If you want to become a happy vacuum packer, please read on for some simple but effective techniques.

There are four major areas of frustration using suction machines: HEAT, LIQUIDS, MAKING BAGS and IDENTIFYING PROPER SEALS

Most home vacuum packaging systems, under $300 are not designed to do much volume at one time. The machines get hot and a thermocouple shuts the machine off to prevent damage to the unit.

f your machines has an adjustable heat setting the technique for starting the setting is on 4 to 5 for the first few seals and immediately start lowering the setting as the machine is now hot and doesn’t require pre-heating to seal.

Vary your work, do a few bags and do something else to keep the machine from getting too hot.

Suction machines will suck the liquids out of the bag immediately. If the machine has a liquid trap this will help keep the residue from accessing the vacuum pump. The problem is the seal area. Any residue pulled up into the opening of the bag, in the seal area makes it difficult to obtain a good solid seal. The heat cannot penetrate through the residue.

Controlling the liquids

• 1. Wrap the product prior to putting into the bag with a saran type wrap
• 2. If the product is a liquid such as soup or stew, freeze the product first in another container (so that the size of the frozen block will fit into the bag)
• 3. Make a soaker pad out of a paper towel, inserting into the bag between the product and the seal. The bag collapses on the paper making a filter out of it. This helps control the flow of the residue and allows time for the seal to take place prior to the residue reaching the seal area.
• 4. Some products can be blotted dry with paper towels—removing enough residue to allot the process of obtaining a good seal.

Making bags and proper length.

When making bags out of rolls, you can customize the bag size. Allow ample room between the product in the bag and the seal area. A good rule of thumb is 1 ½” minimum and the product is thick. There needs to be enough room for the bag to be able to lay flat without any wrinkles so a good seal is obtained.

What is a good seal?

Hold your sealed bag up to the light and take a look at the seal area. A good seal has a solid line from the heat bar strip across the length of the bag without any wrinkles.

If too much residue is in the seal area, the solid line will diminish in areas and be solid in other areas. You can probably pull the seam apart if the seal is too weak.

When vacuuming products you would like to reseal after opening, such as cheese or lunch meats, makes the bag as long as the number of times that you would like to open the bag. Cut off the seal area, and reseal each time. For example, if you wanted to access a block of cheese five or six times, makes the bag five to six inches longer than normal to allow for the cut off and reseal. This procedure actually saves bag costs by allowing for the extra waste and only loosing an inch or so in place of using a new bag each time to reseal the product…

1) My machine keeps shutting down

With most low end suction vacuum processes, heat is a major factor in operating and maintaining the machine. Because of the risk of overheating (which can cause irreparable harm to your machine) many machines have a thermo coupler that automatically shuts the machine down when it reaches predefined temperature.

If this happens, wait 20-30 minutes and you should be able to re-start the machine.

Unfortunately, with the low end suction machines ($300 or less), there is little that you can do to prevent this from happening, other than taking these measures:

a) For those machines with an adjustable “heat bar”, begin lowering the heat setting after four or five seals. Continue to lower the setting to set it as low as possible. Similar to a pre-heated oven, your machine does not need to generate as much heat midway through your sealing. Lowering the heat will reduce the chances of over-heating and will enact the thermocoupler, allowing you to complete more seals within a session.

b) Avoid an assembly-line approach to using these machines. Seal a few bags (8 to 12), turn the machine off for twenty minutes to allow it to cool and then seal a few more.

c) Avoid the low-end suction machine altogether—moving to the high end suction machines or any chamber machines will allow you to avoid the heat issues all together.

2) My packaged food spoils or gets freezer burnt.

If your food is spoiling or getting freezer-burnt in a short time period it means that your package is not being properly sealed. Though it is sometimes easy to be fooled by a poor seal, there are signs to look for. See below question.

3) I can’t get a good seal

With the many lower-end machines, unless the sealing process is handled with attention to the specific sealing instructions, seals can fail.

When making bags form the roll material, place the roll in the bag storage compartment and pull whatever length of material required. Immediately push down on the cutter and pull the cutter the complete width of the bag. Done properly, this will cut the bag easily. Do not seal the bag manually while cutting.

Lift up the handle and pull the cut bag out onto the heat bar and tuck the material back into the roll compartment. Pull the handle down into the operating position, pushing down on both sides, activating the machine. The indicator light should begin turning green, release the handle. The vacuum will pull down the handle, the indicator should turn completely green and will automatically seal the bag. This, done properly, will activate a first good seal on a roll bag every time.

Other notes on sealing:

a) Some machines (such as Maxima) have an automatic mode of operation, unless it is over-ridden with the manual seal or manual buttons.

b) Use the manual seal button if you want to seal something prior to the indicator going green such as a sandwich, without crushing it.

c) Use the manual vacuum button to keep the machine running after the indicator has gone green. This will allow a tighter vacuum, useful for some purposes, such as vacuuming survival gear (gloves and socks).

4) I have gone through several machines now, and they never seem to last longer than a season or two.

Unfortunately, many moderate to high-end home users are frustrated with the experience that they have with their first, few low-end suction machines. These machines are simply not designed to withstand heavy use, especially the use of a typical hunting, fishing lifestyle.

1) I am a low end home user—why are you suggesting that I spend hundreds of dollars on a chamber machine?

The fact of the matter is that even moderate users will become frustrated with the capabilities of the low end machines. If your machine is frequently shutting off in the middle of a packing session, or it begins to routinely produce inadequate seals, there is a possibility that the machine is the problem—that your needs are exceeding the capacity of the machine.

Who manufactures the best vacuum packing machines?

The machines that we routinely recommend to our customers are built by the Italian manufacturer Flaem and marketed under the name of Magic Vac. Flaem also manufactures major brands of medical appliances, their motors are very exact and their plastics much thicker than many competitors.

What is the difference between a chamber machine and a suction machine?

A suction machine is a vacuum packer that requires laying a bag outside the machine, which then evacuates the air out of the bag. A heat bar provides the seal.

Suction machines require the use of “embossed” or grooved bags.

A chamber machine is usually a bit larger, with an internal compartment (chamber) in which a bag (with contents) is placed. The air is then pumped out of the chamber (and the bag) providing a vacuum. The bag is then sealed with a heat bar.

Smooth bags are required.

How do I know if I have a suction machine?

Suction vacuum machines require the use of a special embossed vacuum bag. The embossing in the material is on one side and the other is smooth. When the machine is extracting the air out of the bag, the embossing allows the bag to collapse flat and still pull the air out through the embossing.

Supplies and Accessories

1) What is the difference between a smooth bag and an embossed bag? Embossed bags, used with a suction machine, have tiny grooves running lengthwise down each side of the bag. The grooves allow air to escape under the force of suction. Embossed bags are usually 60% more expensive than smooth bags.

Smooth bags, designed for use in chamber machines, have smooth sides.

Both smooth and embossed bags can be purchased in different sizes and quantities.