Question about vacuum sealers
 

I'm planning on buying a vacuum sealer this week but don't know much about them. First of all, after they suck the air out of a storage bag, how do they actually seal the bag? (I'm using triple-layer Mylar bags from sorbentsystems.com.) Second, what keeps the bags from re-inflating with air? Third, what brands or models of vacuum sealers can work with large (6-gallon) Mylar bags?

Re: Question about vacuum sealers
 

They seal the bags with heat strips (electrical heating elements), which apply heat for a set amount of time. The bags won't reinflate assuming:
- you have a good heat seal
- the contents of the bag haven't poked a hole through the bag (spaghetti will do this)

Sorbent System's VS-280 ($100) snorkel vacuum sealer will work on 4-7 mil thick mylar bags. Since this sealer only has a sealing strip ~12" wide, you could use an iron (or maybe the sealer itself) to seal the top corners of the bag, then trim away the excess material, leaving a blunt inverted "V" (hard to describe without a picture) at the top of the bag. This "V" is narrow enough to fit into the sealer & be sealed.

Some folks will just use an electric iron to seal the big mylar bags, and don't bother with vacuuming - just use enough oxygen absorbers to remove the oxygen.

FoodSaver vacuums will not work with smooth-wall bags (clear plastic or mylar). They need the super-duper foodsaver bags with the ridges molded inside the bags to allow air to be drawn out without collapsing the bags.

Re: Question about vacuum sealers
 

So do vacuum sealers just suck the air out of storage bags and that's it? Should I add O2 absorbers as well?

Re: Question about vacuum sealers
 

Get the wide mouth mason jar accessory and buy a case or two of wide mouth jars. You can use them over and over again and they pull a super tight vacuum with the foodsaver.

Re: Question about vacuum sealers
 

I have a weston vacuum sealer .... go to sealerbags.com for bags and a video on its capabilities

Re: Question about vacuum sealers
 

Vac sealers pull almost all the air out of a bag, then heat seal it. Oxygen absorbers would be useful if you're looking to seal stuff for a very long time (probably, given that you're talking about mylar bags), if you want to prevent growth of bugs/weevils/critters in grain, or are storing high oil materials (brown rice, or nuts).

Re: Question about vacuum sealers
 

Agreed, I'm using an old refrigerator compressor converted for the vacuum job.

Works pretty slick, pulling below 25" Hg.

Re: Question about vacuum sealers
 

CrufflerJJ has good advice. I too have experience with a FoodSaver unit and that Snorkel unit. The FoodSaver, while it works wonderfully, is a money sink. You have to buy their propriety bags which cost ALOT. But with the Snorkel unit I can buy any ordinary plastic bags. I can buy 1000s of them for the same price as a package of 25 FoodSaver bags. Its ridiculous.

There is one slight drawback I notice with the Snorkel model is that it is sometimes flakey with drawing a vacuum because it sometimes causes the plastic right by the snorkel tube to collapse and prevent more air from being sucked out. You have to kind of nudge the food or contents close to the snorkel to force it to open so it can continue making a good vacuum. The foodsaver one did not have this problem ever while using their bags. But it's really not big of a deal especially as you learn how to deal with it.

Re: Question about vacuum sealers
 

In the 2 years I owned my FoodSaver, I used 1 roll of their bag material, due to the high cost.

After I got my cheapie VS-280-style vacuum sealer (Sinbo or Simbo I think is the maker), I've used loads of bags. Bag cost is no longer a problem at all. I think the patent has run out on the FoodSaver bag design, but their price is still very high compared to regular bags.

Yes, I also have to be careful about the bag collapsing right in front of the snorkel. It's just part of the learning curve when using this sealer.

Re: Question about vacuum sealers
 

So wouldnt it be cheaper to just do every thing you possibly can in canning jars? That way you can re use them? What is the snorkel unit?

Re: Question about vacuum sealers
 

my foodsaver will not seal mylar. Its not hot enough. I use a iron.
Check Big lots if you have one near. I bought a foodsaver for 30 dollars there. It works almost as well as my fancy 250 dollar model..

