Foodsaver

[lonebird]

Okay after reading a bunch of posts I've decided I must have one of these foodsaver thingies. But I went looking and there are 10,000 different types, ranging from $30-200 bucks! Any suggestions on the best buy?

Karen

[Nytewyng]

Basically you get what you pay for .......We have the original Food Saver brand......middle of the line model ..works good........we try to get the rolls and make our own bags.....but they are graet for mini bulk purchases to save money and not have foods freezer burned...

[len19070]

When I go away for a quick weekend, and don't feel like messing with cooking I just make a meal up at home and put it in a zip-lock bag, freeze it then do a boil-in-bag thing when I'm camping.

Another reason I started doing that is when my kids were little they were "Pickey" eaters and would never eat what I would cook while Camping. I'd just make them a meal at home, that I knew they liked, and do a boil in bag thing. This way I didn't have to cook special for them. And all the yelling/time outs and crying was eliminated as well.

Happy Trails

Len

[rbeemer]

I bought(Foodsaver brand) mine at Costco and have all the extra containers for storage. I bought the square container to marinate in. I can marinate chicken in 20 minutes that tastes like it has been marinating for 24 hours.

We just baked some cookies and made some fudge and sealed them up, mailed them to an Army friend who is prepping for Iraq. He received the 'care' package and none of the cookies were broke. We are using this as a test run so we can ship a care package to Irag.

[tandmkennedy]

We bought our Foodsaver at Costco about a year ago...LOVE IT! I would suggest buying the true Foodsaver brand....you'll be happy you did.

[lonebird]

Wow, thanks for all the replys!

We bought our Foodsaver at Costco about a year ago...LOVE IT! I would suggest buying the true Foodsaver brand....you'll be happy you did.

Foodsaver brand name it is then!

When I go away for a quick weekend, and don't feel like messing with cooking I just make a meal up at home and put it in a zip-lock bag, freeze it then do a boil-in-bag thing when I'm camping.

Len you just boil ziplocks, huh? Have you had any problems with melting, or funny after taste?

We are using this as a test run so we can ship a care package to Iraq.

My best friend just got back from Afghanistan and nothing I sent EVER seemed to make it through to her. Or sometimes it'd arrive late; she got her Thanksgiving package after Christmas! I hear Iraq is easer though, so good luck!

We have the original Food Saver brand......middle of the line model

Do you know which model that is? Or how much it cost?

[caseydog]

I've had two of them. The first was a Sears unit, and I wore it out. Then I picked up a Foodsaver at Tuesday Morning for about 50 bucks. Works great.

The bags are interchangable from brand to brand. The Foodsaver brand are the easiest to find, but if you find the Sears or Seal-a-meal bags on sale, they work on Foodsaver machines.

I use mine at home all the time. I can buy meats when they are on big-time sale, and seal individual meal portions to freeze for months with no freezer burn. To use the meat, I just pull it out of the freezer, put the bag in room temp water for about 20 minutes, and the meat is thawed.

I also have a smoker, and I will smoke a lot of meat, break it up into meal size portions, seal and freeze, so I can have good BBQ any time I get hungry for it.

For camping, I can clean and dice my veggies, too, and seal them up. Then I just cut open a pack, and dump into my pan. That means I spend less time cooking on site, and more time enjoying camping.

I highly recommend one of these Foodsavers to anyone.

[caseydog]

Do you know which model that is? Or how much it cost?

Foodsaver has about 200 different models at 200 different price points, it seems. Mine, my dad's and my sister's are all different models, but they basically do the exact same thing.

Some come with extra containers. Some have roll dispensers and cutters built in. Mine came with a separate roll dispenser with cutter. You can also buy those separately.

Bottom line, if it says "Foodsaver" on the box, it will do the same basic thing the others do. The differences are in the options.

If you have Tuesday Morning stores there, I see Foodsaver items in there most of the time, for a good price. Look online, too. I bet Overstock.com carries them.

[bledsoe3]

My dad has the foodsaver brand and he loves it. He puts up about 300 lbs of fish every year. You can get the bags at Costco.

[Gambam]

I am on my second Foodsaver and love it. The only reason I'm on number two, is we upgraded to black and stainless, and the white didn't go with everything else.

Few tips. Stay away from Black and decker bags, they are hard to use and not worth the few pennys saved.

Get the wide mouth jar sealer. You can keep all your dry goods in the glass jars. Keeps everything dry, bug free, and fresher.

Prefreeze sauces and wet items in the bag before you seal them.

[PresTx82]

I recommend the Food Saver..... Works like a champ!

[sdtripper2]

Food saver is a friend of mine. Allows me to by in bulk, save and portion with
ease. Cheese is a definite must. Lets one shop at Costco and save but have
the ability to taste the food as it should down the Teardrop road of time.

Foodsaver Tips:
http://www.foodsavershop.com/foodsavertips.html

[fornesto]

Not totally related to the food saver, but a trick that my mother has us sold on. We make a lot of fruit smoothies and freeze a lot of fruit. If you slice up a banana (for example) and lay it out on a cookie sheet in the freezer, then put the frozen banana slices into a ziploc bag, you can easily retrieve as few as you want because they are not frozen into a solid mush ball. The same trick works for berries, cookie dough (in single cookie sized portions), hash browns, chicken breasts, chicken broth (freeze in an ice tray first), and anything else that you might just want a handful of later and don't want to thaw the whole thing. Does this make sense?

[fatehunter1972]

fornesto,

That's what I do.

froze 20 pounds of local blueberries, 5 mango, 4 raspberry, 2 cranberry, 2 currant.

actually I just lay them really flat in the ziploc bag after washing and draining them really well. then after they are frozen they can be easily broken apart inside the bag without breaking the fruit.

Works with everything else too.

I buy beef, chicken and beef by the package from a local organic farmer and tey package in brown paper and steaks individually too.

I seduded my wife through food. She is not much of a cook, but does make the meanest egg muffin I've ever had.

[oklahomajewel]

I agree about the FoodSaver brand.... I haven't used mine as much as some, but it sure is worth it !!! I have two of those Foodsaver containers, usually would keep lettuce in one, and it stays fresh for three weeks.

I've made meals ahead like King Ranch Chicken or Lasagna, froze them and then sealed them in a foodsaver bag and 6, 8 mos later... mmm mmmmmmmm and EZ!!!!!

I would agree to go with the FoodSaver brand. And the jar sealer is cool too

As far as BOILING IN ZIPLOC BAGS>...... be sure to use FREEZER ziploc bags , they are sturdier for the heat and not so flimsy... maybe less likely to leak too.