Category Archives: Vacuum Sealer

Vacuum Chambers Explained

VacuumChambers

Vacuum Sealers remove oxygen from a package prior to sealing the bag.  By removing oxygen from the package, vacuum sealing can extend the life of a food package or prevent rust of industrial items.  Our vacuum chamber sealers require no external compressor and can vacuum seal liquids and powders.  Depending on the bag size, vacuum chamber sealers can also vacuum seal multiple bags at a time.

Learning how a vacuum chamber works may be less intuitive than a nozzle vacuum sealers so we created a quick little infographic to walk you through the mechanics of a vacuum chamber.

  1. Bag is placed in a vacuum chamber sealer.  The open end of the bag should go over the sealing bar.
  2. Vacuum pump removes oxygen from the vacuum chamber including the oxygen inside the bag.  The pressure in the chamber is now lower in the chamber than outside.  Because air rushes out of the chamber more quickly than in the bag, this can cause the bag to puff up inside the chamber (pressure in bag is higher than chamber for a short amount of time).  This is normal.
  3. Vacuum sealer seals the bag closed.
  4. Vacuum sealer then allows the chamber to equalize.  This allows the pressure of the chamber to be the same inside and outside of the chamber.  The bag (because it is sealed) cannot equalize the pressure along with the rest of the chamber.  As a result the atmospheric pressure in the chamber causes the bag to collapse and thus vacuumed.

As a result of this method, vacuum chambers are able to vacuum seal liquids in bags and provides an advantage over nozzle vacuum sealers.

Chamber-Vacuum-Sealers

Watch our DZ-500T vacuum chamber in action.

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For the month of April, we will be offering 10% off our DZ-500T vacuum chamber.

Highlighting our Channel Vacuum Bags

VacuumBags

Our February product of the month is our channel vacuum bags.  Our channel vacuum bags are specifically designed for out of chamber vacuum machines.  Using a vacuum bag can extend the shelf life and flavor of your food as well as prevent freezer burn and dehydration loss.

We want to highlight long time customer, Boss Mouse Cheese, headquartered in Traverse County, Michigan.  Boss Mouse Cheese first approached us more than seven years ago looking for a high quality channel bag for their artisan cheeses.  The bag quality was important as Sue Kurta, head cheesemaker, was producing small batches of cheese.

SmokedButter

Since then, Boss Mouse Cheese has added a famous smoked butter (Rachel Ray loves it!) all packaged in Sealer Sales’ channel vacuum bags.  Thank you Boss Mouse Cheese for your unwavering loyalty.  If you would like to try Boss Mouse Cheese, visit their website here:   http://bossmousecheese.com/  You might regret trying the smoked butter…it’s quite addicting!

We are offering 10% off our channel bags in the month of February. Use product code: PRODUCTOFTHEMONTH on our website.

Don’t forget that these vacuum bags must be used on a out of chamber vacuum sealer in order for the full benefits of food preservation  and dehydration loss to take place.  Visit our site for channel type vacuum sealers.

Read more about Sue Kurta and Boss Mouse Cheese:
Boss Mouse Cheese website
Boss Mouse Cheese’s Sue Kurta, Traverse Magazine, March 2015
Smoked butter is a thing and you can get it from this Michigan cheesemaker, MLive, January 2018

 

Product of the Month: HVC-260T Vacuum Sealer

Product of the Month

We are highlighting our value chamber vacuum sealer, HVC-260T in this month’s Product of the Month series.  The HVC-260T is an inexpensive workhorse vacuum chamber that can be used to vacuum seal almost anything including liquids.  Remember the unique feature for vacuum chamber sealers is no external compressor is required so this unit is basically a plug and go unit.

As a special we are offering a 10% discount with the code FALLBACK when purchased on our website.  Don’t wait as this code expires at the end of the year!

