Recommend a vacuum sealing machine

[Manxnorton]

Hell all
With collecting all my bits of grains and hops, I got thinking the best way to store them..
At the mo..I've got opened bags of grain..that makes it harder with one hand..n getting them sealed.
My surplus hops is in the freezer.
It would great to store surplus grains and keep my man cave tidier..
The first one I looked is this one

Of course our lass puts food etc in the fridge and mostly it get thrown out!!!
Any help be appreciated..
Thx

 

[Robin54]

Heres an idea, which is sort of what I do. I measure out grain in 1kg lots and put them in Zip Lock bags (sainsburys) tho I suspect you may struggle with this since you may need 2 good hands...i don't know. Maybe get your Mrs to help you.

 

[geetee]

I got a similar beast from Lidl last year for about £20, very easy to use just cut off a length of the bag from a roll, place in the machine and press. It removes the air and seals the end in seconds.
Fairly easy to use no pressure involved other than keeping the bag open and filling, never seen then in Lidl recently but there are plenty cheaper systems than the one you have pointed out all work the same way.

 

[geetee]

I keep my grain in big plastic containers with lock lids, up to 50Kg. I pour the sack into it and use a stainless scoop to weigh it out. Smaller bags of 500g or 1Kg cut across the corner can be resealed with the plastic bag sealers used for freezing food. I store these bits in another 32 litre container with lock li, like the bigger ones

 

[marlon]

'Er indoors uses this one for sealing stuff in & freezing. Not the cheapest around, but nice quality. Available from Lakeland stores. But, like the others, you might struggle with one hand, you have to feed the end of the bag in the slot and hold it a few seconds while it sucks the air out and seals it.

 

[Robin54]

'Er indoors uses this one for sealing stuff in & freezing. Not the cheapest around, but nice quality. Available from Lakeland stores. But, like the others, you might struggle with one hand, you have to feed the end of the bag in the slot and hold it a few seconds while it sucks the air out and seals it.

Thats a cool machine. Do you have to use dedicated Lakeland bags or are generic one available?

 

[marlon]

Thats a cool machine. Do you have to use dedicated Lakeland bags or are generic one available?

SWMBO always buys the dedicated Lakeland ones, (because it's me that pays the C.Card bill I reckon), she buys a roll - twin pack - that you can cut to whatever length of bag you need. The rolls are 28cm wide x 5.5 metres long, each. But, It looks like generic would be OK if the plastic size and thickness is similar.

 

[geetee]

SWMBO always buys the dedicated Lakeland ones, (because it's me that pays the C.Card bill I reckon), she buys a roll - twin pack - that you can cut to whatever length of bag you need. The rolls are 28cm wide x 5.5 metres long, each. But, It looks like generic would be OK if the plastic size and thickness is similar.

Generic bags work on most machines, just cut to length, Cheaper from eBay than Lakeland.

 

[Sadfield]

Hi Manxnorton, you could get one with canister attachment, it may be easier with one handed operation. Decant hops into the canister and reseal after you have taken out what you need. Andrew James Vacuum packer with Canisters.

Extra canisters are available.Here.

 

[Manxnorton]

Hi Manxnorton, you could get one with canister attachment, it may be easier with one handed operation. Decant hops into the canister and reseal after you have taken out what you need. Andrew James Vacuum packer with Canisters.

Extra canisters are available.Here.

Hi pal
This seems a good buy and good for me..
Just looked at the links
Thx pal

 

[Chippy_Tea]

 

[MyQul]

Before I got my mill, for grain vacuum packing, I used to use vacuum clothing bags. You know, those bags that have a double zip lock seal and you attach your vacuum cleaner hose to the valve in the bag and suck out all the air. Even the small ones are quite large and I could easily fit 10kg in the bigger ones

 

[Manxnorton]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPTa5QbuzGs

Watch this earlier...
Seems a good one...n the containers are going to be good for hops! I think :-)

 

[MyQul]

Just so you know bri, unless you use mylar bags (the silver ones hops come in. You can buy em on ebay) oxygen can still permeate through the plastic vacuum bags but I think this might be a slow process through. So if you plan on storing anything long term you'll need the mylar bags.

