Another kitchen gadget question - food savers/sealers

[Hoggirl]

A more expensive gadget for sure. Are they worth it? How expensive are the bags you have to buy for sealing? How do you use yours? Do you seal up a bunch all at once? What sorts of things do you seal in it. Can I seal the lettuce from my salad spinner that I am considering buying? :D

[Forget-Me-Not]

I wouldn't seal up lettuce, especially washed lettuce. IME, lettuce needs to be able to 'breathe' to stay good in the fridge :D

 

That being said, I use my Food Saver all. the. time. It was a Christmas gift from my parents 5 or 6 years ago and I really do use it a lot. It keeps meat from getting freezer-burned in the deep freeze, and cheese stays good for a REALLY long time (months and months) if it's vacuum packed. Certain veggies stay good for a long time too--especially onion. It also keeps cut/chopped onion from stinking up your fridge.

 

The bags are a little pricey, so I'm choosy about what I use them for. If I'm buying bulk meat at Costco and portioning it out, I consider it part of the investment in the meat. If I'm sealing up a block of cheese, I make the bag extra long, so I can just cut a little off the top each time I open it and reuse the same bag over and over again.

[Belacqua]

I like mine, too. It does do an excellent job on meat and cheese. It's also good for freezing soup and stews and such; lay the sealed bags flat to freeze, then you can stack the frozen bags vertically to save space.

 

It should not, however, be used to save shredded cheese. It squishes the cheese back into a solid lump. Probably should have thought that through...

[Hoggirl]

I think I am going to hold off on this purchase for awhile. I think it would be "nice" to have, but I am not sure I would use it enough to justify the cost.

But, I appreciate the input.:001_smile: