FoodsaverQ

"Teri" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I''m going to buy myself a foodsaver - mostly for freezing foods...maybe
for
marinating .... I don't really know what else you can do with one.
Anything
I should know? Is it worth getting an upper tier model? Does the model
with those canisters really work well? Is there any way to freeze bread
well? TIA - I am mostly a lurker and appreciate all the good advice and
info here.
Teri

They do work well and can save a lot of time if you freeze a lot. The
cannister feature works but I do not find it that useful. I cannot see
freezing bread this way - I would think it would get squished - but you can
freeze bread by wrapping in foil and then a zip-loc. Be prepared for the
cost of the bags, but you can wash and reuse bags a few times if you are
careful.

--
Peter Aitken
Visit my recipe and kitchen myths page at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm

"Teri" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I''m going to buy myself a foodsaver - mostly for freezing foods...maybe
for
marinating .... I don't really know what else you can do with one.
Anything
I should know? Is it worth getting an upper tier model? Does the model
with those canisters really work well? Is there any way to freeze bread
well? TIA - I am mostly a lurker and appreciate all the good advice and
info here.
Teri

It kinds of depends what you want to do with the machine. The smaller ones
work just as well as the larger ones, but obviously do not take the larger
bags.

One thing you should do is sign up on the website. This way, they already
have info on you if the machine fails (under waranty) and periodically they
will send you e mails for the bags at a cost somewhat lower than in a store.

For example: The site has 48 quart bags for $20.99. My local store sells 11
quart baggs for about $9. You do the math.

http://foodsaver.jardendirect.com/products.ad2?catalogID=1002

Teri said:

I''m going to buy myself a foodsaver - mostly for freezing foods...maybe for
marinating .... I don't really know what else you can do with one. Anything
I should know? Is it worth getting an upper tier model? Does the model
with those canisters really work well? Is there any way to freeze bread
well? TIA - I am mostly a lurker and appreciate all the good advice and
info here.
Teri

Personally I would not bother with the canisters. Get the wide mouth jar
sealer attachment for about $10 and then get a case (or more) of the 1
qt wide mouth canning jars that are about $12/case of 12. I use the qt
jars for storing coffee beans, pancake mix and other dry goods. You can
gently pry the lid off, take out what you need and then re-vacuum seal
the jars in about a minute. Seems to be much cheaper than the FS
canisters.

Re: someone else's comment about bread, for bread and other soft goods
you need to pre freeze the items before vac bagging to avoid squashing
them and then open the vac bag before defrosting.

Pete C.

Teri said:

I''m going to buy myself a foodsaver - mostly for freezing foods...maybe for
marinating .... I don't really know what else you can do with one. Anything
I should know? Is it worth getting an upper tier model? Does the model
with those canisters really work well? Is there any way to freeze bread
well? TIA - I am mostly a lurker and appreciate all the good advice and
info here.
Teri

Personally I would not bother with the canisters. Get the wide mouth jar
sealer attachment for about $10 and then get a case (or more) of the 1
qt wide mouth canning jars that are about $12/case of 12. I use the qt
jars for storing coffee beans, pancake mix and other dry goods. You can
gently pry the lid off, take out what you need and then re-vacuum seal
the jars in about a minute. Seems to be much cheaper than the FS
canisters.

Re: someone else's comment about bread, for bread and other soft goods
you need to pre freeze the items before vac bagging to avoid squashing
them and then open the vac bag before defrosting.

Pete C.

"Teri" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I''m going to buy myself a foodsaver - mostly for freezing foods...maybe
for
marinating .... I don't really know what else you can do with one.
Anything
I should know? Is it worth getting an upper tier model? Does the model
with those canisters really work well? Is there any way to freeze bread
well? TIA - I am mostly a lurker and appreciate all the good advice and
info here.
Teri

If you go to the trouble to make your own 'good' bread, I wouldn't advise
putting it in a foodsaver bag. The FS takes out air, and then what've you
got, a block of cooked flour. I've also found that SOFT cheeses don't do
well in the packaging material, but will be ok in the cannister for a while.
This is a revision from my previous advice. I lost some very good and
expensive cheese. The cheese will also be more visible in a cannister,
encouraging you to eat it before it goes rank.

Here is the thread on rec.food.equipment
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.food.equipment/browse_frm/thread/bdd3f16c65fc828/d662f0f4af1cb251?lnk=st&q=foodsaver%2Bfish%2BPeter&rnum=1&hl=en#d662f0f4af1cb251

Dee Dee

"Teri" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I''m going to buy myself a foodsaver - mostly for freezing foods...maybe
for
marinating .... I don't really know what else you can do with one.
Anything
I should know? Is it worth getting an upper tier model? Does the model
with those canisters really work well? Is there any way to freeze bread
well? TIA - I am mostly a lurker and appreciate all the good advice and
info here.
Teri

If you go to the trouble to make your own 'good' bread, I wouldn't advise
putting it in a foodsaver bag. The FS takes out air, and then what've you
got, a block of cooked flour. I've also found that SOFT cheeses don't do
well in the packaging material, but will be ok in the cannister for a while.
This is a revision from my previous advice. I lost some very good and
expensive cheese. The cheese will also be more visible in a cannister,
encouraging you to eat it before it goes rank.

