Vac Sealer problem or user error?

bhedges1987

I can't off the top of my head think which sealer I have. I got it from Costco, and am out of town at the moment. 

Anyways, sometimes I will fill a few bags up and start sealing. They seem to suck out all of the air but when I'm done with my last bag and pick up the first sealed one it seems air has gotten in. 

Should I be immediately freezing or making bigger bags, putting more or less food in? I normally put about 3 servings of food in each bag so my wife and I both can eat dinner. 

Also, most of the time when I go to place the bag in simmering water it immediately fills up with air, is this normal?

Thanks

HeavyG

Perhaps if you take one of the bags you just sealed that filled with air and immerse it in a sink full of water and squeeze you can see where the air bubbles are coming out of the bags.

It is either not heat sealing properly of maybe you have a bad batch of bags that have some small punctures in them.

pab

You need to make sure that no moisture is compromising your seals. If the food you are sealing is moist, bag it and par freeze it before sealing. 

RRP

Sounds to me like you are trapping air in the bottom of the bags. It depends on the consistency of whatever you are sealing, but for most foods - especially meats - I always fill and then using my plastic glove covered hand or a spoon run a channel down each side inside the bag before sealing. Also be sure to wipe the inside lips of the bag before sealing. Works for me! 

Hntnhrd

Mine is a cheaply and it takes a couple bags before to sealer is hot enough to do a complete seal. I usually hit them twice and get two seal lines just be sure

bhedges1987

Thanks. All good ideas. 

westernbbq

Lem Maxvac sealer is an impressive machine...i coveted one for four years and BAM! Santa brings me one this year.

I had a foodsaver unit that was adequate for small batches but i think this lem is going to help me preserve smoked food and meat on sale for a long time...

hondabbq

Here is my personal experience from the last few years so vac sealing. 
I find that when I use the rolls to make custom size bags, I have more bag fails. 
I dont use the FS bags or rolls anymore. I buy from the sweet attack online. 
I also find I can't use the machine in rapid succession. Meaning, I can do a couple bags in a row then it doesn't seem to suck out as much air. If I let it rest for a couple minutes it's fine again. So now I bag as I'm filling because I'm not standing over the machine loading in bag after bag. I can go continually this way for a long time. 

blasting

I haven't had a failure since I started double sealing everything. (well over a year now)

I use the rolls,  and the 60$ model sold at Costco. 

bhedges1987

blasting said:

I haven't had a failure since I started double sealing everything. (well over a year now)

I use the rolls,  and the 60$ model sold at Costco. 

So you seal on the edge of the bag, move in like a inch and seal again? @blasting

blasting

bhedges1987 said:

blasting said:

I haven't had a failure since I started double sealing everything. (well over a year now)

I use the rolls,  and the 60$ model sold at Costco. 

So you seal on the edge of the bag, move in like a inch and seal again? @blasting

yep - not even an inch.  just far enough where I have two seal lines.

RiverRatSkier

I had what sounds like the same problem.  I actually double seal in the same spot.  On my model, it will not seal again until I open the lid and close again.  So I just seal, open, close, seal, and move to the next bag.  I do this for both the first seal (when cutting a bag off a roll) and the second seal when vacuuming. 

thetrim

I agree with double/triple sealing the bag. 

SGrabs33

I had the issue for quite a while and couldn't figure out what was going on. Was it the cheap amazon sealer? amazon bulk bags? nope. I think it was the same thing @pab mentioned, the moisture was compromising the seals. I was waiting for the machine to auto seal after the air was removed. It was removing so much air that the moisture eventually made it to the sealing area and messed everything up. Partly freezing before sealing makes sense!

OhioEgger

I always double seal, just about ¼ inch apart. Never a problem.

NPHuskerFL

I always double seal. Same as @OhioEgger

bhedges1987

Okay so question now that I have looked at my sealer. How does one double seal? It seals when the edge of my bag hits the inside of the machine, so not sure how to go about double sealing? 

Heres my unit 

pab

Since your FoodSaver is automatic, maybe seal in the same place twice like @RiverRatSkier suggested? MyFoodSaver is a different model but seals automatically as well. I see you have a moist food setting on yours.  I always use that setting when I seal my bags and have had your problem maybe 3 or 4 times in the three years I have had mine.  If you are sealing food that has already been cooked it probably has more moisture than raw food. Even raw meat will have moisture drawn out by the suction which is why I suggested par freezing, it doesn't need to be frozen solid. On the moist food setting the vacuum is not as strong so it is less likely to pull moisture all the way to the sealer bar.

Jeepster47

bhedges1987 said:

Okay so question now that I have looked at my sealer. How does one double seal? It seals when the edge of my bag hits the inside of the machine, so not sure how to go about double sealing? 

Heres my unit 

I have a similar model FoodSaver.  Pressing that &*^% seal button doesn't do anything until you've pushed the bag in enough to trigger the sealing process.  If you promise not to laugh I'll share my method to do the second seal line.

When the sealing process is initiated the machine starts making a racket like it's really doing something.  You've got about one second before it grabs the bag are starts the sucking and sealing.  I push the bag in until it starts making noise and quickly pull it back about 1/4" ... it takes good hearing, two hands, and no flinching.