Food Saver machine for camping food

[Corey]

http://www.foodsaver.com/

Friend of mine bought two a year back from Costco.
His is an older model, a horizontal one, not the newer upright versions.
It could be this one.
http://www.foodsaver.com/ProductDetails.aspx?productid=985

What are the advantages to one of these for camping?
I have never used one, but would like to pick up his extra one of get a newer vertical style.

I imagine I could precook some stuff at home and then throw the bags into the ARB fridge?
Can you boil with these type of bags too to heat up your dinner?

Lets say you want to cook up a stroganoff dish at home, then you can bag it, freeze it, then take them camping and simply drop the bag into a pot of water to warm it up?

I am trying to justify the need for one of these for the upcoming camping season next year.

They have a recipe area on the website, and indeed it looks like you can do pasta to boil in the bag later.
http://www.foodsaver.com/Recipes.aspx

Pasta Dinner Recipe
Print Recipes

Cooked Pasta – With out sauce.

Cooked spaghetti, angel hair, linguine, noodles, and other flat pastas can be vacuum packaged with FoodSaver® Vacuum Packaging Systems.

Tubular shapes, corkscrews and similar shapes flatten out and are not recommended for vacuum packaging.
Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Drain.
3. Rinse thoroughly with cold water and drain very well.
4. For leftover pasta, rinse and drain very well.
5. Loosely fill FoodSaver® Bag so that pasta is no more than 2 inches thick for easier stacking in freezer and faster thawing.
6. Label, vacuum package and freeze for up to 2 years.

Thawing:
Place FoodSaver® Bag on dish and thaw in refrigerator overnight or until thawed.

Reheating Suggestions:
Use thawed pasta, cold, in salads such as Asian noodle salad and pasta primavera salad.
Or, for hot dishes, reheat frozen or thawed pasta using one of the methods below.

Stovetop Directions:

1. Immerse sealed bag of frozen or thawed pasta in boiling water.
2. Turn bag several times while heating.
3. Boil until pasta is soft and hot.
4. Or, remove pasta from bag and place directly into boiling water for 2-3 minutes.
5. Drain and serve with your favorite sauce.

This looks like a good model here, the one featured in their index page.
http://www.jardenstore.com/product.aspx?bid=18&pid=5569&cid=79

http://www.jardenstore.com/images/products/FoodSaver/Products/HiRes/T000-18004-001_2.jpg

[spunky2268]

Checkit here: http://www.ultimateiditarod.com/musherfood.htm . Whoda thunkit - pizza in seal a meal bags. I tried it and it works. If it works for mushers, it'll sure work for expo travel.

[desertgirl66]

These types of machines are awesome for camp food! You can make any food you want at home, freeze it and when at camp just drop in boiling water for a bit. This process really minimizes clean up, conserves water, and you can use the heat up water for clean up or washing with.

I even use an old Daisy Seal-a-Meal that works wonders!

[Carlyle]

A great way to save room in a freezer!

[Corey]

I am thinking this would be great or dinners.
Breakfast in camp with eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, ect, I would still cook up the normal way, as you can not beat the smells :D

But for fixing dinner I think this would be great, and less of a mess to clean up afterward, and more time to relax around the campfire or other stuff.

[rusty_tlc]

Other uses besides food;
Dry set of clothing.
Matches and survival gear.


For food I freeze sauced items in shallow dishes first. The semi disposable plastic containers work well because the sides slope so you can pop the food out after it freezes.

I pack all my meat for camping this way. Since we don't have an ARB/Waco we use ice chest. The sealed bags prevent soggy hamburger.

If all that isn't enough, I can take advantage of sales on meat and eat a lot better food in camp. We've kept steaks for months in the freezer with no burn.


I think you could say I'm a fan of the vacuum sealers.

[the dude]

We bought one of these this summer from Costco and LOVE.

We use it not only for camping (saves on space and mess) but also for repacking "family" packs of meat.

