Vacuum pack machine

[meirion658]

Hi there does any one own one? If so what where etc as I'm looking to get one for various reasons including re packing hops once opened. Just don't tell SWMBO that the real reason😉😉

 

[Drunkula]

Got one for Christmas and repackaged all my hops yesterday. Had a 250g bag of cascade that I split up. It's from Lidl and like most of the flat ones you're supposed to use the textured bags (the grid pattern lets the air flow past when it's sucking) but you can do a few tricks like put a strip of the textured bag into the mouth of a normal flat one or suck out air with a straw and just seal it.

250g bags of hops from Crossmyloof come in a vacuum bag so I made 2 smaller ones out of it and resealed it.

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
I've got this one.
It works well with the proper ribbed rolls; I've got small quantities of grain vacuum packed away.
It's also very good for packing food for freezing.

 

[Sadfield]

I have the same one as Bigcol49, it's great. I also have the additional canisters that come in handy.

 

[GerritT]

Got one for Christmas and repackaged all my hops yesterday. Had a 250g bag of cascade that I split up. It's from Lidl and like most of the flat ones you're supposed to use the textured bags (the grid pattern lets the air flow past when it's sucking) but you can do a few tricks like put a strip of the textured bag into the mouth of a normal flat one or suck out air with a straw and just seal it.

250g bags of hops from Crossmyloof come in a vacuum bag so I made 2 smaller ones out of it and resealed it.

You have the Silvercrest®? What's your experience? Does it feel solid? Easy? Reliable?

 

[meirion658]

Hi!
I've got this one.
It works well with the proper ribbed rolls; I've got small quantities of grain vacuum packed away.
It's also very good for packing food for freezing.

I see a few people mentioned the ribbed rolls what does that add or should I not ask lol:twisted:

 

[F00b4r]

I see a few people mentioned the ribbed rolls what does that add or should I not ask lol:twisted:

You want to buy the the more expensive embossed/textured/ribbed bags unless you have a true chamber vacuum machine as the machines being mentioned in this thread do not actually pull a vacuum (they are essentially a high tech version of putting a straw in and sucking out the air) and require this embossing to be able to suck the air out.
You can use much cheaper bags with the true chamber vacuum machines but the machines cost a LOT more (is possible to get a domestic usage rated one for about £350 but the pro ones start at over a grand); they are very cool though and you can do funky stuff like instant infusions, compressed fruit, vacuum drying and even homemade Aero style chocolate (amazing when you use really high quality chocolate).

 

[foxbat]

Another +1 for the Andrew James sealer from me. All my hop bags are vacuum sealed with it in the freezer and since it can also do just the heat seal that's what I do to my grain bags so they're air tight in my grain storage boxes in the garage.

 

[Bigjas]

And another +1 for the Andrew James vacuum machine from me. Seems well made and works well.

 

[Drunkula]

You have the Silvercrest®? What's your experience? Does it feel solid? Easy? Reliable?

Feels really solid. I'd genuinely say if it felt crap because I'm not one of these "I've got it, therefore it's good." types.

Teflon sealing strip at the front does two lines of sealing - some only do one.
Buttons are just seal, stop and suck then seal. It sucks until it feels a certain resistance and then stops, so a little bag like the hops it might only suck for a second or two, a huge bag much longer - I thought it might be timed at first.

The seal time is just a timer guaged for the real rolls. When I was testing using super thin sandwich bags I found counting to 4 or 5 then hitting stop was best. I managed to seal a big bag of Frazzles and some nuts, both with silver insides, but I couldn't seal a cat food pouch.

Cutting a strip of textured bag and just sliding the ribbed bit into a non-textured bag lets it still suck out the air and still melt everything to seal it. There are youtube videos of people doing that, and using the snap together bit from a ziplock bag, but I found that hit and miss.

You get a spare vacuum gasket, 3 metres of 28cm wide roll and 3 year guarantee.

