Suggestions for a vacuum sealer sysyem

[Onestepmore]

I have a dehydrator (Fowlers Vacola) make some of my own food for trips, and would like to get a vacuum packager/sealer system so i can freeze more in bulk, and try the vacuum zip lock bag cooking method when bushwalking. Any particular suggestions? I have been looking at the Sunbeam ones. Quality is more of a priority than price.

[vieve]

Onestepmore, I am pretty happy with my Sunbeam Foodsaver VS4300. It is their base model but it does everything I want so far although I haven't yet invested in a dehydrator (my next purchase I think) so don't have any experience with the vacuum zip lock cooking method. I'll be watching this thread to see if others have any other suggestions...

[michael_p]

I've got a Sunbeam and it works a treat. I do meals for overnighters and the boss does car camp dinners.

[neilmny]

I'm really happy with our Campfire Vacuum Sealer.

[Mark F]

I have a PAVO one which has worked perfectly well so far. It cost $80 with 200 bags.
http://www.shoppingsquare.com.au/p_4017 ... lver_color

[ULWalkingPhil]

When vacuum sealing dehydrated pasta and rice, you want to double layer the bag or line the inside of the bag with paper towels, otherwise the food will poke a hole through the bag.

I use a sunbeam vacuum sealer, there bags are a bit weak.

[MartyGwynne]

I bought the Kogan online vacuum sealer and bags http://www.kogan.com/au/buy/food-vacuum-sealer/ The sealer is $69.
They are offering free shipping and extra 3m (2 off) rolls for $19 free shipping at the moment.
OK Ok I am NOT a representative of Kogan I just buy some of their stuff and have found it to be good, just cheaper.
You make up your own sized bags to suit as you just cut the size you want (some people I walk with will re-use bags again) and seal the sides up (it has both the seal function and Vacuum seal functions).
There is no end to what you can seal I even seal up my yeast bags again !!!!
Marty.

[stry]

A little care with purchase of the bags for your vacuum sealer may be wise.

Some of the bargain basement offerings, which seem prevalent on line, are allegedly not food grade plastic, and could therefore leach nasties into your goodies.

[Onestepmore]

Ideally I'd like bags that can withstand the addition of boiling water, to cook in the bag. Pop into an insulative cozy to finish cooking.
Are some bags not suited to this, or they all are?

[Mutley]

Good thinking onestepmore. I have been thinking of the same thing. Having dehydrated my food for years, I would never buy commercial freeze dried tucker, but I find sharp edged dehy food pierces such things as snap lock bags. Sealing the food with a vacuum sealer seems the ideal solution, as it protects the food and sucks out air, thus preserving for a lot longer. My only concern is the weight of the packaging. It may seem insignificant, but it may add 10-20 percent to food weight???over a week, this may outweigh the benefits of vacuum sealing. Also I am curious as to how much vacuum sealing extends the life of home dehy foods.

[Kingsleythelost]

OSM im not understanding the concept here. I kinda like the idea but not sure why !

Im presuming youve dehydrated cooked food or fresh food like chicken? What would be the point in putting dehydrated sealed food in boiling water? Can you give me an example

Always looking to improve the on track food experience.

Kingsley

[vieve]

Kingsley, I am a complete novice when it comes to dehydrated food, however, what OSM is wanting to do is cook a meal at home, dehydrate it using the dehydrator, seal it in a vacuum bag (hence the requirement for a vacuum sealer) and then whilst out on the trail rehydrate it by adding boiling water and letting it sit in the bag (the same one that was used to vacuum seal it) until it is ready to eat.

[jjoz58]

I use a vacuum sealer from the states that will do Mylar bags. You have to buy a snorkel model as the Mylar bags are smooth and not textured like the plastic bags used in normal vacuum sealers. https://www.sorbentsystems.com/sinbosealer.html They have hundreds of types of bags. It will also cost you a step down transformer (Jaycar) if you don't already have one. With a zip lock, stand up Mylar bag, an Oxygen Absorber and a label and your laughing with a very professional looking job. The other thing is that they will keep, if done properly. You can get cook in plastic bags http://www.packitgourmet.com/CookIn-Bags.html, and that link is where we buy most of or freeze/dehydrated dried fruit and vegies. They sell meat as well but I don't think you can import it although we have had a couple of packets slip through customs. Otherwise you can get dried mince in Brisbane http://settlersfoods.com.au/buy-online. This mince is very good and a lot cheaper than the freeze dried material. We use a smaller vacuum zip lock bag per person a day to also do snacks, tea sugar etc.

