Does anyone use a vacuum packer?

Andy L

Well-Known Member
I am just thinking of getting myself a vacuum packer as the freezer is getting full of freezer bags with illegible writing on them. Defrosted some casserole venison the other day only to find that it was pheasant breasts. Very nice though!
Anyway, has anyone else got a vacuum packer and if so which one and what is it like.
 
hi Andy L
i bought a vac pac machine of QVC thinking i was clever big mistake, it came with a roll of 10 metres of bags except you had to cut the bags to length heat seal one end put item in it then stick it back in the machine to create the vacum then it would seal . yes did a excellent job but it took as long to vac pac the wild boar as it did to skin and butcher the beast , my advice is to get a comercial one and pay the extra but make sure it uses universal bags and not bags just for that type of machine, and fast it can operate at failing that i now tray everthing up and colour the tray ie blue game yellow venison and white wild boar and write what each tray contains on the bottom of tray along with the date time cosuming i know but atleast iknow what meat it is
 
I have seen them for £50-60 which I think must be cheap rubbish. I have seen them for £150 to £200 which seem to be pretty good but was not sure and I have seen them for £1000 + which is not an option. I am hoping that the middle option will be suitable but it is a lot of money to waste on something that is not going to do what I want it to.
What sort of trays do you use Stone? Where do you get them from.
Cheers
Andy
 
they are polysterene trays like the supermarkets have for their multiy pack items, will get the address for in next few days as father inlaw gets them for me
 
i believe we should think of the packaging ! polystyrene never degrades and as for vac. packing meat - when it defrosts it is left in it's own stale blood, we wouldn't let a carcass sit in it's stale blood so why do this with the end product.
Freezing is essential for stalkers this i accept, but lets try and keep the packing to a minimum hey guys?
Simple freezer bags work fine just use big letters and an inelible "thick marker" and remove the bag to defrost
 
Hi Kent,
Vac packing is no different from a freezer bag as far as I am concerned. Same amount of plastic. All it means is that it is neater in the freezer, it is easier to mark with a sticker or writing and can be kept in there for longer as freezer burn is non existant. If you want to remove it from the bag before defrosting then you can.
 
i disagree it is much thinker and hence takes a lot longer to de-grade, you also have to slice it open, much harder than removing a tie. i bet those that use it 99% defrost in the bag as a result.
Oh by the way some think i am a fussy bugger about the food i prepare !
 
o come on kent i am not one for complaining but i hav tried many ways to preserve my precious gains, recycling is good but i am not prepared to spend acouple of nights in a highseat or 2 days stalking for meat to let it go to waste from freezer burn i recycle most things even my polestrene trays. i am not getting at you or anyone else as i still do my fair share but to waste venison or w.boar woulb be a sacralidge
 
can you tell me how you re-cycle polystyrene i believed it imposible as it is expanded it cannot be reduced to a recycable state so i believe.
I am not having a pop at you in this regards but the rise of packaging will consume our planet. when i was a kid - not that long ago your veg came in brown paper bags and meat in greaseproof paper and brown paper bundles.
I accept freezers are now essential, i have two full presently and belive me when i say i have never had freezer burn on meat or fish in std freezer bags. i wish there was a better alternative to these, doubtless there soon will be a British guy has recently developed a plastic type product derived from cardboard that is fully de-gradable for those damed plastic bottles ! We can only pile so much crud on this planet you know.
what stalkers and game shooters and fishermen used to do before freezers was distribute the food within his area fresh. Funny Fieldsports had a better public image then - but we cannot turn back the clock. If i hung a brace of Peasants on my neighbours back door knob he would probebly call the police today!
 
Those polystyrene trays are fantastic in the fire afterwards. Give off lots of heat and stop those sodding starlings from nesting in the chimney. (Only joking) :lol:
 
i reuse my trays over and over again the blood does not taint the meat as the trays are washable,as for side affects i hav not noticed a problem but as for the neighbours i thought the police were going to arrest the deer hanging in my garage for not giving evidence for cruelty so i now hav a fridge at the father inlaws funny how the same neighbours don't complain about the free venison i give them
 
yes, re-using is the next best thing to re-cycling. don't want to appear a 2cv driving nonce but consider that the whole eco thing aimed at 4x4 drivers like us is because the polititions who invented the term chelsea tractors etc probebly drive large saloon cars like 4ltr jags (mostly in traffic) and want to make it someone elses problem.
The reason this current set of crackpots have done so little for the countryside is rural seats in Labour control are frankly like Moose crotties in the highlands
lets set the example as the gardians we should be.
 
