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  • Vacuum Sealers - Which brand?

    Which brand do you recommend?

    What features do like the most?

    What is the longest you have had something stored in vacuum seal and then opened?

    I am looking into getting one and I wanted to hear what brand people use and why. I did a search thru the forum and couldn't find any posts with specific info, just general talk about using them for food storage in food buckets.

    elittle
    "It's a trap!!!!" -- Admiral Ackbar

  • #2
    Which brand do you recommend? Foodsaver

    What features do like the most? so easy a impaitent caveman like me can use it

    What is the longest you have had something stored in vacuum seal and then opened? I stored some shotgun shells for about 7yrs sealed. The food maybe 6mths. Most of it seems to get eaten quickly by the family so that is not a good reference.
    Knowledge is Power, Practiced Knowledge is Strength, Tested Knowledge is Confidence

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    • #3
      FoodSaver. just one word of caution, if you use the jar sealer to seal anything like baking powder,soda,or any powder, don't fill the jar over 2/3 full or you'll suck the machine right full of powder and it will be useless, it was a 200. mistake that i made. we've had veg oil and baking powder sealed for over 3 yrs

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      • #4
        @Matt - I assume you had oxygen absorber and silica gel in the sealed bags or am I way off base? 7 years, now that is pretty impressive. Thanks for the response!!
        "It's a trap!!!!" -- Admiral Ackbar

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        • #5
          @ crossbow - thanks for the tip on the jar sealer, that sucks you had that happen. They should put warnings on those things. Thanks for the response.
          "It's a trap!!!!" -- Admiral Ackbar

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          • #6
            $200. for these? Wow.

            Considering packing with mylar and absorbers does the same thing, is their something else you plan on doing with it besides packing food?
            Boris- "He's famous, has picture on three dollar bill!"

            Rocky- "Wow! I've never even seen a three dollar bill!"

            Boris- "Is it my fault you're poor?"

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            • #7
              Originally posted by 1Admin View Post
              $200. for these? Wow.

              Considering packing with mylar and absorbers does the same thing, is their something else you plan on doing with it besides packing food?
              you can tie up over 300. if you get all the canisters,bags,accessories that go with them. we repack our oils,olive, veg canola and seasonings,baking things, in mason jars just to make them rodent proof.

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              • #8
                @1Admin - So aviod the vacuum sealer completely.

                I did a quick search on Oxygen absorbers and here is what I found:
                (500cc) 100 count for $14.92 plus S & H https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/e...orage_bags.htm

                Mylar bags: same site as above. 5 - 6 gallon size
                Ziploc - $2.97 each. + S & H
                No Ziploc - $1.77 each. + S & H
                Ziploc vs. No Ziploc? Which way should you go?

                Silica Gel (Moisture Absorber): Very expensive IMO. http://www.silicagelpackets.com/sili...ket-tyvek.html
                56 Gram Silica Gel Packet - Tyvek $4.99 each Free shipping at this site. Roughly 56 grams per 5/6 gallon bucket.
                Buy 10 for $3.79 each and save 25%
                Buy 30 for $2.89 each and save 43%
                Buy 120 for $2.19 each and save 57%
                Buy 480 for $1.89 each and save 63%

                I don't suppose anyone has collated this information in a nice easy to read table to compare the cost of all this stuff?

                It boils down to this for me:

                What is the most cost effective yet preventive way to store food and other supplies?

                What is the tipping point of all the possible combinations?

                Sorry to belabor the issue, I am a details person. I like to see all the numbers and data and I prefer to base my decisions on real data not what I feel. 6-Sigma has helped me become more data oriented in that regard.

                Would a chart with all the possible combinations help anyone else? I am thinking I could make a nice spreadsheet based on # of people, amount of food to be stored, and all the possible combinations of how to store them with a total cost per solution.

                Thanks,
                elittle
                "It's a trap!!!!" -- Admiral Ackbar

                Comment


                • #9
                  About a year ago I was fortunate to receive a FoodSaver V2440 as a gift. I used it the moment I took it out of the box and can't think of a day since that I have not used it. I don't have the plastic containers but would try them based upon the success that I've had with the bags.

                  Thought I'd mainly use it with my dehydrator. While I use it frequently enough for that purpose, I find that I use it for every day stuff too, like sealing portions of blocks of cheese, sealing cereal bags, also works great on most chip bags, especially mylar.

                  As for duration, I was making some soup last weekend and opened a pack of green onions that I'd dried last April. Easily reconsistuted and worked like a charm.

                  Two additional thoughts, I have used it to make ice packs that I can refreeze as well as a way to keep clothes dry in a pack. For kicks, I rolled up a pair of gym shorts, underwear, T-shirt, and socks tightly, shoved it into the bag and vacuumed to seal. Heck, I even wrapped a couple of Christmas presents with it.

