A year or so ago I bought a Foodsaver vacuum sealer (that specific model, in fact). We buy bulk stuff at Costco and use the sealer to divide it up and put it in the freezer. We use if for hamburger, sausage, roasts, deli meats, cheese, and similar foods.
I’ve noticed that quite often — probably 30 or 40% of the time — when I pull something that has been vacuum sealed out of the freezer there is no longer a vacuum: it just a loose bag around whatever we sealed. Often whatever it is now covered in frost or is freezer burnt. There’s no obvious hole in the bag or failure at the seam. One package of hamburger I had thawing in some cold water actually started to fill with water. I squeezed the bag trying to find the leak, but no dice. At first I thought it might be something sharp like a pone poking a small hole in the bag, but this is happening with hamburger and chicken breasts and other things that should not cause the bag to fail. There’s nothing in the freezer causing damage either.
So. Either the Foodsaver machine sucks shit or the bags (which are Foodsaver brand as that’s all the store carried when we bought the machine, and we picked up a case of them) suck shit. Or maybe this is an ID-10-T problem, but I don’t think so. Things like chicken or, really, any meat we put a folded paper towel inside parallel to the seal to keep any liquid away from it. We make sure the seal area is clean and dry, both in the bag and on the machine, when we seal it. I have no idea what, if anything I’m doing wrong.
So is there a better brand that won’t mess up the food and actually make a permanent seal?
You get what you pay for, I have another one at about the same price point that hasn’t failed me yet but it is new.
You can consider double sealing it. Leave some extra material and put a second seal on with the vacuum off. And also give it enough cool down time, the more expensive ones can keep going.
For meats that I’m paranoid about, I wrap it in saran wrap and then freezer paper. They can last years without freezer burn. It doesn’t work as well with fish or at all with liquids. I also put a couple of these in gallon ziplocks just in case but also for sorting.
I was having the same problem with a FoodSaver. After a frustrating attempt to “upgrade” to a more expensive product that worked even worse than the FoodSaver, I finally sprang for the Weston Pro-2300. I’ve had it about 6 months and so far it has worked great. The only drawback is, of course, the price.
We use a FoodSaver and 99% of our packages remain sealed when frozen. We use the official FoodSaver bags, which are expensive (even in rolls); we tried an off-brand and those failed a lot more. Also, what we seal + freeze is mostly meat without any bones / pointy bits.
One does not need a vacuum sealing machine. I have had great success with the following method: Get good quality zipper lock bags, but not those with a slider. Fill up a big pitcher or a sink with water. Put food in the bag. Dip the bag in the water down to the lock strip so that the water pressure forces out all the air and then seal the bag.
I have stuff in the freezer that has been there over a year and the seals are still airtight. I’m not kidding- this method works.
I do exactly the same thing and it works very well. I don’t think it’s quite as good as an expensive vacuum sealer, but it’s certainly as good or better than a cheap one. The cheap ones are terrible.
Time in the freezer doesnt seem to be relevant. I’ve had packages that are only a few weeks old fail, and I’ve had packages months old that are still holding vacuum. It seems pretty random.
Thanks guys. I’ve added it to my Amazon cart but will likely wait until after the holidays to take the plunge.
I have what I assume is the same model (from Costco) and have never had a seal fail. Sometimes I have to fiddle around with the bag to get the vacuum going. I freeze things then put them directly into the sous vide, so a failure would be obvious.
I usually push the “moist” button when sealing pretty much anything (I wish that button wouldn’t reset with each seal). Also I discovered that you need to clean out the drip tray between uses. But my problems have been getting a good vacuum going - once sealed the bags have been solid.
I have a Food Saver, and occasionally I run into the OP’s problem; usually what’s happened is that there’s a small hole in the bag, usually on a corner or a protruding point. Often if it falls out of the freezer or gets dropped, this will introduce these little holes.
One thing is not to fill the bag too full, and double-seal it just to be on the safe side. In other words, leave an inch of bag or so on the open end before you seal it, and make two seals about 1/2" apart on the closed end, and then on the open end. This way, you have a backup in case one didn’t quite make it.
Another thing to consider is that a lot of food sites recommend wrapping protruding bones and things with a couple of layers of plastic wrap before vacuum sealing.
I bought a cheap, refurbished vacuum sealer from WOOT a few years ago. It worked fine for my purpose (sous vide cooking). When the same model came back to WOOT (even cheaper) during a WOOT-OFF, I bought 6 more, since the price was less than what I’d pay for the free roll of bag material that came with it.
A friend who does some butchering (lambs) has the $400 Weston unit and it is great.
I have a Kenmore that I bought about 15 years ago or more. It’s still going strong. I use FoodSaver bags. I’ve had very little in the way of failed vacuum seals. No idea what actual brand Kenmore uses for that product.
I had a Ziploc branded one that worked OK, but I’m the kind of person who makes a double seal each time (ie two seals spaced about 1/2 inch apart). But the plastic hinge broke after a few years of occasional use.
I’ve been considering a Vacmaster, too, because my FoodSaver is absolute garbage. How’s that heating wire holding up? That’s the problem with the FoodSaver; once that wire overheats, all production is stopped. Ice cubes, etc., don’t seem to help it.
The Chinese Taobao clone I had was awesome for a long time. I don’t think it liked running at 60 Hz, though, and died soon after returning from China.
A chamber vacuum is definitely in my future, once I can justify it with my wife. Maybe I should ask her to pack after the next Costco run.
Still there for me, and I see it for both my personal account in Firefox and work’s business account in Chrome. It’s an orange “flag” right below the price and above the color options.
Are you on the (more expensive base price) stainless model? The coupon doesn’t work for the white one. It looks like the base price went down further so it’s $360.91 plus tax for white or $309.21 for stainless.
The Vacmaster has been great, you have to change the oil every once in a while and it can have issues if you overload your bags, but I can seal a thin soup with zero mess (bit of a learning curve:)).