Reddit mentions of Foodsaver FSFSSL2244-000 V2244 Machine for Food Preservation with Bags and Rolls Starter Kit | Number 1 Vacuum Sealer System | Compact and Easy Clean | UL Safe, Single, Black

First, while wearing gloves, pack that shit into a motherfuggin ziploc baggy. Then, dispose of the gloves and grab another pair. Throw those babies on and get yourself one of these handy dandy Vacuum Sealers and throw your baggy in there and seal it on up. Then, grab yourself some petroleum jelly, completely coat the outside of the first sealed package, swap out your disposable gloves and re-seal that baby a second time. Repeat once more with another layer of petroleum jelly, re-re-seal it in a third vac layer and sneaker express your way on down to your nearest USPS office cause you're ready to ship some weed. Key things to note are that if you have any trace amounts of particles on your fingers and touch the outside of one of the vac seals, you basically just nullified that layer (on the off chance a dog smells your package). Be very, very careful about contact transfers. Never try and pack while high. Also, make sure to package it discretely and in such a way that none of the layers will rupture. I'm also pretty sure that using the mail to ship across state lines probably makes it a federal crime, so don't be dumb kids.

Edit: that really neat bot below me linked the price history for that vac sealer but you don't have to buy an expensive one like that. I bought a ~$60 one like five years ago for sealing meat and shit and it still works great

I've had this for 3 years. It's not the best vacuum setup out there...you can spend a lot more money that would be very well spent, but it does the job very well for sous vide. If your problem is not getting a good seal, I've never had this unit not seal, or create a seal that failed.

The only downside is that if you are sealing a lot quickly, then it gets overly hot and then needs to rest and cool for a few minutes. The unit has a safety shutoff that keeps if from overheating.

But if you are looking at bang for the buck, this is what I'd get.

Vacuum sealer.

Heavy duty plastic bag + stored in a vacuum and not going to exhale smells. I didn't tell you this. And I didn't tell you it doesn't dry out this way, even for long term storage. You do have to pick out the pokey stems though.

So there are two main types of vacuum sealers; External sealers and chamber sealers. External sealers are like your garden variety food saver. The bag stays outside the machine and the machine draws air from the open end of the bag. Upsides are they are inexpensive and quite effective for sealing dry or frozen goods and they are small. Down sides are that they use corrugated bags (which are pricey) and don't work well with moist food (or at all with liquids) because the suction draws the liquids from the food and prevents the bag from sealing. Chamber sealers have a chamber that the whole bag/food combo sits inside of and the chamber is evacuated. Since the vacuum is on the inside and the outside of the bag there is no pressure differential so you can vacuum pack anything including a bag of liquid. The bags are also much cheaper because they are simple smooth plastic. Downsides are that the machines are MUCH more expensive, require maintenance (oiling) of the pump, and they are quite large in comparison to external sealers.

Now, the quality difference between a <$100 external and a $200-300 external are going to be things like durability, vacuum pressure, and sealing bar width. More expensive units usually have dual piston pumps that evacuate faster and to a higher level of vacuum, wider sealer bars for a better seal (for instance I always do two seals with my food saver to be safe), can seal more bags continuously without over heating, and have more features like adjustable vacuum pressure, marinating modes, and various sealing options.

You can get over priced externals that sell on points like built in roll storage, various (usually useless) accessories, and fancy looks but you are wasting your money. This is an excellent entry level external. It is a single piston pump with no fancy features, but it works perfectly fine on most things. You'll generally have to let wetter meats set up a bit in the freezer first so they don't leak liquid, but that's true for most externals without a "wet" or "low vacuum" setting. This would be a higher end external with dual piston pump, cooling fan and a bunch of settings. This guy here is about as cheap as you will find for a dual piston, but it will not be nearly as durable or versatile as the Pro350.

