Vacuum sealer recommendations

I am thinking of investing in a good vacuum sealer for using primarily with fish. Any information, and or recommendations would be appreciated! Also, links to product reviews would also be helpful.


Dave

For the $ the FoodSaver available at Costco(& .com) really isn't a bad deal. In the current coupon book (expires 11/7) they have a $30 off coupon taking the price to $130. I like the pulse feature, so when you're sealing tender morsels like strawberries you don't crush them.


The biggest drawback w/the Food Saver is there is no barrier between the suction intake and the vacuum motor, so if you suck up even a small amount of liquid your unit will die. I was told this by a person at Food Saver after my first one went tits up. So the pita is you have to keep emptying, rinsing, and drying the catch reservoir between each bag or two when sealing juicy items like fish.


IMO the cheap price combined w/Costco's liberal return policy is reason enough to go with that unit. I looked at some of the better/more sturdy models last time I was at Cabela's and I think most started around $300 and went up from there.


Where they get you over a barrel is on the bags. I usual score the combo pack at Costco ($45), but there has to be a .com (anyone?) that has them cheaper. I found some old seal-a-meal bags in the pantry and I just can't get them to work with the food saver for some reason. On the plus side, the FS bags are made of nylon, which is a better food-grade contact substance than most plastics. Also they're fairly thick and puncture resistant, if you're careful most fishbones won't ruin your seal. 

I have used a food saver for many years and have had good luck with it.  On really juicy things I intend to freeze, I make a bag and only seal the one end.  Then, I place the food in the bag and pre-freeze it for a little while.  Then, I seal the other end.  It helps reduce the amount of juices flowing out of the bag.  I also double seal each end just to be safe.


-craig

I seal a lot of fish and the way that works great for me is to pre-wrap the pieces with cling wrap before vac sealing them.  Only takes a little more time and no juice gets pulled into the sealer.  Softer stuff like blueberries or mushrooms etc get frozen first then sealed

i have been using a food saver for a few years. Think it was a 70-80 dollar model. Works great. With fish you gotta make sure it's nice and dry and a trick i learned from BSteves is to fold up a paper towel into an inch wide strip and put in the end of the bag before you seal it and it sucks up the juice. I make sure my fish is pat dried real good and don't have much problem with juice overflow.
 
like LB said the bags are pretty spendy so take advantage of sales and stock up.
This one seems pretty good but they have better ones that are more spendy.
 
http://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-Advanced-Design-Vacuum-Sealer/dp/B000GB3ADC

Ditto on the Costco Foodsaver.  I've had good luck with mine. 

CBY, thanks for passing on the BSteves paper towel trick.

Good tips guys. PP the plastic wrap tech is great. I used it on a few fish I smoked last night and not only does the juice not get sucked up when packing but also realized that if there's any air bubbles and ice forms inside the ice is on the outside of the plastic wrap.

What others said the Foodsaver has done me well also. I use the Gamsaver Deluxe and has worked well for the past 4 years or so.

Z

Thanks everyone,


I will look into the foodsavers! Up until now, I have always frozen my fillets in water. It works fine, but takes up a lot of room. Also, leaky bags tend to leave smelly ice sickles hanging from the shelves!

Foodsavers are kinda like razors----razor is cheap but the blades cost a leg.  We have  the foodsaver, and reuse the bags at least once.

Related to this TTM was telling me he had a portable rechargeable  electric/hand pump vacuum sealer that worked really good. I'm guessing it was the ZipVac. www.zip-vac.com Care to comment TTM?

Z

Really cheap alternative:  http://www.ziploc.com/Products/Pages/VacuumFreezerSystem.aspx

Craig...when you say you double seal, do you do the 2nd over top of the 1st or just a bit past. the reason I ask is after 10 yrs. or so with my foodsaver pro I'm beginning to loose a lot more seals after a couple days. no problem getting vacume and inital seal. I avoid the possibility of moisture at the seal by prefreezing everything(on a bake sheet over night) and wiping the vacume seal end. I will definitly try the double seal, cheaper than buying a new unit, have to contact foodsaver and see if the heat/seal element can be replaced.

Craig...when you say you double seal, do you do the 2nd over top of the 1st or just a bit past. the reason I ask is after 10 yrs. or so with my foodsaver pro I'm beginning to loose a lot more seals after a couple days. no problem getting vacume and inital seal. I avoid the possibility of moisture at the seal by prefreezing everything(on a bake sheet over night) and wiping the vacume seal end. I will definitly try the double seal, cheaper than buying a new unit, have to contact foodsaver and see if the heat/seal element can be replaced.

i normally do the double seal also. i do two seals about 3/16ths apart or so

i normally do the double seal also. i do two seals about 3/16ths apart or so

Me too.  It really seems to make a difference.
 
-Spot-

Craig...when you say you double seal, do you do the 2nd over top of the 1st or just a bit past. the reason I ask is after 10 yrs. or so with my foodsaver pro I'm beginning to loose a lot more seals after a couple days. no problem getting vacume and inital seal. I avoid the possibility of moisture at the seal by prefreezing everything(on a bake sheet over night) and wiping the vacume seal end. I will definitly try the double seal, cheaper than buying a new unit, have to contact foodsaver and see if the heat/seal element can be replaced.

My food saver is old and I noticed I was losing seals so I seal twice on the same spot then do what Coosbayyaker does and put another seal about 3/16 inch away from the first.