One of our favorites is to seal chicken/fish/beef with out favorite marinade and then freeze for camping trips. In the Engel, by the time we are ready to use the food, it has had ample time in the sauce and is quick and easy to prepare...and no mess!

[Corey]

Will be getting one next month for sure after seeing how everyone is liking them.

[jgatliff]

My Wife & I are big fans of our Food Saver. We use it to vacuum seal and freeze all sorts of stuff. Here are some of our uses:

Freezing Leftovers - Any soups, stews, pot roast, etc, we freeze to either take camping or warm up one night when we're not feeling up to cooking.

Taking advantage of Meats Sales - We mostly use it for Boneless Skinless chicken breast, when it comes on sale we usually buy 20 pounds or so, trim the chicken, then freeze 3 breasts per pack and we have have chicken in the right proportions for most things we cook.

We also break up the larger family packs of burger and freeze it.

I have also vacuum sealed other camping gear for safe storage in my Bug Out Bag (ammo for instance).

I haven't tried to freeze spaghetti, but that sounds nice! I have frozen has bropwn casserole and it comes out great.
JG

[EricGagne]

I have also vacuum sealed other camping gear for safe storage in my Bug Out Bag (ammo for instance).


That juste gave me an idea. Chop small pieces of wood, wrap them and a dozen of wood matches with a few sheets of newspaper, seal it with your food saver and you get a nice little fire starting kit that's protected from water and humidity.

Tie a few of them together with tie wraps, put them under your truck seat and forget about them..........until needed.



I haven't tried to freeze spaghetti, but that sounds nice! I have frozen has bropwn casserole and it comes out great.
JG
Never did for camping (yet) but I do it at home, you just freeze the sauce and pastas separately. You can make bags of sauce and any other pastas you like. Drop the bags in boiling water. Once hot you just open them and mix them before eating.

[Hilldweller]

My favorite benefit is the camp cleanliness that it affords. The animal-attracting odors are minimalised in the cooler.

I had a great session with the sealer last night. Smoked turkey and all the fixins are sealed and ready for our Thanksgiving camping.

[calamaridog]

I've made stew and sealed it up. Then just boil in the bag or microwave. I had to partially freeze it prior to sealing due the the volume of moisture.

We seal game and fish and it lasts longer than ziplock freezer bags.

[PhulesAU]

In case you not the type to watch commercials...... Zip-lock just started advertiseing a "vacuume Storage" bag seals like regular bag with a little 1 way valve to attatch hand pump to remove air.

[DontPanic42]

There are 2 vacuum freezer bags on the market -Reynolds Handi-Vac and the Ziploc vacuum bag. I have been using them all summer while the big vacuum sealer sits in a box. The Handi-Vac uses a battery powered pump while the Ziploc is a simple hand pump. The hand pump works for both bags. I prefer it for traveling. The advantage to this system is that the bags can be resealed. Just take out what you want, zip it shut and pump it down. Either version will not replace the big vacuum sealers for large odd shaped items or for sealing Mason jars but I have found these new bags very handy.

[calamaridog]

Foodsaver bags can often be washed in the dishwasher and reused.

[Joanne]

Hi all!

I know I'm jumping in late on this thread but there is another good reason to use a food saver and that is food safety! Raw meats, especially poultry, pose a cross contamination hazard when stored in a cooler. Repackaging the meat in the food saver bags will help reduce the risk of meat juices from contaminating the other food products in your cooler.

For those like me who are still in the dark ages and use an ice chest, this can be especially important. You don't want bacteria being carried around in the water and contaminating everything it touches.

I also bag my tube biscuits and cinnamon rolls before throwing them into the ice chest. That way they don't get soaked and ruined before I can bake them.

I'll probably buy on of the new handheld units before too long so I can repackage cheese before returning it to the ice chest. It will work great for leftovers too. (I always cook wayyy too much).

Joanne

[Corey]

Still have not bought one, but seriously thinking about ordering one soon after seeing the avocados here.
http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=408865&postcount=42

For the past 1/2 year or more I have been eating one whole avocado with dinner each evening.
Cutting up enough avocados ahead of time for a weekend or week long trip would be nice.

