ericp
.327 Meteor
Posts: 506
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Post by ericp on Sept 24, 2013 19:21:31 GMT -5
Does anybody use these things? A fella in town was telling me about them today and seemed awful excited. Reviews for various models on Cabela's were all over the map and the units seem rather pricey. Are they worthwhile? Thanks,
Eric
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Post by Seasons44 on Sept 24, 2013 20:24:56 GMT -5
I swear by them, I just finished packaging an entire deer.
I been using the foodsaver brand for quit some time, I think they work really well for the money but the commercial units will remove more air but cost a hellava lot more. For the home/ field use I would go with the foodsaver.
I even bring it hog hunting down south, and the one thing I despise is coming home with water logged meat, by vac packing the quarters, there is no worries of water logged meat.
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Post by sierra11b on Sept 24, 2013 20:38:03 GMT -5
They're great and have other worthwhile applications. As a chef I use the commercial units at work daily for preservation, force marination and sous vide. I do own a food saver for home use.
Throw your meat in the bag, add little marinade because it goes a long way and will spill out if you add too much. Doing this dramtically cuts marination times by half or more. As for sous vide, I use hugely expensive water circulators that are accurate within a tenth of a degree for fine plate presentations, but you could assemble entire boil-in-bag meals (stews, etc) for home use as well.
My wife has preserved clothing in them as well. We have tons of old baby clothes on standby for when a relative needs them. Saves a lot of space too.
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Post by zeus on Sept 24, 2013 20:43:04 GMT -5
We used to go through about one food saver per year. Vacuum units would go out or heat element etc. Vonfatman got me hooked on the commercial grade that Cabelas sells. I think it's about $400 but worth every penny. I've put a TON of food away with it from veggies to bison and hogs. I put the hamburger away in flat packages that stack like books in the freezer. You can really put a bunch in that way and it thaws in cold water in a matter of minutes due to the thinness of the package. Buy once and get a good one, it's worth it. The bags can be found in bigger packages in places like SAMs and Costco and they run sells on them routinely so wait and stock up then.
As Sierra mentioned, you can heat in the bag. I'll put pulled pork or such away in small bags and boil it to reheat. You don't lose the juices that way when you reheat. Works great.
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Post by Seasons44 on Sept 24, 2013 21:00:22 GMT -5
They're great and have other worthwhile applications. As a chef I use the commercial units at work daily for preservation, force marination and sous vide. I do own a food saver for home use. Throw your meat in the bag, add little marinade because it goes a long way and will spill out if you add too much. Doing this dramtically cuts marination times by half or more. As for sous vide, I use hugely expensive water circulators that are accurate within a tenth of a degree for fine plate presentations, but you could assemble entire boil-in-bag meals (stews, etc) for home use as well. My wife has preserved clothing in them as well. We have tons of old baby clothes on standby for when a relative needs them. Saves a lot of space too. How I miss the commercial units in kitchens, done my fair share of sous vide as well, once you use a commerial unit you will be spoiled! Sierra where are you a chef at?
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Post by wildwillalaska on Sept 24, 2013 22:10:47 GMT -5
We use the heck out of them between salmon, halibut, moose and bear. I have one food saver that's about 7 years old and have gone through 5-6 others that each lasted a year before pooping out on us. Last year sprang for a larger commercial chamber packer. It will do a full moose roast and multiple salmon filets whole in one freezer pack. Love it.
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Post by sierra11b on Sept 25, 2013 0:06:41 GMT -5
Corporate hotel chef and culinary instructor in the Sacramento area. Also cater to a wealthy sports team owner. Worn quite a few hats in the past, though... Everything from being a PT short order cook in the south while being a full time Soldier and working my way trough Napa and various other NorCal restaurants until now.
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Post by squawberryman on Sept 25, 2013 4:40:12 GMT -5
+1 Foodsaver. Wal-Mart. Had mine for over four years
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Post by bibbyman on Sept 25, 2013 4:42:51 GMT -5
I read the title and I figured you were talking about guns or other shooting stuff.
We have an earth contact house that is prone to have high humidity at time between really hot weather when we AC and cold weather when we heat. We also have a number of handguns we seldom shoot. They are in a safe with a dehumidifier but still it would be nice to long term pack them.
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COR
.375 Atomic
Posts: 1,522
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Post by COR on Sept 25, 2013 5:53:36 GMT -5
We used to go through about one food saver per year. Vacuum units would go out or heat element etc. Vonfatman got me hooked on the commercial grade that Cabelas sells. I think it's about $400 but worth every penny. I've put a TON of food away with it from veggies to bison and hogs. I put the hamburger away in flat packages that stack like books in the freezer. You can really put a bunch in that way and it thaws in cold water in a matter of minutes due to the thinness of the package. Buy once and get a good one, it's worth it. The bags can be found in bigger packages in places like SAMs and Costco and they run sells on them routinely so wait and stock up then. As Sierra mentioned, you can heat in the bag. I'll put pulled pork or such away in small bags and boil it to reheat. You don't lose the juices that way when you reheat. Works great. Commercial grade is the way to go. I have found the Foodsaver will do about 1000 lbs of meat and they start to lose suction (3rd one is down and out now). I've also experienced a bad heat element once too. Spend $400 - $500 on a commercial grade if you use it for more than just deer season and a few times througout the year, if you will be limiting it to just "light use" I'd feel fine with the Foodsaver brand, I'll probably get another to have it in the kitchen and a commercial in the garage/cutting area.
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jsh
.327 Meteor
Posts: 884
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Post by jsh on Sept 25, 2013 6:41:12 GMT -5
As said above cry once. I had an old food saver years ago and it quit right in the middle of things. I did with out one for about ten or so years. Cabelas sent me a coupon and then had anothe offering on top of that. Stopped by a d danged if the commercial unit wasn't on sale. Got mine out the door for about 225. Have not regretted it. SAMs club has bags and that is when I stock up. Jeff
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Post by fanofthefortyone on Sept 25, 2013 6:49:16 GMT -5
I've got a Cabelas brand. Had it about 5-6 years and works great. Ronnie
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Shakey
.327 Meteor
Central Arkansas
Posts: 543
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Post by Shakey on Sept 25, 2013 10:18:52 GMT -5
We have had a Food Saver for probably over ten years. It has not seen the amount of use of some of yours but works fine within its size limitation. I thought it had worn out a couple of years ago. The factory suggested I try a new seal and now it works like a new one.
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Post by Squatch on Sept 25, 2013 10:45:44 GMT -5
I have had a VacUpack brand for over ten years. I may not use it as much as some of you but I do put up quite a bit of fish and meats. The unit has never hiccuped once.
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ericp
.327 Meteor
Posts: 506
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Post by ericp on Sept 25, 2013 16:16:10 GMT -5
Thanks gents! I really like that you can heat the bags, makes for some interesting possibilities. Time to start shopping around.
Eric
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