I need advice about which vacuum sealer for cuts of meat.

I would want one at least 15 inches.

By a more expensive one.

I have a medium price one my son has a higher grade one it works better by far.

Can you tell me what your son is using?

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:
I need advice about which vacuum sealer for cuts of meat.

I’m sure that you have thought this through, so I shouldn’t offer my opinion, but....

I find that vacuum sealers are good for fish fillets but are useless for cuts of meat. Cuts of meat tends to have lots of angles that make the bag useless if the seal is compromised where fish fillets are almost perfectly shaped for vacuum bags.

Plastic wrap works much better. It forces the meat into a shape that doesn’t need a perfect seal to keep the meat protected.

I have used “professional” sealers and bags and this has been my experience. Maybe others have had better luck....

I bought my first food vacuuming system about 20 years ago. It was a cheapo from Walmart and it worked like magic the first time I used it, but the second time I tried it the thing wouldn't pull a vacuum. I returned it to the store and exchanged it for the Food Saver brand and have packaged a lot of meat and a few other food items with it until last week when I was using it and in the middle of working with it the thing up and quit pulling a vacuum. I went on a shopping spree at Costco last Sat. and bought another Food Saver and though it works different than the previous model it does the job. I have never had a leaker from all the many hundreds of pounds of meat I have packaged with the Food Saver. Are there better machines out there? Probably, but I am kind of like the guy that needs to get somewhere and fires up his old Buick and goes. He could get there in a new Caddy but he would still be at the same place. I had to pay about $90 for this FS and I know the last one wasn't near that much. Oh well

I've had a Weston 2000 series for 10 years or so. Very happy with it.

Jeremy

We package several hundred pounds a year with it.

We get about 98 percent good seals.

I think my sons is a higher grade food saver.

Before you buy any of them.

Take a good study of what
LEM has to offer. Top quality
products and parts if n when
they break at a fair price.

I have a FS, use it at times and
like the results. Sometimes they're
a real PITA to make 'em suck. Kinda
like some women we've known!

I have several items from LEM and
they're all very good except the
$20 pos cheap french fry cutter.
That's junk! The $100 job is great.

George

Ditto on Food Saver from Costco, works great, easy to use, replacement rolls available everywhere.

Happy with my Weston as well.

Everyone: Thank you for your experience. JBrown: I have no preconceived notions on this.

I have a book that recommends some brand that cost 700 bucks. If that is what it takes so be it.

Sportsman’s has a brand that tops out at 179 bucks (I think it is a food saver)

Cable’s has its brand at 350 that I am pretty sure sucks.

I will look at LEM.

Keep the recommendations or user reports good or bad coming.

Weston for me after 3 failed Foodsavers. I believe the Cabelas are Westons with their label on them. One of the few things they have not knocked off. Foodsavers are notorious for failing to pull vacuum after a few seals.

The units Cabelas sells are Weston OEMs. Good solid units. I pack hundreds of pounds of fish and meat per year. Make sure the unit you buy has extra vacuum gaskets sealing tape and heating elements available and you are good to go with them. If you need a better unit then the last alternative is the chamber units whits are 2x+ as expensive.

Chamber Unit is what the book suggest to purchase.

However, it does not state a brand. I do not think I have seen a Chamber Unit.

The book is by Hank Shaw a professional Chef. He is not too big on the non Chamber Unit types.

Is a Chamber Unit necessary?

It appears the Forum is happy with Weston’s. Thank guys. I will let you know.

We had the same Food Saver for 16 years while we lived AK. Sometimes it gave us fits but for us it always worked better than freezer paper and you could see what was in the package.

Do a Google search. Food Saver V3240 seems to be at the top now and it's about $99 thru Amazon.

Mark

I have a FS and it has worked great for me.

Instead of buying the more expensive premade bags I have been able to "make my own" bags of various sizes using the rolls and a few extra seals. For example, I can drop a few pieces of jerky in a small bag and seal it, or premeasure gatorade mix into a small bag to take along during longer bike rides, etc.

Don't forget a Sharpie for marking/dating everything.

I've had my Foodsaver for so long now I don't even remember where I bought it. I have never had to replace any parts on it. Still works perfectly.

A few things I do when packaging meats:

I freeze the cuts first before sealing the package. This way there is no battle with juices getting into the chamber or the seal. I bag the cuts and stick them in the freezer overnight and seal the next day.

The other thing I do is double seal. I like thicker cuts since I grill mostly. A small wrinkle in the bag at the seal will leak. Double sealing prevents this.

Lastly, pressure canning tougher muscle is the way to go for those cuts. Tender, delicious and saves freezer space for grill worth meat.

Ann, that's a great idea about freezing before sealing. I seem to vac pack a lot of soups, stews, chilis, etc..
Muchas gracias young lady!

Bill, works great for meals with a lot of liquid in them.

quote:

posted 24 February 2020 02:07 Hide Post
Chamber Unit is what the book suggest to purchase.

However, it does not state a brand. I do not think I have seen a Chamber Unit.

The book is by Hank Shaw a professional Chef. He is not too big on the non Chamber Unit types.

Is a Chamber Unit necessary?

It appears the Forum is happy with Weston’s. Thank guys. I will let you know.

I have gone through 2 food savers and gave away an Italian brand. I like the upper end Cabelas (Weston) that I have been using for the last 12 years or so. Look for bag rolls on ebay. They're about 1/4 the cost.

I've been using a FoodSaver now for about 10 years. No complaints other than the bags are not exactly cheap.

I have even vacuum sealed camping stuff like matches, socks, and underwear I wanted to keep dry. Also bulky stuff, when vacuum sealed take up a lot less space..

quote:

Originally posted by Pa.Frank:
I've been using a FoodSaver now for about 10 years. No complaints other than the bags are not exactly cheap.

I have even vacuum sealed camping stuff like matches, socks, and underwear I wanted to keep dry. Also bulky stuff, when vacuum sealed take up a lot less space..

Supposedly the bags are reusable but I would worry about getting them clean enough. I am sure it can be done so they are safe to use though.

The cost of the bags was one reason I decided to try pressure canning. Now I can not only save on the cost of bags but also have reusable jars from the canned meat. Saves on freezer space too since canned meat is shelf stable.

I have an elderly neighbor I look out for. I gave him a jar of venison to try. He looked at me very suspiciously but took the jar home. It was about two weeks before he worked up the gumption to try the meat. I had given him a stew recipe.

He just came by today with the empty canning jar with the biggest smile on his face.

I have used a chamber vacuum sealer for years.

Pros
Bags are cheaper
Long term dependable
You can vacuum seal anything. Gumbo, Chili, soup
I have sealed 50 to 60 bags non stop with no overheating or other problems

Cons
Heavy
Up front expensive although long term could save money

This is where I bought mine

https://www.webstaurantstore.c...kaging-machines.html

The model I have is no longer available.

I buy bulk bags from Cabelas, possibly another labeled Weston product. They seem better than the FS bags to me.

I buy premade bags off Amazon from whichever is the cheapest I can find brand. They are all the same so far and work well.

If you buy them 200 or more at a time, they get pretty cheap.

Jeremy

I’ve had a food saver but moved up to the Weston that does a better job. But, my next one will be a chamber sealer which is even better. I buy the bags by the roll and cut to size. You need to cut the bags long for thick cuts of meat so the bag will have enough length to collapse around it.
I pat my fish fillets dry, water is the enemy.