[Onestepmore]

Thanks for the info, I'll look into it.
My daughter is doing a four day Dragonskin orienteering type activity with Venturer Scouts over Easter again, and their group is pretty competitive, so she wants me to prepare all lightweight dehyd meals for the team this year, so this may be this system's first big test. They RUN the course with their backpacks, lol. She uses a torso xped sleeping mat, lightweight quilt etc. Now UL food, no mess kit etc.

[corvus]

Thanks for the info, I'll look into it.
My daughter is doing a four day Dragonskin orienteering type activity with Venturer Scouts over Easter again, and their group is pretty competitive, so she wants me to prepare all lightweight dehyd meals for the team this year, so this may be this system's first big test. They RUN the course with their backpacks, lol. She uses a torso xped sleeping mat, lightweight quilt etc. Now UL food, no mess kit etc.

Did I read you correctly OSM ??
This is a Venturer activity so why is Mum doing the work? the Venturers should be doing the food preparation in my opinion
corvus

[Onestepmore]

True true. We were discussing it at dinner. We had green chicken curry, which could work well. Blend up the curry and chicken mix, add separate dried peas and diagonally cut and dried beans for a bit of texture. Separately cooked basmati. Lol I'd cheat and get hubby to cook the curries, I'll operate the heavy machinery.
We decided to test the meals on our family at home first. Then if we remain unpoisoned and they taste ok daughter can cook for her group. Spaghetti bol, green chicken curry and rice, red beef curry with dehyd capsicum added after and cous cous.
It's like surgery - watch one, assist with one, do one!

[Nuts]

I used the new sunbeam vac sealer all the time, them just for meals. Once I had the brain bubble that food can only get drier in the freezer its now stored in containers with loose lids. Carried, the dehy 'should' last weeks just in a zip lock..
..

p.s I did see a nifty hand sealer that does zip lock type plastic (a lot cheaper iirc)

[neilmny]

............
It's like surgery - watch one, assist with one, do one!

That is the most frightening thing I have ever heard

[rocketrm2]

Got one on eBay for $40 it's well made does a great job so far

[thejungleisneutral]

Another vote for Sunbeam Foodsaver.

The foodsaver bags are great and relatively rugged. They are also BPA free and I have rehydrated home-dehydrated meals in them many times. If you make the bags oversize they can be washed out and reused a couple of times which makes them kinda/sorta green.

I bought a box of supercheap Auto bags to try the other week and find that they are difficult due to their width. It can be done but you have to tinker with the bag.

Speaking of tinkering... you can vac-seal any plastic bag which will seal using the heat strip on the Foodsaver. I have vac-sealed empty and cleaned Tastybite meal pouches as well as old school cellophane bags and basic, garden variety large sandwich ziplock bags. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJU8Z9gmDw0 for the methodology. The people in the vid claim to have discovered it, but I read about it circa 2006

[Mutley]

So is the consensus Sunbeam vacuum sealers are the way to go ? I am really interested in discussing shelf life vs additional weight of a vac bag. Osm's idea of bag rehydration with boiling water sounds great, but I am concerned about the bag leaking, or nasty chemicals leaching into the food. Ideally, I would like to add boiling water and stand for an hour or so, then reheat either in a hot water bath, or empty the contents into a pot. If I could eat straight from the bag, there will be less mess to clean up. Back to my original point though... A weeks worth of vacuum bag meals will weigh significantly more than my current method, which is just zip lock bags.

OSM... Are you concerned about the shelf life of dehydrated green chicken curry, which typically has a very high oil content ? I have avoided this as a dehy meal, as I thought the coconut oil would turn the food rancid.

