Suction vs Chamber vacuum sealers

gwertheim

Hey all,

Looking for a good portable or a easily storeable machine. I live in a condo and I don't have much space. Any ideas?

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fisher23

I had a Food Saver and a Nesco brand (edge sealer) and they did fine for years; I wouldn't consider either one better that the other. With that said I love my chamber vac and would never go back, but it is big so that could be an issue.

gwertheim

Thx

nasv

I was between both, and preferred a chamber vac, but couldn't justify the space it would take up, so I decided to start off with a smaller food-saver. I made this decision because I was not interested in these tight seals for cooking, but more for freezer storage (think cooking a big pork shoulder whole, plunging in ice bath, portioning "steaks", and then bagging them in FoodSaver bags for storage. I figured the FoodSaver would do well for my household needs, and I would learn with time if I would out grow it. So far, it's working out!

hairyotter_273859

FoodSaver GameSaver Outdoorsman Vacuum Sealing Designed for up to 40 Consecutive Seals

This is a nice small unit and its only $75 on Amazon

gwertheim

Thank you but I'm also going to use it for sous vide cooking. Does the suction sealer suck out enough air to be good for sous vide?

hairyotter_273859

Yes it sucks out all the air and it is perfectly suited for sous vide cooking. The only down side of this kind of vacuum sealer is that sealing food with liquid ( juices, marinades) can be tricky. A chamber sealer will solve that issue but they are huge, heavy, and cost anywhere form $400 to $600 for home sized models. But it's really the easiest way to vacuum and seal any kind of stuff. Some things don't fit in a chamber sealer so it's good to have both kinds of sealers. Example large roast, rack of ribs. You do not need to suck out "all the air" with some special device to sous vide. you can use a zip lock freezer bag and slowly put it into the water to let the air out. Then zip it shut or just hang and clip the open end to the edge of your container. The whole idea is to have as much contact as possible with the warm/hot water against the food in the bag to transfer the heat to the food. There are many videos on sous vide cooking and techniques, I think you might get a better idea of what you need. You don't even need an immersion water heater (Joule, Anova... ) to sous vide, modified sous vide or par cooking. I used to use a ziplock bag in a toaster oven that had very good digital temperature control (however I don't recommend this unless you like to experiment), but it does work and results can be fantastic. These days I use my Joule or Anova depending on my mood, but don't use the toaster oven for that anymore.

Here's some pic's of fun alternatives to sous vide cooking without water that I've used:

1st pic a toaster oven to sous vide, 2nd picture I'm using my warming drawer ( the kind to keep your food and plates warm), a little trickier but did the job, the 3rd pic I found on line showing sous vide cooking in a zip lock bag. you really don't need fancy equipment to sous vide, or par cook your food.

"Do what you can with what you have where you're at", Alton Brown.

Just enjoy and have fun-

fisher23

A toaster oven isn't that far off, professional combi ovens are often used for sous vide.

fisher23

I used one for years, it works well for sous vide.