Finally tried out my food sealer

[Marie5656]

A few days ago, I bought a batch of meat, portioned it out and put it in the freezer. Today I took out a few pieces to seal. Took some trial and error, and will have to get used to measuring out he right size from the roll. But it is simple to use, and I think I will like it. It will be great for single portions, or portions for two.
Some of the chicken I will seal in single and a bit bigger portions, as some I will be saving to make soup.

 

[Kadee]

Aldi has food sealers on their special buy/ days quite often ,I’ve looked at them and always thought the replacement bags were rather expensive.
I live in a small country town so I do allot of my shopping in the city when I go down there so a sealer would be handy, I might do a bit more research on them

 

[Marie5656]

That was the big reason I was hesitant. But the instructions show something about sealing the freezer bags, like Ziploc. I have some on hand, may try once I am more used to the machine.
I do not buy a lot of meat, so I do not se me investing in a lot of bags, and probably will not use it for everything I buy. I am anxious to see of the taste is any different after I try the food.

 

[RadishRose]

That was the big reason I was hesitant. But the instructions show something about sealing the freezer bags, like Ziploc. I have some on hand, may try once I am more used to the machine.
I do not buy a lot of meat, so I do not se me investing in a lot of bags, and probably will not use it for everything I buy. I am anxious to see of the taste is any different after I try the food.

I don't think I would notice a taste change unless the item got really old, like over a year. This would be nice for fresh fish on sale like swordfish, salmon, etc.

What about things like casseroles?

 

[Llynn]

I've used one for years. As you observed, the machine is particularly practical for reducing and preserving big hunks of meat to single serving size. That's all I currently use mine for. In the past I bought bulk pipe tobacco and sealed it up in individual 2oz packages. That worked well also.

 

[Marie5656]

What about things like casseroles?

Good question. There is an attachment where you can seal in containers with special lids. I would suspect they do not come cheap. I know there are special instructions for "wetter" foods. Soup, and I guess casseroles. You still have to freeze first, and then seal. I am not yhere yet in my learning, but if I try, I will post here.

 

[In The Sticks]

Aldi has food sealers on their special buy/ days quite often ,I’ve looked at them and always thought the replacement bags were rather expensive.
I live in a small country town so I do allot of my shopping in the city when I go down there so a sealer would be handy, I might do a bit more research on them

Check out Walmart and Amazon for generic bag prices.

I've been buying from a seller named FoodVacBags. His stuff is good, and inexpensive.

 

[Kadee]

Thank you @In The Sticks
I live in Australia we don‘t have Walmart however there are lots of places including eBay who sell the machines and extra bags , I’m planning doing a bit more of research latter

 

[Suzy623]

I've never pre-frozen any of the meats or leftovers I've sealed to freeze. I have frozen sauces in the bags as soon as it cooled off, using the 'wet' button. It doesn't pull the air out as strong and fast as the setting for 'dry' foods. I've frozen breads and rolls in the bags, using pastry boxes like you get at bakeries, sometimes cut to fit. I vacuum the bag until the box is beginning to bend. I've never had a problem. Is there something I've missed in the instructions?

 

[In The Sticks]

I've never pre-frozen any of the meats or leftovers I've sealed to freeze. I have frozen sauces in the bags as soon as it cooled off, using the 'wet' button. It doesn't pull the air out as strong and fast as the setting for 'dry' foods. I've frozen breads and rolls in the bags, using pastry boxes like you get at bakeries, sometimes cut to fit. I vacuum the bag until the box is beginning to bend. I've never had a problem. Is there something I've missed in the instructions?

Not all vacuum machines have a "wet" button.

The ones that do have the "wet" button work as you say: they pull a weaker vacuum so as to avoid sucking in juices.
The ones that do not have the "wet" button require that you freeze things to set the juices before vacuuming.

Mine does not have the "wet" setting. I've done what it sounds like you do for other stuff: when I think the vacuum is gonna crush or distort my food, I hit the "Seal" button to truncate the vacuum process and immediately seal the bag.

