Food Saver Vacuum Sealer... oh, the possibilities

[jgmann67]

I finally went out and got myself one of these. I got it for food storage (buy in bulk and break it down for the freezer, or to save the left over smoked brisket). But I'm just thinking about all the wine related things I can do with it - like keeping my tannin and oak fresh and dry - and it got me wondering.

If you have a vacuum sealer, what do you use it for??

 

[sour_grapes]

I finally went out and got myself one of these. I got it for food storage (buy in bulk and break it down for the freezer, or to save the left over smoked brisket). But I'm just thinking about all the wine related things I can do with it - like keeping my tannin and oak fresh and dry - and it got me wondering.

If you have a vacuum sealer, what do you use it for??

Does yours have an extendable vacuum tube? Mine Foodsaver does, for pumping down storage containers. You could use that for vacuum degassing.

 

[jgmann67]

Does yours have an extendable vacuum tube? Mine Foodsaver does, for pumping down storage containers. You could use that for vacuum degassing.

It does. I use my AIO for vacuum degassing. Wonder how much vacuum the food saver would be in comparison.

 

[cmason1957]

It does. I use my AIO for vacuum degassing. Wonder how much vacuum the food saver would be in comparison.

I think the food saver is about the same as the AIO. The great google says a food saver can pull something like 20-24 in Hg. I think Steve once told me the AIO was on the lower end of that, but there I go trusting my memory and many folks know how foolish that can be.

Squirrel..

 

[sour_grapes]

Are you interested in trying sous vide cooking?

 

[mikewatkins727]

@jgmann67 I use mine pretty much as you do. FoodSaver does sell adapters for large and small mouth canning jars which come in handy for liquid storage. I also own a freeze dryer and some foods I put in canning jars and vacuum seal with canning lids. Some of my wine making supplies I do seal up in FoodSaver bags.

 

[Boatboy24]

A great tool for vac sealing foods in prep for sous vide, as Paul implied. Another use: I buy custom corks in lots of 1,000. Not making as much wine as I used to, so I break down that big batch into bags of ~100 and vac seal them so they don't dry out over time.

 

[jgmann67]

Are you interested in trying sous vide cooking?

Yes. I was thinking I'd vacuum seal my leftover (uncut) brisket; and reheat via a submersion method like sous vide.

 

[jgmann67]

A great tool for vac sealing foods in prep for sous vide, as Paul implied. Another use: I buy custom corks in lots of 1,000. Not making as much wine as I used to, so I break down that big batch into bags of ~100 and vac seal them so they don't dry out over time.

That's a genius idea!

I used my food saver and vacuum sealed a whole brisket to send to my brother in Florida for his boat trip to the Bahamas. Pretty awesome.

 

[ratflinger]

You need a chamber vac sealer for liquids. Although a good trick is to put the bag in the freezer until it firms up then use the Food Saver

 

[mainshipfred]

You need a chamber vac sealer for liquids. Although a good trick is to put the bag in the freezer until it firms up then use the Food Saver

I was looking into the chamber vac before I bought mine but couldn't justify the price. On the other hand depending on how much it is used the bags could make up the difference pretty quickly.

 

[mainshipfred]

A great tool for vac sealing foods in prep for sous vide, as Paul implied. Another use: I buy custom corks in lots of 1,000. Not making as much wine as I used to, so I break down that big batch into bags of ~100 and vac seal them so they don't dry out over time.

I just did mine on Saturday. Instead of counting I just counted the first 75, weighed them and used the kitchen scale for the rest.

 

[Ty520]

i vacuum seal my cured meats/bacons during the initial cure phase because it helps to both speed up and evenly distribute the cure through the meat

 

[Cedar Hill]

It's odd that no one mentioned what I thought was the obvious use of a vacuum sealer for a home winemaker: freezing wine grapes.
I have a small (55 vines) vineyard in the middle Shenandoah Valley. When I first began, my total harvest wasn't big enough to make a decent gallon, so I froze the grapes to eat during the winter. Later, with more yield, I would freeze them until I had equipment (and time) to ferment them.
We've used the vac sealer for produce for years; it offers better protection against freezer burn, and seems to keep them fresh longer.
Here's the article that put me on to this:
https://winemakermag.com/wine-wizard/freezing-grapes

 

[Ty520]

It's odd that no one mentioned what I thought was the obvious use of a vacuum sealer for a home winemaker: freezing wine grapes.
I have a small (55 vines) vineyard in the middle Shenandoah Valley. When I first began, my total harvest wasn't big enough to make a decent gallon, so I froze the grapes to eat during the winter. Later, with more yield, I would freeze them until I had equipment (and time) to ferment them.
We've used the vac sealer for produce for years; it offers better protection against freezer burn, and seems to keep them fresh longer.
Here's the article that put me on to this:
https://winemakermag.com/wine-wizard/freezing-grapes

that's true, but that's a lot of work and material. i typically only buy, chop and freeze when i am ready to go