SealerLogo_HVC-260T

FEATURES

  • Impulse seal – sealing length: 10″
  • Heavy duty 1/4 hp oil pump
  • 10” removable seal bar
  • Compact unit
  • Stainless steel construction
  • Easy to use digital control panel and easy to read pressure indicator
  • No external compressor required

Easy Maintenance with Removable Seal Bars

SealerLogo_HVC-260T_v2

Strong Enough Vacuum to Crush Soda Cans

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We also carry a wide range of a vacuum bags and offer custom sizes should you need.

Vacuum Sealer Options Explained

VacuumSealerOptions_blogpost

We carry a large variety of different vacuum sealers along with a variety of options to fit every vacuum sealing application.  In this blog post, we will explain the different options that are available to you.  For  a quick primer on vacuum sealers, see our previous post:  https://sealers101.com/2012/04/12/vacuum_sealers_explained/

Gas Flush
Gas flush will extend the shelf life of a product.  While vacuum sealers remove a large percentage of air around items, a gash flush option will actually pump a stabilizing gas into the package before vacuum sealing.  This will ensure that all oxygen is removed ensuring longevity.

Our vacuum sealers can also pull a vacuum and flush the bag with an inert gas such as nitrogen creating a puffed bags such as a popcorn chip bag.  This is an optional feature that can be added to our nozzle vacuum sealers.

Self-Contained Compressor
With the exception of our small SINBO unit, our nozzle vacuum sealers are pneumatically operated meaning an external compressor is required.  If you request a self-contained compressor, that means the compressor is inside the vacuum sealer and you will not need an external compressor.  Basically, your unit is plug and go.  This is great for facilities with space constraints or do not have the ability for an external compressor

Dual Elements
Dual element (also known as bi-active seal or double impulse) means that the vacuum sealer will utilize two heating elements (upper and lower) to fuse the material from both sides at a time.  This gives a faster and better seal for thicker or hard to seal materials.  If you think you may need dual elements but you’re not sure, you can always contact us or send us a sample and we can do some testing for you.

Vacuum Filter
The vacuum filter option for our nozzle vacuum sealers (model nos: AVN, AVS, CAVN, CAVS) is highly recommended of anything that will fit into the nozzle (dust, herbs, some liquids).  The vacuum sealer nozzle will suck whatever is in front of the nozzle and if there are any items that will be pulled in, this could damage the unit.  We highly recommend the vacuum filter if you are vacuum sealing marijuana, hops, grains, or any product that has a lot of dust particles.

Vacuum Regulator
The vacuum regulator option for our nozzle vacuum sealers control the amount of vacuum and can prevent over vacuuming or products such as herbs.  Over vacuuming can lead to crushing the herbs.

If you are not sure which options you will need for your vacuum sealer, please contact us and one of our customer reps will be glad to assist you.

PRODUCT OF THE MONTH: VV1600 VACUUM SEALER

VV1600 Value Vac is an economical commercial retractable nozzle vacuum sealer.  Lightweight, all-metal construction with a stainless steel nozzle ensures many years of quality performance.  The Value Vac provides a sustained vacuum flow which increases production speed.  If you are looking for a no frills, entry level commercial vacuum sealer, the VV1600 Value Vac is what you are looking for!

  • Super easy to use and you can use the unit to vacuum seal or seal only
  • External compressor required (as with all nozzle vacuum sealers)
  • Max. width of bag – 16″ / Max. length of bag – n/a

vv1600_3_small

Made In the USA.jpg

 

Not all Bags are Created Equal (Quick Lesson on OTR)

Vacuum packaging is a method of packaging that removes air from the package prior to sealing the package.  Many food industries (meat, cheese, seafood) use vacuum packaging in order to extend the shelf life of these products.

Once air has been eliminated from the package, there must be an adequate oxygen barrier and seal integrity to keep a low oxygen concentration inside the bag. Otherwise, the driving force created by the oxygen partial pressure differences (21% outside the bag and 0-2% inside the bag) will cause oxygen to re-enter the bag.

