Vacuum Seal Machines And Accessories

Discussion in 'Food & Drinks' started by Beth Gallagher, Nov 21, 2021.

  1. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    Honestly, a ripe avocado isn't going to keep well no matter what. So the Saran wrap works as well as any other method. Likewise, if you store guacamole, put some plastic wrap directly on top of the guac to help keep it from skimming and turning brown. Also, use a bit of lemon juice in the recipe.
     
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  2. Denise Evans

    Denise Evans Supreme Member
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    I don't have it written down anywhere anymore but I think I remember most of what was in it @John Brunner

    I'll tell you here:

    Avocados :D
    finely chopped onions
    lemon juice
    tomatoes
    Salt and pepper to tasteThat's all I remember right now ;) I used to do it in a blender, oh, and almost forgot, little green chilis, not hot chili peppers.

    this kind
    lil green chiles.JPG
     
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  3. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    Sounds good. I use some fresh cilantro and a jalapeno or two in mine. I don't use a recipe; I just add stuff and taste. :D
     
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  4. Denise Evans

    Denise Evans Supreme Member
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    Yeah everybody can just add what they want especially people that like really something hot you know and maybe some who knows maybe some garlic or something I mean just like garlic powder maybe a little of that but yeah I'm learning to just add things instead of do recipes and I'll do that especially with kind of rubs that I make for my meats
     
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  5. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Yeh, I picked up a can of diced chiles. And as @Beth Gallagher said, I grabbed a bunch of cilantro. I don't use a recipe, either, but I like to know what ingredients others like. I mince up a little garlic. And I use lime rather than lemon...not that I make guac very often.
     
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  6. Denise Evans

    Denise Evans Supreme Member
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    sounds good @John Brunner and I'll have to try the cilantro as well whenever I make it again ;)
     
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  7. Kate Ellery

    Kate Ellery Supreme Member
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    I did some sliced orange this morning ..I like fresh orange in my second ferment milk kefir it makes it really thick and sorta fizzy , if I slice it and put in zip lock bags it gets icy and horrible pretty quickly .
    IMG_4930.jpeg
    Opps this post is a bit of fermenting and a bit of vacuum sealing machine

    Do we have a thread for the” foods “ we vacuum seal .??
    @John Brunner
     
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  8. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Yup, This thread is it. We talk machines, bags, canisters, accessories, foods, methods, tips, tricks, whatever.

    Campers seal all sorts of stuff in vacuum bags. Folks vacuum seal emergency backup matches in case their regular supply gets wet. They seal toilet paper, extra socks and all sorts of stuff. Of course, once you open the bag, you can't reseal it.

    Here are pics of sealed food I posted in the Sous Vide thread. That's a method of hot-water bath cooking with the food in vacuum bags:

    [​IMG]
    I've cooked chicken to 140°F (60°C) and it was sooooo tender.
     
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  9. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Your pic of orange slices reminded me that I'll seal a quantity of a food like that (cooked rice, home fries, raw shrimp), and when I need some I cut the seal off of the bag, take what I need, and then vacuum/reseal the rest. I'll add a little extra length to the initial bag to allow for repeated cutting off the top and resealing it, as I chase the remaining contents to the end of the bag.

    They make Ziploc freezer vacuum bags in the large & small size for that purpose (take some and reseal the rest), but they do not work very well. They do not hold the seal. So I started using the above method with a regular bag cut from a roll.
     
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  10. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    My favorite way to make guacamole since I have been living alone most of my life, is to cut an avocado in half, take out the seed, then add jalapeno, onion, garlic, and lime juice where the pit was on both sides, then mix up and eat fresh real deal guacamole right out of the rind. When young, a shot of Jose's tequila, added a dimension to the guac and had me cranking up the mariachi.

    I still make guac this way.
     
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  11. Kate Ellery

    Kate Ellery Supreme Member
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    How do you cook your salmon @John Brunner in the bag ?
    Hubby doesn’t eat salmon but I do …. I’ve got some in the freezer I’ll get it out today and vac it …
     
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  12. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    That pic looks like salmon, but it's a chicken breast. I've never made salmon that way, but there's a bunch of recipes out there if you search on "sous vide salmon." I'd link to some for you, but we do ounces and farenheit ;).