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                  • #10
                    Something to look at is the pump-n-seal (~$30). It claims to be able to seal ziplock bags but they don't hold a seal very long. I have a foodsaver also. I use the pump-n-seal with the foodsaver masor jar sealer mostly, just had to make an adapter to connect the different hoses. Works great, needs no electricity, and EMP proof :)

                    http://pumpnsealfoodsaver.com/foodsavers.htm

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Matt In Oklahoma View Post
                      Which brand do you recommend? Foodsaver

                      What features do like the most? so easy a impaitent caveman like me can use it

                      What is the longest you have had something stored in vacuum seal and then opened? I stored some shotgun shells for about 7yrs sealed. The food maybe 6mths. Most of it seems to get eaten quickly by the family so that is not a good reference.
                      You vacuum sealed shotgun shells? Well, not sure that is really necessary, unless your using old "paper shells"? We did month inspection of our unit's ammo stockpile in Korea, and we had crates of ammo just sitting there in a concrete bunker in their cardboard packs. Some pallets already 20 years old. We never used it, but when we had to do the random break out inspection, once and awhile we randomly picked the old pallets, and the brass looked aged, but I am sure it would still fire if needed.

                      Has anybody here had to fire old ammo for some feedback?

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Not on the shotguns shells, we just bagged them vacuumed out the air and it sealed. I kept this batch in a wooden gun cabinet instead of my normal ammo cans/safe. My thought was not to put all my eggs in one basket where I was at the time and I then left for a few years with the green machine and stored them in a family members closet. They stayed sealed to my amazement and were still in good shape when knocked some birds down.
                        Knowledge is Power, Practiced Knowledge is Strength, Tested Knowledge is Confidence

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I was in and out with my Uncle and couldn't always be sure if my family would take care of them so........
                          Knowledge is Power, Practiced Knowledge is Strength, Tested Knowledge is Confidence

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by elittle View Post
                            @1Admin - So aviod the vacuum sealer completely.

                            I did a quick search on Oxygen absorbers and here is what I found:
                            (500cc) 100 count for $14.92 plus S & H https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/e...orage_bags.htm

                            Mylar bags: same site as above. 5 - 6 gallon size
                            Ziploc - $2.97 each. + S & H
                            No Ziploc - $1.77 each. + S & H
                            Ziploc vs. No Ziploc? Which way should you go?

                            Silica Gel (Moisture Absorber): Very expensive IMO. http://www.silicagelpackets.com/sili...ket-tyvek.html
                            56 Gram Silica Gel Packet - Tyvek $4.99 each Free shipping at this site. Roughly 56 grams per 5/6 gallon bucket.
                            Buy 10 for $3.79 each and save 25%
                            Buy 30 for $2.89 each and save 43%
                            Buy 120 for $2.19 each and save 57%
                            Buy 480 for $1.89 each and save 63%

                            I don't suppose anyone has collated this information in a nice easy to read table to compare the cost of all this stuff?

                            It boils down to this for me:

                            What is the most cost effective yet preventive way to store food and other supplies?

                            What is the tipping point of all the possible combinations?

                            Sorry to belabor the issue, I am a details person. I like to see all the numbers and data and I prefer to base my decisions on real data not what I feel. 6-Sigma has helped me become more data oriented in that regard.

                            Would a chart with all the possible combinations help anyone else? I am thinking I could make a nice spreadsheet based on # of people, amount of food to be stored, and all the possible combinations of how to store them with a total cost per solution.

                            Thanks,
                            elittle
                            All you need is the oxygen absorbers and the mylar bags.

                            The CLEAR thin plastic food saver bags aren't going to hold up near as long as mylar will.

                            Spreadsheets and lists are great, and I have notebooks of lists of inventory, what else needs to be done, etc. but in the course of being anyltical don't over look experience.

                            The reason you don't see any of the professional packing houses using food savers is that the product isn't likely to store for 15-20 years. I've opened MANY a product (not necessarily food) that was put up 15-20 years ago that the plastic had melted, disintegrated into goo, etc.

                            You can't "chart" that, a spreadsheet won't tell you that. Only experience shows you that.

                            All I'm trying to do is to share 24 years experience storing food with you, what's worked and what hasn't. I've tried all of the conventional and a good many of the non conventional packing methods for my PERSONAL storage over the last two plus decades.

                            I also have the benefit of two years experience running a mid size commercial cannery wherein we packed well in excess of half million pounds of food 1998 through the end of 1999 . I deal with some of the major packing houses on a daily basis still. I know of no one that uses DE, soda pop bottles, mylar balloons, food saver bags or anything similar for LONG TERM storage.

                            If you had it already, well go for it. I'm just trying to save you $200. A LOT of people ASSUME they "need" one of those to either put up their food or use to seal the mylars, YOU DON'T.
                            www.homesteadingandsurvival.com

                            www.survivalreportpodcast.com

                            "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed..."

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Also, keep in mind the most "cost effective" way to do long term storage may not necessarily be the BEST way to store food wherein you have a usable, non deteriorated product at the end of 15 or 20 years.

                              Also, what you need to remember is that in the $$ breakdown for the mylars and absorbers is that unless you "cut off the excess" at the top of the mylar bag- A BIG NO NO- you should be able to RE-USE the mylar bag later. We have re-used many a mylar for our personal family storage. So in essence you have a product that you can get several uses out of. You can always pack equipment, ammo, etc. in mylar also.

                              No one is disputing that the food saver bags may work fine for 3-8 years as long as you make them 100% secure from UV light, etc. But since most folks that pack their food pack for long term storage, I assumed you were looking for answers to long term storage.

                              IME, I've found it easier to go ahead and at the start PLAN for and PACK FOR long term storage.
                              www.homesteadingandsurvival.com

                              www.survivalreportpodcast.com

                              "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed..."

                              Comment

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