Chamber sealers, you can spend $500-15,000 on but for most home users this is the gold standard. Inexpensive (for a chamber sealer at least) and has a well proven track record. Come see us over at /r/sousvide we have a ton of threads discussing sealers.

I can totally relate to your situation, I myself have no ability to clean my house, do anything hygienic, and have no job. So I am highly dependent on many, if not all of the services that you are looking for.

I first just did a simple Google search for "home care based services colorado", and came up with quite a few results that might work for you, including what's called "Home and Community Based Services (HCBS)" and "Aging & Disability Resources for Colorado". Here is a link to A List of Colorado Programs. If Colorado's ADRC is anything like Washington's, call up your local Social Security office and ask about starting the process for an ADRC social worker, and to have them come out to your house to assess you for home care services. Because your boyfriend is on actual disability, he might have an easier time going through the process. I do know of people with schizophrenia and other such mental illnesses like depression, that have been able to receive this service as well. After you are approved, they will assign you with a care company that sends out a caregiver for a preapproved set of hours a week to help you with cleaning around the house, cooking meals, etc. An added bonus is that you can get a doctor's note to pronounce your pets as medical necessity, like Seeing Eye dogs are, but these would be "emotional service" cats. Then after that your caregiver would then be able to clean the litter boxes for you as well from then on.

Since you both are not married, you both will have to go through this process separately and I'm assuming would be assigned a separate social worker. Meaning one person may be eligible for more things than the other, and I'm sure the social worker will be more than willing to help you through all this.

As for the food, I too really hate reheating food in the microwave and get tired of processed foods. I invested in a FoodSaver | non, which vacuum seals food and extends their shelflife by months. I'm sure you can easily find a used one on craigslist or goodwill. The bags are a little spendy, but you can reuse them quite a few times if you wash them well. Just pull a preprepared meal or vegetable from the freezer and warm it up in a pot of boiling water. I'm sure there's a bunch of YouTube videos with good "How to" guides for getting the most out of a FoodSaver.

As for finding work as a person with a disability, I can totally relate to this, and have a few blog posts floating around in this sub getting into the different things that I do to make a little money to survive. Like using referral links – as I did above – to make a percentage off Whatever purchase is made from that link. I also make designs and post it to my RedBubble store for people to buy them on T-shirts, posters, pillows, etc. Totally not trying to link bait everyone. It can be really slow or really good passive income, depends on how much time you put into it. A good subreddit for making money online is /r/WorkOnline.

I hope all this helps, sorry I don't know Colorado law and there couldn't be more helpful with that. Let me know if you have any other questions.

I have the FoodSaver V2244 which is as close to standard issue consumer grade as I'm aware of. I've only had it since October but have used it almost every single day since then and have been very happy with its performance, especially for its price. I'd recommend it!

http://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-Advanced-Design-Vacuum-Sealer/dp/B0044XDA3S

I have this food saver :

https://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-Vacuum-Machine-Starter-Certified/dp/B0044XDA3S

I vacuum pack liquid stuff all the time. Specifically I make chicken thighs with lawrys jerk sauce in the bag. Turns out great. But you don't need to freeze first and then vacuum seal the bags. If you have a food saver like mine just clamp the bag exactly like normal. Now before you hit the vac button move the whole thing so the bag is hanging vertically off the counter held by the sealer. Hit the vac button and JUST before the liquid gets to the top hit the seal button. Mine stops dead and seals the bag right away and since you're pulling liquid up to the top of the bag it gets all of the air out every time.

This one. (I have and use a lot. Not just for hops, but sous vide cooking and buying meat in bulk)


https://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-Vacuum-Sealing-System-Starter/dp/B0044XDA3S

I have this one, and I got it for like $20 on a meh.com deal, and I've seen them on sale there a few times. It works perfectly fine for all my purposes (hops and sous vide steaks).

If everything is dehydrated, I would vacuum seal it instead of pressure canning. There are adapters that come with vacuum sealers that will do canning jars. Haunt Freecycle or Craig's List for free or cheap sealers.

