Vacuum sealing testimonial

[Sopchoppy]

Several years ago, I bought an inexpensive vac sealer primarily for deer. Yesterday I was plundering in the freezer and found a bag with "tenderloin 10/09". I wondered how the heck I had missed that one. Anyhow, thawed it, looked good and red, no freezer burn. Sliced it into medallions, seasoned, fried in peanut oil, made some gravy and mashed taters. Super tender and tasted like it was just harvested. I did check the freezer to make sure I did'nt need to eat some more today!

[mbc4]

what kind and how did it work, was it slow?

[Fishous]

I used to vacuum pack everything, but now I can it. Lasts longer and I don't have to worry about a power outage. I put a little bit of onion soup mix in each jar. It's sooooo good that way. I do cubes, burger, and steaks that way. The steaks I put rings of onions between them.

[Pydpiper]

We vacuum seal everything. It makes all the difference in the world.
When I first got it, I bagged everything I could get my hands on. Never forget the sound of my wifes voice when she opened her underwear drawer and I had every pair of panties individually vacuum packed, socks too.
I vacuum my hunting gear that isn't used every day but goes in to a pack, like first aid stuff, paper for emergency fires..
I even seal my .22 rounds in my grab and go gun, 10 packs of 100 rounds, all sealed and ready for any canoe trip.
We go through a lot of food in this house, and a vacuum sealer saves money, time and taste.

[Sopchoppy]

what kind and how did it work, was it slow?

It's a "Deni", it works great, sucks every bit of the air out, takes about 30 seconds to vacuum and seal a bag. I get the bags from a dealer on eBay, about $15 for 100. I do not use the rolls as I find them wasteful and DO NOT buy Foodsaver brand bags, they are grossly overpriced.

[massbow]

Who do you buy them off of on ebay? I too am sick of payin food saver prices!

[OkXbowHunter]

Wal-Mart carries a brand other than Food Saver. Can't remember the name, IIRC it comes in a purple and white box. A lot cheaper than FS and works just as good. I think maybe the brand is Sunbeam or something like that.

[VixChix]

Seal-A-Meal is the less expensive version. That's the sealer and the bags we use. Works fine for us... but I have noticed that the Food Saver ones are heavier-duty.

[rayman]

My wife got me a food saver way back and I use it for a while, but went back to putting up fish in freezer ziplocks with water. Haven't broken it out for deer meat in a while either. I doesn't suck all the air out much of the time and it doesn't completely seal much of the time either. For hamburger and sausage, the setup I got last year works the best so far. It's little bags that you fill as the meat comes out of the grinder and then put it in a clipper that seals it. Super fast.

[Deaf jeff]

I do it the cheap way and get very similar results. I have had venison after 20 months in the freezer and taste great and not a hint of freezer burn,

I use the flip top sandwich bags(cheap walmart brand bags) to put my cut up steaks into the bags then wrap with the white coated freezer paper wrapped tight. the sandwich bags basically does the same as the vac sealer by keeping any air from coming in contact with the meat, thus no freezer burn. been doing it this way for about 35 years now. i can't say it will work after 4 years but 20 months is a pretty good record! my burger meat is just wrapped in the coated white freezer paper and have not noticed any problems after 12-15 months or so but usually don't last that long

[Bullzeye]

Ray, yours must be defective, I have a foodsaver sealer, as does my dad and one of my buddies and they work great, we have no problem getting all the air out or sealing them. Like Vix mentioned I find the foodsaver bags thicker than the Seal a meal ones, and they did not work as well in my machine.

I get my bags from Costco, at least once or twice a year they come on sale. Also got my sealer there on sale, but I have to admit when I do a deer I use my buddies sealer which is a big commercial model which is a chamber vacuum machine.

[Kegbelly]

I've wanted one for a long time, my wife finally got me one of the foodsaver ones last year for Christmas and I love it. I wish i had bought one sooner. We've put up a bunch of veggies from the garden this year, looking forward to trying it out on some fresh venison real soon!

[VixChix]

Before we had the sealer we would wrap the venison in 2 layers of saran wrap to eliminate contact with air, then store it in a freezer bag from which we sucked the air out with a straw - worked great, but was more time consuming than using the sealer.

[Sopchoppy]

Who do you buy them off of on ebay? I too am sick of payin food saver prices!

Last ones were from "filmtechcorp03". $15.26 w/free shipping for the 6" X 12".

[flightattendant100]

A friend uses his to marinate meats. Thirty minutes or an hour in the vacuum bag is like over night in the fridge. He loves it.