Food & Drink

Foodsaver Vacuum Sealer

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  • Feb 18th, 2010 6:39 pm
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Newbie
Oct 13, 2007
87 posts
14 upvotes
Port Coquitlam

Foodsaver Vacuum Sealer

Anyone have one of these food sealers? What do you use it for? Any good tips to get the most bang for your buck? Please post and share your tips.
19 replies
Deal Addict
User avatar
Sep 20, 2004
1727 posts
253 upvotes
Toronto
Use mine quite often... usually for larger bulk purchases of meat or cheese from places like Costco. Does what I need it to do.

If u pre-wrap meat before sealing, it'll save you the hassle of cleaning the bags, to re-use em. Just make sure you cut the bags bigger than you need, and open it right under the seal.

My 1 gripe is that build quality ain't that great. I'm on my second one, as the first one just stopped vacuuming. Just wish they made the commercial ones cheaper...
Member
Mar 12, 2008
442 posts
168 upvotes
Richmond Hill
I've had mine for several years. I don't bother with the bags much, I have 15+ different sized containers. Cookies, loose tea, protein powder, popcorn, chips, etc. You can also get universal lids that vacum jars and even a wine bottle one. I got those with the unit itself but don't use them much.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Oct 26, 2002
6616 posts
1013 upvotes
BC
Love mine, use it all the time. Mostly for larger meat purchases as I shop at Costco and there are only two of us.

Its great for thawing also, you can throw the bag in a sink of water and its thawed in 1 hour, depending on what it is of course.

And cheese, we again buy at Costco and I will cut it in 2-3 pieces and then they last in the fridge for months. Sometimes if I have too much sandwich meat I will freeze, and it comes out like fresh.

I find the meat comes out of the freezer more like fresh than frozen. Before I hated frozen steaks and usually bought fresh to eat... but no more. Same goes for fish.

Some mention reusing the bags, I've never had much luck with that and dont even try any more.
That's my 2cents worth
Newbie
Oct 13, 2007
87 posts
14 upvotes
Port Coquitlam
Anyone use other bags other than the Foodsaver ones? Also, can someone let me know where I can get the cannisters for cheap or reasonable price. Thanks.
Deal Addict
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Jan 15, 2003
1252 posts
129 upvotes
Calgary
Just got one for xmas - so far, so good!

How do those that use the containers find they work? Thinking of ordering a few to try!

Has anyone tried the Freeze N Steam bags that are available on the website? Definately something i could get some use out of - has anyone seen these bags in store anywhere? LINK TO BAGS
Sr. Member
Nov 24, 2005
697 posts
7 upvotes
Southwestern Ontario
I have a different make of vacuum sealer. Love it. Mostly use it for our Cub and Scout troop for camping. I freeze leftovers to take camping. Boil in the bag meals, no messy pots to clean, no watching a meal cook... can dismantle camp while breakfast boils and then you have the hot dishwater ready to use.
Deal Expert
User avatar
Aug 22, 2003
15540 posts
981 upvotes
Niagara Falls
I love mine! Not only for bulk buying and freezing but it's also getting a good workout sending stuff to my kid away at school. Baked stuff stays fresh for a couple of weeks. I also buy all my baking stuff in bulk and it gets vac-packed in smaller portions. For example I buy 25 lbs of chocolate chips and do them down into 3-5 lb bags. Same for raisins, etc.

I don't generally re-use bags as I buy the 6 roll box at Costco. I do have the marinader which is great and works well.
Thinking seriously about the 4 S's...Sun, Sand, Surf and ... Booked for Sept in Mexico and booked Samana DR for Jan!
Member
Aug 11, 2003
434 posts
7 upvotes
S14_Raven wrote:
If u pre-wrap meat before sealing, it'll save you the hassle of cleaning the bags, to re-use em. Just make sure you cut the bags bigger than you need, and open it right under the seal.

My 1 gripe is that build quality ain't that great.
have had mine for about ten years and I don't have any quality complaints. Maybe you got a bad unit or maybI e the quality has gone down.

I usually put the unfrozen meat into a surplus plastic bag (non tilia) in the freezer before vacuum packing. The surplus plastic bag is disposed of since it has been in contact with the raw juices prior to freezing and the vacuum bag is reused.

I don't buy much extra meat because I find that meat comes on sale regularly. But even meat that got lost in the freezer for a year, comes out ok.
Deal Guru
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Mar 1, 2004
12861 posts
1485 upvotes
Pickering
I have one I got from Costco. I buy my meat there because it is better quality, but sometimes the amount is so great I need to freeze some.

My smoker costs the same to operate whether it is full of food, or empty. I fill it to cut costs, but there is too much food to eat, so I use the food saver to make the food safe to put in the freezer.

The marinating container does wonders by accelerating the marinating process allowing me to purchase foods, come home and marinate them during the prep of other foods instead of waiting 8-12 hours.

