Vacuum Sealers

Can't get the Vacmaster until after school. As I understand it, Chris seems to prefer water displacement over edge sealers. So am I to understand that it's chamber or bust? Is there anything I can do short of 800. Thanks

**By the way, I've read all of the discussion posts about it so don't redirect me, you will be ignored. I'm curious as to what this community thinks.**

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Comments

AngelArs_240456

Your post is unclear. What are you asking, is it worth it to get a vacuum sealer? Which brand is best? Basically put air is the enemy. The less of it that you have in your bag the more efficiently the heat from the water will contact and heat the food. Are they 100% necessary? No. Water displacement will remove most (but not all) air. So are vacuum sealers worth it? That all depends on your budget. I personally prefer using a sealer (FoodSaver) but if I didn't have one handy I wouldn't worry about it. Using the water displacement method will generally get you close enough. Hope that helps.

Luke_Banchy_283581

Thanks for the answer! What I meant was Chris has specifically said in a forum post he doesn't recommend edge sealers, and would rather have you use displacement. This essentially just leaves the 800 price tag of a chamber vac, or no vac at all. I'm just wondering how the community has managed to overcome this hurdle. To me the 800 is worth it, I just can't do it on a student budget.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

They bought vac chambers.

meyer8863

There are two big reasons to use an edge sealer over the displacement method. If you plan on doing a lot of vegetables (which require a high temperature), the seal of an edge sealer is less likely to fail.

An even bigger point, is for long cooks (beyond 8 hours). Again, the seal is far more dependable... Few things are worse than discovering your 48 hour chuck steak has been boiled, do to a seal failure in a ziplock.

Hope that helps!

P.S. check out Craigslist before buying new. A lot of people buy foodsavers, and never use them.

wolfiegirl

I've got both types....that is a vac sealer (came with the Sous Vide Supreme) and a Vac Master chamber vac. Both serve a useful purpose. Now that I have a chamber vac, I use the vac sealer more for sealing one edge to form a bag (I don't buy bags but rather have a couple sizes of vac sealer rolls so I can create the perfect size I need at the time). Once one seam has been created then I use the chamber vac to do the actual air removal and final sealing. The advantage of a chamber vac is that any liquids you have in your bag stay in the bag and don't get sucked up into the vac unit itself. Personally I love the chamber vac best because it does a better job of removing air and leaves the liquids that are in the bag alone. Downside is that they are quite noisy and take up a goodly amount of kitchen counter real estate. All that being said, is it worth the $$ to plop down on a chamber vac? My vote says yessirreebob.

The chamber vac is on the cabinet on the left side. It needs about 18" clearance across. The depth of this particular cabinet is 25" and it takes up every bit of that, allowing for the power cord clearance in the back. So yeah, a pretty substantial footprint.

Brandon_Byrd_40557

Chamber vacuums (and edge sealers, for that matter) are unnecessary for sous vide cooking, but are required if you plan to cook, chill, and store/freeze SV food. The displacement method works fine for sealing pretty much anything, and is even better than vacuum sealers for delicate items that can be damaged by vacuum or smashed down by the bag. If you can't have a chamber sealer, stick with Ziplocks unless you're really wanting to freeze or preserve things for long periods of time.

AngelArs_240456

Another thing to keep in mind is that vacuum sealers typically go on sale during the holidays (which is coming up soon). Even on a tight budget you could start saving up now and by the holidays have enough for one. They start at only around 75 bucks and will be even less in a couple of months.

Theo_129732

The pump on chamber and edge sealers can be stopped at any time, so crushing food is not an issue.

Theo_129732

FOODSAVER

VACMASTER

wolfiegirl

No doubt for freezing, the chamber vac gets the job done!

wolfiegirl

A picture is worth a thousand words!

And funny too!!