Now this is a good thread! I also recycle as much as possible, I also manage the woodland that I have permission on. I get so much hassle for driving a Land Rover from the so-called greens, its untrue! I try to explain that a thirty year old Land Rover that is necessary for the purpose of land management, deer control and collecting and transporting firewood and that is regularly serviced is better for the environment than if I changed my car every four years.
They never moan about the amount of shop windows with TV's on all night or lights glaring out. They never say anything about so called recycled materials being shipped for land fill to China! Alot of bloody nonsense, another way of controlling us and our behaviour. I think that if the planet does go belly up we will be in a better position than most to survive! Rifles and field craft and a Ray Mears book and you are sorted! 'Long live the Hunter gatherer'! :D
 
Exactly, why don't they tell us how much co2 it takes to produce one of those new eco battery / duel fuel jobbies- answer coz it would blow thier argument to bits!
Do you know a wind terbine takes 12yrs to offset the carbon produced in it's manufacture and it's sevicable life is only two to three years longer. i was told this by a very senior engineer.
I don't listen to the bull spouted by vote gatherers and no- nothing sheep that follow behind - but we all must do our bit
Keep the Landrover Beowulf it set it's co2 off years ago ! besides i bet you don't go so far in it anyway too damed uncomfortable and expenisive on fuel.
 
We have just got our second wheelie bin. I live in the middle of nowhere and they give me a bin for hedge cuttings and garden waste. My hedge is 120 yds long and the lawn area is about 1/2 acre. I have just collected leaves and I reckon that they would have filled one dustcart on there own. Bloody rediculous. The bin also states that I can put in raw and cooked kitchen waste so you know what goes in it. Today it has the covering and contents of 6 mallard, 3 pheasant and the jacket and bones from a fallow pricket. I am waiting for the complaints to come in from the dustcart boys.
I am sorry but recycling in this country is just another stealth tax. They are just preparing us for this 'pay for what you throw'.
Reuse is far better than driving out every week to a special bin to put your jamjars in.
By the way, Beowulf, I butchered the pricket on Sunday while using the butchering DVD. Fantastic but the pause button got a little messy!!!!
 
Hi Kent,
Yes I only use the Laddie at the weekend or when I'm stalking or doing conservation work. I've got to go up to Scotland in it Saturday! That will be fun!!! :eek: Its not that bad, I put in a 300tdi engine and Disco transfer box so it does 32 mpg on the motorway and cruises at 70-80 mph. But it looks like a pile of crap! I love it! :lol: I wouldn't swop it for the world! Its great in the woodland and across fields. I live out the bloody thing.

Hi Andy L,
The dvd is really good isn't it. I watch it all the time! I didn't think much of Jan Andrews meal though. I'll have to get Mrs B (Tikka-ess) to show her how its done! I've got the gralloching dvd too. Everytime I gralloch a beast I find something in the thing that makes me think, 'That wasn't in the dvd?' The way it all comes away so easily. I end up covered in blood with the intestine running down the inside of my boot! :eek: :lol: The last Roe buck I shot had a JFK magic bullet! I shot it from a grassy knoll and the bullet bounced off or through every major organ. What a great gralloch that was! :confused:
 
Hi Beowulf,
I know what you mean about the gralloch DVD, I have it as well. I think that blood up to your armpits makes your more of a man!! I am looking forward to gralloching a neck shot beast. I bet that you could do that quite cleanly. I will still probably get blood all over my new shirt as usual.
I agree with you about the meal as well. A pound of butter and a gallon of mustard, I would prefer some nice streaky bacon myself to keep the meat moist although I am sure it tasted better than it looked. Intersting carving method as well, keeping the joint on the plate with your belly!! I wil have to try that one. :lol:
 
Hi Andy,
I'm convinced that most venison recipes are over complicated and use ingredients that disguise the taste of the meat! I'm glad to see that you keep it 'Au natural'. The best venison I have tasted was in a pub called 'The Chip Shop' just outside Tavistock. It has its strange name because the tin miners were paid in company tokens or 'chips' and they were given them at the company store. 'The Chip Shop'.
Anyway it was a great big piece of haunch that had been given a suntan. A bit raw for me I thought! I ate it anyway and was pleasantly surprised. :D It was accompanied with a pepper sauce and was fantastic! I don't like all this juniper berries and other traditional stuff. Vension should be like the stalker who shot it 'Simple'! :eek: :lol:
 
Had some fallow butterfly steaks last night (that is what they are according to the dvd!) and I always have them rare. Beautifull with a little wholegrain mustard. Makes it all worthwhile.
 
Beowulf,
I seriously find myself wishing i got that sort of economy out of my Forester x/t! However i do like the drive up. But i usually stay in Digs when i am up stalking
 
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