Vacuum sealers for food - money-saving or not?

sb44

Angelina-M wrote: »

I can't wait to see how you get on with sealing the bag, i've just watched the video you posted and its brilliant if it works.

Didn't work!

Either I am doing something wrong or the FoodSaver machine isn't powerful enough to pull all of the air out.

I know it isn't strong enough to pull air out of non channelled bags but was hoping that it would work with the insert in there.

May give it another go later with a wider strip of insert.

sb44

Just found this on the FoodSaver site, didn't realise you could keep peeled bananas looking fresh for weeks using the bags.

If you have ripe bananas for banana bread, but don’t have time to make it right away, here’s a handy tip. Peel the bananas, place in a FoodSaver® Bag, then vacuum package. You can keep them in the refrigerator for several days (even weeks) and they don’t discolor – they’re perfect for making the bread when you need them.



I think I will give this a try with just one banana in a jar for now, will post the results in a few days.

oldtractor

I prefer to bottle fruit inc tomatoes as glass is reusable. also make jam and as for soups etc I place in reusable plastic boxes. The waste element of the food saver concerns me, all that plastic going to landfill.

sb44

oldtractor wrote: »

I prefer to bottle fruit inc tomatoes as glass is reusable. also make jam and as for soups etc I place in reusable plastic boxes. The waste element of the food saver concerns me, all that plastic going to landfill.

Well now that I have canisters I won't be buying anymore bags, I will use canisters and glass jars, especially now that I know I can put glass jars in the freezer.

Sunnyday

Right! you lot have set me off again!:rotfl:

I looked at these a while back and never ended up getting one but that MAY change soon

I do have a couple of questions though so hopefully someone will be in the know who has one of these fabby machines already.

If i make jam and soup can i pour the food into jars and seal inside a canister and not have to do anything else to the jar before storing?

Just read that back and it sounds daft - what i really mean is can i make soups/sauces etc and vac seal them and not have to refrigerate them? it would be nice to have soups and tomato sauces etc in the cupboard and not have to fill the freezer with them.

Same question really with meat or home made ready meals, DH goes off fishing for days at a time and i could make him some ready meals to boil in the bag and seal them and he could take them with him as he has no access to a fridge or freezer. Common sense tells me that the soups and sauces would need to be water bath or pressure sealed in a canner and that the hm ready meals will need to be refrigerated but i can but hope

Thanks peeps.

SD

Sunnyday

I`m back peeps

i`ve done quite a bit of reading and answered my own questions

My instincts were right and it won`t be possible to just jar sauces and bag up hm ready meals at all and everything will still need either refrigerating or freezing - but the vac sealer would be perfect for preserving all the garden produce that i dehydrate :j

Also - i can make the ready meals for DH and freeze them and throw them in a collapsible coolbag with a couple of blocks and they will slowly defrost and can be thrown in a pan then

Hm jam can still be sealed in the cannisters - this usually self seals anyhow as it cools as do things like the hm piccalilli and chutney but this would be a great back up for things that fail to seal as there are always one or two.

Another thing that i really like the idea of is making hm cookies to put in hampers for Christmas pressies etc. They can be made in advance and sealed so that i don`t spend the week before the event slaving over a hot stove

I`ve looked at the cheaper ones and the more expensive ones and am leaning towards the Andrew James one that Kittie has as a sort of middle ground choice i didn`t realise that this one came with cannisters and it is something that i really want - i still have some reading to do yet though

SD

sb44

Sunnyday wrote: »

I`m back peeps

i`ve done quite a bit of reading and answered my own questions

My instincts were right and it won`t be possible to just jar sauces and bag up hm ready meals at all and everything will still need either refrigerating or freezing - but the vac sealer would be perfect for preserving all the garden produce that i dehydrate :j

Also - i can make the ready meals for DH and freeze them and throw them in a collapsible coolbag with a couple of blocks and they will slowly defrost and can be thrown in a pan then

Hm jam can still be sealed in the cannisters - this usually self seals anyhow as it cools as do things like the hm piccalilli and chutney but this would be a great back up for things that fail to seal as there are always one or two.

Another thing that i really like the idea of is making hm cookies to put in hampers for Christmas pressies etc. They can be made in advance and sealed so that i don`t spend the week before the event slaving over a hot stove

I`ve looked at the cheaper ones and the more expensive ones and am leaning towards the Andrew James one that Kittie has as a sort of middle ground choice i didn`t realise that this one came with cannisters and it is something that i really want - i still have some reading to do yet though

SD

Well I was just about to answer the questions in your first post and then realised you had already been back and answered them.

Well, vac'd half an onion in a peanut butter jar, a peeled banana as an experiment in a peanut butte jar and some cooked rice in a jam jar, all in the fridge.

Just washed out a pasta sauce jar and will be using that for some bags of spices.

sb44

Sunnyday wrote: »

Right! you lot have set me off again!:rotfl:

I know, it's quite exciting thinking about what you can use it for, aren't we sad!

:rotfl:

Don't forget you can also use jars to store your garden seeds in to prolong their lifespan (they last for years anyway but you may as well give them an extra helping hand).

Sunnyday

sb44 wrote: »

I know, it's quite exciting thinking about what you can use it for, aren't we sad!

:rotfl:

Don't forget you can also use jars to store your garden seeds in to prolong their lifespan (they last for years anyway but you may as well give them an extra helping hand).

Gulp i`v got to confess to bringing home quite a few liberated jars today in anticipation of buying a sealer

I`ve done so much reading and watched so many video clips that i`m just confusing myself lol. I`m still leaning towards the AJ sealer but there are two and i need to go back and check if they both work with the cannisters. The more expensive one does but if the cheaper one does too then i`ll be more interested in that one. Only decision will be when to order as we go on hols next week and i don`t want it arriving whilst we are away so it may have to wait until we get back.

You watch - i`ll be up all night with this :rotfl: I wanted one of these last year when i bought the dehydrator but have just been using ziploc bags to store all the peppers and things in. They have been fine but i still have some left and next years will be ready in a few weeks so it would be great to have stuff like this last a couple of years at least.

SD

sb44

Sunnyday wrote: »

You watch - i`ll be up all night with this :rotfl:

I bet you will be up until about 2am watching vids and reading forums, I know I was when I bought my first one a couple of years ago!