Foodsaver bag saver

[Don42]

A Foodsaver, using vacuum sealed bags, can save a lot of food. Food thus packaged seems to keep for a very long time in the freezer. But the bags are a bit pricey, and the Foodsaver wastes about an inch of bag material in the gap between the vacuum channel and the heat sealing strip. In normal use, the machine won't evacuate the bag unless an edge of the bag is in or at least over the vacuum channel. They probably make more money selling bags than they do selling the machines that use the bags.




This is particularly wasteful when I re-use bags several times, just cutting off a seam each time, taking out some food and then re-sealing the bag.

But the foodsaver also has a "port" with a vinyl tube intended for evacuating cannisters.



When the vinyl tube is plugged into the port and the cannister button is pressed, the vacuum pump sucks air thru the tube.
I use this to save bag material. When I'm ready to re-seal the bag I weld a seam very close to an edge. No vacuuming done to this point.



Note that very little bag material is used here. Then I use my homemade tool: a hypodermic-like needle made from 1/8" OD brass tubing, attached to the vinyl tube that is plugged into the Foodsaver's vacuum port. I silver-brazed a short piece of 1/4" brass tube to the end of the 1/8" tube to form a vacuum-tight fit in the vinyl tube that came with the machine.



I slip the needle thru one side of the bag near a corner of the bag and push the cannister button. The vacuum pump starts. When the bag is sufficiently evacuated I stop the pump. This works so well that if I don't stop in time it will suck a piece of bread so flat it looks more like pie crust -- which won't make very good sandwiches later. I don't re-use bags that stored uncooked fish or meat, but it works great for things like bread, vegetables and cooked food. If there is any question about safety, I can sterilize the contents of the sealed bag using the UV-C germicidal ultraviolet light I previously posted here for keeping cheese free of mold in the fridge.

I then withdraw the needle with my finger over the "wound" to prevent letting air back in (is it possible to let vacuum out?) and then I seal the corner using the heat sealing strip.

[DIYer]

Thanks Don42! We've added your Foodsaver Bag Saver to our Culinary category,
as well as to your builder page: Don42's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Foodsaver Bag Saver by Don42

tags: vacuum bagging

[Toolmaker51]

We don't have a vacuum/ bag welder; but have evacuated bags orally with a normal drinking straw; with inconsistent results. Using a tiny straw from juice bags were better.
As no perfect vacuum is said to exist, one could escape into a lesser pressurized area. Otherwise they run, hiding from an atmosphere.

[meyer77]

Check on Amazon bags can be bought in a bulk roll, a lot cheaper than Foodsaver brand. 11"x150' $31.00

[Toolmaker51]

Hmmm. We don't cook often for the freezer, mostly consume portions in that meal, so sealing food is rare. But; just got a 12" heat sealer of the industrial variety, kind of a mousetrap with heating elements under a Teflon®-woven something barrier. I have hardware to bag. Shouldn't be hard rustling up a vacuum pump, pulling those down will save space and keep them from hitting each other. Eventually going to try that with a leaf of corrugated board inside too.

[Elizabeth Greene]

Check on Amazon bags can be bought in a bulk roll, a lot cheaper than Foodsaver brand. 11"x150' $31.00

Walmart now sells Nesco brand bags and rolls that are significanly less expensive than the Foodsaver brand. I feel like I get a better value from the packs of pre-made Nesco bags instead of the rolls, but I haven't run the math on it.

One day I'm going to build a vacuum chamber sealer that can use non-corrugated vacuum bags from Uline. If I can make it for under $100 it will pay for itself. The plain bags only cost a few pennies each, a tenth of what the special "vacuum" bags go for.