Food Saver....I love it!

[SizzlininIN]

I finally got me a vaccum food saver. I love it! Thank goodness they gave a free roll of plastic because I'm having a ball with it. The only trouble I've found so far is trying to seal meat/veggies that have been marinated. When I try to vaccum seal it it sucks out some of the excess juices, even though I thought I got them drained pretty well. I may have to invest in some of the containers for this. Any suggestions?

 

[kitchenelf]

I've always wanted one but wondered about the same thing - is there a way to clean where the marinade/juice comes out? Or are you just outta luck and have to vacuum in different packaging?

 

[SizzlininIN]

Not sure kitch. You should see what the thing does to lettuce....kinda freaky actually to see it shrivel up I even vaccum sealed 1/2 an onion I didn't need at the moment. I did that about 9 days ago and opened it yesterday and it was just like the day I sealed it.
I didn't go all out and buy the fancy kind. I just bought the Black & Decker for like $48.00 at Wal Mart. I am going to go ahead and invest in some of the containers though.

 

[kitchenelf]

Thanks for the info Sizzlin - 9 days ago and still that fresh? Wow. A friend of mine has a family of 3 and they are on the go all the time (home one evening for dinner gone 3 nights in a row) - she swears hers saves her hundreds of dollars a month in food that would have otherwise gone bad.

I'll keep my eyes open for some deals on them. Sounds like the containers would be a great thing to have too.

 

[GB]

Oh I am so happy you got one. They are great. I would highly recommend getting some canisters. That is what I used for lettuce so it doesn't smoosh it

Here are a couple of tricks to keeping the juices from flowing. I have the Tillia food saver so I am not sure if the Black and Decker lets you do this, but make your bags extra long if you can. That helps to keep the juices from going into the machine as much. The other trick is to take a paper towel and fold it up and put it in the bag at the top before you seal it. This way any juices that do make it up that far will be absorbed by the paper towel. Have fun with your new toy. You are going to love it!

Oh Kitchenelf, on my foodsaver there is a little reservoir that any juices that come out go into. You can then just take a paper towel and clean it out very easily. I have never had a problem keeping mine clean and gunk free.

 

[kitchenelf]

There is a Food Saver at Sam's club with I think 50 feet of bag and 3 cannisters - anything else I should know about one? I didn't check out the size of it. It's $79.95 or somewhere close to there. It was the actual Food Saver brand - is another brand better?

 

[GB]

Make sure to get one with an accessory port. This will allow you to use the canisters and also regular mason jars. I, personally, would not spend the money if it did not have that port.

Oh I just read where you said it comes with canisters so I guess this one does have the port LOL

 

[kitchenelf]

Not sure about the accessory port but I believe it's there since they did say on the box the top was included to fit a mason jar - is that the same thing?

 

[kitchenelf]

...and I just read where you said if it showed that it probably does - I'm posting after reading the first sentence apparently!!!!!!

 

[GB]

LOL

Is it a Tillia brand? From what I have read, those are the ones that are really worth the $.

 

[kitchenelf]

here we go again....it's the Food Saver brand....

 

[GB]

I don't think foodsaver is an actual brand (but I could be wrong). I am pretty sure Sams carries Tillia, but I have never been there so I am not sure.

 

[kitchenelf]

Well, I'm off to find out right now! Thanks GB

 

[Michael in FtW]

It's like Emerilware is a brand name for a line of cookware made by AllClad. FoodSave is the brand name (aka registered trademark) and it is made by Tilia: http://www.foodsaver.com.

I, too, have heard and read test results that this is the best brand - that's why I got that brand. One thing I would suggest is to make sure it has the "one touch" feature (you just press the button and let it go) ... I have the older model that you have to keep holding the button down until it's through. And, that accessory port that allows you to seal mason jars is a must - IMHO!

 

[SizzlininIN]

The one I have has the port but I haven't been out to Walmart to buy the canisters yet. I warn you using this thing is addicting . The only odd thing I've sealed so far is the lettuce. I'll take the advice and get a canister for this though. Thanks for the tip on the paper towel to absorb the liquids.....I'll give this a try.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Sizz .... the first time I did lettuce my first thought was .. oh my gosh, what have I done? But, it bounced right back when I opened the bag a couple of days later! I was impressed!!!

I love the cannisters - they are reusable ... and cheaper in the long run than the bags.

 

[TomW]

...The other trick is to take a paper towel and fold it up and put it in the bag at the top before you seal it. This way any juices that do make it up that far will be absorbed by the paper towel...

That's what I do, and it works great. The funny thing is the element of suspense it adds to the process - I stand there holding the button down hoping that the paper towel will not get saturated & let the juices flow out anyway before the heat sealer kicks in.

BTW, don't save bread in the bags - it does NOT pop back looking like new!
Tom

 

[Michael in FtW]

Sorry Sizz - I just went back and read your original question ... my fault .... stupid me ....

Cut your bag about 4-inches long .... put your stuff in it, put it into a freezer safe baking dish/pan so that the open end of the bag is higher than the stuff in the bag .... and freeze it for 4-8 hours. Then, vacuum seal it. The liquid will be frozen so you don't have to worry about liquids being sucked up into the machine.

I do this with anything liquid like pasta sauces .... I put them into gladware containers and freeze them ... then pop them out and put them into the plastic bags and process (suck and seal) them.

 

[Rob Babcock]

I love my foodsaver. I like to buy cheese & meat in bulk- cleaning up is a pain, so when I'm cutting steaks or chops I like to do a whole loin at a time. Then I just vac them into packages about the size I need for each meal.

 

[mrsmac]

These things sound brilliant, I don't know if we have them here but i will look into it cause when my brother toured around Australia in his 4WD they paid the butcher $2 per bag to vac pack their meat.