topic Food saver in Kitchen

Food saver

Pooky1 — Sun, 23 May 2021 19:16:43 GMT

Been wanting to order a vacuum sealer for years and I just ordered the food saver qvc sells for 110.00. Its got free shipping a bunch of bags and a roll to seal food. Any tips anyone has on it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for at tips or advice about it.

Re: Food saver

patbz — Sun, 23 May 2021 19:21:22 GMT

Eventually your Food saver will stop sealing; when that happens, you need to replace the gaskets ( easy fix, available on Amazon).

Re: Food saver

fthunt — Sun, 23 May 2021 19:30:29 GMT

Meat with lots of juice - steaks - ground beef - par-freeze it or juices will be running all over the place........... by compression of bag - and - it won't hold a seal with so much liquid in bag.

Fish doesn't seem to hold a seal - for some reason - too much moisture I guess.

Par-Freeze - place meatballs- etc. on plate ON wax paper - in refrigerator freezer for about an hour. Immediately put meat in FS bag and seal.

Enjoy........................

Re: Food saver

kaydee50 — Sun, 23 May 2021 19:46:36 GMT

DH bought the hand held one that HSN sells or used to sell by Debbie Meyer. We don't have large portions to seal and this worked well for us. We used to have a regular size Food Saver but it did go kaput after a couple of years and now they are too expensive.

Re: Food saver

LuvmyLab — Sun, 23 May 2021 19:57:43 GMT

We've had ours for years and love it! We have never had a problem with the sealer and never had to replace anything. We have saved so much food by using this food sealer. We seal lots of food in the original bags and if that's not possible, we use the food saver bags.

Re: Food saver

luvmybeetle — Sun, 23 May 2021 20:23:15 GMT

I've had my Food Saver for a few years and have never had a problem with sealing immediately with raw meat. Mine has a button for moisture/dry food. You can buy in bulk and save lots of money. It's a good buy.

Re: Food saver

loriqvc — Sun, 23 May 2021 20:24:54 GMT

Like @luvmybeetle, I also made sure to purchase the Food Saver with multiple settings so I could adjust to the needs of the day. It has been working perfectly for more than a decade, saving us lots of wasted food and money.

@Pooky1 - What kind of tips are you looking for?

Re: Food saver

Pooky1 — Sun, 23 May 2021 20:34:00 GMT

Loriqvc . nothing specific. Just wherever people think of it.

Re: Food saver

froggy — Sun, 23 May 2021 21:03:28 GMT

My tip is to go to the Foodsaver website and become a member there. They will occasionally have two for one sales - I think I even remember a buy one get two free sale. At their sale prices you can get the bags cheaper even than Costco. I buy a lot when the sale is on. They also have a heavier weight bag called Game bags. I use them for meat.

Re: Food saver

Eileen in Virginia — Sun, 23 May 2021 21:18:50 GMT

I've had one (not the same one) since QVC first offered them many years ago. I've frozen meats and fish successfully without pre-freezing. I buy them in bulk from BJ's, then break them down into smaller portions that work for our family. I like to buy a 10 pound pork loin roast, then cut it into several smaller roasts and boneless pork chops. I do the same with salmon filets. I buy dark cherries in bulk from Amazon, divide them into 2 cup portions, shrink wrap them, then freeze them until I need them. They're perfect for keeping hard cheeses fresh until you use them up. Just reseal after you've taken what you need until the next time you need it. This also holds true for bacon, hot dogs, etc. Most bulk baking ingredients can be shrink wrapped until you're ready to use them, too. I don't usually shrink wrap baked goods, although this might be possible with some of the more sophisticated models. I'm not a camper, but I understand Foodsavers can be used to seal non-food items to keep them dry while camping.

I prefer to use the bags (quart and gallon sized) instead of the rolls. I just never got into them. I've got a galley kitchen with very limited counter space. My Foodsaver is one appliance that's always on the counter ready for use.

Re: Food saver

deeva — Sun, 23 May 2021 21:30:31 GMT

Would be without my Foodsaver. My current model is 10 years old, and I've never had to replace the seals.

I also use my Foodsaver to seal the small tubs of spackle that I use infrequently. Keeps the spackle soft.

I'm thinking about upgrading to the model with multiple sealing settings.
Bought my first one in 2002.

