Need a new sealer, hunter style duty

[tallbm]

My first try with the cabelas one did not go very well on very wet goose breasts. I soak for a week changing water to drain blood and such. I wonder if it helps much any more. Wounding from killing them makes blood trama around the meat many times. Anyways, I did 4 breasts in a bag and it suction was not strong enough to remove the air pockets in the back. It sealed two breasts in a bag.

I think I need to try freezing them right away or par freezing them and then sealing. I was not terrible impressed with the vacuum on the cabelas model. The sealer works great, but the vaccum seems weak. I plan to try it again, but we shall see. It used several more inches of bag than the food saver did also for the same size of meat. I can handle that, but it just seem wasteful.

Rob try squeeze the back end of the bag together in kind of a crumpled manner. This creates folds/creases up and over the meat as you vacuum seal and the folds/creases allow the vacuum to suck over and behind the meat until it sucks the folds/creases down all the way to the meat.

This little technique may help you get a better seal but if it doesn't then you may be back in the market for a sealer. Thanks for the user report though. Vac Sealers are such a notorious pain unless you get in with a few brands at a high $$$ for them. Best of luck!

 

[archeryrob]

Man, my wife tried to use this cabelas sealer again today on dry ham chucks we use for breakfast and other meals. It would not develop the pressure to seal on Auto. We tried manual vacuuming and manual seal and there was a ton of air in it. Cleaned the gaskets and still it won't work. $300 and this is the worst POS sealer I have ever bought! I tried to upgrade and got trash.

I am not recommending the cabelas sealer. at this time. Cabelas is sending me a replacement to try as this one is defective and if it is still weak, I am sending it back for a refund. Their customer service reps were great and I told them I would try another unit to be sure and they said I can send that one back also if it doesn't work out.

 

[daveomak]

Rob, Try adding water, drop wise, to the sucking nozzle... don't add too much at a time... you could hydraulic the pump... I found particles of stuff screwed up the vacuum and after several drops of water, the vacuum line and stuff got cleaned out just fine...

 

[daveomak]

The get a vac-master from Vacuum Sealers unlimited on the forum.... Here's Foam's thread.. I have one and love it, as do most of the members here... And Lisa gives us a discount... and Her bags are better than Food Saver also...

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/vac-master-pro-350-foamheart.242342/

 

[old sarge]

Rob - If you do what Dave suggests with the water, and it does not improve, and since it is not working, disassemble and manually clean from the vac port(s) back to the pump. You have nothing to lose but some time and who knows, you might locate the offending crud and bring it back to life. At the worst you will be throwing away pieces rather than an in tact unit.

 

[archeryrob]

I returned it and Cabela's did not send me another unit to try again. I just clicked on Lisa's link and the VacMaster Pro 350 is $289 right now and cheaper than the Cabela's models. Sounds like a better unit to try with better reviews. Just placed my order and I'll review it later on.

 

[old sarge]

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[daveomak]

I really like my vac master... Warning.... there is MORE suck... could cause a problem with any vacuum canisters you may have... I cracked both of mine...

 

[archeryrob]

Thanks Dave, I look forward to having a nice device. I guess I could use pulse if it's too strong, but I'd rather deal with that than the weak one I just had from Cabelas. The unit I got from them didn't even seem to have the pressure the cheap food savers have from Walmart, just a really nice sealer.

I have not been using any canisters. I was considering using them for jerky, but I have not been making any with exploring other stuff. Maybe I'll kill an extra deer this year just for getting back into jerky. The wife likes a think Worcester/soy marinade to cover the Gamey taste of game.

 

[tallbm]

Thanks Dave, I look forward to having a nice device. I guess I could use pulse if it's too strong, but I'd rather deal with that than the weak one I just had from Cabelas. The unit I got from them didn't even seem to have the pressure the cheap food savers have from Walmart, just a really nice sealer.

I have not been using any canisters. I was considering using them for jerky, but I have not been making any with exploring other stuff. Maybe I'll kill an extra deer this year just for getting back into jerky. The wife likes a think Worcester/soy marinade to cover the Gamey taste of game.

If you haven't tried ground meat jerky that may be something for you to check into. You could simply grind up your deer and you have ground whenever you want and you can just take that lean grind and roll into jerky strips. Ground meat jerky is softer on the teeth as well. All wins and it is my preference since I process my own deer and changing the setup to make jerky slices would be a major time sink to an already laborious week of work when you have 7-12 animals to process :)

 

[sweetride95]

+1 on the Vac Master 350. Great machine.
I also have their vp112 chamber sealer for the juicy stuff.
I am an average home user and have had zero problems with either machine.