One More FoodSaver Question

Before I invest in one, I have one more question. I am sensitive to the taste
of plastic in food. I drink a LOT of bottled water, for instance, but first I
pour it into a Britta filter. Often I'll throw out something that's been in a
Ziploc for a while because I can't stand the plastic taste that's encroached
into the food. Fortunately I found an off-brand of similar (sandwich size
only) bags at Big Lots which, although flimsier, don't have NEARLY the smell.
Yesterday I fixed salmon for dinner from a large bag of frozen, individually
vacuum-sealed salmon steaks I bought at Costco. They've been in the freezer
for a while. Although I enjoyed some of them a few months ago, I had to toss
this one because of the plastic taste.

Sooo, my question is: How much eau-du-plastic leaks into food
stored in FoodSaver bags?

--
Saffire
205/186/125
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

"Saffire" wrote in message
.. .
Sooo, my question is: How much eau-du-plastic leaks into food
stored in FoodSaver bags?

--
Saffire
205/186/125
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

We bought one around the first of the year. We love it. We save so much
money on freezer stuff because of it. We have never noticed a plastic
taste to our food. Oh and they also make wonderful cold packs for thermal
lunch boxes.

Angela

They are the best thing to come along in a while. It is so nice to keep
steaks in the fridge and not frozen. I don't like to grill cold meat.
If you are into marinating, you can't beat them! The vacuum effect
enhances the flavor transfer. I recommend the FoodSaver wholeheartedly!
Go for it.....
George

Saffire wrote:

Before I invest in one, I have one more question. I am sensitive to the taste
of plastic in food. I drink a LOT of bottled water, for instance, but first I
pour it into a Britta filter. Often I'll throw out something that's been in a
Ziploc for a while because I can't stand the plastic taste that's encroached
into the food. Fortunately I found an off-brand of similar (sandwich size
only) bags at Big Lots which, although flimsier, don't have NEARLY the smell.
Yesterday I fixed salmon for dinner from a large bag of frozen, individually
vacuum-sealed salmon steaks I bought at Costco. They've been in the freezer
for a while. Although I enjoyed some of them a few months ago, I had to toss
this one because of the plastic taste.

Sooo, my question is: How much eau-du-plastic leaks into food
stored in FoodSaver bags?

you can use canning jars instead of plastic bags with some of the food sealers

Someone recently posted another type of device that you can use with bags and
canning jars that was a pump style sealer.... I can't find the link right now
but it was only $15.00 and looked very interesting. You might want to do a
google search. it was posted within the last month or two.

If I can find the link, I'll post it.
good luck

susan

In article ,
says...
you can use canning jars instead of plastic bags with some of the food sealers

Someone recently posted another type of device that you can use with bags and
canning jars that was a pump style sealer.... I can't find the link right now
but it was only $15.00 and looked very interesting. You might want to do a
google search. it was posted within the last month or two.

If I can find the link, I'll post it.
good luck

susan


It was:

http://www.pump-n-seal.com/info.htm

I almost ordered it, but hadn't decided yet.

--
Saffire
205/186/125
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

On 24 Sep 2003 03:29:18 GMT, (Susiemw) wrote:

you can use canning jars instead of plastic bags with some of the food sealers

Someone recently posted another type of device that you can use with bags and
canning jars that was a pump style sealer.... I can't find the link right now
but it was only $15.00 and looked very interesting. You might want to do a
google search. it was posted within the last month or two.

The nice thing about the hand-pump model (Pump-n-Seal) is that it lets
you turn oodles of jars into the equivalent of the foodsaver
canisters.

What does this is dozens of little pieces of plastic that are sort of
like tiny bandaids. They have adhesive on the two ends and no
adhesive in the middle. You take, say, a jar of pickles. After it
has been emptied and washed clean, you stick a thumbtack through the
lid and then place this "bandaid" over it. That way, when you place
the device over it that creates a vaccuum, the air pushes aside the
center of the "bandaid" and escapes. When you stop pumping air out,
the outside pressure pushes the plastic firmly onto the hole and seals
it.

Naturally, the Pump-n-Seal people want you to use their pump, etc.
But if you have a Foodsaver with the attachment that let's you do
canning jars and such, it also works just fine on those other jars.
So you don't even have to buy canning jars and lids. Just center it
over the tiny-hole-covered-by-a-tiny-plastic-bandaid and you have free
canisters. You probably can make your own tiny bandaids by cutting
small strips of plastic out and using tape or glue or rubber cement to
hold the ends down while the vaccuum is being applied. It just has to
hold up against the "wind" coming up through the hole, then the
vaccuum will draw it down to seal the hole when you're done. If you
use the tip of a knife to gently pry the bandage up (don't stretch the
plastic), you can release the vaccuum before opening the lid. It's
essentially the same as the cannister. Peanut butter jars, pickle
jars, jars of all sorts become free canisters.

Are you saying that you can buy the little
tab checks from Pump and Seal and use those on canning jars and lids but use
them with the food saver device to suck the air out of them?

I just bought a food saver but would love to be able to use canning jars for
containers without having to buy special food saver lids for them.

thanks in advance!

Susan

On 24 Sep 2003 17:59:41 GMT, (Susiemw) wrote:

Are you saying that you can buy the little
tab checks from Pump and Seal and use those on canning jars and lids but use
them with the food saver device to suck the air out of them?

I just bought a food saver but would love to be able to use canning jars for
containers without having to buy special food saver lids for them.

I started out with a Pump-n-Seal, which of course included all the
little plastic tabs and a big thumbtack for use on jar lids. I later
got a Foodsaver with an attachment that had a hose for the canisters
and also a single "lid" attachment. The "lid" attachment sucks out
the air through a circular area at the very center. If I place that
area over the Pump-n-Seal plastic tabs I can use pickle jars, peanut
butter jars and so on as "free" cannisters.

I haven't used canning/mason jars specifically. I believe that there
is a special attachment on some Foodsaver models specifically designed
for mason jars - but there, the air escapes from around the edges, not
a hole in the center. Still, it seems likely it would work. Use a
thumbtack (or icepick, etc.) to punch a hole and using some plastic
taped or glued down on the ends to cover the hole should work. So
experiment a bit and let us know how you do.

I have a foodsaver 750 and I purchased the little gizmo which should
let you use canning jars with the lids but no rings. I have yet to be
successful in sealing a canning jar. What am I doing wrong?

grafton chris wrote:

I have a foodsaver 750 and I purchased the little gizmo which should
let you use canning jars with the lids but no rings. I have yet to be
successful in sealing a canning jar. What am I doing wrong?

The first thing you're doing wrong is to try to make people guess
about your technique.

How about give a little information? What *are* you doing? Did you
bother to read the instructions that came with it? Have you gone to
their website and asked any questions there?

Pastorio