanks again.

and thanks also to mjpalin who contacted me via pm as she was unable to reply here for some reason

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mjpalin

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Re: Vacuum food bag sealer machines
« Reply #7 on: June 11, 2012, 20:28 »
Glad you're all sorted plottered - the reply button seems to have "arrived" on the thread overnight so I can post now :-)
Link to my first attempt at a diary: http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=113513.0

Comments & suggestions on my diary welcome here: http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=113518.0

Spend ytd: £293.44 (setting up plot 29 has been expensive) Harvest ytd: £163.93 (as at 8/8)

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Plottered

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Re: Vacuum food bag sealer machines
« Reply #8 on: June 17, 2012, 13:32 »
thanks mjpalin....Unit arrived on Friday and we have successfully sealed and frozen several things already. Later on I will prepping a few meals for my lad who is taking part in the 3 peaks  challenge soon and has a 3 night wild camp practice run in the lakes next weekend. This should be handy for boil in the bag meals for him to just pop in his billy can and reheat.  ;)

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Plottered

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Re: Vacuum food bag sealer machines
« Reply #9 on: July 01, 2012, 09:08 »
Has anyone successfully sealed bread in one of these....Ive tried last night to seal a half a cheese bread that I know will go to waste if its left in its own packaging but it doesnt seem to to work. Is it pulling all the air out of the bread hence why it wont seal?

Also had a few problems  when reusing bags, I make sure they are clean and dry but they dont always seal properly. I think I will try a different supplier for bags next time. mjpalin sent me a good link from a pm so I think i'll try that one.

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goldendaisy123

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Re: Vacuum food bag sealer machines
« Reply #10 on: July 01, 2012, 10:35 »
Sorry Plottered I can't help with your bread query, but had never really considered a sealer machine - they look really useful and love the attachments for sealing jars.
Looks like this has jumped to the top of my wanted list lol! :)

Thanks Trillium and Plottered.

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Plottered

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Re: Vacuum food bag sealer machines
« Reply #11 on: July 01, 2012, 11:23 »
Sorry Plottered I can't help with your bread query, but had never really considered a sealer machine - they look really useful and love the attachments for sealing jars.
Looks like this has jumped to the top of my wanted list lol! :)

Thanks Trillium and Plottered.

They are very handy goldendaisy.....Just had to pull loads of onions as they were rotting in the ground but they have all been chopped up and sealed and are in the freezer....just need a bigger freezer now though  :lol:

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Trillium

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Re: Vacuum food bag sealer machines
« Reply #12 on: July 01, 2012, 16:13 »
Once you start sealing, you forget to stop  :D It really is such a versatile machine.

Re the bread: that is very hard to do because fresh bread contains air and the machine is made to extract air, so you'd end up with very stale but well sealed bread. It rather defeats the purpose. Bread is probably one of the few things that are almost impossible to seal. And the cheese is greasy so possibly a bit of grease got on one of the edges which makes that spot unsealable.

As for reusing bags, that is very tricky. If both sides are smooth, then a home machine has trouble extracting enough air to make the seal. That's why the special bags with one 'rough' side are made. Air can get out of the channels that also make it difficult for air to sneak back in through. And once airless, the bag can be sealed. Commercial machines work differently so it's basically a waste of effort to try to save smooth bags. I try to be economical with mine by bagging smaller, more useful quantities that I measure out for specific needs: eg, 8 cups oatmeal (which is our normal need for a few weeks).

There is a way around reusing bags here. But I must point out that by doing so, you could void your warranty if something wrong happens.

I too try to be thrifty with the bags/rolls but as one lady said, we have to stop being cheap with them so we can get the proper job done.

BTW, if you're getting short on freezer space, have you considered dehydrating produce? I've been doing mushrooms, lemons, red peppers (from shops) among other things, I place the dried items in kilner jars and use the sealer attachment to seal the lid. It's been working out very well and saving no end of freezer space. Items can also be bag sealed and those bags stored in sealed buckets or big storage totes against rodents.

One of the best tututorials on this is this gal. It's a multi sectioned topic, but not overly long, yet she thoroughly covers both dehydrating and sealing. I don't bother with the gloves myself.

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Plottered

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Re: Vacuum food bag sealer machines
« Reply #13 on: July 02, 2012, 11:35 »
thanks for the info trillium and the links are superb

as for drying food our alloment society has a dehydrator in the community cabin....im going to be using it this week to dry some sage out as Ive a massive sage bush thats taking over the herb garden at home. Im hoping to use it for fruits as well later on in the season. :)



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