I use the food saver to suck the air out mylar bags. The hose attachment works fine for that. Then I throw in some oxy absorbers and seal with an iron.

Re: Question about vacuum sealers
 

It might be cheaper, especially if you're able to reuse the jar lids multiple times. I use my vacuum sealer, though, for lots of stuff. When I buy large packages of frozen chicken breasts, I vacuum seal them into portion size packages, and avoid freezer burn. If I make a bunch of stir fry or blanch red/green bell peppers, I freeze & vacuum pack the stuff.

Jars might be OK with dry materials, but you need to fill the jars up to avoid a lot of wasted space. Vacuum sealed bags shrink to fit the contents, which is great if you don't have a lot of storage space.

A "snorkel" vacuum sealer is one in which a hollow, very thin "snorkel" extends an inch or two into the bag prior to sealing. The snorkel is hollow, and air is drawn out of the bag through the snorkel. On my unit, when I press down on the sealing bar, it automatically retracts the snorkel. See the picture - the top one is with the snorkel extended. The top area in a red box is the nylon latches that lock the snorkel in the extended position. They're unlatched by the sealing bar, allowing the snorkel to retract (bottom section of the picture).

So why hassle with a snorkel sealer? The FoodSaver bags have built-in ridges which serve as air channels, preventing the bag from collapsing as air is removed. It's a neat idea, but the bags are crazily expensive. FoodSavers are difficult (??impossible??) to use with non-ridged bags. Snorkel sealers can be used to reseal potato chip bags, and can easily handle smooth (non-ridged) nylon/polyethylene laminate bags or mylar bags.

Re: Question about vacuum sealers
 

When you figure price: 2 is 1, 1 is none. I have 2 extras on the shelf.

Re: Question about vacuum sealers
 

Decided to bump this thread instead of starting new one. Just got rid of my foodsaver V845 sealer. Do not know what it is, but will not hold a seal, vacuumes just great, seals then day or so later, not nice and tight anymore. Last straw was some mangos i dehydrated. Everything looked good, till one day after.

So, looking for a new vacuume sealer. Any ideas, problems etc appreciated.

Re: Question about vacuum sealers
 

I use a manual brake bleeder I picked up for about 20 bucks, and a foodsaver jar sealer. It works fine if you're doing a case or so at a time. I prefer wide mouth mason jars.

Re: Question about vacuum sealers
 

I was also very disappointed w/ the foodsaver vacuum seal. took multiple tries to even get it to seal and thn te sseal seemed to break both for the jars and the bags. very disappointng for the $$ spent

Re: Question about vacuum sealers
 

FoodSaver bags are tricky to get a good seal on (FoodSaver bags are smooth on one side, diamond checkered on the other), you need to seal them with the patterned side down only, the heat bar doesn't get hot enough to melt the 'checkering' through the smooth side if the smooth side is down, this leaves tiny little leakage points.

I've had no problems with Seal-A-Meal bags, which are diagonally ridged on both sides.

Re: Question about vacuum sealers
 

I got the sealer from sealersunlimeted . p2300 I think it was called. It really sucks-the air out. It is ten times the machine that FS is. It does mason jar lids too and you can use any bags.

Re: Question about vacuum sealers
 

I've looked at those before, and I wasn't sure it would work on mason jars, so thanks for that information!

I couldn't tell by looking at the picture - where is the port, and does it come with mason jar attachments (reg and wide) or do I need to buy them separately? I don't suppose the FS attachments might work? I use mason jars rather than bags most of the time so that capability is essential to me.

Re: Question about vacuum sealers
 

I was also using mason jarsmore han the bags but disappointed in the sealing effort of the FS. They really had a market if their product worked consistently. I am curious to hear about the p2300 and if it has a port to seal vjars as well.

Re: Question about vacuum sealers
 

It does not come with the hose or the lid attachments. I used the hose from my Food Saver, it works perfect. And the lid attachments too. The sucking hole is under the lid in the center of the base part.

http://www.sealersunlimited.com/prago_flyer.html is where I got mine. It was on sale.

There is a video on this web page that shows it doing the jars. (its the fourth video down, "works with 3rd party accessories" http://www.provacuumsealers.com/

This is just a video from you tube