Once they are sealed at home, can you freeze the bag, or will that ruin the avocado?

They have a new upright model out now too, the 3840 kit.
http://www.foodsaver.com/TVV3800.aspx

http://www.foodsaver.com/Images/Products/GROUPS/85_18_75780771.PNG

[mountainpete]

Absolutely love FoodSaver bags. Like others mentioned, I especially love that you can boil them, which is perfect for a no-mess reheat of homemade chili or soups.

Pete

[Corey]

Costco (http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11300615&search=food%20saver&Mo=1&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-US&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Sp=S&N=5000043&whse=BC&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ne=4000000&D=food%20saver&Ntt=food%20saver&No=1&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1) gives the above machine a bad review.

Many are saying the auto pump feature wastes a lot of the bag, and sometimes takes several tries to work.

[TheMike]

Many are saying the auto pump feature wastes a lot of the bag, and sometimes takes several tries to work.You are correct. It wastes about 2" on both ends. You can't do anything to correct it. If you try by pulling the bag out a bit after it starts the cycle, it stops. My wife comments every damn time she uses it. It's nice but that's a drag!

We use it every time we go on outings. We pre-cook lots of stuff like speghetti and even burgers. If you do the engine block cooking, these bags are great for that. We take and put 3 precooked burgers in it's own bag. Freeze them before we go then throw them in the trailer frig when we leave. We then place it on the engine a couple of hours before we plan lunch. Then it's grilled burgers, no mess.

Anything you precook is great. Just throw the bag in a pot of boiling water (or the engine if you got time and on the move), remove when hot, cut the top and eat right out of the bag. Pulled pork, stews, chili, soups, whatever.

The best part is no cooking mess, no dishes, and you got a pot of hot water after the fact for whatever you want.

Edit: Sorry. I just re-read the above posts and realized I posted some of what others have said.

BTW: Freeze speghetti ready to eat. Meat and sauce included. It's actually better eating "left over" than when it's first made.

[TheMike]

Oh yea, I saw this on Extreme 4X4. Parts like U-joints. Pre-grease them up, vacuum them in a bag. Cut open when needed. No mess and the bags are stong enough to not break unless you mean to.

[Corey]

Mike, in your opinion should I look at the clamshell design, or take a chance on the newer upright one like Costco has and just fill the bag less?

[TheMike]

Mike, in your opinion should I look at the clamshell design, or take a chance on the newer upright one like Costco has and just fill the bag less?I started with the clamshell version. It stopped sealing the bags so I bought the upright version. I wouldn't buy one of them again.

If you can get the clamshell type, do it. Some things aren't worth fully automatic. The clamshell ones let you seal where ever you want, even without a vaccum first (like if you wanted to seal at the very end).

Maybe the upright ones have changed. I don't know. I've had my upright one for about 6 months.

[jesusgatos]

I just got this one (http://www.foodsaver.com/Product.aspx?id=c&cid=90&pid=251). Planning on installing it semi-permanently in my motorhome. Haven't played with it much, but I'm really looking forward to using it. I just ordered some accessories (reusable containers & lids) for it too.

[762X39]

Katherine and I have had the Clamshell style sealer for about 6 years now. Once in a while it doesn't seal properly (can't seem to pull enough air out of the bag to form a vacumn). The solution seem to be wiping down the 2 gaskets of the vacumn chamber with a moist dish cloth (or pre-moistened wipe).Always seems to work after that.
I work on the road alot and end up living in hotel rooms. I usually seal single portions of sandwich meats (cold cuts) and just about anything else and then throw it into my cooler.I pick up fresh bread and eat lunches like a king without wasting money at Scottish fast food restaurants.:chef:

[Ireland]

Does this system use "Safe' plastic ie no BPA'S ?

[Mike_rupp]

BPA (bisphenol A) is used as a monomer in the production of polycarbonate. It is also used in very small amounts as an additive in some other high end plastics. It is not used in flexible food packaging. Materials like polyethylene and polypropylene are about as clean as you can possibly get. PE used for films has very little in the way of additives and those are very inert.

