Vacuum sealers

Col_M

Col_M

Col_M

Soldato
Joined
17 Jan 2005
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Location
London
I'm looking at getting one of these in the next few months but there seems to be quite a few on the market and some of them are garbage.

Has anyone got a personal recommendation?

The main reason I'm looking to get one is to pack and store my own meals for hiking and camping, both dehydrated and boil in the bag. As the boil in the bag versions will be wet it'll need a seal only function or I'll suck all my lovely grub into the vacuum pump and destroy it :)
 
My mum bought an Andrew James one last year and I must say I have been pleasantly surprised by how good it has been.

If you want to vacuum pack liquids then stick them in a cheap plastic container first and then vacuum pack the container.

I've only managed to ruin one thing so far with it and that was when I vacuum packed some English muffins and then left them in the fridge for a week - they did not bounce back lol
 
Sorry to hear about your flat muffins :D

I had seen the Andrew James ones in a few places and they seemed pretty good.

Not being able to vacuum sealing liquids isn't a big deal to be honest as commercially available boil in the bag meals aren't vacuum packed so just gently squeezing out most of the air by hand should be enough.
 
Excellent timing for this question as I'm just working my way through a bunch of these trying to find the perfect model to pair with my SousVide Supreme.

So far I've discovered that the SousVide model is okay, but really lacks flexibility and power. And while it has manual controls it's all-too easy to suck liquid into the pump and totally knacker it.

The Seal-a-Meal is actually more flexible than the SousVide model and probably the better buy. I believe it's the same type of thing as the Andrew James - it certainly looks the same, albeit with a different control panel.

The best I've used so far is the Orved Vacuum Family which is extremely flexible and one that I've come across before in professional kitchens. It's got all sorts of options you can play around with and it really does the job with supreme efficiency, but there's still the danger of sucking liquid into the pump - it really needs a larger tray to catch anything seeping out.

But for your needs, the Lakeland Airlock Starter Kit might be just what you need though. It's pretty efficient, cheap and it keeps a very robust seal for a long time. The bags can be used to cook with and they handle liquids with ease.
 
Thanks glitch, certainly a good amount of info there. I'll probably be looking at bringing one back with me when I'm next home at Easter so I have a bit of time to do more research.

Oh yeah, and just in case anyone is worried about botulism from the boil in the bag meals, the final cooking of the meal will be in the sealed bags in a pressure cooker so they will be heated to a temperature where bacteria and the spores will be destroyed (~120C).
 
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I would honestly say that the Lakeland Airlock kit is worth looking into as it's a very decent solution for a rather small price. I think it's fantastic.

Alas, it looks like they are getting rid of the bloody thing - if you want one, I'll happily grab one next time I'm in my local store and liaise with you about sending it out.
 
Like you say it's definitely worth a try, for proof of concept to see if it works, I'll let you know :)
 
I think I'm going to grab a few while they've going cheap - I'll keep one aside if I do and you're welcome to have first refusal on it.
 
Okay, I've bought a few more and they are on their way. Happy to start looking into postage options if you want or just keep hold of it for the time being.

There's no limit on refunds with Lakeland, so take your time and let me know what you decide.
 
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