Who has a vacuum sealer?

[Waterdog247]

As the Admiral and I get closer to making the big shift off the hard, we are identifying items and devices that we will not need. One of the items still in the “undecided” pile is our vacuum sealer. We have a Vacmaster 210 that gets used a lot. Fishing here in the PNW has been amazing the last few years. Halibut, Ling Cod, Salmon, and several kinds of tuna, plus a couple deer, have kept our freezer full. The 210 has been invaluable.
There are several pros and cons, of course. I am not a big fan of the plastic bags, but the amount of space saved counters that. The size of the 210 is chunky; it takes up a little real estate. And I imagine the power draw for the pump is substantial. I’ve never had much luck with the food-saver type sealers, and their bags are expensive. Though they do take up much less space.
How do you all feel about yours, and would you change anything given the opportunity?

[Telesail]

We have a Foodsaver that runs on 12V (Can’t remember the model name) and would not change a thing. Low power draw, big space saver in the freezer and the unit fits in an under-bench locker with all its rolls of bags etc no problem.

[Mike OReilly]

I too have the dual AC/DC (12v) Foodsaver. Love it. Best vaccum bagger I've owned, and I went through quite a number. I can't say I use it a lot while on board, but it comes in handy enough to easily justify it's presence.



I don't like the fact that it uses proprietary bags, but I've learned how to use any freezer-type bag with it. You just have to insert a small piece of the foodsaver bag into the opening. I always keep my cuttings, so there's always scrap around.

[SVHarmonie]

We tried a "generic" model, and it worked... for a while. Then went with a Foodsaver and have been happy with it.

In general, they are awesome tools. Food lasts forever, no freezer burn. No mixing of flavors.

We freeze a LOT of fish. It's our primary source of protein, and a vacuum bagger really helps them last.

[Lepke]

I have a food saver and use generic rolls. It gets used as much for storing spare parts as for food. I go to remote places so carry a lot of spares. It helps rubber products like impellers from getting hard.

[GoneDiving]

Without hijacking the thread, I suggested a vacuum dealer to the Admiral and she won't have a bar of it saying that the wrapped red meat/fish/chicken takes up too much space in the freezer when compared to plastic/saran wrap. How is everyone using it and reporting space savings? Our bags have a substantial tail and diameter beyond the meat to allow suction and sealing. Plastic wrapped is just a ball of solid meat

We are obviously doing something wrong....??

[Mike OReilly]

There are overhangs which are necessary to create the sealed bag. But with careful planning they can be minimized. Never going to get it down to zero though, like a plastic film wrap could do. But then, plastic film wrap isn't creating a perfect seal of the meat either.

It's never been an issue for me, but then I don't use my sealer to store massive amounts of meat. My main application is for sealing food which I dry, and then store on board. Mostly veg and fruit, although I also dry some meats. All of this gets sealed for long-term storage.

[Auspicious]

My Foodsaver is 15 years old and has a lot of miles on it. We use rolls vice bags. Extremely happy. With some care in sealing the space is about the same as handwrapping. Waste due to freezer burn is greatly reduced.

[Sparx]

Originally Posted by GoneDiving

Without hijacking the thread, I suggested a vacuum dealer to the Admiral and she won't have a bar of it saying that the wrapped red meat/fish/chicken takes up too much space in the freezer when compared to plastic/saran wrap. How is everyone using it and reporting space savings? Our bags have a substantial tail and diameter beyond the meat to allow suction and sealing. Plastic wrapped is just a ball of solid meat

We are obviously doing something wrong....??

The vacuum sealer has won a place in our cruising because it facilitates nicely preserving "just right size" portions. The sealed packages are quite compact and easily found in the freezer. The result is a very efficient use of freezer space. We find with this approach we get MORE in the freezer.

[a64pilot]

The overhang space wise is pretty much insignificant, but way beyond freezing it’s great for taking any kind of crackers, cookies or anything else that can become stale and or moisture can affect and give it nearly infinite shelf life. Even Saltine crackers on a boat in original packaging will become stale / soft if not vacuum bagged.
We cruise so far for half the year, and except for fresh food, we leave with 6 months worth of food on board, we couldn’t do that without the Vacuum sealer.
It’s even outstanding for spare parts, spray metal parts with a rust preventative and vacuum bag it, two or three years later when you need it, it will be in perfect condition.
Certainly use rolls and make your own bags, and if your careful when you cut the end off and only cut the min off, you can reuse the bag.
Ours is 120VAC, I have learned that good quality 12V appliances are very hard to find and when you do you often pay a premium, you save money and get much better stuff with AC powered appliances, and use an inverter.
A vacuum sealer on a boat is as useful a tool as a bucket,you didn’t think you needed one until after you started, then you find out how useful it is.

[Jdege]

I've a great fan of the Sinbo DZ-280.

It is the only consumer model sealer I've seen that uses a snorkel, so it can work with ordinary bags, instead of the micro-channel bags that the others require.

It's listed as "unavailable" on Amazon, so it may be off the market.

[Dockhead]

I have one.


I have used it more to package supplies, batteries, etc. for the grab bag, than for food.


It doesn't work flawlessly -- sometimes the bags lose their seal. Maybe I'm not using it right, or maybe it's not a good one.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Jdege

I've a great fan of the Sinbo DZ-280.

It is the only consumer model sealer I've seen that uses a snorkel, so it can work with ordinary bags, instead of the micro-channel bags that the others require.

It's listed as "unavailable" on Amazon, so it may be off the market.

Not exactly sure what you mean by a "snorkel", but my foodsaver has a small hose attachment that can be used to seal vacuum odd shaped containers.

And as I mentioned earlier, I've figured out a way to use any standard freezer bag with my foodsaver. You just need to insert a small amount of the micro-channel bag in the seal. Works pretty well.

That said, the cost of the proper bags is quite minimal if they're bought by the roll. It's really not a significant cost.

[chuckr]

Have one on board for 13 years. At times we vacuum pack a lot of things like rice,pasta and similar items ..don't have big enough freezer to use it for that.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I have one.


I have used it more to package supplies, batteries, etc. for the grab bag, than for food.


It doesn't work flawlessly -- sometimes the bags lose their seal. Maybe I'm not using it right, or maybe it's not a good one.

The heat sealer isn’t getting hot enough to properly melt the bag, or they are cheap bags and not melting properly.
We sometimes have an issue with getting ours to vacuum down hard but once sealed they always stay sealed. I feel sure our problem is from bargain bags bought on Amazon in bulk. The machine works by pulling a vacuum between the two halves of the bag and not letting air leak from outside, it can pull a vacuum because there are very small channels that don’t collapse when the bag is squeezed together, and the heat melts and seals the bag and these channels.
I believe the snorkel that was talked about is a way to pull a vacuum into a bag that doesn’t have the micro channels in it, so it pulls through the snorkel maybe? I guess that way you could reseal a product in the original bag it came in?

Along that line, these go well with vacuum sealers as a way to store excess product once the bag is opened until it’s also used, this is dog food, we open a bag and pour the rest into this, it last about a week, then open the next sealed bag etc.