Opinions on Food Saver Vacuum Sealer Please..

[Steve Stinson]

I tried a Food Saver vacuum sealer years ago and gave it up in a short order. My problem was that any bit of moisture getting pulled into the vacuum unit ruined it. I noticed that they now have a new type of bag with a white stripe across the top that is supposed to keep the moisture out of the vacuum unit, so I am considering giving it another shot.

Please let me know if you have one of these and how they work.

Let me also say, that after fishing all day, then cleaning up the boat, I am not going to go through a five step process to freeze my fish. If I have to dry the fillets, freeze them on wax paper, then vacuum seal and re-package them after they are frozen, I will stick with my present method of freezing them in water sealed in zip lock bags.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[DixieReb]

Freezing fish in water does work, we just ate some trout that were a year old frozen that way and they were great. We use our vacuum unit for steaks and thin-sliced meats but not much else. Like you said, it's a lot of work.

[HewesMan]

I have one of the Weston Sportsman Advantage Vacuum sealers and it works pretty good. They have other models that work really good from what I have read and even ones where the liquid does not matter.

With mine, when I do fish, I do pat them dry and then put them in the bags and the little bit of water left does not cause the bag to not seal. Overall I am very satisfied with mine and did a lit of research before I got one. 100 quart bags are around $23 on Amazon. Another trick that can sometimes be done. is put a piece of paper towel at the top of the bag before you seal things with liquid and that can help as well.

[red_yakker]

My Food-Saver has a "wet" option that I have yet to try.
I just pat the meat dry with paper towels before I put it in the bag. I've only had it not seal correctly once, and that was because I didn't get the meat as dry as I thought I did.
Freezing in water does work, but I prefer the Food-Saver because without the extra water in the bag, it thaws out quicker when I get ready to cook it, plus it takes up less room in the freezer.
I used to wrap venison in freezer paper, and no matter how tight I wrapped it and no matter how many layers of paper I used, I always lost some to freezer burn. Since switching to the Food-Saver, I haven't lost any. The meat is always just as blood-red as the day I put it up.
I guess whether or not it's worth the extra time and expense depends on how much of your own meat you put up each year. I put up a lot of my own fish, venison, pork and chicken. In fact, right now I've probably got about 100 lbs of meat in Food-Saver bags in my freezer. If all I ever put in the freezer was fish, I'd probably just freeze it in water.

[Pirate]

I have used the vacumn sealer and it does work well but also is a lot of work and expense. I saw another method on a cooking show a while back and it has worked real well for us. Using cling wrap just roll up a fillet, then a second, third and so on. This seals all the air out, which is what you want and even though frozen they unroll good to get the number of fillets you need. Once in a while I may have to bang them on the cutting board. I have been doing this for a couple of years and we do eat quite a bit of fish.

[fishinfool]

My food saver has a catch tray for moisture. it works well, but I need to remember to clean out the tray when moisture gets in. No problems to date.

[Danibeth]

I have a vaccum sealer....as long as i put my meat on a paper towel, then pat it dry....or put them in the bag and make sure the bag is dry where it'll be sealed, i've not ahd any problems....works like a charm....

not that difficult.....just have a middle step where you put your meat.....from sink to paper towels to be patted dry to the sealer bags and then you have sealed bags of meat.....

doesn't take that much time and way less time than trying to re seal and revacuum bags that didn't seal properly

i think i even read in the newer ones they might even suggest putting a paper towel in with the meat so you don't have the problem of nonsealing

[JeffB]

i think i even read in the newer ones they might even suggest putting a paper towel in with the meat so you don't have the problem of nonsealing[/quote]

I've been doing this for years. I just pat the fish dry, put in bag, put paper towel in bag next to fish and seal.

[dewyafish]

I got a new one Father's Day weekend that is MUCH better than the old ones.
It has a "MOIST" setting and you can set the strength of vacuum.

The only problem that I've had was it won't seal on boiled peanuts or cooked corn on the cobb if it is still hot.
Other than that I love it.

Oh...Hi everyone!!

[fredhey]

The way I get around the moisture problem is I freeze my fish on wax paper and a cookie sheet overnight then bag and freeze. I also do this with my venison burger patties that I make out when processing my deer. This keeps the meat where it holds its shape and the bags seal very easy. If I do have very moist meat, like venison steaks, I use a paper towel between the meat and seal. I have been using the Food Savers for close to 10 years. On my second one which is much better than the old style.

[GaryDroze]

I stick a straw in the corner of the ziplock bag and then use my mouth as a vacuum, closing up the bag at the last second. It seems to work, and gives my wife something to laugh at while watching me.

[Steve Stinson]

Thank you to all who replied. I am still not completely sold, but I will probably give the sealers another try.

Gary - the only thing worse than sucking fish juice into your new vacuum sealer is sucking it into your mouth.

[Greenbone]

I also pat the filets dry with a paper towel before sealing them.
fishnfool- I guess you left some of that fish juice in that moisture tray ,too??
That's nasty stuff after couple days ,isn't it!!!

[fishinfool]

fishnfool- I guess you left some of that fish juice in that moisture tray ,too??
That's nasty stuff after couple days ,isn't it!!!

Yup...that was an unfortunate "oops", that I hope I don't do again anytime soon.

[Harmsway]

I'm going to invent a vacuum sealer that uses standard ziplock freezer bags. Sorta like Gary's method, but no juice in the mouth.