Vaccum sealer - bags?

[Segelplaner]

I have just bought a food sealer and plan to sail away from Sweden around the world. Do you know if it is possible to buy new sealer bags from stores in different sailing areas? And what is your best tips on what kind of food to be sealed?


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[sv Grateful]

It depends on the type of sealer. If it is the vacuum chamber style that uses smooth plastic, any heavy food grade plastic should work and you should find that material anywhere food is processed.

If it is the typical home style system, where the food remains outside the machine and which uses the bags with the patterned plastic, you'll need the specialized bags which I've found only in the so called "first world.,"

The material doesn't take much space, pack plenty!

We love ours for keeping fish caught in plentiful waters to eat in leaner locations.

[sparrowhawk1]

I have a symbo which has a snorkel that allows you to use smooth plastic bags. But I use mason jars exclusively you can reseal them over and over . Do a search on Mason jar vacuum seal attachments it's the way to go

[JPA Cate]

Hello Segelplaner:

Do not expect to find suitable bags in the Pacific. They may be available in Papeete, but try an find out first. I would not expect them, but you might be able to have some shipped into American Samoa or Guam. Beyond Australia, no idea whatsoever. You will possibly find that your eating practices change with the various climactic environments you enter. I find we eat different meals in cold weather than hot.

A.

[puffcard]

We left the sealer at home we love ours, but space and power. You can use ziplock bags. You can get the air out by filling a pot with seawater and them lowering the bag into the water. Keep the top open and out of the water. The water will squeeze the bag and push the air out.

[mikecambrai]

One of the best sites for getting information and help on anything to do with food is Theboatgalley, hosted by Carolyn Shearlock. Here you will find so much information about keeping food on a cruising yacht and much more besides.
Highly recommended.
https://theboatgalley.com

[Steve O]

I am getting ready to leave for a year and although I am not putting food in Vacuum Bags I am using them to store Spares and especially electronic spares in before I leave. This way I will reduce damage from corrosion when stored and keep like parts together. I also have a few future project circuit boards that will be stored in vacuum bags.

[Robert Tilbury]

we use ours to re seal everything thats been sealed from penuts chips (crisps to pommies ) fish even fruit if its a fly problem area ,,, try re sealing you will be amazed what can be re done

[Pelagic]

So what brand/system is most suitable for a cruising boat?

[Caribbeachbum]

I worry that the plastic ends up in the sea. Unlike aluminum cans, glass bottles, paper sacks and other paper products, food waste, and even human waste, plastic is a bona fide pollutant. If I were planning to remain in only 1st world cruising grounds, then maybe. But what you take to a dumpster in a friendly place like Kiribati ends up in the sea, despite your best intentions. Probably true in some areas everywhere, even the USA. I grant you that any one individual's contribution to this problem, or avoidance thereof, is insignificant. But I prefer to leave an unpolluted wake none the less.

But ya, those things are pretty nice to have.

[Mike OReilly]

I bought the ac/dc version of the Foodsaver. Although it uses proprietery bags I’ve experimented with normal freezer bags and have been able to get them to work if I insert a small clipping from the special bags to allow air to be sucked out. We carry the foodsaver on board and use if for both food and tool storage.

I’ve gone through a number of sealers and this one is, by far, the best I’ve had.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by Caribbeachbum

I worry that the plastic ends up in the sea. Unlike aluminum cans, glass bottles, paper sacks and other paper products, food waste, and even human waste, plastic is a bona fide pollutant. If I were planning to remain in only 1st world cruising grounds, then maybe. But what you take to a dumpster in a friendly place like Kiribati ends up in the sea, despite your best intentions. Probably true in some areas everywhere, even the USA. I grant you that any one individual's contribution to this problem, or avoidance thereof, is insignificant. But I prefer to leave an unpolluted wake none the less.

But ya, those things are pretty nice to have.

I agree, places like Pohnpe in Micronesia have a horrendous plastic garbage problem and we don't need to add to it

In remote places, I would take
washed plastics ashore and burn them on the beach fire

This might be a dumb question as I've never used one....
..but can these vacumn bags be reused?

ie Just cleanly slice off the seal on one end, wash/dry/refill an seal again.

We always reuse the zip locks for short term freezing until damaged.

[Dsanduril]

We carry two to three rolls of the bag materials for the Foodsaver and have found that to be enough for a year or so, and we can generally find more in that time frame. Easily found in the US, NZ, Australia, South Africa, other places vary.

We have a freezer on board, and sometimes we shop for stuff that will be in there for several months. Vacuum packing helps tremendously at keeping freezer burn at bay.

We make our bags by cutting from the roll, and yes, they can re-used, getting smaller each time. We decide on a case-by-case basis depending on what they had in them whether we can get them clean/sanitary for re-use.

I've also used the vacuum sealer for emergency repairs on the boat, now it is almost a habit. When I have to epoxy together small parts I use vacuum to provide clamping pressure, very nice to have, especially when fixing oddly shaped items that are hard to clamp.

So, overall we like having one.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by Dsanduril

We carry two to three rolls of the bag materials for the Foodsaver and have found that to be enough for a year or so, and we can generally find more in that time frame. Easily found in the US, NZ, Australia, South Africa, other places vary.

We have a freezer on board, and sometimes we shop for stuff that will be in there for several months. Vacuum packing helps tremendously at keeping freezer burn at bay.

We make our bags by cutting from the roll, and yes, they can re-used, getting smaller each time. We decide on a case-by-case basis depending on what they had in them whether we can get them clean/sanitary for re-use.

I've also used the vacuum sealer for emergency repairs on the boat, now it is almost a habit. When I have to epoxy together small parts I use vacuum to provide clamping pressure, very nice to have, especially when fixing oddly shaped items that are hard to clamp.

So, overall we like having one.

Thanks Dsanduril
I've heard of Food saver so will check if bag material is available in SE Asia?

Noticed that they have a lot of different models, what would you recommend for average crew of 4?

[Dsanduril]

We bought the one that was available and on sale

Just took a look, VS4300 A. I see the online reviews are down in the two-star area, but we've had no issues and it seems to work well for us. We only really break it out about once a month when we do a major shopping. Occasionally at other times (leftover foods in jars, caught a big fish and can't possibly eat it all fresh).

It (and I suspect all) does work much better for frozen items (meats at least) if they are frozen first, then sealed, as the vacuum can pull out a lot of juices on unfrozen items and get quite messy - depends on the food and how 'wet' it is.

We also use it for some dry goods - nuts, coffee, etc. - and it definitely helps keep them fresh and crisp compared with the store packaging.