Vacuum sealers for food - money-saving or not?

StevenJones_2

thought i'd bump this to see if anyone can help me.

What i need from a vacuum sealer is to be able to make all different sizes of packs, some quite small. I want to get the Andrew James sealer as they have great reviews and look like a bargain. but the rolls are 22cm wide. Obviously i can make them as long as i want but can i actually cut them down the middle and turn them into 2x11cm bags by resealing them?

I really need a sealer that can allow me to just cut and seal any size i want rather than waste a 22cm wide roll on something that might only be 5-10cm on each side.

Rosemary_Jane

StevenJones wrote: »

thought i'd bump this to see if anyone can help me.

What i need from a vacuum sealer is to be able to make all different sizes of packs, some quite small. I want to get the Andrew James sealer as they have great reviews and look like a bargain. but the rolls are 22cm wide. Obviously i can make them as long as i want but can i actually cut them down the middle and turn them into 2x11cm bags by resealing them?

I really need a sealer that can allow me to just cut and seal any size i want rather than waste a 22cm wide roll on something that might only be 5-10cm on each side.

Hi Steven,
an old cheapie I had could do this, so I expect most of them can. The only thing about reading the reviews of the Andrew James one is that the bags are 'channelled', whatever that means. It might just mean that you'd have to cut along a channel, or that there would be problems and you'd need another machine.

However, if you go to one of their product pages on amazon, and click on the seller link, you can get a contact link, and according to a lot of reviews for a variety of their products, they can be very helpful.

If you do get an answer from them, I'd be grateful if you could let us know.

HTH Rosemary

suzybloo

I have the Andrew james one and cut the rolls to what size of bags I need, even to the extent of sealing all four edges if doing something really small like a small portion of cereal for the little one to take to the childminders, or being left with lemons after using the rind, slice them and vacuum ready for your next gin and tonic!

Rosemary_Jane

suzybloo wrote: »

I have the Andrew james one and cut the rolls to what size of bags I need, even to the extent of sealing all four edges if doing something really small like a small portion of cereal for the little one to take to the childminders, or being left with lemons after using the rind, slice them and vacuum ready for your next gin and tonic!

That's great, Suzy, Thanks

StevenJones_2

thank you both for your replys, so as i understand it the AJ i can cut anything i want and just re seal it, so that will save me a lot of waste. It's good to know i can use it for little things like a lemon or avocado or something small without wasting 22cm of roll every time.

At £45 for the cheaper one i don't think i can go wrong :j

Searcher2

Slonik wrote: »

Can't speak for the Lidl machine but some of the cheaper, less powerful, models don't work well and really just heat seal the bags. Some of these sealers have a tube arrangement inside which pops into the opening of the bag and sucks the air out before the bag is sealed. This type can be used with ordinary bags but don't work very well in my experience.

I've just bought a Wolfgang Puck vacuum sealer which is very good when using the rather expensive specialist embossed/channelled bags these machines tend to require. After a little experimentation, however, I've discovered that ordinary, much cheaper, bags (e.g. reasonable quality freezer/sandwich bags) can be used simply by putting a short length of plastic drinking straw (or similar) inside the bag opening to bridge the gap between the vacuum chamber, heat sealing strip and the inside of the bag to be evacuated. This emulates what the channels in the bespoke bags do and allows the air to be sucked out of the bag very nicely by the pump but is thin enough to be sealed by the hot wire mechanism. All you have to do after the cycle is finished is to trim off the outer portion of the straw if you're the neat and tidy type...

I know the above quote was made years ago but I thought it was worth thanking and bumping too. I just bought an Andrew James sealer from Ebay and I have sealed a few items for the freezer using the Andrew James rolls. All worked great but I could see myself going through the rather expensive rolls in no time at all..... so I looked on the net to see if I could find cheaper alternatives. Hey presto - the above post by Slonik.

I've tried it an whilst I don't think it gets quite as much air out there is very, very little left in. I think I need to buy some weaker walled straws though so that it seals more reliably. I just need to find some decent thickness bags now.

EDIT : There's a video on YouTube demonstrating this but using the seal off the bag instead of a straw. Happy days!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MrVPC2NIu0

EDIT 2 : I think I will try the suggestion cbennefeld made in the comments from here :

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Your-Own-Vacuum-Sealer-Bags-On-The-Cheap-1/

when I get some stronger freezer bags. That is to use a small strip of the Andrew James roll in the top of the freezer bag in the seal/lower vacuum strip area.

EDIT 3 : Work in progress. The initial straw trial hasn't worked as air has leaked back in but I haven't given up. I think it is the straw that was too rigid. Will update after more testing.

stevie_boy

I can confirm that both methods mentioned in threads above work (straw and a cut off of the proper bags with ridges)

I find the straw method a bit messy but works ok.

The best method I found is to cut off an inch of a proper roll which are about 10 inches wide, then cut in half and seal to make two 5" by 1" pieces.

Get a lidl bag and pop one of these inside at the top and vac away, much neater than the straw method but BOTH do work but you need to have the sealing setting on (3) high for the straw method (eiffel machine)

sb44

Chocolate can last for years if you vac it in a glass jar, not that it lasts long enough to vac in our house.

However, a word of warning.......... don't try it on Cadburys Creme (their spelling not mine) Eggs.

I bought quite a few from Home Bargains (8 for £1 in there at the minute) so thought I would save some and hide them on the top shelf in one of the kitchen cupboards.

BAD idea!

The creme seeps out of the wrappers and some of them have caved in slightly!

I suppose it is because the eggs have an air gap inside as they aren't fully filled.

Oh well, will have to eat them sooner than I intended to now.

Jazzy_B

I saw a vacuum sealer on Superscrimpers last week, and thought it was a great idea.I know this thread is old, but I was just wondering if any of the previous enthusiasts still used their sealers regularly. I don't want to buy something that might end up in a cupboard within a month..
Having read through the whole of the thread, I'm really impressed with all the hints and tips here

Jazzy_B

Anyone still using theirs?