Vacuum Sealer - Can You Use Roll Bags With Any One?

I’ll add that I have a Foodsaver branded sealer, and I do use knockoff bags from Aldi - they feel just a tiny bit thinner than the Foodsaver ones, and they lack the cardboard tube at the core (like a paper towel or toilet paper roll has), so when I get them, they’ve always gotten smashed at some point during shipping to the store, so they don’t fit as cleanly into the machine as the Foodsaver ones do. They work fine, they’re just mildly clumsy, but they’re considerably cheaper, so it’s worth the trade-off to me.
 
TheSoloChef said:
I've still no idea if a roll of specially designed vacuum seal bags will work on any old vacuum sealer or if the sealer has to be a special type. All I know is the one I have purchased has a holder for a roll so they definitely work with the device I have purchased.
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You just have to make sure the roll fits in your machine. My Foodsaver is made to handle an 11-inch wide roll, so as long as it’s that or less, it should work.
 
TastyReuben said:
That’s something we go through here, because MrsT will buy things like that (cookies, especially), and then hoard them, refusing to open them and saving them “for later…,” which is never defined.

I’m the opposite - once something is in the house, I treat it like a job to consume them - “Right. There are 36 cookies in that package. The package says a serving is 2 cookies. I shall have 2 cookies a day until they’re no more, whether I want them or not.” - and that’s what I do.

I’ll even tell her, “The cookies have been opened. I’m eating 2 a day until they’re gone, so if you want any, you better stick up for yourself.”

You know how every Christmas, I post a picture of the 12 or so boxes of Christmas-themed cookies we buy…and how in June, I’ll post pictures of how we still have 10 boxes?

That’s down to MrsT saying, “Don’t open those. I’m saving those.” and then leaving them to sit, month after month - for what are you saving those?! Now it’s June and we’ve got 10 boxes of stale cookies that we could have enjoyed when they were fresh. 😠
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I’ve gave up on sharing things a long time ago. Now everyone has their own packet of whatever they fancy and can eat them at whatever pace they like.
It kinda works there are no arguments about who ate or drank how much of what anymore but I’m usually the slowest and Mr SSOAP will then eye up my crisps and say can I have a packet of your crisps? Which of course I say yes to.
So I also have a secret stash of food in a cupboard in the garage cos otherwise the gannets would have the lot and when I finally fancy a packet of crisps theres none to be had!
 
Rolls are fine and allow you to cut bags to the length you need. I use my Foodsaver all the time. We buy a lot of chicken and beef in bulk, so I vac seal and freeze it in smaller portions. Likewise, with any deer I shoot and butcher. Provided you get a good vac seal, your meat will freeze well for a very long time. As great as vac sealers are, I'll note that every one I've had has also been finicky. One tip I can offer is to blot your meat dry with paper towels before vac sealing. If you don't, it will draw all of the blood and juices through the bag and you won't get a good seal because that area is wet. If I think any seals are questionable, I'll use a paper towel to dry the inside of seam, and then re-seal it 1/2" or so beyond the original seal.
 
Gone Hiking said:
Rolls are fine and allow you to cut bags to the length you need. I use my Foodsaver all the time. We buy a lot of chicken and beef in bulk, so I vac seal and freeze it in smaller portions. Likewise, with any deer I shoot and butcher. Provided you get a good vac seal, your meat will freeze well for a very long time. As great as vac sealers are, I'll note that every one I've had has also been finicky. One tip I can offer is to blot your meat dry with paper towels before vac sealing. If you don't, it will draw all of the blood and juices through the bag and you won't get a good seal because that area is wet. If I think any seals are questionable, I'll use a paper towel to dry the inside of seam, and then re-seal it 1/2" or so beyond the original seal.
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Bingo on that methodology. Worst case it will seal but it pulls liquids from the meat into the machine. My Foodsaver has a trough that's easy to clean but still, it's organic animal juice...
 
For the wet stuff, dry it, and if it still looks like it’ll be a problem, just get a length of paper towel that matches the width of the inside of the bag, fold it over a few times to increase the absorbency, then stick it inside the bag, a couple of inches down, and seal away. The juices will mainly all get absorbed by the towel and the bag will seal right up the first time.

I didn’t come up with that on my own, it’s in the manual for my sealer.
 
badjak said:
How about freezing the meat first, then sealing it?
Maybe an extra step, but I figure that would work as well?
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Yep, that works, too. I don’t like to do that because it’s an extra step, and once I put it in the freezer, I forget about it.
 
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