Amazing Father's Day Gift Arrived Today

[T-bone]

ComfortablyNumb, I'm lovin' the rig! We've done a good job of running it through it's paces over the past few weeks. Sealing things for SV has been awesome. It removes so much air, that I haven't needed any weights, clips or holding devices for my bags. The only time I use my rack is to create space for holding more items. The ability to seal without worrying about liquids have been awesome. We've compressed fruit (watermelon and pineapple) and quick pickled veggies (cucumbers and daikon radishes). All totally tasty. I loved using one of the smaller bags to seal up some homemade BBQ rub that I sent to a family member. It sealed super tight and made a great way to ship the rub. This weekend we hit a home run with an experiment...we cubed up some small potatoes, minced a shallot, picked some fresh thyme from the garden and put them in a SV bag with some seasoning (salt, pepper, granulated garlic) and EVOO then vac sealed. We were SVing chicken thighs so we added the potato bag in with the bags of thighs for 2 hrs at 165*. While searing the thighs on the grill, we put the potatoes under the broiler to crisp up. They were amazing. The flavor of the shallots and seasonings deeply penetrated the potatoes and they were delicious.




A rambling story to say that the VP215 has been a huge success and it's a game changer for the way we cook. I would totally buy it again and highly recommend it. The VP112S seems like a great choice as well, but I have no regrets on our VP215 and look forward to using it every chance I get. Good luck!

[T-bone]

ComfortablyNumb I wouldn't say I've totally figured the timing out, but I'm definitely on the right road of getting the hang of it. The link to the chart you provided and the great info from dtassinari have been a big help. I have found the gauge to be very useful in seeing how much vacuum was being achieved for a time setting. That's a big help when trying to seal something more delicate and not wanting to crush it.

The horseshoe thing is the end of an expandable rack that allows me to hold more bags in the bath. It's been super handy. It's similar to this one: https://www.amazon.com/Sous-Vide-Sta...dp/B01CNEN9XU/

[badf00d]

T-bone - just make sure you change the oil periodically. I read good things about Robinair pump oil, so that's what I use every 6 to 9 months on my VP215. Spinaker - have you changed your oil yet?

[T-bone]

badf00d thanks for the link! How long have you had your VP215? Any tips for a newbie?

[Spinaker]

Yep, I change it every spring. Not that it needs it, per se, but I am a stickler about oil in everything I own. Part of the reason i have 263,000 miles on my Silverado.

[badf00d]

T-bone - I've had my VP215 for a couple of years now. It's a real workhorse. dtassinari already provided a bunch of great tips, but I'll try to add a few to his list. Not necessarily chamber-specific, but may be helpful.

• Buy your bags in bulk. I buy 1000 bags at a time, because the cost per bag is much cheaper that way. I've paid as low as 2.5¢ per bag and generally no more than 6¢, which means I can liberally seal everything I want to. The VacMasterFresh site runs sales pretty often, and they sometimes have outlet sales on the site that drops the price even more.
• I frequently vacuum seal leftovers (even from restaurants) as soon as possible, as long as they are not subject to being crushed by the vacuum. I freeze them unless I know for sure that I will eat them in a few days. I reheat them in a sous vide bath and they turn out amazing every time.
• Vacuum sealed chicken/turkey that is sealed and frozen quickly doesn't take on that gamey taste. Costco rotisserie chickens are amazing with the sealer, and ridiculously cheap.
• VacMaster has a table of storage times that is helpful. Beef will turn a brownish/purple color when it is sealed and stored in the refrigerator. Although it may look like it's going bad, it's most likely that it is no longer exposed to oxygen.
• I try not to seal a bunch of food into one bag. Otherwise, if I only need part of what I seal, it needs to be opened, divided (possibly very difficult when frozen), and the remainder needs to be re-sealed. For example, one steak per bag, or one bowl of soup per bag, etc.
• Related to the previous item, it's great to make bigger batches of food and portion them into separate bags for reheating later. I try to portion 1 or 2 person bags. If 4 people are eating, just put more bags in the sous vide bath. Plus you only have to clean up the cooking mess once.
• If you can somewhat flatten an item before or after sealing, do that before freezing. Reheating will go faster.
• Barbecue does really well when sealed, but rib bones sometimes like to puncture the bag. Check to make sure you have a good seal, and double bag if it's compromised. You'll know because you can see the bag isn't sealed tight around the food anymore. I just leave the food in the compromised bag, and shove that inside another bag and seal again.
• I cut racks of ribs down in half or quarters (as portions) before bagging. I don't cut the ribs individually because they just turn into a big bundle that doesn't seal as well, lay flat, or reheat as well.
• If food is hot, definitely put it in an ice bath (half water, half ice, food already in the vacuum bag) to cool it down before sealing. This is important for food safety reasons, as well as preventing the bag from swelling enormously once the bag is sealed (but before the chamber gets pressurized again).
• Folding the top of the bag (I call it "cuffing") helps keep the bag clean to get a good seal. Unroll it, wipe off anything that happened to hit it anyway, and then smooth it out before closing the lid.
• I use food service gloves when handling food that goes in a bag. Keeps me clean, and keeps bacteria out of the bag. They're cheap, but I generally only use one hand on the food and the other to hold/manipulate the bags.
• Write a label on bags if they're going in the freezer. Date and item name has been helpful for me, and if it's spicy or sweet rub, etc. I just use a Sharpie.

I'll stop here. Potkettleblack might also have some tips.

[dtassinari]

Great suggestions!

[EdF]

Great tips. Thanks!

[Potkettleblack]

Don't have the counter space for one. Have other priorities. I am fine dunking ziplocks and using a channel vac for hotter stuff. I don't do a lot of hotter things.

[badf00d]

As a guide on how to pick the right size sealer bag, here are a couple of simple formulas based on what you're sealing:

For most items:

• Bag Width = Item Width + Height + 1 inch
• Bag Length = Item Length + Height + 2 inches

For round items:

• Bag Width = Item Diameter × 2
• Bag Length = Item Diameter + Length + 1 inch