Vac u Pack

[txbigred]

Get some 1/2 gallon canning jars and you can use them for vacuum storing flour, rice and such. also good for vacuum marinating meat.

Dave

 

[coyote-1]

There's a "Dry Bag" system for dry-aging beef, and it uses a snorkel-type vacuum sealer by Sinbo. It does stipulate that you not get liquids in the unit. The whole thing, with drybags and sealer and extra heat element, is less than $150 shipped.

Y'all have given me something to think about. Do I go for the Sinbo system - being very careful to always pre-freeze (thanks travcoman45) whatever I want to freeze for long periods? Or do I find a Vac-u-Pak at 3x the price, and have to deal with cleaning it?

 

[erain]

looking at that "sinbo" system... again the machine cant handle any h2o and if you ck out the thread on it...
http://drybagsteak.com/drybag-steak-...structions.php

you need to make 3 seals to seal one end of a bag. sounds like alot of hassle.

Drybag Steak Sealing Instructions

 

[txbigred]

I have the Sinbo and use it for vacuuming sausage and dry goods. The reason I got the Sinbo is because it uses regular commercial vacuum bags. Bags cost .05$ vs .50$, anything wet, forget it. I also have a regular vacuum sealer for other things.

Dave

 

[coyote-1]

It sounds that way to my wife too.

I'm trying to balance the whole picture. First off, if you can't get liquid in most of these devices then you can't extract all the air - in which case you might as well just use Ziplocs. The alternative, pre-freezing, seems too much work to my wife.

And if you go for the old Tilia-type machine, you have to keep it very clean! Else you'll be sealing old bacteria into every package. Which means, once again, that letting liquid get inside is problematic.


For my part, I'm willing to pre-freeze and then do the triple seal... so the Sinbo would work. Good food is worth saving properly. And if I don't go that route, I'll simply stay with my current vacu-seal method: Ziploc and straw, and continue to buy my dry-aged beef at the local butcher.

 

[erain]

dang i hate to do this to ya... but would have to agree with your wife too. dont know how much vac sealing you do but if you do as much as me... i mean i just dont have room to prefreeze a couple hundred pounds of meat. the nozzle cleanup on the vmachines is a breeze. if you really are worried about bacteria, the sinbo is the only unit that i have seen where the nozzle enters the actual vacum side of the bag, ie same as the product... old tilias and v u p nozzle remains on waste side of seal.

 

[hounds51]

I totally agree with erain these units are extreamly easy to clean and almost anyone with a high school education can repair them. I bought mine used on E-Bay for about $150 bucks. Mine needed a good cleaning New gaskets and a new bag cutter, all for an additional $30 bucks. These units are very easy to clean, as all you do is put some water with some antibiotic dish cleaner in it, and litterly suck it thru the Vacupack. Don't try that with a food saver. Here is the site that tells you how to trouble shoot and fix the Vacupack. http://web.iwebcenters.com/professio...ng/Nozzel.ivnu I couldn't find a site or parts for the channel type Foodsaver. I think the old addage Pay me now, or pay me later seems to well fit this machine. I found out that my new/old vacupack was used for a commercial type venture, and that the former owners gave up on it only because they didn't know how to service it.
Anyone who gets one of these will not be sorry, they will last a lifetime if treated properly. Also you wont have to pre freeze to vacumme seal your fresh fish or meat. Important !!!!!!! remember this unit is the snorkel type, and not the channel. Here is a web site on trouble shooting and repair, that all can be done from at home. CHeck this out!!!!
http://web.iwebcenters.com/professio...ng/Nozzel.ivnu
These units can be found used on E-Bay, just remember that you are looking for the snorkel type, and not the channel type.
Thanks Dennis
P.S. I don't own stock in this company, but I wished I did!!!!!!!!

 

[hounds51]

By the way here is a very informative video of the Vacupac

http://vacupack.com/

 

[igolf2]

Bought the battery powered Reynolds Handi-vac over a year ago and could not be more pleased with it.

Found a great deal on the bags and bought a bunch but you can reuse the bags. Works great and I can not find a difference between what I have frozen with the Handi-vac and what a friend froze with an expensive vac sealer.