[Corey]

Besides a local Costco near me, I have a Sams Club.
They have this upright model.
http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=409409

Seems everywhere I read up on the upright ones folk's are having problems with them.
I probably should stick to a good clamshell one.
Will have to read up on them more and see if they offer the auto bag thing, or if that is just a gimmick.

[Corey]

Called my local Fred Meyers has a 2240 clamshell one.
http://www.foodsaver.com/Product.aspx?id=c&cid=87&pid=250

http://www.foodsaver.com/Images/Products/PRODUCTS/T000-32030_14.JPG

And they have an upright model for $139.
He did not have a part #, but I am going to guess that it is this one, the V3440.
It has the Smart Seal technology that the more expensive one the 3840 has.
http://www.foodsaver.com/Product.aspx?id=c&cid=87&pid=246

http://www.foodsaver.com/Images/Products/PRODUCTS/T000-08001_14.JPG

I told him I have heard mixed reviews on the uprights with the Smartseal thing, and he says I have thirty days to try it out at home.
If within that time frame it doe snot work for me, I get 100% refund on it, then I would try the clamshell one.

I take it these are the 11" bags?
If so, that is probably the only type of bag I will need to seal up pasta, avacados, and other grub for dinners for camping trips.

http://www.foodsaver.com/Images/Products/PRODUCTS/T000-08001_2.JPG

PS, maybe I will skip over the upright.
More bad reviews.
http://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-Vacuum-Sealing-System-SmartSeal-Technology/dp/B001CSGR8S

[astn]

Awesome concept, however FoodSaver is a rip-off. They are following the Gilette model of business--give the razor away and rape people on the blades. There are models of vacuum sealer that don't require any special bag--you can vacuum seal the bags things came in (like bread, just don't vacuum too much), regular ziplock bags or non-zipping sandwich bags, all the way up to industrial bags of several mil thickness.

I don't recall what variant I have, but it's some cheap China machine, and it does an amazing job. It has a retractable nozzle and is able to use any plastic bag (not just the really expensive ones with the channels.) Sometimes you have to pay attention to make sure that the plastic doesn't collapse around the nozzle, but how many people aren't standing over the machine while it works anyway--it takes less then a minute. It also does a great job with vacuum sealing jars.

[Corey]

I got the V3835 which is not listed on Food Savers homepage (http://www.foodsaver.com/Index.aspx), their newest one is the 3840.
This on the side of the box has a Fred Meyers tag on it, so I think it was specifiably packaged for Freddies, and it looks identical to the 3840.
Some info on this model.
http://www.shopping.com/xPO-Tilia-FoodSaver-V3835-Vacuum-Food-Sealer-with-SmartSeal-Technology

I bought a dual pack of 11"x16' rolls of the bags you cut yourself, and a box of 20 1 qt. bags.

All the bad reviews I have read online must be half of user error, as this newbie to the world of vacuum sealing had zero problems.

I used one custom cut bag from the roll which I cut with a built in cutter in the machine for the avocados.
The cookies and the D, AA, and AAA batteries are also in a 1 qt. bag.

The machine worked as it was suppose to, I was very impressed.

http://www.pnw4runners.com/camping/foodsaver/foodsaver_v3835thumb.jpg (http://www.pnw4runners.com/camping/foodsaver/foodsaver_v3835.jpg)

I will keep an eye on the avocado to see when it turns brown.
I am not sure if I can freeze them or not.

I bought a cantaloupe to test this out on too, but I have to let it ripen up some.
I know you can freeze cantaloupe, so after it is ripe I will slice up a half into smaller slices and place in a few custom cut bags and freeze them.

Will be trying this out too on those dollar dinner pasta dinners from Safeway.
I have the stroganoff one here, so I will cook up a box which makes about three to four servings and dish it into the qt. sized bags and partially freeze them first before using the machine.
This is to prevent the juice/liquid from the pasta getting sucked into the machine.

