Vacum sealers

[abbay]

I have always wanted one, so last summer I did get one and love it. I use it all the time. It is is the best option to Keep your food fresh and flavorful. with the help of food saver we can preserve foods for 3 to 5 times longer than their regular life.And, oxygen is one of the main reasons that food goes bad. It starts a chemical change, robbing food of its nutritional value, texture, color, flavor and overall quality.Food Saver prevent this...for more click below...

http://www.foodsaverblog.com/

[Baitfish]

I own a Foodsaver 2490. I've had it for about a year and it works great. The problem arises when you need parts. I brine and vacuum pack bait and I got some brine on the sliding bag cutter. It rusted and will no longer cut a bag. I thought it would be no problem to get this part from the manufacturer or a supplier. It snaps in and out and is designed to be changed easily. The short story is that Sunbeam does not have a parts or service program, period. The only replacement part I can find is the foam seal. I can't get through on their CS line. Every forum and review site I have visited invariably say the same thing: no parts, no service.
I would strongly recommend finding information on the parts and service availability of any brand before making a purchase.

[Sweet Caroline]

It really depends on how much you plan to use it. I have been through several of the top of the line Foodsavers and was tired of replacing them every other year. I went to a Weston last year and love it. The Weston is 10 times what the Foodsaver is and you can get parts for them, the Foodsaver is a disposable unit. If you are just going to use it for fishing you should be fine with the Foodsaver just do not run multiple packs in a row without a good cool down time. I do the bulk food purchases as well as a lot of fish freezing so mine gets a good workout through out the year. The Weston was only about $100 more than the top Foodsaver but will last considerably longer. I would rank it as a low industrial grade.

[Bligh]

I have been using one with the ziplock bags and it works. Its so simple that it cant not work. I have a freezer full of Mahi from the hatteras vacation,A lot of yellowfin tuna, longfin tuna, Mako, and flounder. My wife said No more fish in the freezer. Why pay 200 300 or a whole lot more for a commercial one when the simple little ziplock system works. Do I have the only ziplock that works this good? My wife found it when I was procrastinating about which electric$$ vacuum sealer to buy reading threads like this. I laughed at her when she came home with it. Now I am sorry I did that. The damn thing works!

[seapower]

I have been using the ZipLock bag's with the hand pump for a couple of year's now. For shrt term it's good, I have had quite a few bag's that do not seal. They will gefore freezing loose the vacuma nd allow air back in, then it's freezer burned. Again it has for the most part been better than regular freezer bag's.
I have a Food Saver that was given to me, but I have not used it yet. I have been told that if there is water (moisture) present on the seal seam area that the bag will not seal properly. Some have said they put a piece of paper towel between the fish and the seal to keep the seal intact. Does this sound right? I have been putting off buying a vacum sealer way too long. I freeze just about all of the meat and fish that comes into this house (it's all wild game). I keep my meat for a year at a time, it's a planned thing. I freeze enoiugh deer, bear and fish to carry us through 12 month's. After that period of time fresh meat rotation goes into the freezer. I have heard that it's best to buy the bag's in bulk roll's at Sam's Club, is this correct? Frank

[clt_capt]

You want to pat the fish dry before you put it in the bag - A little moisture is ok, but too much will definitely affect the seal

You can buy the rolls of bags at sams, but I've been buying premade bags from here - http://www.dougcare.com/packsupplies/embossed.htm

They are cheaper, MUCH Faster and seem to work better...

[fshsltwtr]

i'm on my second FoodSaver and i love it. the 1st one burned out after years of use, but it was a cheaper model. i've looked at higher end models (institutional grade) and i just don't see the point. one big downside of FoodSaver is that if moisture gets into the vacuum chanel, overtime the unit burns out(like it did mine). i've changed things up to fix this.

here's how i seal - dry the product (very important!!) and place in freezer until firm to the touch, about 15 minutes. place in bag and seal. i started using this method after the paper towel trick wasn't working as effectively as i wanted and the seals kept breaking after a few weeks in the freezer.

i've also done this with marinated meats, too. i'll marinate chicken or steaks overnight, then dry them, chill them in freezer and seal. makes things a little easier down the road.

what a great idea being able to remove sauce from the freezer and throw in boiling water!! if you can just tell me how you do that, i would appreciate it!