BTW I paid $15 for the vac and some bags and it's still on the original batteries.

Highly Recommended for the home user - if you are vac-sealing an entire side of beef then you would need a more expensive sealer.

 

[coyote-1]

But the moment you put meat in the bag, that meat is (in theory) touching the 'waste' side too on the way in.
The wife is actually kinda ticked at me over this thing. Originally she saw it as a simple & inexpensive gift she could assign to her Mom, but now - because I'm doing my research as always - it's evolved into much more than that

 

[hounds51]

erain I am trying to figure out how you think the vacupack could contaminate the food side of the bag, when you put the product in first, then place bag on snorkel, which when in the sealing process is on the opposite side of product, and on the product side all that happens there is pure vac. How can you contaminate when your totally sucking the air out and then sealing????

 

[gnubee]

I'm just a tad more ghetto than You Dude. I use regular ziplocs. You fill the sink with water and gently lower the bag so the water pressure pushes all the air out of the bag. Carefully zip up making sure not to let any water leak into the bag. Works pretty well.

 

[capt dan]

well like I said a couple weeks ago the foodsaver was on its last leg. Upon further research and some good info from Erain, I decided to buy the VacUpack. It is a bit larger than the foodsaver, but I love it. It does a great job, has a much better vacuum pump , and the heat seal is about twice as wide. It takes a little getting used to the snorkel part of it. I am confident that this unit will be the last one I should need to purchase.

This thread has been very helpfull as well as Erain to help me make up my mind. Lotsa good info for sure.

 

[hounds51]

Congrats Capt Dan, I don't think you will be sorry. I just finished rebuilding mine with 2 new gaskets and a new bag cutter. Got mine very (hard) used and now she works like new. In fact I put a foodsaver and two bags with empty 12oz soda cans in them. Fired up the vacupack and 1 totally crushed can. Did the same, and only half crushed with the foodsaver. I do have to agree that the snorkel vs channel takes some getting used to, but a very small price to pay for a food packer that will last you a lifetime.
Dennis

 

[coyote-1]

Got mine for Xmas. The good one with the snorkel, that can handle liquids... Used it already. It's awesome.

 

[erain]

51... i do not think the vackupack could contaminate the bag...you have it twisted, it was the sinbo unit i was reffering to as more likely to being able to spread contaminants. it is by shere contact that the sinbo could introduce contaminats inside the bag, ck out the operating instructions of the sinbo unit... i did and all i am saying is the sinbo, the nozzle is on the product side of the bag, it is different than the others and the nozzle extends into the bag on the product side, then is retracted to complete the seal. so if there are any contaminants on the nozzle then you could be introducing them into the bag, on the Vmachine the nozzle does not enter the product side of the bag and it would be highly unlikly that contamination would get into the bag as you are pulling a vacum.

 

[tlzimmerman]

First of all this is a great thread with lots of information. My rival seal a meal is going strong, but I am already starting research for its eventual demise and had a questions.

The vacupack machine still must use the channeled bags correct? If not that will definitely be my choice but I think that it needs a channel bag. I have been looking at the sinbo and think I am leaning that way. Its cheaper to begin with, and with the amount of things I am starting to seal the money savings would be huge. 95% of what I do is dry or dry enough to not cause a problem, and I could prefreeze the other 5% I think with no problem.

Anyone out there have a positive review for the sinbo? Are they good? are they junk? or do I have to buy one first to find out?

 

[meateater]

I thought I was the only seal-a-meal user here until I looked up. ^^^

 

[john3198]

My 2 cents wirth........

I never had a vacuum sealer until now, so my experience base is not a broad as many of you. After reviewing this thread and others, I decided to buy a VacUPack. I have used it a lot over the last week or two and have been totally pleased with how well and simply it works.

As others have said, even if you suck fluids into it, it is easy to clean.

I wouldn't go any other way.

 

[txbigred]

I use the Simbo to package my sausage, because I couldn't afford to use the channel bags with the amount that I package. I still use the channel bags for some things, but at $.05 vs $.50 x 50-100 bags a time makes a big difference. I have been using it for at least 10 years. I also have an impulse sealer to add an extra wide seal to the bag....works for me.

DAve