Amazing Father's Day Gift Arrived Today

[T-bone]

For Father's Day my family all chipped in and got me a VacMaster VP215 Chamber Vacuum Packaging Machine!



Over the years, we've gone through a few FoodSaver vac sealers and they've paid for themselves over time with the ability to keep food longer in the fridge or freezer. However, since we've been bitten by the Sous Vide / SV-Q bug I've been eyeballing a vac chamber sealer. I guess I left sufficient hints to the point where they chipped in to shut me up. Obviously it was a successful strategy.

I just tried sealing a few things to run it through it's paces...



The coffee vacuumed up as tight as when it was purchased. The leftover sauerkraut from this weekend (w/juices) sealed like a champ. And the bag of water worked, but there was some operator error on slightly overfilling the bag so there was a little leakage in the chamber, but it still sealed a bag of water.

The test runs were awesome and I can't wait to see how many ways I can find to use it.

If anyone has experience with chamber vac sealers, what is the best way to determine how long to vacuum? The manual says to start with 40 seconds, but doesn't clarify on when/why to go for shorter or longer time. To me, 40 seconds of vacuum seemed like a long time. Thanks!

Britt

[Jerod Broussard]

Whoa Nelly!!! Congrats man!!

[RonB]

Saweeeet!

[MBMorgan]

Awesome! Congrats ...

[Henrik]

A really handy gadget, congrats!

[ComfortablyNumb]

Okay, you got my attention. Their website says 20-40 second cycle times. It also mentions digital control and pressure indicator. I suppose I'll have to download the manual and read up on its operation. Did the family mention where they got it? I see prices ranging from $699 to $959. I'm interested, please, more insight and pics. I'm curious on a few other things. Are you now going to start dropping hints on the Corvette? (Why stop now, eh?) I also notice you have a striking resemblance to Meathead, who is the other guy in the photo? Finally, I peeked at your user profile, says you are from NC. I was guessing Texas for some odd reason. Transplant?

[Bruce54]

Wow. That's some serious gear. I was drooling in that direction but ended up getting the Pro 350.

[EdF]

I generally do 35s. If the content is delicate, 5-10s less. You'll get the feel for it pretty quick. Enjoy!
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[T-bone]

EdF good info, thanks!

[kmhfive]

I could only dream of something that cool.

[T-bone]

That's what I thought too. I was definitely surprised.

[EdF]

I went through 3-4 of the "external bag" style, and finally decided to bite the bullet. I got the cheapest VacMaster model at the time. It's been going for 5 years, just needed a replacement lid, and is back in service. Great product.

[T-bone]

ComfortablyNumb, the manual is disappointing on details other than set up and basic operation. The family got it at WebstaurantStore and were happy with the process. I think I've totally expended any leverage on nagging for a new gadget for quite awhile. Meathead is obviously my brother from another mother. I can't believe Dad kept it from us. I'm not sure where in the profile NC came up. I live in N. Virginia, but I'm definitely a Texas transplant. Great guess. Being from Texas has made smoking the perfect brisket sort of a holy grail endeavor for me.

[Danjohnston949]

T-bone, Congratulations! 👍👍👍👍👍 Please tell You're Family they Could Adopt Me! I'm Available! 🤗😇🤗🙃
Eat Well and Prosper! From a Backyard Cremator in Fargo ND, Dan

[dtassinari]

Oh man, a chamber sealer is a real game changer. Congratulations!

In order to decide when to stop pulling air out of the bag, it's better to look at the pressure gauge rather than the clock.

The picture is a bit small, so I can't quite make out the markings, but let's say ambient pressure is marked 0 and full theoretical vacuum is 100, so the longer the machine runs the higher the number. (Basically, the number is how strong your vacuum is.)

I think it's a good idea to try how hard a vacuum your machine can achieve: try and let it run empty for a solid minute or two and see where the needle stops. It can't really get to 100 but it should get pretty close, let's say 98-99. (This doesn't damage it: in fact, many commercial machines require a regular maintenance cycle where they're run for a full 15-20 minutes.)

Your target vacuum depends on the situation, because different foods are happy at different vacuum levels. For instance:

• Raw meat wants to be at least at 95%, and same for cooked meat that you aim to keep in the fridge for a while.
• However, I would avoid sealing super hard, especially if cooking sous vide, because the meat can turn mushy, so not much over 97-98.
• Fish should be 90-95%, especially delicate flaky fish.
• Cooked/blanched veggies are better around 90% or you'll squash them and they'll lose their shape.
• Nuts, seeds (including roasted coffee) and cheese really don't like being sealed over 80%: there's a real risk of pulling a lot of their oil out and they'll end up greasy (and go rancid more quickly). I've bitten off several interns' heads for sealing a bag of pine nuts or macadamias too hard and ruining 100 bucks' worth of stuff.

