SailNet Community banner
  • SailNet is a forum community dedicated to Sailing enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about sailing, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, repairs, reviews, maintenance, and more!

vacuum sealer recommendations

8K views 24 replies 15 participants last post by  carl762 
#1 ·
I've decided I need to get a vacuum sealer. I live aboard my boat (alone), so I'm constantly having too much food for one meal and I need to divide it up. I'm thinking a sealer will make the leftovers last longer, especially if I use it to seal the raw ingredients instead of the cooked meal. I want one that is small and reliable, and the bags for it don't cost too much (i.e. total cost of ownership is low). Any recommendations?

For those of you that have one already, how often do you use it? Does my planned usage seem correct? How much longer does stuff last when you use it? Thanks.
 
#2 ·
We were handed down one. We use it to pack and freeze meats before the summer cruise and I repackaged several spare parts with it too. I have mixed feelings about it though. If some items are going to be kicking around for a while, the plastic bags can wear a hole in them, then there goes your vacuum.

I planned on re-using the bags several times but the wife wasn't too keen on re-using bags that had raw meat in them, so we compromised and we didn't re-use them.

We quit bringing it with us on our summer cruises. I'm not sure whether we'll bring it along or not when extended cruising though.
 
#3 ·
I have one that I use all the time and bags (1Qt.) are about $.20 cents each.I cook all kind of meals and freeze them.I use the frozen meal in the cooler as extra ice and then just boil water , through it in. Then eat off a paper plates and through it all away. No mess to clean up and things I have made are, Lasagna,roast beef dinner with all the fixing, turkey & Fixings. I have stored all sorts of thing in bigger bags that need to be kept dry and when I have a concern about the items I will double bag them.Bill & Crew
 
#4 ·
I purchased one at BJ's Wholesale Club about 5 years ago for $99. Been using it ever since. Keep in mind, though, that some ingredients, meat, fish, poultry, will have to be frozen after vacuum sealing. Frozen sealed meats will last many months without incurring freezer burn. Fresh vegetables will last about 10 times longer than those not vacuum sealed. The one I purchased had enough bags to last for years.

Good Luck,

Gary :)
 
#6 ·
Don't forget, they're not only great for sealing up individual portions of food and make it really quick to re-heat them later-since you can boil the vacuum sealed packets of food to re-heat them in many cases.

They're also great for protecting equipment and parts from corrosion and environmental damage for long term storage. Rarely used tools and such can also be vacuum sealed in a lot of cases and they won't rust or degrade as easily.

Many parts, like water pump impellers, oil filters, etc, can also be stored in the heat-sealed bags, but may not need to be vacuum-sealed.

Not only can you buy the 1 qt. and 1 gallon bags, you can buy rolls and make custom sized bags too.
 
#7 ·
I am on my third one in about 10 years and my recommendation is to get the most expensive one you can find. My first one was a small convenient one that could not adequately suck all the air out and it would just run and run until I manually stopped it. The second, more expensive one did the same. The last good bigger one has been working quite well.

I use the more expensive bags for long-term food storage and non-food related items. The items I use short-term I use the cheap-knockoff thinner bags.

If you plan on re-sealing something again and again, make the bags bigger because when you open them and re-seal them, you lose about an inch or two. I have learned not to make the bags too small since it makes it hard to seal when you don't have enough room to lock the bag.

I only re-use them if there is no raw meat or ingredients in there. Salmonella is not fun.
 
#8 ·
How weird is this? I jumped off this forum and onto woot dot com just now and they have one for sale for $24.99. I have made numerous purchases from woot over the years. Great place to buy stuff whether you need it or not.
 
#10 ·
LOL... I was just going to mention that Woot.com had a vacuum sealer for sale today... but Onremlop beat me to it.
 
#11 ·
My wife Laurie uses our vac packer a lot and she has been through a couple of them. Most are cheap throwaway type machines with no parts available, and little service. She has been using a "VacUpack" now for several years and it is re-buildable with great phone support should you need it. She says they are available on Ebay and direct from vacupack.com . No affiliation.
We pack all kinds of stuff with it: parts, grains, TP, cheese, meat, fresh lemon and lime juice ice cubes, etc. We put anything with sharp edges in heavy paper bags inside the vac bag to prevent rubbing and losing the seal (works great for prawns that we catch. We freeze the whole tails- sharp pokers). Get a good one, if you find that you don't use it much you can re-sell it on Ebay.
 
#13 ·
Most of the vacuum sealers I've used don't require the food be frozen first. That's kind of the whole point of having a vacuum sealer, so you can vacuum seal the food before freezing it, so that you don't freezer burn the food.
 
#14 ·
The biggest problem I have is that about everything such as meat and fish must be frozen before I can pack it.
That's opposite of my experience too. Matter of fact, I get worse results when sealing frozen meats over unfrozen. The frozen meats have hard rough edges. The unfrozen meat squishes some and conforms to the bag better.
 
