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Chamber vacuum seal stength when cooking sous vide

cook

I'm totally new to the sous vide method of cooking and have just taken the plunge and got myself a VacMaster VP120 chamber vacuum. I can vacuum seal food successfully, but when in a sous vide water bath the bag's seal is less reliable. If I clip the bag to the side of the sous vide water batch with the seal out the water I have no problem , but if the seal slips under the water for a period of time the seal seems to become pliable and gives way.

I tried the squash puree recipe off of ChefSteps tonight which instructs vacuum sealing the squash and then placing the sealed bag into boiling water for 25 minutes. While everything turned out OK, the bag's seal slipped into the water resulting in the seal giving up.

Have other forum users found this to be the case with chamber vacuums similar to the VP120? Is it the bags I'm using ( 4mm Vacmaster pouches) .

I have no prior experience to go by, so I just want to make sure the unit is working within its expected limits.

Thanks for any thoughts.

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Comments

brian_martin2001

I'd contact vacmaster. It sounds to me like maybe you have a defective unit

fisher23

It sounds to me that maybe the seal time isn't long enough. I have a VP215 and have never had an issue with my bag seals even at 200°F Sous vide or in boiling water. I have to cut my bags to get them open, I've tried and no way can I pull the seam apart cold or hot. I always use 3 mil bags, so I'm thinking the 4 mil bags may need more time to fully melt and seal, just a guess. Maybe someone else with the same unit would have an idea. I just read that the default seal time on the VP120 is 5 seconds, the manufacturer recommends you can increase that in increments of 1 second until you get a solid seal.

wolfiegirl

I had the same issue when I first got my VacMonster....the bags would loose their seal rather rapidly. Then I saw the 'seal' button on the dashboard. Ah-HA! I cranked that sucker up to 9 seconds (as far up as it will go on mine) and problem solved. Try it. Seal a bag with something in it and then let it sit on the counter and check it once in a while. I think you'll find that will completely solve the issue you're having.

Have fun!!

tshewman

See @John_Fisher_218893 's response. I had similar problems with my 112 and found the 7second seal resolved the issue.