 

[Suzy623]

Not all vacuum machines have a "wet" button.

The ones that do have the "wet" button work as you say: they pull a weaker vacuum so as to avoid sucking in juices.
The ones that do not have the "wet" button require that you freeze things to set the juices before vacuuming.

Mine does not have the "wet" setting. I've done what it sounds like you do for other stuff: when I think the vacuum is gonna crush or distort my food, I hit the "Seal" button to truncate the vacuum process and immediately seal the bag.

That never crossed my mind even though my first FoodSaver didn't have a 'wet' button. That does explain it though.

 

[In The Sticks]

That never crossed my mind even though my first FoodSaver didn't have a 'wet' button. That does explain it though.

I take it that the "wet" button works. I never considered buying a machine that had one out of concern it would not vacuum out all the air. As I've said elsewhere, I've been using these ever since the days of "Tilia" machines sold on TV. Used Seal-A-Meal machines before that...they got me thought night classes without having to eat fast food every night.

Weekends were homework + cook & freeze for the longest time.

 

[C'est Moi]

That never crossed my mind even though my first FoodSaver didn't have a 'wet' button. That does explain it though.

Haha; it never crossed my mind that some DO have the "wet" button!! I didn't think of that when offering my tips to Marie; I'm used to my single-function model.

 

[old medic]

Wet button... LOL Never heard of one.. and we've used ones for years....
Want some nice flavors.... marinade our rub your meat, vac and use.... it helps pull in the flavor...

 

[mike4lorie]

We use ours for everything, meat, dry grains, casseroles, soups... For somethings like soups, we just make the bag a little bigger. You can sometimes get the bags cheaper at Costco...

 

[In The Sticks]

Haha; it never crossed my mind that some DO have the "wet" button!! I didn't think of that when offering my tips to Marie; I'm used to my single-function model.

That's pretty funny. Me, either.

It's our fault Marie has been needlessly freezing stuff before vacuum sealing!!!

 

[C'est Moi]

That's pretty funny. Me, either.

It's our fault Marie has been needlessly freezing stuff before vacuum sealing!!!

Maybe not; Marie's machine might not have the wet button either.

 

[C'est Moi]

Today I felt like an inadvertent prepper. I was not able to get rice in my last grocery order, so I ordered from Costco.com and the package came today. Yikes... 15 pounds of rice is... a lot. So I dragged out the trusty FoodSaver and bagged up several bags of rice to store for the next couple of years.

 

[In The Sticks]

Today I felt like an inadvertent prepper. I was not able to get rice in my last grocery order, so I ordered from Costco.com and the package came today. Yikes... 15 pounds of rice is... a lot. So I dragged out the trusty FoodSaver and bagged up several bags of rice to store for the next couple of years.

I just replenished my supple of prepared rice in the freezer. I made Spanish rice and an Indian curry rice. The curry rice goes real well with fish. I usually have a supply of Rice Pilaf as well, but I currently lack the freezer space for it.

As you said, "inadvertent prepper." I'm trying to be better and work though it, but it's gonna take a while.

 

[C'est Moi]

I just replenished my supple of prepared rice in the freezer. I made Spanish rice and an Indian curry rice. The curry rice goes real well with fish. I usually have a supply of Rice Pilaf as well, but I currently lack the freezer space for it.

As you said, "inadvertent prepper." I'm trying to be better and work though it, but it's gonna take a while.

I have very little prepared food in my freezer. I love to cook so I prefer raw ingredients at the ready; I have bags of frozen cut up peppers, mushrooms, etc. I also keep a lot of butter in the freezer, different types of flour, fresh vegetables, nuts, and fruit. The peppers, etc. are in regular freezer zip-lock bags so I can "pour-and-go."

 

[In The Sticks]

Interesting.

I also keep fresh ingredients on hand in the freezers: lemon juice, lime juice, zest of various fruits, cilantro, parsley, minced shallots, lots of different chopped nuts. The one thing that I have yet to perfect keeping (and that is the blot in my "I have everything on hand" goal) are peppers. I just don't like the way they are when they thaw. I've even tried the ones from the grocery freezer section that have been commercially flash-frozen. None of it works for me.