    There are immersion heaters with thermostats that automatically keep the water at a specific temp, but I've cooked sous vide just using a pan of water and a thermometer, adjusting the burner as required. There is usually a range of temps you can cook the food at. The method is very forgiving, and the food can generally sit for a long time to keep warm, as it will not continue to cook. The only risk is cooking at too low a temp for too little time. Pasteurization is a function of time and temp. That's why chicken can be cooked at 140°F (60°C), as long as it's held at that temp long enough.

    If you decide to try it (and you should), keeping a cover on the pot (aluminum foil is sufficient) makes it easier to maintain a steady temp. I've read of people cooking several large BBQ pork butts for over 24 hours in towel-wrapped coolers, adding extra hot water to maintain the temp.

    The other thing I'd throw out there is that there is a lot of flavor imparted by high-heat cooking. Recipes for chicken and steak usually recommend that you sear (caramelize) the food after it's cooked to impart that flavor. Otherwise it can sort of taste like it's been microwaved. So keep that in mind.
     
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  13. Kate Ellery

    Kate Ellery Supreme Member
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    Thanks John
     
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  14. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Some of the best times I don't remember involved Jose Cuervo Gold Especial. And that's not a bad idea just making guac in the avocado rind. Not only does it save a bowl, but you might get a little extra flavor.
     
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  15. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    I've collected many different styles of vacuum canisters for different applications. FoodSaver has changed their container designs several times over the years, leaving me to mostly shop EBay for what I want. I often search the word "Tilia" for the legacy containers, as that was the 1990 company name under which the original FoodSaver machine was sold.

    The main legacy Tilia canister I use is the one gallon model:
    Vacuum Canister.jpg
    I use this to keep my salad greens fresh for 7-10 days, depending on how fresh the greens are when I wash/dry/seal them.

    These are also legacy canisters. I use then for my dry goods:
    legacy canisters.png

    I've posted this pic before of the shelf I built to stack these canisters on:
    Under Cab Lights 2.jpg
    The seal on this style canister is hit & miss. Sometimes it leaks down after a couple of days, and other times it holds for a year or longer. The valve is easy enough to pop off and clean, and that usually fixes it. If you try these, you'd be well-advised to remove & clean the valves before sealing them...the gaskets around the lids are rarely an issue. But even if they leak down, they're still as good as regular canisters.

    This is the most recently discontinued canister design. They always work well for me:
    FoodSaver Cnisters.jpg
    Like the others, it comes in various sizes. This style comes with a plastic mesh stand to keep fruits & veggies off of the bottom so they do not sit in water. I use the smaller sizes for berries and the large ones for crackers, Fritos, etc. The current model canister is very much this style, and is the only canister currently sold on the FoodSaver site. The description says it has a vacuum mode AND a marinating mode, but I cannot figure out what the distinction is. I do not own one.

    These are deli containers, for lunch meats & cheeses:
    Deli containers.jpg
    These are very reliable and rarely leak down, due to the style of the flap valve. Walmart carries replacement valves.

    Lastly, this is the marinade container:
    Vacuum marinator.jpg
    The "opens up the pores to let the marinade in" hype is, well, hype. It does no better than letting the food soak in a regular container or in a Ziploc bag. I still like marinating in this container because the lid is vacuumed on, so it's not gonna pop off or leak in the fridge when I marinate stuff. And since it's low-profile and has a solid lid, I can stack stuff on top of it without squishing the food.

    Walmart and Amazon carry one or two styles of FoodSaver™ brand containers, and a ton of knock-offs sometimes generically referred to as "food savers." Those may be perfectly fine, but I have no experience with the off-brand containers (although I exclusively buy off-brand bags at less than half the cost of the FoodSaver™ bags.) For some reason FoodSaver has drastically shrunk its direct offering of containers, so I've mostly purchased them off of EBay.
     
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