[pct-l] Vacuum Sealing Issues

[Jim Marco]

Alan,
	I would try a piece of paper folded into a pocket, rather than more plastic. At least it will make a good fire starter, candle wick, or can easily be disposed of by burning or burying it...it is usually biodegradable. Rice and other sharp edged things are always a problem. The paper will supply more cushioning against a poke than another baggie. I have found that re-cycled snack bags (mylar) works pretty well and are lighter than the supplied bags, but that doesn't prevent the occasional pokes. If you use space blanket material, make sure you use it coated side out. A lot less expensive than their predesigned bags. 
	I used to have one when they first came out, but haven't used it in several years. My daughter has it now. Rice doesn't really need to be vacuumed. There might be a 5% volume savings, but mostly I just carry it loose in a baggie. It stores better than it gets used. A handful or two works as a supper. Gravy mixes are usually just bullion(1tsp), corn starch(1tsp) & flour(1tsp.) Chicken, ham, beef are the three I use. Added to a trail stew, it works, OK. For example, poached trout (bedded on rice & veggies, with chicken gravy.)
	Apparently the bags or mylar will take the heat of boiling water. Never tried it, but canning should work, too (pasteurizing) if you ever have the need. I hate to carry water weight, though in the dry areas, it matters not. You have to carry water, anyway.  
	My thoughts only . . .
		jdm   

-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net] On Behalf Of Alan Miller
Sent: Thursday, November 21, 2013 7:55 AM
To: Scott Williams
Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Vacuum Sealing Issues

Thanks for the replies.  I took one of the offending bags and filled it with green colored water to see where the leak was.  Turns out it was leaking in a few places where the rice had poked through.  I am going to try putting the food in a freezer bag first, and then the vacuum seal bag.
 If that works, I figure I can just throw away the vacuum bag when I pick up my resupply and then I will have the meal in a freezer bag to take with me.


On Wed, Nov 20, 2013 at 12:45 PM, Scott Williams <baidarker at gmail.com>wrote:

> Ditto the food particles in the seal.  I haven't had rice ever 
> puncture the bags.  What has punctured them is really dry meat with 
> sharp edges and raw, really dry butternut squash.  It had very sharp 
> edges.  I've gone through two of the machines over the years and found 
> that the old one simply didn't get the edges hot enough to properly 
> seal the bags.  The new machine I bought before last year's CDT hike 
> worked much better, sealing everything except those that had the sharp 
> edges, so it maybe the machine itself.  For those bags that got 
> punctured due to sharp meat or veggies, I simply beat down the 
> offending objects so they were not sharp anymore and put a new bag on top of the first.  A bit of extra weight, but it worked.
>
> Shroomer
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 20, 2013 at 8:56 AM, Diarmaid Harmon <irishharmon at comcast.net>wrote:
>
>> I discovered that the most failures I got was from debris (food
>> particles) left in the sealing area. Rice usually won't puncture 
>> standard sealing bag material. I also noticed on my foodsaver brand 
>> unit it likes to cool down between operations or it won't seal the 
>> bag properly if I try to do a high production run.
>>
>> Irish.
>>
>> Mistyped and autocorrected by my iPhone
>>
>> > On Nov 20, 2013, at 5:26 AM, Alan Miller <alan.miller401 at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > So, we are getting pretty good at making and dehydrating meals now.  
>> > I figure now is the time to try vacuum sealing, so I borrowed my 
>> > parents vacuum sealer and tried it out on some stir-fry we had 
>> > made.  Well, of
>> the
>> > eight bags I sealed, 5 of them lost their seals.  I figure it is
>> probably
>> > because the rice is poking holes in the bags.  Has anybody else
>> experienced
>> > this?  Any tricks I should know about or are there any heavier duty 
>> > bags out there?  Thanks, Alan 
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