The problem with mylar bags though is that their smooth on the inside and the average domestic sealer require bags that have a rough/dimpled surface on the inside so oxygen can be draw out as the sealer seals the bags.
There's two ways around this. a) You can 'mod' your sealer. I've seen youtube videos on doing this b) not use a sealer at all, and use oxygen eaters(you can buy oxygen eaters on ebay) to create the vacuum and just use a domestic iron or some or those hair straighters all SWMBO's have to seal the bag. There are youtube videos of doing this too. Mainly made by what are called 'preppers', American's who are so paranoid that they store months and sometimes years of dried food, 'just in case' :lol:

For short term storage (say a couple of months) of large amounts of grain I've used those clothing vacuum bags (you know the ones you put clothes in and use your domestic vacuum hose to suck all the air out). You can get loads in their. I've put 10kg in one once

 

[Manxnorton]

Just so you know bri, unless you use mylar bags (the silver ones hops come in. You can buy em on ebay) oxygen can still permeate through the plastic vacuum bags but I think this might be a slow process through. So if you plan on storing anything long term you'll need the mylar bags.

The problem with mylar bags though is that their smooth on the inside and the average domestic sealer require bags that have a rough/dimpled surface on the inside so oxygen can be draw out as the sealer seals the bags.
There's two ways around this. a) You can 'mod' your sealer. I've seen youtube videos on doing this b) not use a sealer at all, and use oxygen eaters(you can buy oxygen eaters on ebay) to create the vacuum and just use a domestic iron or some or those hair straighters all SWMBO's have to seal the bag. There are youtube videos of doing this too. Mainly made by what are called 'preppers', American's who are so paranoid that they store months and sometimes years of dried food, 'just in case' :lol:

For short term storage (say a couple of months) of large amounts of grain I've used those clothing vacuum bags (you know the ones you put clothes in and use your domestic vacuum hose to suck all the air out). You can get loads in their. I've put 10kg in one once

Great read my m8.
Got them canister for the hops!
Will see what there up to!
Seen the 'hacks' on YouTube but with I use (at the mo) getting used to the proper bags and set it up right is way to go! Lol
Thx pal

 

[MyQul]

Great read my m8.
Got them canister for the hops!
Will see what there up to!
Seen the 'hacks' on YouTube but with I use (at the mo) getting used to the proper bags and set it up right is way to go! Lol
Thx pal

Like the plastic vacuum bags, I'm not so sure the canisters will be 100% oxygen barrier but if you dont keep the hops for a huge amount of time I'm sure you'll be fine :thumb:

 

[Manxnorton]

a new gadget arrived today!!!
with 3 cannisters

but more on them later....
TBH even with my club hand it really easy to oparate...

my prob is lack of hands....
but even two handed theres going to a bit sweeping up


now onto the cannisters.....
hmmmmmmmmm!! is it me with my learning difficulties....or the instruction are dog toffee...

first of all the dont tell you u have ensure you lock the device as if your sealing etc..if you know what i mean....i didnt and spent ages fathom it out..
mind them attachments are is harder than Chuck Norris to get them out...with one hand of course :-(

now this the bit that they also say.....if you put on n wait, without working turning knob slowly to seal. it wont work...the automatic doent go off..
so i had switch it on..slowly turn the knob then onto seal.
i hope this makes sence...
im like a kid now....our lass is out shoppin..best tidy up:thumb:

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
So the Andrew James machine gets your seal of approval? :lol:

 

[Manxnorton]

Hi!
So the Andrew James machine gates your seal of approval? :lol:

ya creased me up:lol::lol::lol:

 

[foxbat]

Hi Manxnorton, you could get one with canister attachment, it may be easier with one handed operation. Decant hops into the canister and reseal after you have taken out what you need. Andrew James Vacuum packer with Canisters.

Extra canisters are available.Here.

I also use the Andrew James unit. Works perfectly. This is the one I got. As well as vacuum sealing the hops it can reseal plastic grain bags with the 'heat seal only' option if you take care to just trim off the corner when you cut them open.