Vacuum sealers for food - money-saving or not?

sb44

Right folks, this has been doin' my flippin' head in!

I had to go and buy some resealable bags from Tesco and give it a go with a Lidl bag.

Guess what?

It worked _party_:dance::laugh:!

I suppose I shouldn't get too excited in case the vac doesn't last.

I bought the larger resealable bags as there would be more of the strip to use for my 'new' bags.





I think it may need tweaking a bit though.

I cut the top seal off the tesco bag and pulled it apart, binned the red strip and kept the blue one which has two channels in it.

Stuck it into the Lidl bag and had that and the end of the bag draping into the slot on my FoodSaver.

The only thing is, it didn't seal all the way through the plastic at first so a tiny bit of the air started to come out via the blue bit so I had to reseal it again.

I will have to have another look at those YouTube vids that show you how to do it.

Hope this helps someone.

These were the Tesco Bags, £1.43 for 20 large (make sure you get the resealable ones that show a red strip on the bag).

sb44

Sorry about the size of the pics folks, I should have saved them as a smaller image but wanted to get them on here asap.

sb44

Angelina-M wrote: »

SB thats it.... don't tighten the jars too tight!!

All the ones (except one) have all worked now I didn't use all my strength! The only one that wont is a mint sauce jar and its quite wet on the inside so could be that.

That's great.

Mine didn't flippin' work though.

Never mind, I shall have to use smaller jars or look out for some more with a better lid.

Sunnyday

SB did you mean that you used the resealable bits as a kind of straw?
Sorry i`m just confused now lol or maybe a bit thick

I`ve managed to get all the jars to seal :j

Very frustrating, just trying different things eg not releasing the vacuum with the button on the unit and just leaving the cannister cap on until its loose, then letting the air into the cannister. One jar did still have the button popped up in the middle but as soon as i touched it it popped down.

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I`ve sealed the lot, chard, onions and courgette

Lets hope that they all stays that way!

SD

Kevie192

Oh you ladies are naughty! Now I have a dehydrator and a sealer on my list of 'things to buy'! Anyone use the westfalia dehydrator? They seem good value if they're any good.

Kevin

Angelina-M

SB I love that!! Ok so all you did is use the top of the Tesco bag and lay it in the hole at the top of your bag and let it run through the bag, then closed the bag and the blue channel with the heatseal?

This is the thing, i've made lots of things that should work, ie glued hot glue in channels on a credit card. But I think that because the heat seal is very close to the vacuum seal, there isn't any room for bypassing. I've had a couple of good bags but mostly they start to suck air and then fail. I will definitely try the freezer bag top thing and report back.

With the jars, don't tighten them at all. I screwed them on until I got the slightest resistance and left it at that. I was able to tighten them up after they had sealed. I've just done a couple of jars that i'd saved for my jam making and sealed some sweetcorn left over from dinner and a packet of sultanas.

Angelina-M

SD I'm loving what you've done! They look amazing. How come your jars all match... are you using your recycled jars or is it something you bought especially for the job?

I have a dehydrator and its coming out in the next week, i'm going to be very busy!!

Kevin, run away while there's still time.... you will get hooked!!:j

frosty

Hi,I buy my bags from www.culinaryinnovations.co.uk they have a good selection of sizes....make sure you choose the embossed bags,the postage is quite alot but I usually make a large order and then split it with friends and family.If you live near you can collect for free.

Sunnyday

Kevin - Can`t comment on the westfaila dehydrator but if its one of the round stacking ones then you will have to keep rotating the shelves as it dries from the bottom up so the items closest to the fan dry quicker than the rest. Mines an excalibur which has the fan at the back and does all the shelves evenly so i can leave it to its own devices.

Angelina - Lol the jars are all old pickle and jam jars etc that have been liberated from several places. The pic makes them look better than they actually are as they are different shapes and sizes. One even says Devon cream on the lid :rotfl: Even when jam and pickle making i always go for the recycled ones, some of mine have been used 4 or 5 times now despite peeps saying that the lids need to be thrown away after one re-use:D

SD

anguk

You lot are a bad influence. How much is the Lidl sealer and is it still available? I can't find it on the site.