Monday, March 8, 2010

Food Savers and Tips


A few more notes on Food Savers:

I've posted a couple of times about these machines and how much I've enjoyed mine ;-).

I thought of a couple of more notes about keeping them frugal:

1) do a little research before you buy on the various name brands, some have poor ratings

2) consider ebay, some get them for gifts and don't use them and others buy them and stick them in the cabinet for years and sell them for $15

3)the biggy: BAGS!

-You can wash them out. Vinegar and baking soda go a long way for hard to remove odors, etc.

-ANY brand will work! Buy the cheapest!

-Consider buying in bulk from ebay or AmazonFoodSaver T010-00151-001 3 pack 8" x 22' Roll
for your best deals.

-Work out a system on bagging things where you waste the least during sealing. Also, sometimes the seals can be pulled back open, so always test it so you don't have to cut off some of the bag.


Anyone else have more tips? Would love to hear them!

5 comments:

Mom2fur said...

I never thought to check eBay! I have one but it has seen it's day.
I have two tips to add to yours:
1. If you are sealing meat, put a rolled up piece of paper towel at the top to absorb the juices--then they won't get into the 'works' of the machine.
2. If you are storing something you will reopen and use several times, make the bag extra long. That way you can just cut it and reseal the same bag as you go along.

annies home said...

thanks for sharing your great tips

Donna said...

mom2fur,
Thanks for the tips!

Thanks shopannies!

Organized Nutrition said...

I buy these kind on EBAY http://cgi.ebay.com/200-BAG-COMBO-GREAT-foodsaver-VACUUM-SEALER-BAGS_W0QQitemZ270544890815QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3efdbb6bbf
The only problem I have with them, is they don't seal well when they have something with WATER in them (like when you blanch and freeze beans), SO I just dry the beans well on a big towel, and then put the beans in the bags, THEN I put them bags upright in the freezer overnight and seal in the morning... The extra hassle is worth the money saved... and the bags are big enough that you can use them 2-3 times (freeze beans on year, then peas the next!)

Donna said...

Thanks Denai! Great advice!