Here is the thread on rec.food.equipment
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.food.equipment/browse_frm/thread/bdd3f16c65fc828/d662f0f4af1cb251?lnk=st&q=foodsaver%2Bfish%2BPeter&rnum=1&hl=en#d662f0f4af1cb251

Dee Dee

"Peter Aitken" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Teri" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I''m going to buy myself a foodsaver - mostly for freezing foods...maybe
for
marinating .... I don't really know what else you can do with one.
Anything
I should know? Is it worth getting an upper tier model? Does the model
with those canisters really work well? Is there any way to freeze bread
well? TIA - I am mostly a lurker and appreciate all the good advice and
info here.
Teri

They do work well and can save a lot of time if you freeze a lot. The
cannister feature works but I do not find it that useful. I cannot see
freezing bread this way - I would think it would get squished - but you
can freeze bread by wrapping in foil and then a zip-loc. Be prepared for
the cost of the bags, but you can wash and reuse bags a few times if you
are careful.

--
Peter Aitken

I'm not too happy with the cost of the bags, but I did get some FS pre-made
bags in an accessory I bought. I believe they are pints and quarts. I've
used them, but after using the Foodsaver brand rolls that come in a package
at Costco for $40 ($50 through foodsaver), that I am able to mark on them
with a pen, I certainly prefer the rolls to the ready-made bags, that is, if
there is no place to write on them what the ingredients are that you've put
in, when, and other data.

So far I've not washed any of my bags successfully to my satisfaction.
Somehow they all seem too stinky. (Toss all bags used for raw meat. There
was a berry stain in the seam of one that didn't want to come out, so I
discarded it. If one turns them inside out to wash in the dishwasher, then
I feel I have to turn them right side out again to get the otherside. Then
one has to turn them over a jar or something to dry. This is a real pain to
me; perhaps not to others. I know some who wash their zip-lock bags. I do
not go this far, but I do put zip-lock bags in the bottom of the trash can
under the trash bags to put my yukky garbage in and zip up. Double bagging,
which is funny to some people, but after trailing wet stuff coming out of a
trash bag onto a nice wood floor a few times, this was my solution for using
up the zip-locks which I felt guilty about tossing all the time.
There is not that much tossing of foodsaver bags because food coming out of
a foodsaver bag is less quantity/volume, at least for me.
HTH,
Dee Dee

On Wed, 16 Nov 2005 07:43:47 -0500, "Teri" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Does the model
with those canisters really work well?

Lettuces, salad fixin's cheese are wonderful in the canisters for
refrigerator use....get them. I don't use the bags at all.

Ward Abbott said:

On Wed, 16 Nov 2005 07:43:47 -0500, "Teri" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Does the model
with those canisters really work well?

Lettuces, salad fixin's cheese are wonderful in the canisters for
refrigerator use....get them. I don't use the bags at all.

Ward, thanks for this tip! I have never used the cannister jars that
came with my machine, and I always have salad greens getting mushy
before I can use them up. I'd never thought of using the cannisters
for that.

As to breads, the tell of foil wrapping and ziplock freezing was also
recommended to me by the bakery selling breads at my local Farmers
Market. My question to him was about the viability of
portion-freezing. I like to have a variety of his breads on hand, but
there is no way I can get through just one loaf before it starts going
bad. Now I buy to actually stock up. In my freezer I probably have
eight different kinds of bread, ziplock packaged in four slices, and
the four-packs of one type of bread then all in a much larger and
labled ziplock. I've been doing this for near a year now, thawing in
minutes by the four-pack in order to enjoy just two days per type for
work lunch sandwiches. The breads always both feel and taste as just
out of the oven breads do.

Picky

On Wed, 16 Nov 2005 07:43:47 -0500, "Teri" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I''m going to buy myself a foodsaver - mostly for freezing foods...maybe for
marinating .... I don't really know what else you can do with one. Anything
I should know? Is it worth getting an upper tier model? Does the model
with those canisters really work well? Is there any way to freeze bread
well? TIA - I am mostly a lurker and appreciate all the good advice and
info here.

We like our FS. I don't use the canisters because mine came with the
wide-mouth jar attachment. We bought ours when they were only
available through the infomercial and have been using it for many
years.

Meats: cooked or raw - excellant
Veggies: freeze on a cookie sheet first or they are likely to become
mush.
Fruits: same as veggies.
Bread: don't do it.

---
[email hidden]

"Fountain of youth? We have enough youth, what we need is a fountain of smart..." -seen on a bumper sticker