 

[Braindead]

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=70041

 

[GerritT]

Feels really solid. I'd genuinely say if it felt crap because I'm not one of these "I've got it, therefore it's good." types.

Teflon sealing strip at the front does two lines of sealing - some only do one.
Buttons are just seal, stop and suck then seal. It sucks until it feels a certain resistance and then stops, so a little bag like the hops it might only suck for a second or two, a huge bag much longer - I thought it might be timed at first.

The seal time is just a timer guaged for the real rolls. When I was testing using super thin sandwich bags I found counting to 4 or 5 then hitting stop was best. I managed to seal a big bag of Frazzles and some nuts, both with silver insides, but I couldn't seal a cat food pouch.

Cutting a strip of textured bag and just sliding the ribbed bit into a non-textured bag lets it still suck out the air and still melt everything to seal it. There are youtube videos of people doing that, and using the snap together bit from a ziplock bag, but I found that hit and miss.

You get a spare vacuum gasket, 3 metres of 28cm wide roll and 3 year guarantee.

Ordered one, £25 including delivery is not too bad for a kitchen investment. Is what I gonna tell the missus :whistle:

 

[Drunkula]

I've been going crazy trying all sorts of cheap bags. If the bags have no visible seam like Ikea ziplock bags then cut off the top bit and then go around and seal the 3 sides again. I've found previously you can't use Ikea bags for sous-vide because they let in water. I've cut a load of strips from the bags that come with it just to provide air channels with flat bags - they should last aaaages. I do go all posh for hops, though, actually using the bag material like some wanton drunk playboy.

 

[F00b4r]

I've been going crazy trying all sorts of cheap bags. If the bags have no visible seam like Ikea ziplock bags then cut off the top bit and then go around and seal the 3 sides again. I've found previously you can't use Ikea bags for sous-vide because they let in water. I've cut a load of strips from the bags that come with it just to provide air channels with flat bags - they should last aaaages. I do go all posh for hops, though, actually using the bag material like some wanton drunk playboy.

If cooking food in a water bath you should be using food grade bags rated for sous vide, they are rated not just for chemical composition but to be used at higher temperatures as well.

 

[anders]

Was lucky and managed to pick this up for £9.99 at amazon about 2 weeks ago - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0786XTKB5/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Seems like an OK bit of kit. Might be worth keeping an eye out to see if it appears back in stock.

 

[Drunkula]

If cooking food in a water bath you should be using food grade bags rated for sous vide, they are rated not just for chemical composition but to be used at higher temperatures as well.

Nah, I like plastic. I've found using oven roasting bags are the best thing for doing super cheap sous-vide as they're absolutely waterproof.

 

[Drunkula]

Was lucky and managed to pick this up for �£9.99 at amazon about 2 weeks ago - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0786XTKB5/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Seems like an OK bit of kit. Might be worth keeping an eye out to see if it appears back in stock.

That's the silvercrest in a different skin. Definitely worth it.

 

[F00b4r]

Nah, I like plastic. I've found using oven roasting bags are the best thing for doing super cheap sous-vide as they're absolutely waterproof.

Fair enough if you don't mind but not good advice for others :)

 

[Bigcol49]

Fair enough if you don't mind but not good advice for others :)

Hi!
i'd have thought oven roasting bags were food safe, otherwise they wouldn't be permitted to be sold for that purpose.

 

[F00b4r]

Hi!

i'd have thought oven roasting bags were food safe, otherwise they wouldn't be permitted to be sold for that purpose.

Probably, but Drunkula was talking about trying all sorts of random plastic bags, not just them.
Also by sealing the oven roasting bags you may well be changing something in their structure and even Ziploc bags, that are suitable for sous vide, have issues with seams sometimes failing when used for long cooks so you may also find that a problem with "homemade" bags.
Sous vide cooking actually can carry significant health risks if not done correctly (I am not referring to the chemicals in bags), 5/6 years ago when I started using this method the safety advice was always given along with the cooking advice but now it is becoming more mainstream it seems this is often ignored.