[Moondog55]

Bumping as Cecile and I are contemplating buying a vacuum sealer too.
! @ Mutley rancidity needs 02 so if the seal is good and the bags are evacuated and a touch of industrial Ascorbic acid is used rancidity shouldn't be a problem.

[jjoz58]

Just a couple of things.
Dehydrated food degrades via light, water and air. Proper seal, stored in a container and an oxygen absorber in the packet fix these.

Use minimum oil for cooking, or try water. Add the oil when you re-hydrate for flavor. Try using coconut milk powder for curries, you can find it at coles and wollies as the canned variety has oil .

Use bags designed for boiling water and re-hydrating food and you won't have a chemical problem. See my earlier post for where to get some, unfortunately all overseas.

Unless you go to mylar, ziplock and vacuum bags are not a significant difference in wt.
Example seven days (7 main meals)
Glad sandwich ziplock - 28 grams
Cook in stand up plastic bags - 70 grams. (similar capacity)
Mylar bags - 91 grams (similar capacity)
42 or 63 grams difference for the convenience. Worried about the wt, for the gram counters, fill your water and then drink a big mouthful, your now square and if you use mylar take two mouthfuls.

[jjoz58]

Again these bags are in the states, I haven't seen them here yet. These are ziplock brand freezer bags now with an expandable flat bottom to allow them to stand up. I imagine they would vacuum seal as well, since most ziplock bags do. From my discussions with people in the states, planning to or who have done the AT, these are the ones they use with boiling water to rehydrate meals.

$3us for a pack of 15. I'm getting some and adding them to my next business shipment from the states to try them out.

[jjoz58]

Also this site I just found in Australia for stand up plastic bags, I haven't tried them though. http://www.thepackagingcentre.com.au/co ... mm-1000-ml

[drakkar]

bumping up a thread.

We are looking at a 12v/240v volt version to use along the way on road trips (I've got a small invertor so 12v isn't 100% needed but its preferred) - Our other consideration is having one with an adjustable pressure to vac down Gluten free bread to freeze so we actually get to use a whole loaf.

So far have found the dometic and the fresheild... Does anyone know of any other options?

[Avatar]

I don't think you need a vacuum sealer system if the food is properly dehydrated.
The commercial systems often puncture from sharp dehyd food pieces as others have correctly pointed out.
The bags are heavier than so called zip locks and not reusable.

FWIW I wouldn't add boiling water to food in a plastic bag - BPA free or not - unless it was a last resort situation.
You must store dehydrated food in a cool dark place. Mine keeps for 12 months or more.
The freezer is a good place and the drop in temp should slow down even further any degradation and loss of nutrients.

The food I prepare has no added fats, except I use a smear on the pan when cooking minced meat.
I cook this on a low heat for 20-30minutes until all free moisture is gone, and using a few herbs and spices including Turmeric.
I prepare vegies separately using a quick steamed blanch method.
Then dehydrate for 12-14 hours.

Cooked rice is real easy to do and hydrates back well given enough time.
About 40 minutes to an hour or so is needed to get rid of most crunchy bits.

Take a small bottle of oil and extra curry powder.
Add a commercial liquid sauce pack like tomato paste at cooking/eating time.

[Moondog55]

Getting a good vacuum sealer doesn't seem to be a problem. hat I am having trouble finding are the proper long term storage 3+ layer bags. To me it seems pointless doing all the work to dehydrate and package if the shelf life of the product isn't improved with the proper long-life bags.
The normal bags are not oxygen barriers and as pointed out are thinner than commercial bags

[jjoz58]

Getting a good vacuum sealer doesn't seem to be a problem. hat I am having trouble finding are the proper long term storage 3+ layer bags. To me it seems pointless doing all the work to dehydrate and package if the shelf life of the product isn't improved with the proper long-life bags.
The normal bags are not oxygen barriers and as pointed out are thinner than commercial bags

It's why I went with a snorkle vacuum sealer that works with mylar bags. They are the only long term storage option IMHO.

[Moondog55]

More information please jjoz
Also where did you get the Mylar bags?