Food saver tips please

[Sweetdaddy]

Got a new food saver from Santa Claus. Never used one and was wondering it you can seal the brisket (or any other meat) hot or is it better to let it go to room temp before sealing. I've read where people add a little brisket juice when sealing, how do you prevent the juice from being sucked in. Any tips using the food saver would be much appreciated.
Sweet

[Txngent]

A lot of people put a paper towel inside at the top to keep the juices from being sucked up. I put mine in the bag and set it on a cookie sheet in the freezer.... let it par-freeze for say a hour, then vac seal. A good way to do your juice is to put it in ice cube trays... freeze... then put a cube in with your meat before sealing.

[3970010]

Got a new food saver from Santa Claus. Never used one and was wondering it you can seal the brisket (or any other meat) hot or is it better to let it go to room temp before sealing. I've read where people add a little brisket juice when sealing, how do you prevent the juice from being sucked in. Any tips using the food saver would be much appreciated.
Sweet

That problem has gotten the better of me ever since I've gotten a food savor. Whats more, when it sucks the juice up it leaves the bag wet where you are trying to seal it and it dont seal all of the way.

[wood_is_good]

I must be doing something wrong, I never have left overs :oops:

[3970010]

I must be doing something wrong, I never have left overs :oops:

Good point ya have there. We normally have left overs at competitions cause my parents and other people want us to bring back food. Plus my wife likes to save brisket for chili. I have noticed that brisket will taste just as good 2 months later. Ribs on the other hand seem to only taste good for the first day or two and then they seem to loose their flavor.

[bigwheel]

Well I ditto the freezing part. Dont think you want to bag suck anything with wet ingredients in it. Best strategy I have found to get it to seal is wipe down the sealing area with a dry paper towel. It do not like to pull a seal if them lips or wet or dirty.

bigwheel

[Texana]

A lot of people put a paper towel inside at the top to keep the juices from being sucked up. I put mine in the bag and set it on a cookie sheet in the freezer.... let it par-freeze for say a hour, then vac seal. A good way to do your juice is to put it in ice cube trays... freeze... then put a cube in with your meat before sealing.

What he said ....

But ...

You dont have to pull a vacuum ... I put mine in hot with juice ... get all the air out I can then just seal it ... never notice the difference when reheated ....

[M38A1]

I've not done the par-freeze or ice cubes trick. I have however put it in the fridge for a few hours to 'set' the juice/fat. After a few hours, the juice seems to be more of a gelatin so it's easy to pull and close.

I've also done the paper towel trick with good results, but I'm thinking the next round I'll try the freezer trick.

[Goat]

Mine has a button that you can push and seal at any time. I push it just as the liquid gets to the machine. Seems to work well for me.

[bigwheel]

Well I done that a few times too. Course if you aint pulling a good vacuum on it by backing off when the liquid hits might as well be using a glad bag. Now if you doing it primarily for the purpose of reheating it in the bag the glad bag wouldnt work of course..but then I aint never had much luck in reheating stuff in the foodsaver bags anyway so it might be a moot point. Think I just stick with the glad bags. They a bunch cheaper.

bigwheel

[yakman]

I've owned a Food Saver for several years and never had much luck getting a good seal. Seems half the things I tried to vaccum seal failed and ended up with air in the bag. The unit finally died around Thanksgiving. A friend got me another one for Xmas this year. I gave it a try last night and I'm happy to report everything sealed up tight. I have to wonder if the first unit was defective from the beginning. If it continues to work like it did last night I'll be a happy camper. When I fire up the BBQ I like to cook extra, so having a good way to store the left overs in the freezer is nice.

Got a question about the paper towel....Do you actually seal the paper towel inside the bag?

[rstcso]

Got a question about the paper towel....Do you actually seal the paper towel inside the bag?
Yes. Just take part of a paper towel and fold it over several times and make it the length of the width of the inside of the bag. Stick it just below where you're going to seal and, as it's pulling a vacuum, you'll see all the juices stop at the paper towel. Seal it. When you heat it and cut it open, slide the paper towel out and throw it away. This works better than the description.

[txpgapro]

Since I'd rather have all the air sucked out seal, I'll be using the frozen juice cube method from now on. I've done the paper towel in the bag method and it gets messy, and you still don't get all the air out.

[rstcso]

I will also package the plan-aheads, fold over the flap where you're going to make your seal and stick the packages in the freezer for a few hours (or until I remember I stuck them out there :roll: ). Then when you pull the vacuum... nothing but air 8) . It's best if the meat is still pliable. You'll get out more air.