I tried reusing bags, but didn't always get a perfect seal because the bags have to be scrubbed clean and trimmed to a smaller size because the bags will curl at the ends and not fit nicely in the sealer.
Jr. Member
Jul 13, 2009
138 posts
1 upvote
I make boil in the bag meals. Do a big cook on a Sunday, package everything up with vacuum sealer and when I am in a pinch, just toss one of these in a pot of boiling water and dinner is served. Quite handy!
Deal Guru
Dec 31, 2005
13306 posts
750 upvotes
Had one...never used it.

We don't buy in bulk; rather we buy smaller amounts of food that is on sale several times a week. We find that we waste far less and have a much smaller food bill than buying large amounts in bulk.
Deal Guru
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Aug 20, 2005
11298 posts
3836 upvotes
Nowhere
nalababe wrote: Had one...never used it.

We don't buy in bulk; rather we buy smaller amounts of food that is on sale several times a week. We find that we waste far less and have a much smaller food bill than buying large amounts in bulk.
Perhaps if you used your Foodsaver, you wouldn't be wasting food and you would save from buying in bulk. You also wouldn't have to make multiple trips to the store.

I live alone and I love mine. I used to waste so much food before. Heck I couldn't even a small bar of cheese without it going bad so I used to buy the individually wrapped pieces which end up costing just as much as large bar of cheese on sale. Now I can buy the large bars on sale and divide them into small portions using the Foodsaver. I also use it to take advantage of sales on meat. I have always had to cut up roasts and portion up other meat to freeze them. Now there is no more freezer burn.

To the OP, you can look at Foodsaver's website for more tips on things you can use it for. I remember when I was buying mine I came across a forum of Foodsaver users who had all kinds of tips and tricks for using it.
Deal Addict
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Sep 25, 2006
2511 posts
259 upvotes
Whitby
AudiDude wrote: My smoker costs the same to operate whether it is full of food, or empty. I fill it to cut costs, but there is too much food to eat, so I use the food saver to make the food safe to put in the freezer.
Ditto. I use mine pretty much exclusively for vaccuum sealing and then freezing BBQ. I can then take out a bag from the freezer, defrost it and drop it in simmering water to reheat.
Deal Addict
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Sep 20, 2004
1727 posts
253 upvotes
Toronto
So anyone know where to get the bags? Not the Tilia ones, I guess generic vacuum bags. Making them with the rolls is gettin old
Deal Addict
Jan 1, 2002
3770 posts
474 upvotes
S14_Raven wrote: So anyone know where to get the bags? Not the Tilia ones, I guess generic vacuum bags. Making them with the rolls is gettin old
I looked in to this thread hoping to get the answer to this as well, I stopped using mine because I found the bags were way too expensive, I didn't even realize generic bags were available.

Would appreciate knowing where to buy the generic as well.
Deal Addict
May 19, 2003
3658 posts
1995 upvotes
Make sure you get channel vacuum bags. The food saver will not work with smooth bags. They need the criss cross channels to suck out the air. Costco has the Tilia bags on sale every once in a while you get 6 rolls for about $30. In Toronto, Cayne's had a 4 pack for $20.
Deal Addict
Jan 1, 2002
3770 posts
474 upvotes
oyster wrote: in boucherville, you can get bags here http://eurodib.com/en-CA/categories/84- ... m-machines

they supply costco. you can order from costco.ca
Thanks for the link, still seems pricey to me but I'm not current on what they go for.

Here are all the prices for the Channeled bags from that site above.


CB100-1 BAGS FOR VACUUM MACHINES
Channelled vacuum bags (100 microns/3.6 mil) for 100 bags 6 X 12 2.0 lbs $22.00 CAD
CB100-2 BAGS FOR VACUUM MACHINES
Channelled vacuum bags (100 microns/3.6 mil) for 100 bags 8 X 12 3.0 lbs $30.00 CAD
CB100-3 BAGS FOR VACUUM MACHINES
Channelled vacuum bags (100 microns/3.6 mil) for 100 bags 10 X 18 5.0 lbs $55.00 CAD
CB100-4 BAGS FOR VACUUM MACHINES
Channelled vacuum bags (100 microns/3.6 mil) for 100 bags 12 X 16 $59.00 CAD
RCB 20x600 BAGS FOR VACUUM MACHINES
Pack of 2 rolls of channelled bags Dim: 8" x 20' 1.25 lbs $27.00 CAD
RCB 30x600 BAGS FOR VACUUM MACHINES
Pack of 2 rolls of channelled bags Dim: 12" x 20' 1.25 lbs $42.00 CAD
Member
Mar 31, 2009
237 posts
8 upvotes
Go to any Goodwill and you are almost guaranteed to find one of these for next to nothing.

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