Now if you don't mind a few suggestions...

• Now you can buy nuts and seeds in bulk, seal them (not too tight) in 3-4 oz / 100 g portions, wrap them in foil and freeze them: they stay fresher MUCH longer.
• With a foodsaver type machine, liquid in the bag is your enemy. With a chamber sealer it's your friend: you can pull a harder vacuum, which can damage or deform delicate foods. A couple of teaspoons of neutral oil in the bag helps keeping the shape, especially if it's tapered like a fish fillet or a chicken breast
• Try compressing fruit! Put slices of fresh porous food (watermelon, cantaloupe, apples, pineapples, pears, ...) in a bag with a little flavoured syrup, seal, leave for a few minutes and enjoy. The texture changes in a very interesting way.
• You can get rid of bubbles in thick liquids you've blended or pureed: just put them in as high a vessel as will fit in the chamber, start the machine and watch it like a hawk, stopping it just before the crazy bubbling liquid spills over.
  The classic example would be a chocolate ganache or a fluid gel, but the first thing I'd do is try it on a home-made Bloody Mary. You know how blended/pureed fresh tomatoes are a revolting shade of orange that makes the drink turn out the colour of sangria vomit? With a chamber sealer your tomato juice can go back to the glossy deep red it's meant to be.
• ...I could go on and on... Can you tell I love chamber sealers?

[EdF]

Yeah, and we can also tell you're the reigning Pit master of chamber sealers! Thanks!

[dtassinari]

EdF Too kind

[Spinaker]

Tons of great info here. Making everyone's job easy. Thanks for sharing, brother.

[ComfortablyNumb]

T-bone I did download and read the manual. Basically it said run it forty seconds as an initial testing. Then it tells how to adjust the controls. Finally, through trial and error, it so much as says it's up to the user to figure it out based on results. Bottom line, it's clear as mud. I've ordered many items from WebstaruantStore.com and have been very pleased with their quality, service, and low prices. Oh, and it does say Northern Virginia, I just remembered the `North` part and it was in the East, so brain farted NC. What can I say, I'm old and have lived my entire life on the West Coast. But Texas is near and dear to my heart, my favourite singer/songwriters come from there, Clark, Keene, Van Zandt, Lovett, Winters, and the list goes on. Anyway, keep us up to date on your new device. I've used Foodsavers before, but find them to be a pain, sucking out liquid and making a mess and having to hold them down.

[T-bone]

dtassinari outstanding information! Thanks so much. I've already printed your post out as a reference to be kept next to my new acquisition. I can't wait to try out some of your excellent tips. On the way home from work I was directed not to come home unless fresh watermelon and pineapple were in my hands. We made three simple syrups. One plain and two with herbs from our herb garden (basil and lemon thyme). After chilling in the refrigerator today, compressed fruit will be on the menu tonight. Again, thanks for the time you put in to your post. It's really appreciated.

Here's a close up of the pressure gauge:



At the 40 second setting, the gauge goes almost all the way to -0.1. Actually, it reaches that reading at about the 20 second mark.

[dtassinari]

T-bone Happy to help! Looking at the gauge markings it should be pretty easy to tell a -0.95 from a -0.90, which is good. Now don't take my numbers too seriously, since they're just rules of thumb I've come up with during the years and every machine works differently, but you should develop an eye for it pretty quickly.

Also, it's a very good sign that your sealer pulls as hard a vacuum as it can fairly quickly. Many prosumer machines are slooooow, which is doubly annoying: first you have to wait and wait for it to pull the vacuum, and then wait and wait for the air to go back in... When you have more than a handful of bags that gets real old real quick.

As far as I can tell your machine is about as powerful as my entry-level professional sealer, which costs about 2 grand. Now, for sure there will be differences between it and the massive top of the line workhorses, but I don't think you or I would notice.

All in all I think you have a pretty sweet setup there. Treat it well and you'll have fun for a long time.

[T-bone]

More great info that's very appreciated. Thanks. I've been very happy with the speed and operation of this chamber sealer. The hard part is training the not-so-sharp operator.