An economy vacumn food sealer. Worth it?

[Wordie]

I've noticed those vacumn food sealers and have wondered if they are worth the expense. I could not afford any of the fancy models, and would only be able to purchase a no-frills one. Would it be worth the expense? I cook for one, and frequently freeze things. The freezer bags aren't bad, but I wonder if a food sealer would help me, for instance, to preserve herbs for the winter.

Anybody have any experiences with the less expensive ones that they could share?

[wildeyed]

1. Mine isn't all that fancy.

I can seal bags, plus it has an attachment for special canisters. I use it quite a bit, but I am not certain I would replace it if it broke. Before the food sealer, I put the food in a freezer bag, stuck a straw in, zipped it most of the way shut and then sucked most of the air out myself. Probably not the most sanitary practice in the world, but I figured all the stuff would be re-heated anyway......

I have done herbs in the food sealer, with good results. I put them in fresh, use some and then reseal. Also, you can get an attachment for mason jars, which is nice if you like to keep nuts, stuff like that.

[Wordie]

2. I'll have to try your straw method first. Thanks for the tip, wildeyed!

If that would work for herbs, there would be little need for me to buy the food sealer. I tried chopping up my remaining basil this fall and putting it in ice cube trays with water to cover, and that sorta worked, but is very messy to do. Some of the basil pieces floated to the top and turned brown anyway, which I discovered can be partially resolved by putting a thin layer of oooking oil on top, but even that is less than 100% satisfactory.

But if the drinking straw method that you use would work for herbs, that would solve my problem. Thanks again!

[wildeyed]

3. If you are planning to store them for a long time,

then the food saver would be better. My cheap method, you will get a bit of the herbs exposed to air. But you could always scrape that off.

[cmf]

4. I have a no-frills one

I use it a lot. I belong to a CSA in the summer, and I use it to freeze excess veggies for winter. It works really well at keeping out the air. You just have to make sure that when you blanch the veggies, that they are dry before you try to vacuum seal them. I also use it to freeze fish and meat. I buy fresh and freeze it on a cookie sheet, then it vacuum seal it. It works great. I defintiely think it's worth the money.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. I'd say that since yoou buy, cook, and store for just one, a foodsaver is

worth it. You can buy larger quantities, presumably cheaper, and store them safely and with little loss of quality.

The price of the foodsave is the least if it. The bags'll get ya. If you're wise and make each bag a little bigger than you need, you can wash and reuse them.

They really do make food last longer. And they avoid freezer burn for stuff ya freeze. I know there's a cost, but I suspect, if used wisely, they pay for themselves soon enough in less waste and in the ability to buy in larger quantities.

[Wordie]

6. Thanks, everybody for all the ideas. I'll report back if I get one. eom

[NMDemDist2]

7. i've had excellent results freezing stuff in the new Glad Press N Seal

i can get all the air out of them and have been very pleased with how well they keep meat in the freezer

[Wordie]

8. Maybe I should try that on herbs, then...

I usually wrap meat tightly with glad wrap (I don't even use the press n seal stuff), and then place it in a plastic freezer bag. That ususally works ok for me. Those new freezer bags with a double layer seem to help too, although they don't seem to really get all the air out. I'll have to try some of the press n seal wrap to see if it works better. Thanks for the tip.

I was more concerned with herbs. I hate having a big crop left over in the fall, which will just die when cold weather hits. And I like having basil, etc. available for soups and other dishes during the winter. Maybe I can try using the press n seal to wrap up the herbs very tightly into small portions, that would be used for just one dish, and see if that would work.

[NMDemDist2]

9. exactly, I make little bags and press all the air out as I seal the last

edge

I haven't tried it on herbs cuz mine are growing great guns here this winter but it's really easy to get the air out with that product and I can get two BIG rolls for pretty cheap at Costco, which i did several months ago and still haven't had to break into the second roll yet and I freeze lots of meat since I always buy meat in large packages when it's on sale


:rofl: AZDD6 ------> run on sentence much ?? but i;m not gonna bother to fix my grammer

[lakemonster11]

11. Is it just me or is the "new" Glad "press n seal"

just the same stuff scientists have been using for years to cover beakers and test tubes (I think it might be called parafilm)?

I haven't bought any yet, but, from the commercials, it looks exactly the same to me. :shrug:

[calico1]

10. Since you are only cooking for yourself

why not buy freezer paper? It really is good for freezing things and avoiding freezer burn. Especially meat and fish. The Glad Press and Seal is also good. I once bought one of the cheapie brands of vacuum sealers. It didn't work very well. When I had money I bought the Tilia FoodSaver. Yes, its more expensive but the difference in performance is quite noticeable. They also have different models so you don't have to get the top of the line one.