@macromeh@phendrick They’re over in Housewares, being sold for under-bed storage of comforters and off-season clothing. You use a vacuum cleaner to pull them down instead of the smaller food-size unit. A shop-vac is best.
According to the reviews I read, it sucks. Food & Wine rated the Bonsenkitchen VS2100 sealer as their best value sealer. It’s $32 on big A, with another 10-20% off depending on the color you choose. FYI: I couldn’t find any reference to vacuum sealers on B&D website in current offerings or support. Looks like they went meh on vacuum sealers, just like I did with this one. So close to buying.
@MarkML Thanks for the heads up, i found the Bonsenkitchen on Walmart’s app for 50¢ more than the Amazon discount price, but Walmart is currently offering a return deadline of Jan 31st, instead of just 30 days. That model only comes with 5 bags, but it has the air hose function (which the B&D one is missing), along with the hose attachment itself, to use with jars/containers that are equipped with that kind of seal, & also includes a spare foam gasket.
I found some decent-looking vacuum-bag rolls at a discounted price at Amazon (which expired right after i bought them, of course, so no use linking them, but each roll is 20-feet long & 8" or 11" wide, averaging about $3 per roll). They seem to have a wider variety of sizes & combo packs than Walmart, at least at the moment. I’m sure people who’ve used sealers before have their own favorite sources for that kind of stuff, anyway.
@ircon96@MarkML I would double seal the bags you make from those rolls at both ends. Every type I’ve tried from Amazon that isn’t Fresh Saver has had a non-zero chance of losing a seal over time in the freezer. Doubling up on the seal seems to have stopped it being an issue.
@ircon96@MarkML@Shagbert I haven’t tried Fresh saver, but I concur on the need to seal the roll material twice. Some of the bags may need it, too, depending on your sealer.
I also use my sealer to reuse Amazon bubble envelopes. I’ve sent a number of things to other people in them by sealing the end instead of taping it. And it has confused more than one of them.
@MarkML But … isn’t the vacuum part supposed to suck? (I’m guessing that you mean it sucks the same way a vacuum cleaner made by Microsoft would suck.)
@laurengx3 And now it has been pointed out to me that the ingredients for a 'rita can be put in the bag, the bag can be sealed with as close to no air as practical, placed in the freezer, kneaded several times while freezing to break up any large ice crystals, and then poured into a suitable vessel for consumption as soon as the correct consistency is achieved.
@werehatrack We’re back in business, baby! Bring on the frozen ritas! … Skip the vessel, stab a straw right through the pouch and you have ritas’ on the go! Perfect for the beach
Okay, I am honestly shocked that the description blurb that started out talking about the father-in-law’s ‘gardening’ did not go through vague handwaving of ‘crop’ and ‘herbs’ and end by implying the garden was something was like Ron’s weed room in Attack The Block. (“It’s a big room! Full of weed. And it’s Ron’s.”)
Well for those of you who don’t feel like vacuum sealing your leftovers or otherwise dealing with them please put them in zip lock bags in a cooler with dry ice and send them to me. I hate to cook and heating up leftovers would make my day. Then you won’t have a left over food problem and you will save $24.99 on this deal. Oh wait. Postage to me…and a cooler…and dry ice… maybe it is cheaper for you to buy.
@Kidsandliz And not all of us are “Andrew Rea on a good day” cooks. (The fact that he often leaves the mistakes and do-overs in his vids is half the reason I watch.)
Why do you need to vacuum seal if you are freezing it anyways? What does removing the small amount of air do to keep food fresher when you are already freezing it?
For instance, we buy raw ground turkey from Costco, which is 6 big packs. I separate them and cut each pack into thirds and then saran wrap each (for 18 two-person meal size portions) and freeze them all. Defrost as needed.
So what advantage would freeze drying have and ditto in the case of leftovers, etc.
It prevents freezer burn, which is a dehydration effect caused by the food being exposed to those small air pockets. The food is perfectly safe but with dry and/or leathery bits.
Wrapping tightly with Saran wrap accomplishes the same thing - sealing the food away the air. Easy to do with something smooth like a ball of ground meat, but other more irregularly shaped items can be difficult to seal without the vacuum.
@rpstrong Set your freezer to the highest setting. I found a concentrated ball of mold that defrosted pretty quick when I (did the stupid thing and) poked at the balloon with a knife.
Specs
Product: Black+Decker Deluxe Vacuum Sealer with 50 Bags
Model: BD3481
Condition: New
What’s Included?
Price Comparison
$49.99 at Amazon
$57.10 at Walmart
Warranty
90 days
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Oct 16 - Thursday, Oct 19
This deal sucks!
My fate was sealed long ago.
@phendrick I can never find the body-sized vacuum bags at Costco.
@macromeh @phendrick They’re over in Housewares, being sold for under-bed storage of comforters and off-season clothing. You use a vacuum cleaner to pull them down instead of the smaller food-size unit. A shop-vac is best.
I’ve always wanted to dry a sous vide.
@ironcheftoni if at first you don’t succeed (in writing a product description), dry, dry again.
With some exceptions the water displacement method using normal ziplocs works for sous vide basically all of the time
Also unless I’m getting whooshed they misspelled “try”
@Narwalt I never vacuum seal for sous vide. Ziploc is fine
Would keep body parts fresher longer
Thanks, J. Dahmer.
Left-over food? Never seen any.
What’s the use case for the pulse vacuum setting?
@mehcuda67 Now with 40% more hhnnNNnnrrrggg.