I wish I could keep the prepared meals to a minimum so I have room for everything else (I have a huge bottom-drawer freezer plus a small chest freezer), but I'm in a mode where a I like my homemade food and also like a fast prep at mealtime. I won't cook single portions of anything but maybe a steak or chicken parts. I was in that make-ahead mode for years when I was going to night classes while working, then I did decades of spending time cooking in the evenings, now I'm back to make-ahead cooking for fast meal assembly.

Right now Ihear concern that there's gonna be a meat shortage on the horizon. I guess that will force me to start chewing through what I got. It's my goal for the balance of this year...and it may take that long.

I must be a reincarnated Depression-Era kid.

 

[Suzy623]

Today I felt like an inadvertent prepper. I was not able to get rice in my last grocery order, so I ordered from Costco.com and the package came today. Yikes... 15 pounds of rice is... a lot. So I dragged out the trusty FoodSaver and bagged up several bags of rice to store for the next couple of years.

I ordered my groceries last night and the only thing I couldn't get was rice. Not even the quick cook kind. And the price of eggs made me do a double take. Had my neice buy me some eggs today at Walmart. I use the 18 ct large eggs. It cost almost $5 for one carton!

 

[C'est Moi]

I ordered my groceries last night and the only thing I couldn't get was rice. Not even the quick cook kind. And the price of eggs made me do a double take. Had my neice buy me some eggs today at Walmart. I use the 18 ct large eggs. It cost almost $5 for one carton!

Too bad you don't live closer, Suzy. I could certainly get you some rice!!

 

[C'est Moi]

Interesting.

I also keep fresh ingredients on hand in the freezers: lemon juice, lime juice, zest of various fruits, cilantro, parsley, minced shallots, lots of different chopped nuts. The one thing that I have yet to perfect keeping (and that is the blot in my "I have everything on hand" goal) are peppers. I just don't like the way they are when they thaw. I've even tried the ones from the grocery freezer section that have been commercially flash-frozen. None of it works for me.

I wish I could keep the prepared meals to a minimum so I have room for everything else (I have a huge bottom-drawer freezer plus a small chest freezer), but I'm in a mode where a I like my homemade food and also like a fast prep at mealtime. I won't cook single portions of anything but maybe a steak or chicken parts. I was in that make-ahead mode for years when I was going to night classes while working, then I did decades of spending time cooking in the evenings, now I'm back to make-ahead cooking for fast meal assembly.

Right now Ihear concern that there's gonna be a meat shortage on the horizon. I guess that will force me to start chewing through what I got. It's my goal for the balance of this year...and it may take that long.

I must be a reincarnated Depression-Era kid.

I only use the frozen peppers, onion, etc. for cooking. None of them would come out of the freezer and be "salad worthy." I also have some herbs, lemon juice... and even a bag of wine "ice cubes." We don't like to drink wine, so when I open a bottle for cooking I freeze the rest in an ice cube tray and save them for future dishes.

 

[C'est Moi]

Today I felt like an inadvertent prepper. I was not able to get rice in my last grocery order, so I ordered from Costco.com and the package came today. Yikes... 15 pounds of rice is... a lot. So I dragged out the trusty FoodSaver and bagged up several bags of rice to store for the next couple of years.

Well, I've done it again. I'm going to have to buy myself a camo baseball cap I suppose. My grocery store was sold out of all-purpose flour so I cruised Walmart.com and found some. I ordered 2 bags and it came in 2 days with FREE shipping. Unfortunately for me, I neglected to read the product description and each bag of flour is 10 pounds... so now I have 20 pounds of all-purpose flour to go with my lifetime supply of rice.

I paid $6 for both bags, and I can't imagine how much it cost Walmart to ship a 20 lb box to me. I don't think they made much on that deal. (And it's still available on Walmart.com if you need flour. )