Vacuum Sealers

[PropellerJohnII]

I have been wanting to vacuum seal /freeze herring and mackeral i catch for bait for the longest time. Also from time to time , friends offer me fresh caught live spearing and peanut bunker. I think all these fresh caught baits would freeze the best if they were vacuum sealed. Since some of u guys probably vacuum seal fish/venison already, wondered if any of u gents care to recommend a machine to do the job and your advice and experience would be greatly appreciated. I guess it would work good for food, but I am only interested in freezing bait thanks. CIAO, John

 

[jpd]

I would think you'd want a dedicated sealer for bait anyway and probably out in the garage, I'd guess the fish smell would linger pretty well.

 

[Avenger]

Uh, yeah.... I went dumpster diving to find a blender for a frozen chum experiment that I'll be trying this summer. Not gonna use a blender for clam bellies and then try to make Margaritas. ?

I requested a Foodsaver for a previous Christmas, but the wife got me a Waring. Not like she's ever not listened to me before. ? The advantage is the bags are reuseable, and there seems to be an industrial standard for them, so you're not roped into buying the bags from the OEM if you need replacements. However, the charger for the vacuum unit crapped out and the last time we found five sirloins on sale for $20 I ended up having to use the Shop-Vac to freeze them. The same other side of the coin is that I was able to use the Shop-Vac instead of having to cook them all the same day. YMMV.

 

[Jaws1948]

Clam belly flavored Margaritas. YUMMO

 

[pequa1]

We bought a Foodsaver at Kohls with a 30% off coupon a few years ago after our little battery operated vacuum sealer could no longer work on the newer and thicker bags. Similar to this one: Kohls{Product_ID}&utm_campaignid={campaignid}&CID=shopping34utm_product=58700000756686586&utm_campaignid=71700000012072753%3C2%3E&utm_content=15530996947082098340210070301008005&gclid=CP6N-JyTkeECFUjWswod6fkDIw&gclsrc=ds
We freeze a lot of snappers every late summer for either the barbecue or the air fryer (a Paula Dean model) and find that even 18 month old snappers are still quite tasty. Very little stink in the freezer as it all depends on how carefully you load the fresh fish into the bag before vacuum sealing. My butcher does such a good job that I have never vacuum sealed any venison. (Accidentally had one bag of steaks from 2016 slide to the bottom of the chest freezer and ate them up last October. Still yummy!) I think if the bag is loaded carefully and properly vacuum sealed, it would not stink.

 

[Dx life Rx fishing]

I use the Foodsaver gamesaver, had it for about 7 years. I think it was $100 to $129 not sure exactly. Works great. What I would recommend is to use the foodsaver bags. They do have generic and a cabelas brand, but I found the foodsaver ones work best. They seal with no little leaks and therefore no freezer burn.. Also make sure as much liquid is removed from the bag or else you will not get a good seal. Keep the foam gasket cleaned, fish guts and small scales will affect the sealing ability also. They do sell replacement gaskets and heating elements for it.

 

[cany]

Had one for a while now when I use it it works great keyu is too keep liquid from entering the seal while vacuuming.Its a foodsaver I think

 

[PropellerJohnII]

Wow, thanx for all the advice and experience sharing. absolutely will be using it only for bait. and no worries , my bait will go into it's own chest freezer.
Many thanks.