If this works successfully, I can then put them back in the freezer for a long time, then take a few for a camping trip and store in the ARB fridge.
Then put a bag in boiling water on the camp stove and reheat them.
Not sure if I have to make a slit in the bag or not.
I would think that would introduce the water into the bag, or maybe you have to make a slit from keeping the bag from blowing up :D

Anyways, I think these machines are pretty cool, and it will save a lot of prep time for camping/overlanding dinners.

With this new machine with the SmartSeal technology, the process starts automatically as soon as I insert the bag.
If at anytime you notice your food getting squished to much, simply hit the seal button and the vacuum process stops sucking out air and the heat seal starts up right away.

PS, some good reviews and bad reviews on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-Vacuum-Sealer-SmartSeal-Technology/product-reviews/B001E42R8O/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful?ie=UTF8&coliid=&showViewpoints=1&colid=&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending).

[Corey]

Five plus full days of the avocado sitting in my fridge in the sealed bag.
From this at 4:30 PM PST

http://www.pnw4runners.com/camping/foodsaver/3.jpg

to this a few minutes later :D

http://www.pnw4runners.com/camping/foodsaver/4.jpg

I am satisfied with the machine so far.
Now I have to start making up some stroganoff dinners for camping and freeze them after sealing them.

[matt s]

Perhaps an unthought of use. When I first got mine years ago I vacuum packed everything, just because I could (socks, flashlights, you name it). It was fun. One thing I did and now still do is toilet paper. An "emergency" roll vacuums down to almost nothing, stays clean and dry, and anyone who ends up needing it thinks your the coolest camper around. I keep one in the truck or in my pack for almost any adventure.

[Capt Sport]

I had one of the clam shell professional model food saver machines, I never really like the performance of the machine and it eventually quit working all together. I used the machine predominately for packing fish, and you had to "slightly" freeze the filets before you could vacuum seal them, which was PIA. That and if there was any water or moisture in the bag they didn't seal well. Needless to say I lost more fish than I care to think about due to bags that didn't seal well due to freezer burn. :mad:

Now I will say that vacuum packing works great and I love the idea and of the packages that did seal it worked great. I also by chance got to tour a facility that made commercial machines and learned a lot. Seems the way to go is a chamber style vacuum packer which will allow you to pull more vacuum and seal meat/food even if it's wet. I even witnessed a vertical chamber machine seal a bag of water with out a bubble of air in it.

Well as you can expect these chamber machines are rather expensive, :eek: however I did run across a guy (on the web) that made his own which he claims works great. I haven't yet built one, but I do plan on doing so as vacuum packing just works so well for all of the reasons mentioned previously in this tread.

Here's the link to the plans etc , oh yeah not affiliated in anyway just passing along what I feel is useful information to fellow Expo'ers (Is that a word?)

http://www.fishyfish.com/bobbruce/vacuum_bagger.html

And, now after reading this entire thread I'm hungry lets :chowtime:

[jesusgatos]

I've got an idea that might help with the problem of stuff getting sucked out of the bag and into the machine. I'll try it out and let you know how it works. This would be in the cheap/free category and I think it might eliminate the need to pre-freeze things.

[Haggis]

Here's a good trick. Cut a bag as long as your cooler, fill it with a gallon and a half to two gallons of water or so, seal using the "Moist" setting and freeze it laying flat in the freezer. Lay one of these frozen bags in the bottom of your cooler, than put in a layer of frozen sealed foods on top of that. Place another frozen bag on top of the food stuff, then another layer of frozen food followed by another frozen bags and so on and so forth. Our last trip we used four of these "Ice" bags with good effect. They lasted 6 days in our Coleman Extreme cooler riding around in the back of the truck. When thawed out you've got a clean source of water, theres no water sloshing around in the cooler and you can still reuse the bags once you get home. We just leave 'em sealed and refreeze them when we get home. Way better than buying ice every couple of days.

[matt s]

Mark that is a really good idea.