OTR (Oxygen Transfer Rates) is the amount of oxygen that passes through a defined area of film over 24 hours.  This is where the importance of your bag comes in.  See our chart below of various OTR rates for films.  The lower the OTR, the better the barrier.

OTR Chart_Logo

If you are vacuum sealing a bag with a high OTR, this defeats the purpose of vacuum sealing since the bag will easily allow oxygen right back in the bag.  In order to properly vacuum seal your bag, you must choose a bag with a low OTR.

Vacuum Bags Demystified!

Do you have a vacuum sealer and looking to purchase vacuum bags?  If you are, remember that there are TWO kinds of vacuum bags available on the market:  standard or embossed/channeled.  Make sure you purchase the correct bags.  See our post to differentiate.

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Standard Vacuum Bags – two smooth layers

SONY DSC

Channeled Bags – One smooth layer and one coated layer

Bags Defined:
Standard Vacuum Bags – are clear poly/nylon pouches that can be used with a vacuum chamber or nozzle vacuum machine.   Standard vacuum bags are much LESS expensive than channeled bags.  There is also much more variety of the standard vacuum bags such as sous vide (boilable), thicker bags (4mil or 5mil), zipper and hang hole, and much more!  To purchase our standard vacuum bags, visit our website or speak to a distributor near you.

SousVide

Standard Bags – for sous vide

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Standard Bags – zipper and hang hole

Channeled Bags – are characterized by the embossed or special surface which creates a pathway or “channel” which allows the air to be pulled out of the bags.   These bags will work on ANY and ALL vacuum sealers.  Your home machines (Foodshell, FoodSaver, Seal-A-Meal models) MUST use the channel bags because they are external clamp machines.  To purchase our channel bags, visit our website or speak to a distributor near you.  We also now carry channel bags with a ziplock as well as one with a gold back.

Gold Channeled

Gold Foil Backed Channel Bags

Zipper Channeled

Zipper and Hang Hole Channel Bags

Most home users have a vacuum sealer that must use the channeled bags although there is the SINBO vacuum sealer series which is the only home use vacuum sealer that utilizes STANDARD vacuum pouches saving you money right away.

SINBO – Three’s a Charm

sinbo-logo-finalOur famous SINBO vacuum sealers now come in three model types to fit all types of applications.  SINBO is the only light vacuum sealer on the market today that utilizes standard poly/nylon pouches not the expensive channel/embossed type of vacuum bags.

Our SINBO models:

  • DZ-280/A – our classic dual line seal
  • DZ-280/2SD – one line seal but a wider 4mm seal width for sealing thicker pouches; best vacuum sealer for the mylar bags
  • DZ-280/2SE – filter canister allows this unit to seal liquids and powders – Video here!

DZ-280_2SE

 

Our SINBOs are easy to use that require no warm-up time.  No outside compressor needed as with the larger nozzle type vacuum sealers and best of all, purchase standard vacuum bags, not the expensive channel vacuum bags.

Contact your local distributor today for more information.

The Best Little Vacuum Chamber That Could

If your small home vacuum sealer is just not meeting your needs, this chamber vacuum sealer is the perfect upgrade.  The TC-Series vacuum sealer is an easy to use table top unit that can vacuum seal your product:  cheese, nuts, dried fruit, and much more!  Just place your item in the chamber, close the lid and 30 seconds later..voila!  A perfectly vacuum sealed product with a beautiful two line seal.  We also carry options such as gas flush and 220V.

TC280F

FEATURES

  • Compact, easily fits most spaces
  • Stainless steel construction
  • Durable aluminum steel bar
  • Acrylic plastic lid
  • Pump manufactured and designed in Italy (TC-420 series – Busch pump)
  • Custom features available – gas flush, sensor control, 220V
  • ETL, UL, NSF, CE, and CSA Certified

Glossary of Packaging Terms

We have created a couple of glossary reference guides for our distributors.  There are so many terms to remember that we sometimes we forget too!

Click here for our A to Zs of Packaging

Click here for our Glossary of Flexible Packaging Materials