Food saver question


 
S

Scott Hoofman

TVWBB Super Fan
The first new toy for this season is a food saver. For those of you who have one, what size of bag(s) do you recommend I get?
 
I have been using my Foodsaver for 3 years and have only used the rolls. That way, I can make my own custom bags. This method really comes in handy for a rack or two of ribs or a side of salmon. I bought a box of six rolls (11.5 indhes wide) from Cabellas for about $50.

One caution: don't try to make your bags too small; make them a little larger than you think you need. If you do not do that, you will have to make another bag that the food will fit in, and disgard the too small bag.

I have also learned to partially freeze meat with alot of juice - chicken, pulled pork and beans. If you don't do that, the juice will get sucked up into the seal and the vacuum chamber which is not good.

HTH,

Glenn
 
Scott, you'll eventually wind up using both sizes - I'm talking rolls here. It depends on how you'll be packing your foods.

Personally, I pack 2- or 4-serving portions of (for example, fish) in cheap sandwich baggies, and then seal them all in a large (11-inch) FoodSaver bag cut to a length that will hold them all. That keeps them all together and I won't have to rummage through a freezer full of small bags that can get lost easily. For pulled pork or anything that I'll be heating in a pot of hot water, I'll portion into FoodSaver bags (usually cut from the 8-inch rolls) instead of sandwich bags but still seal them all together in a large FoodSaver bag or a Ziplock bag.

I've found it handy to slip a clean 3 1/2-inch diameter by 3-inch high PVC coupling into the smaller bags (sandwich or F/S) before filling them to hold them open. Then just pull out the coupling and slip it into the next bag.

Like Glenn, I always freeze my food before FoodSavering them to lessen or eliminate the loss of juices.

Others will have different systems, of course.

Rita
 
I know costco has these, if not sams, but they have 6 pack of rolls. 3 smaller and 3 larger. I believe it was just under $40.00.
 
I haven't tried them yet but I've been told the Black&Decker bags will work in the food saver for about half the price.
 
Thanks for all the info everyone. Much appreciated. I think I'll go with the 11" rolls, and see if I can swing by my local costco and see if they have any.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by C. Main:
I haven't tried them yet but I've been told the Black&Decker bags will work in the food saver for about half the price. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>They work best if one is generous with bag size. They are made differently with flanges or flaps (sort of) that extend from the sides of the bag toward the center but only go maybe 1/4 of the way across. This material is what provides the air channels for vacuuming but if one cuts the bag at all on the short side the opening of the bag does not close flat (the air channel flaps really get in the way) and a seal is near impossible. Be generous when sizing bags to avoid this problem.
 
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