Hello,
Just a quick note about vacuum sealing for the folks who purchased a FoodSaver recently [during the current special $59 sale price offer.] I live in Alaska and grew up using the FoodSaver brand sealer and there are two key things to remember when using them. The first is follow the instructions and allow ample time for the sealing strip to cool down between bags and second never allow moisture into the unit as this will ruin it quickly, we have ruined many this way and when they quit working, had to throw them away and get another.
When sealing in bulk we use multiple sealing stations to allow machines time to cool both for the pump and the sealing strip. We seal mostly salmon, moose and small items we want for long term storage and hunting trips, say matches and backup batteries to keep dry. Most good hunting in Alaska will involve water from rain or a boat in a river and things get wet. I never seal everything for a hunt but having a set of cloths that you know will be dry is very comforting. We have found that a quick glaze in a freezer works best for keeping moisture out of the machine and we use an old upright freezer with racks that we place plastic trash bags on and layer the fish with bags in-between to keep them from freezing together. You can stack the fish several layers deep on each rack this way. We freeze the fish several hours or overnight some times because we can get very tired catching and cleaning fish late into the night and a sharp filet knife is dangerous and can ruin a season.
We also like to use a cutting board to lay whatever is being sealed on to keep the bag level with the machine. I am sure that there are many other good tips for these machines and I would like to here them. Note I would recommend that if the funds were available or you were in a two family situation to go ahead and get a more expensive semi commercial unit or full on commercial unit, but these will cost you around five hundred for a semi commercial and thousands for the industrial model. Cheers, – AK Man