[cleglue]

Here is a cut and paste from the Food Saver Reference Guide to Vacuum Packaging


Preparation Guidelines for Meats and Fish:
For best results, pre-freeze meats and fish for 1-2 hours
before vacuum packaging in a FoodSaver Bag. This helps
retain the juice and shape, and guarantees a better seal.
If it’s not possible to pre-freeze, place a folded paper
towel between meat or fish and top of bag, but below
seal area. Leave paper towel in bag to absorb excess
moisture and juices during vacuum packaging process.
Note: Beef may appear darker after vacuum packaging
due to the removal of oxygen. This is not an indication
of spoilage.

My Food Saver came with a DVD which shows how to vacuum seal different products.

I have an old vacuum sealer (Desonic or something like that) that never worked right but the Food Saver V2490 I bought from Costco's a few months back does great.

[jvreeland]

I also got a Foodsaver over the holiday season and I sealed my first Boston Butt in it. I pulled the meat and palced it in the freezer for about 15 minutes then into the foodsaver bag.

I placed a folded paper towel at the top of the bag and it sealed just fine sucking the juices into the paper towel instead of my machine.

I am going to be eating it probably this weekend as I am quite interested on how well it taste.

I have heard the bags are reusable and can be washed in the dishwasher, has anyone tried this?

[Mic]

Never had a problem suckin air or sealin wid my V2480 Food Saver. Problem I have is that little foam gasket around the vacume chamber sticks to the one in the lid where it don't touch the bag and pulls out when I open the lid! :? :x Wassup wid dat? :(

Mic

[Bowhnter2]

I have heard the bags are reusable and can be washed in the dishwasher, has anyone tried this?

Not yet, but you are not supposed to reuse the bags you had raw meat in.
The others I hear you can use.

[yelonutz]

I reuse them all of the time BUT, never put cooked meat or any thing that that won't be heated (BBQ Sauce ect. ) into a bag that held raw food. Only put raw into raw. The cooking process will kill anything that carries over. We wash ours by hand due to the heater in the dish washer for dish drying. Recently I have switched over to SorbentSystems.com due to the price of the bags. Check them out. John.

[Txngent]

If you wash your bags and use bleach ... wouldn't that kill any of the bacteria (or 99.9%) that raw meat would possibly leave?

Not a suggestion, just a discussion question.

[Zeeman]

Fat side down.
z

[Bowhnter2]

from the food saver site....... http://www.foodsaver.com/FAQs.aspx?CATID=3

Can FoodSaver® Bags be washed?
Yes, but it depends on the previous contents of the bag.


Bags that previously contained fruits, vegetables, breads and dry goods can be washed and reused.
Bags that contained raw meats, fish, eggs or un-pasteurized cheese should be discarded after use because they may contain invisible bacteria that will remain after washing.
Bags that contained greasy or oily foods should also be discarded, as they may be difficult to clean.
FoodSaver® Bags can be washed by hand, or in the top rack of the dishwasher. Use a wooden clothespin or a clip to hold the bags in place. Dry completely. They can then be re-vacuumed.

[jvreeland]

Not yet, but you are not supposed to reuse the bags you had raw meat in.
The others I hear you can use.

Yeah I was speaking of re-using one's that had cooked meat in them - I.E. re storing pulled porked in a bag that had pork in it (after being washed).

[Michiana Mark]

Fat side down.
z
Before or after par freezing?

[droller]

What he said ....

But ...

You dont have to pull a vacuum ... I put mine in hot with juice ... get all the air out I can then just seal it ... never notice the difference when reheated ....

What they said.

I do, however, roll down the top of the bag @ 1" before I put the contents into it--saves the effort of cleaning the top of the bag before I seal it.

[cleglue]

I do, however, roll down the top of the bag @ 1" before I put the contents into it--saves the effort of cleaning the top of the bag before I seal it.

That's a good idea. I haven't thought of that.

Thanks

I sometimes use a big mouth funnel I bought for Mason/Kerr jars to try and keep the top of the bag clean for sealing.

[ATXCajun]

I'm thinking boil the bags for 15 minutes rather than washing them or using a chemical. I'm also thinking bags are cheap, but maybe not for big volume cookers.

[Papa Tom]

I use the pro bags that Cabelas sells they aren't supposed to be used with the Foodsaver but they work just fine. I prefreeze and keep a box of kleenex handy to wipe the top of the bag before sealing. I never reuse a bag I've had food poisoning before and didn't like it.

[TexLaw]

I'm thinking boil the bags for 15 minutes rather than washing them or using a chemical. I'm also thinking bags are cheap, but maybe not for big volume cookers.

Once you boil them, they don't work so well, anymore. The sides can stick stick together and mess up the texured side that allows the air to get our around the food.

Like Papa, I don't reuse the bags that had meat in them. If I use the bag to keep nuts, tea, herbs, spices, or something along those lines, I don't mind washing and reusing.


TL