Brandon_Byrd_40557

Maybe if you're a wizard.

fisher23

I used an edge sealer or the displacement method for a couple of years and didn't have much problem. I do have a chamber vacuum now and probably use it every day for something. Webstuarant.com has a great price when you get ready. You can SousVide most things without one. IMHO they are not necessary but they sure are nice. I love my VP215, you have total control with it, so you can vacuum seal delicate items or liquids. Vacuum sealer type bags are recommended for cooks over 158 °F, but you don't have to seal them. You can clip them on the side of your cooking vessel. Yes I know it's a risk but it works fine, I never had a problem with getting water in the bag. Ziploc bags can come apart at the high temperatures.

nasv

I echo the comments below. I don't use or rely on my "vacuum sealer" for cooking sousvide, but rather for longer-term storage in the freezer (and I'm just using a mid-to-higher tier foodsaver)... otherwise I'm always using water displacement method for sous-vide cooking, and I'll use the nicer vacmaster bags for bigger cuts and longer cooks (still using water displacement method with those).

Luke_Banchy_283581

Thank you! This was very helpful.

Joshua_R_Poulson_93500

I think the bottom line is that the added benefit of an edge sealer is probably not worth the cost, and you have to really want the features of a chamber sealer to go the extra 800 miles to get one. That said, I have one.

AngelArs_240456

Ziplock does not recommend their bags be used for Sous Vide.

fisher23

ChefSteps does and that is good enough for me.

mike.minasian

COTD

Dan_Robbins_241206

Yes, the chamber sealer does liquids & powders famously and the pouches are dirt cheap ... and it's way more than a sous vide tool. The VP 112s chamber sealer can be had for $465 shipped from Webstaurantstore and is perfectly suited. This is what I use for cook-chill and cook-freeze, and most other sous vide, for that matter. I'm also cost-sensitive; I save a ton buying less-expensive chamber pouches (5 to 8 cents), bulk discount food buying, zero-waste meals ... and the ease, quality & consistency of my meals are on orders of magnitude greater, so eating out has become a rarity.

Jeremy_131558

I have no problem with my foodsaver. I got one for like 40$. My butcher has trouble selling hanger steaks so doesn't order them often. I'll buy them in bulk from her, seal, freeze and toss in sous vide when I want one. Easy! Same with bulk short ribs. Sure, it's not great for liquids but whatevs man. Beats ziplock for lots of things. I see no reason it can't be a stepping stone.

wolfiegirl

You can save a few more $$ by buying rolls of vac/sous vide plastic and make your own bags in whatever size you need. Check it out...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FM6F3DQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The rolls come in various widths as well. While bags are convenient they can cost ya, thus the reason I buy the rolls. And the quality/thickness is excellent.

Dan_Robbins_241206

That's about 13-cents per 8-inch pouch (assuming you can yield 450 pouches from 300 feet of bulk), which is decidedly not cheaper. Mine are 4-cents per pouch, name brand, and they're already pouches: http://www.webstaurantstore.com/ary-vacmaster-30722-8-x-10-chamber-vacuum-packaging-pouches-bags-3-mil-1000-case/120VPM30722.html

Dan_Robbins_241206

Ziplocks are more than a nickel a bag, yes? I'm not wasting my money on them, or even knock-offs, knowing that name-brand chamber-vac pouches are pennies.

Brandon_Byrd_40557

Sure. But chamber vac bags are only usable if you're cooking for immediate use unless you also have a chamber vacuum machine to seal the edge. While I recommend chamber vacs and own one myself, they're not necessary for SV and aren't worth the upfront investment for most casual SV users. Buying chamber vac bags is indeed cheaper, but they don't seal and the marginal price difference isn't significant at smaller, home-use volumes. At the volume I buy chamber bags -- 250 at each size -- they still cost more than a nickel a bag. Buying a thousand or more at a time isn't a viable option for me. It's not an option for most people, and neither is a $500 (or more) vacuum machine. But if buying chamber bags makes sense for you practically and financially, more power to you.