Re: Food saver

spent2much — Sun, 23 May 2021 22:13:54 GMT

If I'm going to seal something that's juicy, I put it first in Saran Wrap. That way, you don't have to pre-freeze before sealing it.

Re: Food saver

homedecor1 — Sun, 23 May 2021 23:33:16 GMT

@Pooky1

you asked the right ones for help -- posters here🙂🙂

I'd never had one (even when raising a family) but during pandemic my freezer was full (as others)...so bought one. I had more misses than hits sealing the bags & cutting to size.

It's definitely a "learning curve" but thanks to many here I became a expert😉

My suggestions :

always pat dry meat before attempting to seal otherwise liquid runs into sealing bar & doesnt seal
I wrap in press n seal to make portion packages -- then put in fs bag & seal
Wasted a lot of roll (bags) on cheeses once opened I didn't have enough bag to "reseal".
look for roll deals this month I think Costco has a good deal but someone told me about "off brand" on A & worked fine
and patience😉

I no longer buy in bulk but my food saver is standing by ready if I need it🙂🙂 And I preferred the bags vs cutting the roll to size -- could never get it right🤷‍♀️🙄

Buying bulk definitely was a plus with food saver.

Enjoy saving $$$

Re: Food saver

Zhills — Sun, 23 May 2021 23:52:53 GMT

I fold a piece of paper towel and put between the meat or food and the seal.

Leave room for it, and use it. Even pieces of fresh chicken have enough juice to suck into the seal area and prevent a good seal.

Label and Date everything!

Re: Food saver

froggy — Mon, 24 May 2021 01:06:50 GMT

Regarding using the Foodsaver for cheese, bacon, lunchmeats - anything that you might open and close several times:

I use this in addition to my full size Foodsaver. It uses a different type of bag called Freshsaver but you can open and reseal it as you use the contents. Some of the big Foodsaver have an attachment that you can use with these bags but this unit is small and it's the one I keep on the counter.

Re: Food saver

wagirl — Mon, 24 May 2021 15:58:08 GMT

@fthunt ---very good tips!!! I do use my foodsaver and that is a problem I have, but will do your tips.

Re: Food saver

chickenbutt — Mon, 24 May 2021 19:38:17 GMT

Best advice so far is to at least par-freeze raw meats before vacuum sealing. Aside from keeping from having fluids enter the machine, it allows the fibers to expand (with the freezing) BEFORE you vac-seal them. That gives a better seal than vac-sealing from unfrozen.

I've been a nut for vac-sealing for about 25 years, since I bought my first Foodsaver, the Compact II, IIRC.

I do a lot of stuff where I measure out a specific amount to bag up, for example, because I might have a certain size of L&L I keep them in. I do my raw almonds in 2cup increments because I have a 2c L&L I keep some in, in the refrigerator. The vac-sealed ones are in the freezer. The stock I currently have is from several years ago and each time I take out a packet to transfer into L&L to keep in refrigerator I know they're still as fresh as the day I sealed them up.

I do that with rice, brown rice, wild rice, and other dry goods. Might as well measure them out in the increment you would be using so it's already measured and you can just expose only what you need to use to the air. I make 1cup and 2cup bags of brown rice because sometimes I cook less than other times. Easy to store in freezer or refrigerator because each packet takes up only a little space, rather than having a big container taking up more space.

I've vac-sealed many a package of turkey chili or split pea soup. I freeze them in L&L of a specific size, then pop them out and into a FS bag to seal up. That way I can just pop one out, into a pot, and heat it up when I'm so inclined.

I could go on all day, but I'll spare you.

Re: Food saver

riley1 — Mon, 24 May 2021 19:52:04 GMT

@Pooky1 - I've had a FoodSaver for years. Never had a problem with it sealing. Definitely worth the money.

Re: Food saver

patbz — Tue, 25 May 2021 01:08:40 GMT

Love my Food saver but store left over lasagne in Souper Cuber ( Amazon as seen on Shark Tank).

Re: Food saver

Epicurean — Fri, 28 May 2021 21:27:41 GMT

mine is the most used appliance in my kitchen. Yes it's good for leftovers, but,whenever I make something that freezes well I make a double recipe and freeze one.. plus I make about 6-8 quarts of spaghetti sauce ad freeze them in bags just enough for the two of us I place the bags on a cookie sheet to freeze and then place the in a metal basket I keep ion the freezer. I have fibromyalgia and on days I don't feel up to cooking much I always have a good meal to thaw ut and reheat