[calamaridog]

Needless to say I lost more fish than I care to think about due to bags that didn't seal well due to freezer burn. :mad:

We used to loose more fish to freezer burn using all the other methods prior to the Food Saver machine.


Now I will say that vacuum packing works great and I love the idea and of the packages that did seal it worked great.


Agreed. I'd say that about 5% of the bags we seal will end up not holding a vacuum after a few days. I rotate those bags into the house freezer and use them before they can develop freezer burn.

In the last couple days I've opened bags of grouper, tuna, and yellowtail. All of them were 8-12 months old and all were fit for consumption.

[Corey]

Stopped off at Safeway after work Thursday and picked up fresh veggies for shish kabobs over the holiday weekend.

To save time when making them today, I cut up the following yesterday and vacuum sealed them.

First bag = white mushrooms
Second bag = Walla Walla Sweet onions and cherrie tomatoes
Third bag = red and green bell peppers

http://www.pnw4runners.com/camping/foodsaver/5.jpg

Not vacuum sealed where the pineapple chunks, canned potato slices (usually get whole small potatoes (but all were sold out), and the meat.

Assembled a short bit ago, much faster than having to cut it all up at once and assemble the shish kabobs.

http://www.pnw4runners.com/camping/foodsaver/6.jpg

I read many have had problems with these upright sealers, and some were from just putting the bag in straight.
You have to take the right corner of the bag and insert it on the left side of the machine, and rotate your bag in, then push up.
The process starts automatically, and I have not had a single problem with this machine yet.

[Paul 3]

Probably a stupid question, but how much longer would you say vacuum packing keeps food? For instance if I bought a few steaks at the butcher, not frozen, vacuum packed them and threw them in the fridge how long would they keep?

I like the idea of being able to prep food before the trip. I'm just curious how much longer, if at all, can I keep items such as beef, fish and chicken (without freezing it)? Sorry for the noob questions.

Paul

[dbreid]

I am late (way late) to this thread, and much of what I will say has been said, but I have had one of these for a few years, and love it.

The funny part is that I came at this from a different angle. Initially, I didn't care at all about food, I just needed a way to keep spares organized. One of my trucks is a heavy duty rock crawler/trail truck, and I carry full sets of spare driveshafts, axleshafts, wiring, fusible links, brakelines, locking hubs, etc.

So I got sick of my trail spares being jumbled, and 99% of the time I don't need them anyway. So I made up "trail spare kits" with the foodsaver. I bought the long "rolls" of the baggies and organized all my spart parts and bolts and stuff into sets. Need the "I broke a hub" kit? Well that baggie has all the hardware sealed up in a bag, with another baggie with assembly diagram and personal notes, as well as the correct size allen key all sealed up in the same baggie. So I don't need to find 10 things in my truck. I need to find ONE. I also packed sets of spares like valve cores, brakelines, you name it.

I also invited my buddies over and we all had a sealing party. quite nice, because my parts stay clean and organized, and the rest of the truck doesn't get grease all over it.

Then I morphed into using it for food. People have already said all that needs be said, but I find it most useful for making "portions". I chop up veggies and cheese and stuff for breakfast, and then when my GF and I have breakfast, I hold up the baggies and she can choose what she wants in her omelette. No onions today? OK, maybe we'll use those on the steaks tonight.

My advice on machines is: Get one that will seal WITHOUT vaccuum. Mine doesn't, and it is annoying.


HTH

Dan

[jesusgatos]

I haven't had an opportunity to experiment with my new foodsaver yet, and I'm wondering how well vacuum-packing substitutes for refrigeration. Any guidelines or practical experience with how long/well different foods that should be refrigerated will keep when they aren't (refrigerated)?

[Corey]

My adive on machines is: Get one that will seal WITHOUT vaccuum. Mine doesn't, and it is annoying.


HTH

Dan
Very interesting use of your machine Dan to organize your trail parts.

On this unit I just bought it has the option to hit the seal button manually when it is drawing out air which is pretty nice if you do not want to crush something.