I need a new vacuum sealer
Whitetail Deer
After many years my old sealer is failing. Usually process a couple deer a year. what vacuum sealer do you recommend? There are a lot on the market and I don't want to waste my money. thanks in advance
spend the money on a chamber vacuum sealer and never look back
I have the vacmaster 112s, dont know is its still made or can be found
Sasquatch
I’ve started to research a bit on chamber sealers. Can you elaborate a bit on the key pros you see over other types of sealers.
How much faster is going to be for alll my packaging need per deer? Does it make buoy items like different roasts or other odd shaped items like ribs and shanks much easier to seal? Do you consistently get better more durable seals? Are the bag tougher and less prone to seals breaking or pin hole punctures? Is it quieter? Overall easier to run? Cheaper bags? I hear a lot about durability but not about other benefits clearly spell out ‘this is why I am glad I went to a chamber sealer”
I might do 3-5 deer a year, decent amount of small game and decent amount of fish , and modest amount of food prep stuff for travel hunts. My current sealer is functional but a little bit of annoyance in all the categories above so I’m on the fence and looking a little
Thanks for any help you can offer
Following this thread...I too envision getting a vacuum sealer too. 1-2 deer per year for me and 1-5 also done in my shop every year for/by others. Plus fish.
Following myself. Have been through several iterations of sealers... Tend to abuse mine with a couple of elk and 3-4 deer on average a year plus fish and other use.
it may not be faster so to say but its a much better vacuum and seal if that makes sense. Also if you want to make the justification easier the bags are wayyyyy cheaper.
I will try to elaborate on the pros. A chamber type don't suck from within the bag, it pulls a vacuum on the entire space(this is why they big). In doing do it don't suck any liquids across the sealing area allowing a much better seal than one that was made across moist plastic. This also don't require a little drip tray(cleaner process) that I also like.
Also due to the way they work I can vacuum a bag of water to freeze if need to. Now there's no reason for that but the example is used to show how you can vacuum pack soups, beans, chilli, etc etc. If vacuum packing a liquid you will just need to shorten the vacuum time or it will start to boil due to negative atmosphere. This is easy to observe while its vacuuming, if you see the bag basically inflating its time to stop it there and seal it.
Thank you so much. I don’t know why but some of the differences in how it works compared to other sealers and how it doesn’t pull the moisture across the seal just clicked because of how you described it.
yep, one sucks the inside of the bag out, the other just turns the entire area into a negative atmosphere. You actually cant even tell until it seals the bag and then lets pressure back into the chamber. That is when you see the bag collapse onto what's inside of it
at times the seal area may be moist from sliding stuff into it, fish filets, soups etc. It will still seal but I like to wipe the sealing surface with a paper towel for good measure.
You order the bags by like 500 or 100 too in a specific size
I vacuum seal a lot of stuff with a Foodsaver Pro and it works great. I use the "moist sealing setting when moisture may come across the sealing surface, and it seals just fine. Just wondering why you would want to vacuum seal chili, soup, sauces, etc? If it isn't canned it still needs to be frozen to store. I just seal chili, etc. into bags and freeze it into flat packages, stack in the freezer.
I still freeze the soups etc. I just vacuum pack them since I now can, flatten and stack if need. then I can simply put bag in boiling water to heat.
I had the food saver before. Ill never go back but to each his own
Thanks. Trying to understand why you vacuum pack the soups, etc? Just wondering if there is some purpose or benefit.
gets the air out so it should last longer and as I said I can just drop the bag in boiling water to heat.
for freezing things to preserve why would the fact its a liquid change things?
Id rather not have all my containers in the freezer when I can have it in a bag with no wasted air space I suppose.
I bought one years ago at Sam's Club. It works great and I bought huge rolls of the plastic there also so I can make my own bags. The guy that butchers my deer uses a Cabela's vacuum sealer and he does a lot of deer. It does a great job and must last a long time. Some want freezer paper on their deer and others, like me, want it vacuum sealed. My wife vacuum seals tuna and white perch fillets with our old Sam Club's sealer.
I put my bags in boiling water too. There is virtually no wasted space because the liquid effectively fills the sealed bag when it's flattened and frozen. Keeps for years (but never lasts that long). Still trying to understand how vacuuming liquids is more efficient and worth an extra $600-700 for a chamber sealer unless you are doing it commercially. Sell me on why the expense is better for a regular home DIY hunter-angler.
When I bought mine it sounded like Weston was the way to go. In reality since then, I have found reviews on many many sealers to be good. Cabela’s brand (made by Weston I’ve heard) see good, Food Savers are good, lots of options.
Interesting, my brother had like a $1,000 chamber vac, and in the end got rid of it in favour of a $300 Cabela’s Pro version. I’ve got a commercial Weston but wouldn’t go that way if buying again. It’s awesome, don’t get me wrong but a guy just doesn’t need to spend $500-$600 to get a quality sealer anymore. Though I have on occasion gone through 500lbs of meat without slowing down. So it’s awesome that way.
jac, what bags are you using? I assume Ziploc? if so for one you have to add more water than needed just to fill the bag? that is wasted space isn't it if the whole bag and package can be smaller vacuum sealing it?
now I admit no doubt that don't justify the cost, its more of a benefit that comes with the deal.
$6-700 I don't agree with, I bought mine on sale for 349 if I remember right so essentially around double the food saver I had? I just looked it up and a quick google showed 180 for the food saver I used.
Here is the diff I see, for one I got a much better vacuum and seal on top of virtually no mess of a drip tray to deal with. I always seemed to have bags that wouldn't hold their seal with my food saver. Maybe its just me but I've had several of them over time and always had issues. Another diff was it seemed if doing a lot of packaging the food saver would need time to cool down from over heating.
I don't believe id pay 700 for one. The one I mentioned was on sale like I said when I got it and I no doubt enjoy it much more, the bags you order are also a lot cheaper it seems and don't require needing to be cut, sealed, then filled and sealed again, although I wont say the cost benefit is really noticeable.
It may not be justifiable to everyone but now that I have it I wont go back I can say that.
the negatives would def be space and cost
I use Foodsaver bags for everything because they can withstand boiling water. This is whether I vacuum or not. I premake lots of elk camp meals that I don't want to vacuum (and squish the product) just freeze and reheat in the bag. Stroganoff, fettuccini with chicken and broccoli, shrimp fettuccini alfredo, chili, turkey soup, stew, etc... Just push as much air out of the bag as possible, seal the top, freeze it flat.
Ziplock bag burp air done
different strokes for different folks
We just upgraded our pld Cabelas vaccuum sealer with a LEM 500 that bought on line from Scheels.
Got a new model of sealer from Cabelas from Santa. We'll see I guess!
I have a Food Saver. It works very well. Use it for the freezer, also for the Sous Vide machine.
Costco has the best deal on chamber sealers by far!!!
I think I prefer the Saran Wrap and butcher paper method. Cheap and so far the meat I’ve taken out looks like the moment it went in.
I have a new LEM max vac 1000. It's okay, however if you going to spend any substantial amount of money on one...get a chamber sealer. No comparison really