#15 ·
I have a 10 year old FoodSaver that works fine. I think I bought one replacement box of bags along the way and still haven't run out. I typically use the roll and make my own to size. I will make it with an extra inch or two if it is something where I may cut the seal, use a bit, then reseal the rest. Block bacon is a good example. I've never used it on the boat, but I do use it to pack things to bring along if going for more than a weekend.

The only things I've partially frozen first are pre-formed hamburgers, which will distort if sealed first. Otherwise, I've never frozen anything before packaging.
 
#16 ·
Everytime I have tried mine for chicken or fish the juices suck up to the top and my machine will not seal it all the way. I've tried placing napkins at the top to stop it but have never had any luck. I have done fish filets by adding water into the bag and then sealing it without the pump and that has worked some. Maybe I need to shop for a new machine also.
 
#17 ·
Everytime I have tried mine for chicken or fish the juices suck up to the top and my machine will not seal it all the way.
I've had that happen too and I've patted the meat dry with paper towel and placed a paper towel barrier near the top of the bag to prevent it. It is something that you have to watch out for though.
 
#20 ·
Mine is a Food-Saver, I've had it a long time, the number of bags that came with the machine was incredible, it always seals, and it is recommended that you DO NOT try to seal frozen foods. The reason being is that if the food is frozen the bag does not conform nearly as well to the shape of the food and could leave small air pockets. Soft items, such as meat, fish, poultry, always conform air free and always seal completely. As for wearing a hole in the bag while sailing, NAH! That's not gonna' happen, at least with the heavy-duty bags that were supplied by the manufacturer.

Good Luck,

Gary :cool:
 
#21 ·
I had one the whole time we were cruising full-time and loved it. Unfortunately, the brand went out of business and I can't find another one similar to it (when we sold the boat, the new owners wanted the one I had).

If you use it at all frequently, you're likely to spend more on bags than on the sealer. I went with one that used "commercial" grade bags instead of the FoodSaver ones as they cost only about 6 cents a bag (they may be slightly higher now) and I could buy them in "broken packages" of 100 in each of several various sizes.

I didn't use it for leftovers -- didn't want to be getting it out all the time. But I used it all the time for meat (packed it raw, then froze), cheese (sealed it right over the wrapper -- it would stay good up to 4 months), and various other things that I wanted to store for several months.

We also used it for the engine and water filters -- saved us when we had a water hose leak that would have ruined a number of them stored in the same locker.

And don't forget to put a couple of rolls of TP in a sealed bag -- if you should get a leak in the locker where you store the TP, you'll be REALLY unhappy if you don't have a dry roll!

If you have the electricity or will use the vacuum sealer only at the dock with shore power, it's really wonderful. Just be sure to measure the storage space before you decide which model to get. Wish the brand I had was still being made -- it was wonderful and not too big.
 
#22 ·
I have a sealer that use's rolls as well, so we can design anything from it. I got bored one weekend and grabbed the instant coffee, sugar and creamer, put a spoon of coffee, a sugar and creamer in it sealed it and made a hundred perfect instant coffees ready to serve. made making coffee under way simple boil and add pack. I also invested in a great dehydrator for jerky and drying fruits and veggies, some of those farmers markets have the best veggies so before we could only get what we could eat in a few days, now I just buy a crapload, dehydrate and package up. makes for great soups, stews, snaks and pre packing to a meal size allowed me to buy in bulk and reap the savings and long lasting storage. well worth the little space they take up.
Bill
 
#23 · (Edited)
I would also suggest getting the best one. I have a Seal A Meal and have bags in rolls which lets me custom size them. As someone else noted, meats MUST be frozen even if sealed.
Spare parts and special tools can also be sealed in these bags which will protect them and keep them in one place although I just use regular ziplock bags for that. I've not found anything yet as far as parts go that needs the vacuum seal.
When I deployed to Pakistan, I sealed a change of underwear and socks in a bag and a uniform in a larger bag. Kept them clean and dry and they took up less space. This could be handy on a boat.
 
#24 ·
I got mine at a pretty good price . . . 1$. Don't recall the brand and I don't have it on hand, just now. Foodsaver, I think. It was a church yard/parking lot sale. I had a problem with the vacuum just going on and on and not sealing, too. But I found that if I take a liberally damp cloth and wipe the rubber gasket down, it seals fine. I do have a problem with the seal separating sometimes, but hey, at a buck, I can live with that.
 
#25 ·
I've been using a Foodsaver for years. Use it extensively to save cash on meats (I seal, then freeze).

I used it to keep camping clothes dry and sealed up many a meal to reheat by boiling, snipping open the top of the bag and eating directly from the bag or dumping on a paper plate.

Now that I own a boat, I'll use it much the same way. I definitely plan on sealing up spare parts to keep on board.

Never purchased the bags and have exclusively made my own from the rolls. They go a long way. I also use the sealable containers for use at home, sealing up salads and veggies. There's even a marinator tray that does a great job of quickly marinating meats. Rather than having to keep in fridge overnight, this baby sucks the marinade into the meats under vacuum. Geat time saver.

I want to upgrade, as my machine is getting a little tired.

Finally, sometimes I use a little rolled up paper towel in the bag to keep really juicy stuff from being sucked into the tray. Works like a charm.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top