which is better tape or hog rings

[cal1956]

i am thinking about buying a 3/8 tape machine to seal the ends of 1 lb sausage meat bags , amazon sells them fairly cheap so its not a big expense ,just wondering what others thought as to which way is best and why

 

[tallbm]

i am thinking about buying a 3/8 tape machine to seal the ends of 1 lb sausage meat bags , amazon sells them fairly cheap so its not a big expense ,just wondering what others thought as to which way is best and why

1000% would I use a tape machine over doing hog rings. I in fact use a 3/8 tape machine like you mention. They are amazing!

The speed and ease of them cannot be beat. When people bag meat they are usually doing many pounds not 1-5 pounds so the tape machine is the best and most efficient approach and u can get an 8 year old to work it if you needed to.

One final note on bags and tape.
I broke down and bought clear unmarked bags because I found them on sale for like 2,000 count. (I wanted white bags but none to be had so went with the clear)
I then took a page out of the book of @indaswamp and I'm using different color tape to indicate which type of meat is in the bag... super simple and awesome!

Though this cost more than the freakin tape machine, it should color code a variety of meats you may be grinding and saving should you decide to go with a white or clear bag and buy in the 1,000 count+. This much tape will likely last you a lifetime :)


Here's a 1,000 count of the 1 pound clear bags. Pre-pandemic this would run a bit less but the times are the times. I don't know how much you plan to bag but 1,000 bags goes a long way and you can use the colored tape to distinguish between types of ground meat.

You can get 50 bags for like $10 at Academy if you have one near you and you want to spend less money and just buy bags when you need them. Cost per bag is way more BUT individual hit the wallet is less.

I hope this info helps.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Yep...use tape machine here as well!

Ryan

 

[DougE]

Tape would be best. Zip ties also work great and can be had pretty cheap.

 

[48°North]

Previous guys have you covered. I have done both and tape is the way to go.

 

[cal1956]

thanks thats the information i needed we will be doing 50-60 lbs in July or August for sure , i like the idea of color coding the meat

thanks again

 

[Hockeydudde]

I'll disagree. Tape is fast, agree there. In my experience, tape leaks more often while defrosting in the fridge. We have much better sealing with hog rings. Downside of hog rings is you have to cut them off before putting in microwave.
We have gone to strictly hog rings.

 

[cal1956]

i hadn't really thought about leaking , but as far as leaking while defrosting , i like to microwave them for a few sec. then while they are still mostly frozen cut them to the thickness i want then vac. seal the rest so maybe leaking won't be a problem
but i think i will give the tape a try and see how it goes

 

[Hockeydudde]

i hadn't really thought about leaking , but as far as leaking while defrosting , i like to microwave them for a few sec. then while they are still mostly frozen cut them to the thickness i want then vac. seal the rest so maybe leaking won't be a problem
but i think i will give the tape a try and see how it goes

If you like to microwave, I agree, -> tape. If you like to fully defrost in fridge, -> rings.

 

[tallbm]

@Hockeydudde brings up a credible point to consider when defrosting in the fridge. My solution is I defrost all my frozen meat on a plate/tray/bowl so that any leakage does not make a mess.

There are times that there is a faulty seal on a vac bag, a bag may have a tiny hole, etc. etc. so I do this for all my frozen meat so I don't have to clean a fridge from defrosting stuff.

Not everyone may care to do this but figured I would share a simple and easy practice I follow to keep from having a messy fridge :)

 

[cal1956]

i never use a full pound of breakfast sausage at once so its not a problem for me

 

[Brokenhandle]

@Hockeydudde brings up a credible point to consider when defrosting in the fridge. My solution is I defrost all my frozen meat on a plate/tray/bowl so that any leakage does not make a mess.

There are times that there is a faulty seal on a vac bag, a bag may have a tiny hole, etc. etc. so I do this for all my frozen meat so I don't have to clean a fridge from defrosting stuff.

Not everyone may care to do this but figured I would share a simple and easy practice I follow to keep from having a messy fridge :)

We do the same! It's easy and beats cleaning up a mess in the fridge.

Ryan

 

[indaswamp]

I'll throw this out there....zip ties. You can microwave them, and they do not leak if you get them tight with plyers. But if you are doing a large batch they do take a lot of time to put on correctly.

 

[DougE]

I'll throw this out there....zip ties. You can microwave them, and they do not leak if you get them tight with plyers. But if you are doing a large batch they do take a lot of time to put on correctly.

I use zip ties on fibrous casings like I use for taylor ham and stuff like that, and yeah, they work great. They make a zip tie gun that tightens and cuts off the excess pretty cheap, which might speed things along, but I haven't got one yet.

 

[R Blum]

Use both.

 

[noboundaries]

I've been using twist ties 'cause we have a bunch around the house. Thought about getting a tape machine. Never considered leaks. Hmmm. I rarely do more than 10 lbs at a time, and pack up to 1.5 lbs in a 1 lb bag. Great discussion. Thanks, all.

 

[cal1956]

someone told me that if you twist the end BEFORE putting it through the tape machine , it would be tight and leak free
one thing almost everyone seems to agree on is that the tape machine works pretty well

 

[Winterrider]

someone told me that if you twist the end BEFORE putting it through the tape machine , it would be tight and leak free
one thing almost everyone seems to agree on is that the tape machine works pretty well

Always twist mine before tape. Never an issue but I do put in bowl or tray to make sure of no mess.

 

[Hockeydudde]

@Hockeydudde brings up a credible point to consider when defrosting in the fridge. My solution is I defrost all my frozen meat on a plate/tray/bowl so that any leakage does not make a mess.

There are times that there is a faulty seal on a vac bag, a bag may have a tiny hole, etc. etc. so I do this for all my frozen meat so I don't have to clean a fridge from defrosting stuff.

Not everyone may care to do this but figured I would share a simple and easy practice I follow to keep from having a messy fridge :)

Just started doing this ourselves as well. Our fridge is always full, so we made a permanent reserved spot

Always twist mine before tape. Never an issue but I do put in bowl or tray to make sure of no mess.

This is making me think about a mundane topic way more than is probably reasonable...
I just realized when we switched to rings, we also started spinning and folding over before clamping ring. Maybe our taper technique was just bad.

 

[48°North]

someone told me that if you twist the end BEFORE putting it through the tape machine , it would be tight and leak free
one thing almost everyone seems to agree on is that the tape machine works pretty well

What you were told is correct. Not to downplay anyone else’s experience but I have literally packaged hundreds of thousands of pounds of burger and sausage and experienced no more leakage than with rings. In fact, we started with rings and transitioned to tape.
A clean, tight twist that does not contain any meat in the twist with the tape as close to the meat as possible will give you a fantastic seal and streamline your process very nicely.