Foodsaver or other vacuum packing...

[Hobie]

I was reading about a Corsican ram and when it was mentioned that it was cut up and put in the freezer it made me think about those vacuum packing machines such as the Foodsaver. I've never owned one. We just used some brown butcher paper. I wasn't always happy with that. I was wondering, anyone here have anything good or bad to say about that method of packing? I understand they are also useful for packing parts, even whole guns. Yeas or nays on that? Kinda interesting in everyone's experiences and opinions.

[fordwannabe]

Hobie I have been using one for years, works well as long as you make sure it is sealed well. I double seal mine anymore, don't know if its my machine or the whole line but sometimes the seal would come undone just a little, but that is all it takes. The most useful thing for me, besides sealing meat, is sealing socks and underwear for hunts. If all elso goes phooey, at least I will have dry socks and unders.
Bags can be a little on the spendy side and I use the roll of uncut "baggie material so ican customize the bag to the item. Foodsaver brand. Tom

[Hobie]

I will NEVER discount the value of DRY SOCKS! That is, in fact, one of my intended uses!

[JReed]

fordwanabe nailed it.
We have had one for years and use it all the time. I would never be with out one. We like to go to Sam's Club and stock up at the meat department. We get it all home portion it all out then seal it up with the food saver and put it in the deep freezer. I also use it to store my game meat.

[Pete44ru]

One of my son's friends gave a complete Foodsaver set/kit ( sealer, roll slicer, accessories, etc) to us for Christmas, several years ago when they were fairly new on the market - and that's ALL my family uses for ALL frozen meat, storebought and game.

We used to think it best to use the Foodsaver (brand) bags/rolls - but have actually found the rolls from WallyWorld (half the Foodsaver rolls cost) to work just as well.

(FYI, with rolls, a bunch of "lengths needed for bags are cut with the slicer in the kit, one end sealed to make a bag, then the other end sealed after the bag is filled)

There are only TWO basic musts:

1) Clean the sealing machine's seals & heat bar after EVERY use, or oftener if req'd.

2) Ensure the part of the bag to be heat sealed is CLEAN ( of blood, etc) before attempting to pull the vacuum.

The best meat/frozen results seem to be obtained when the machine's auto vacuuming takes over (about 3/4 through the sealing) - which removes most of the air in the bag; but I've also had NP with meats I sealed in a bag that wouldn't entirely "pull down" or go into automatic shrink fit.

The hardest part is the meat prep - portioning for the bag or meal capacity, trimming, etc.

.

[pokey]

sealing socks and underwear for hunts. If all elso goes phooey, at least I will have dry socks and unders.

not only dry, but they take up a whole lot less room.

also store any thing you don't want air getting to [primers in the freezer].

[adirondakjack]

I have a Foodsaver I bought expressly for packing cast bullets so they don't bang each other up in transit.

Works great, even for food Seriously, in the absence of air, food comes out of the freezer a LOT better, even after a lonnnnnng time.

A huge plus is the ability to waterproof and "smash pack" stuff for camping, etc. It's a great way to safely transport stuff.

You can even re-seal bags of chips and other stuff that comes in mylar bags (don't vacuum chips, LOL, just seal em).

I've even vacuum (gently, don't crush it) sealed my smart phone to make it waterproof for kayak fishing (the touch screen works through the mylar bag).

[jcw]

We've been using one for years. The only downside is the price they get for rolls of bag material.

[Tycer]

I use mine a lot. The bags are not for long term storage.

[Mike D.]

Vacuum sealed meat last up to 3 yrs, no problem. We use ours for all the above reasons. I'm thinking of buying a bigger one from Cabelas to go with our other processing tools.

[pharmseller]

Very big thumbs up to vacuum sealing. I have a Foodsaver brand and I have eaten elk from 4 years ago that I could not tell from this year's frozen hamburger.

One key lesson: ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS poke a hole in the bag before defrosting. If you defrost under a vacuum you will pull all the moisture from the meat.

When I vacuum pack fish I freeze the fish first overnight on waxed paper. Vacuum pack the next day. You get much better table fare that way.


P

[Bullard4075]

fordwanabe nailed it.
We have had one for years and use it all the time. I would never be with out one. We like to go to Sam's Club and stock up at the meat department. We get it all home portion it all out then seal it up with the food saver and put it in the deep freezer. I also use it to store my game meat.

+1
We vacuum pack:
Clothes/socks/medicine (for camping). VP clothes take up much less space in the camper.
leftover soup (freeze first in tupperware,pop out then freeze)
meat (freeze till blood/liquids solidify then vacuum pack)
cheese
anything from the garden
seeds
nuts
coffee (beans or ground)
hard vacuum containers (made by foodsaver) greatly speeds up marinating
fish (freeze till blood/liquids solidify then vacuum pack)
On an on and on

You'll find uses even I haven't thought of.

[Pete44ru]

I wonder if I can git bag material, big enough to vacuum pack my mother-in-law ?

.

[Blaine]

I wonder if I can git bag material, big enough to vacuum pack my mother-in-law ?

.

I used commercial shrink wrap and a hair dryer.....

[SFRanger7GP]

I sold mine a few weeks ago in our yard sale. Freezer bags are such good quality now that we were never using it.

[Modoc ED]

We've used ours for years -- never lost any meat to freezer burn etc.. and never had any meat go bad.

[Borregos]

They are well worth having Hobie.
We have been using one for a couple of years now and would not be without it.
My two married daughters think I have made a good investment too, but they have no idea where to get the plastic freezer rolls from