@mehcuda67
@mehcuda67 Allows you to adjust the vacuum pressure - that’s what I read online.
I see this as 50 vacuum sealer bags for $24.99, with a free toy vacuum sealer thrown in.
@awk Yeah - this thing looks like it has the vacuum power of a 10 year-old kid with a straw.
@awk @Pufferfishy Hey, don’t rain on my system!
So, what do I do if I only have an ordinary vacuum, and not a deluxe one?
According to the reviews I read, it sucks. Food & Wine rated the Bonsenkitchen VS2100 sealer as their best value sealer. It’s $32 on big A, with another 10-20% off depending on the color you choose. FYI: I couldn’t find any reference to vacuum sealers on B&D website in current offerings or support. Looks like they went meh on vacuum sealers, just like I did with this one. So close to buying.
@MarkML Thanks for the heads up, i found the Bonsenkitchen on Walmart’s app for 50¢ more than the Amazon discount price, but Walmart is currently offering a return deadline of Jan 31st, instead of just 30 days. That model only comes with 5 bags, but it has the air hose function (which the B&D one is missing), along with the hose attachment itself, to use with jars/containers that are equipped with that kind of seal, & also includes a spare foam gasket.
I found some decent-looking vacuum-bag rolls at a discounted price at Amazon (which expired right after i bought them, of course, so no use linking them, but each roll is 20-feet long & 8" or 11" wide, averaging about $3 per roll). They seem to have a wider variety of sizes & combo packs than Walmart, at least at the moment. I’m sure people who’ve used sealers before have their own favorite sources for that kind of stuff, anyway.
@ircon96 @MarkML I would double seal the bags you make from those rolls at both ends. Every type I’ve tried from Amazon that isn’t Fresh Saver has had a non-zero chance of losing a seal over time in the freezer. Doubling up on the seal seems to have stopped it being an issue.
@ircon96 @MarkML @Shagbert I haven’t tried Fresh saver, but I concur on the need to seal the roll material twice. Some of the bags may need it, too, depending on your sealer.
I also use my sealer to reuse Amazon bubble envelopes. I’ve sent a number of things to other people in them by sealing the end instead of taping it. And it has confused more than one of them.
@MarkML But … isn’t the vacuum part supposed to suck? (I’m guessing that you mean it sucks the same way a vacuum cleaner made by Microsoft would suck.)
And I’m wondering why I would put sous vide in my stockings.
It doesn’t say it can’t make a margarita… I’m finally in!
@laurengx3 It can’t make a margarita. Sorry for the delayed information, I was busy feeding a kitten.
@laurengx3 And now it has been pointed out to me that the ingredients for a 'rita can be put in the bag, the bag can be sealed with as close to no air as practical, placed in the freezer, kneaded several times while freezing to break up any large ice crystals, and then poured into a suitable vessel for consumption as soon as the correct consistency is achieved.
I think I’ll keep using the blend-tec.
@werehatrack We’re back in business, baby! Bring on the frozen ritas! … Skip the vessel, stab a straw right through the pouch and you have ritas’ on the go! Perfect for the beach
This deal today is very old school Meh. Now if we can see a Bluetooth speaker, we’re there.
@Fuzzalini Followed by stroopwaffles, given the season.
Okay, I am honestly shocked that the description blurb that started out talking about the father-in-law’s ‘gardening’ did not go through vague handwaving of ‘crop’ and ‘herbs’ and end by implying the garden was something was like Ron’s weed room in Attack The Block. (“It’s a big room! Full of weed. And it’s Ron’s.”)
Well for those of you who don’t feel like vacuum sealing your leftovers or otherwise dealing with them please put them in zip lock bags in a cooler with dry ice and send them to me. I hate to cook and heating up leftovers would make my day. Then you won’t have a left over food problem and you will save $24.99 on this deal. Oh wait. Postage to me…and a cooler…and dry ice… maybe it is cheaper for you to buy.
@Kidsandliz And not all of us are “Andrew Rea on a good day” cooks. (The fact that he often leaves the mistakes and do-overs in his vids is half the reason I watch.)
Silly question (or maybe not so silly?):
Why do you need to vacuum seal if you are freezing it anyways? What does removing the small amount of air do to keep food fresher when you are already freezing it?
For instance, we buy raw ground turkey from Costco, which is 6 big packs. I separate them and cut each pack into thirds and then saran wrap each (for 18 two-person meal size portions) and freeze them all. Defrost as needed.
So what advantage would freeze drying have and ditto in the case of leftovers, etc.
It prevents freezer burn, which is a dehydration effect caused by the food being exposed to those small air pockets. The food is perfectly safe but with dry and/or leathery bits.
Wrapping tightly with Saran wrap accomplishes the same thing - sealing the food away the air. Easy to do with something smooth like a ball of ground meat, but other more irregularly shaped items can be difficult to seal without the vacuum.
@rpstrong ^^^THIS^^^
@rpstrong gotcha. Thanks for the explanation!
@rpstrong just be very attentive to the seal; a tiny air pocket potentially means a concentrated ball of mold.
@pakopako Not if it’s frozen.
@rpstrong Set your freezer to the highest setting. I found a concentrated ball of mold that defrosted pretty quick when I (did the stupid thing and) poked at the balloon with a knife.
@pakopako @rpstrong Black slime and at least a dozen other toxic molds grow in the bins of ice machines. Colder = safer.
Step 1: fill bags with margaritas.
Step 2: Seal bags.
Step 3: freeze bags.
Listo: Easy Applicator Adult Juice Bags.