Vacuum sealer and dehydrator

[tb-av]

So any thoughts on current sealers? I see COSTCO has a FoodSaver on sale for $40 off to make it $99. It's just called a 2 in 1 Vacuum sealing system.

Also looking at a dehydrator... and I've lost the names. One I think had the word Harvest in the name. The other one I know used square trays and they claimed it was better for that. More space per shelf.

It seems like these things don't seem to evolve much. Or at least I never never hear about them. I just want a basic functional system.

The Vacuum system confused me in the past trying to figure if it could do Mylar bags, what type refills you need, etc.

I think I'll go with the sealer first. I pretty much cook for one but buy large packs. So I will often make a giant pot of food and then eat it for a week. That gets old fast in more ways than one. plus I tend to over eat. So I think I will try a sealer.

I was wondering what would seal raw food, cooked food, and can I put mixed raw food in a bag to later become a "boiling bag" setup. Can the sealers do the boiling bag thing, or is that a special setup?

I would also like like to seal snacks, and back to the boiling bag, something that could be boiled on a little backpack stove setup. IOW, instead of pouring hot water into a MountainHouse.. .I would just boil a bag of my configured meals .... I would not need these to last ages like MH, but freezer safe for say a month or so prior to use.

Any ideas what is good to look at for a basic but functional setup?

[Doc Safari]

Think of them for more than food.


Circa four years ago my girlfriend and I dabbled in using one of those vacuum food sealers for ammo, mags, etc.

Pros:

For loaded mags they seem to work great. We have a couple dozen mags vacuum-sealed and they are still just as tight as ever. These make great SHTF packs that you know are ready to go on a moment's notice but can stay sealed and corrosion-free indefinitely.

Cons:

Loose ammo doesn't do so well. The rounds never become really tightly sealed and this leads to small holes, edges tearing, etc. The sealed packages also flex too much if you have to move the ammo around occasionally, leading to more potential tears. The ammo also seals more or less "flat" making for difficult storage due to the package's footprint. We tried storing 100 loose rounds at a time and the package flattens out to about the size (but not thickness) of a pillow. That's too much if storage space is limited.


Conclusion:

For ammo I'd rather use surplus military ammo cans with the rubber gasket. For mags and other objects with a definite "one shape" it works great.

[tb-av]

Oh, good idea, do you put a desiccant pack in with them?

I just checked a few YT vids and it looks like a FoodSaver model 4840 gets high ratings on several vid. Only $25 more than the COSTCO sale.

and a NutriChef model that's only $50. they seem to get rated 1st and 2nd in several vids.

[Doc Safari]

Oh, good idea, do you put a desiccant pack in with them?

.

No, but maybe we should. Understand that we live in the dry desert and in the middle of June it's plenty dry already. We didn't put dessiccants in the packaging on the theory that the sealer should be sucking the moisture out with the air (don't know if that's actually true), and the dry New Mexico climate makes it somewhat moot in the dry part of the summer anyway.

Erring on the side of caution I'd say put a small desi pack in each one, but don't be anal about it. We have yet to see any condensation or corrosion in any of our packaged mags.

[jack crab]

I have a vacuum sealer and like it. You can buy family size packages of chicken, pork, etc. Cook some, freeze some. Great for dividing up a package of bacon.

Also good for big pasta dishes. Eat some, freeze the rest.

FoodSaver sells premade bags, e.g., pints, quarts, that you fill and seal one end. They also sell rolls. Pull out what you want, seal one end, fill, seal the other end. I did that with made from scratch pizzas and it worked well.

They also have rigid containers. Good for marinating and sealing food that could crush.

[kerplode]

I have an el-cheapo Food Saver that I use to package up food occasionally:
- It works well enough so long as you let it cool a little between bags. If you don't it'll fuse them closed before all the air is sucked out.
- Unless you're going to use it every day, get the cheapest/smallest one.
- The bulk rolls of bags that you can cut to size seem to me to be more convenient and cost-effective than the pre-fab models
- It's hard to seal juicy stuff without making a big mess
- It's hard to get loose things to end up in a flat shape. They generally turn into an oddly shaped rock-hard ball that doesn't store/stack efficiently
- My main use for it has been to buy meat on sale at Whole Paycheck and zip it up for storage in the freezer
- I never sealed ammo or parts or mags or anything like that, but it's a reasonable idea so long as the thing has a rigid shape (or you'll get a oddly-shaped hard ball)

I also have a Nesco American Harvest dehydrator:
- It dries a lot of stuff
- It dries stuff quickly
- I mostly use it to dry extra veggies from the garden
- It's kinda noisy and uses a reasonable amount of power (~500W for however long you run it)
- It'll heat up a small room while it runs
- The trays can be hard to clean if you start with sloppy stuff (like meat). They are also a little fragile.
- If you use it to make garlic salt, it'll forever smell like garlic salt. FOREVER!!!

Overall, I think they're both nice pieces of kit to have available...

[teufelhund1918]

Desiccant is a good idea to remove moisture and you could use it along with an Oxygen absorber.

[yellowfin]

I'm heavily considering packing my own MRE's with some mylar pouches, for emergency prep but more likely to be consumed on hiking/camping trips. Anyone do it very much? I'm thinking the cost savings could be worth it (particularly for a family which adds up quick!) especially with adding more variety like the foreign military rations do. I gather the oxygen absorbers are useful for this. What's your experience with this?

[FJCowboy]

So I have been using the Food Saver brand seal-a-meal and absolutely love it. After hitting Costco, we will repackage the large packs of meat into more manageable packages. We have made ice packs as well especially for the bottom of a cooler. Works really well and can throw it back in the freezer afterward. It probably lasted a year before it got nicked up and had to be thrown away. As far as building your own MREs/Backpacking meals, it works great for that as well. You can add whatever ingredients you want and control the amount of protein to vegetable to sodium ratio. The Food Saver bags are fairly sturdy and pack well. Then you could either put the bag in hot water and boil the contents or more likely, you will pour the contents into a cup/bowl and then add water and stir. The resealing can be a bit tricky, but definitely doable. Great cost savings compared to buying the backpacking meals but does require some planning.

[ndmiller]

I've had a food saver for over a decade primarily used for freezing leftovers when I use the smoker. Instead of smoking 1 rack of ribs, I fill the smoker up and smoke 6 racks. Cut the leftover 4-5 into portions, vacuum seal and freeze with a date on them. Just add to a pot of water, bring to boil, wait 5 minutes and ribs come out like they are just off the smoker. Beer can chicken, brisket, pulled pork all the same, smoke a ton, freeze the leftovers for quick meals for the next couple months.