I use Farmhouse 9 times out of 10. The caveat is that its harvest time related so the longer you wait beyond harvest the slimmer the pickings become, and that's across the board for all suppliers. Harvest is in late summer/fall, so right now you are still dealing with 2015's crop (last fall's harvest).

I just looked and there are a fair number of good hops still available, though you may be limited to either 1lb in some cases. In such a case, you may want to invest in a vacuum sealer deal. I have one of these and it's more than paid for itself (about $75).

It is super simple. Anova even has an app so you can monitor your cooker while you are in another room. They are on sale right now which is why I pulled the trigger.

anova precision $155 w the code SPRING25

12 qt container $24.95

container lid $11.08

apparently you can also just float ping pong balls on the top as well - having a lid insulates and slows the water evaporation

cheap adjustable rack to keep the meat in place $13.21

vacuum sealer $69.99

but for this you can just use freezer bags and water displacement to get a similar outcome

I have a FoodSaver V2244 and love it. I also got it on the rare occasion when Amazon had it for $29.99.

I use this and am very satisfied with it. $80.

Foodsaver V2244

I hear ya on the 2-part equation. Here's the sealer I'm using, currently:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0044XDA3S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I do a little bit of both vacuum and the ol' zip-lock immersion trick. Basically, if I end up having some kind of sauce that's anywhere near watery, I'll go with the zip-lock, immerse it to force the air out, then use a lid on my Cambro to hold the zipper outside of the water while the stuff that's cooking stays immersed.

Yay happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday dear shercock! Happy birthday to you. (I signed that in ASL , but you couldn't see it...)

But this nifty vacuum sealer would make my life so much easier when it comes to sending my baked goods! thissssss

I am using this. It's pretty easy to use, but relatively expensive. I found that ziploc bags does the job most of the time by using archimedes principle (it's showing liquid contents, but it work just as well on solids).

Purchased from Amazon

A freezer goes a long way.

You can also try aliquoting the nic into mason jars and use a mason jar attachment with a food saver to vacuum seal your goods.

mason jar attachment

foodsaver

As for how long you can possibly store your nic viably, no one really knows becasue

I'll be honest. I just trusted Amazon and bought the number 1 seller in vacuum sealers haha. This one to be exact along with these bags.

Aside from the one I bought I have zero experience with vacuum sealers, but I can say I don't have any issues with the one I bought either. It works and works well. They say the bags can store some foods up to 6 months, but I as I said in my original comment I found the chicken and rice portion of my last meal to be kinda starting to show slight signs of burn...although I suppose it could have been user error or just in my head.

True but it also says there is a newer model which is only $10 more than the woot sale on this older model.

http://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-V2244-Vacuum-Sealing-System/dp/B0044XDA3S/

If you're serious about preserving and storing, I'd suggest getting a FoodSaver, a pair of jar sealers and a package of oxygen absorbers.

This will enable you to store nuts, grains, coffee and tea with very little loss of flavor.

I use a Foodsaver vacuseal system. I highly recommend them. They're great for a number of things.

Edit: Formatting

I really appreciate my vacuum sealer when meal prepping. It's super helpful to freeze food for longer storage.


what I use

Also, I've found a simple kitchen scale is very useful for portion control.

this one

http://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-Vacuum-Sealing-System-Starter/dp/B0044XDA3S

I got the V2244 off Amazon. It comes with a few sizes of bags, as well as a roll for making your own bags. I also bought a roll of the Ziploc vacuum bags, which are cheaper than the FoodSaver brand and work just as well.

Make and model? How long have you had it/actively used it? The vacuum pumps do eventually seem to go out.

This is the first vac sealer I had gotten. Lasted 2 and a 1/2 years with very moderate use: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008HMWC4A

Last year I bought this FoodSaver vac sealer which I've been more happy with. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0044XDA3S

Part of my problem was that I was attempting to vac seal brines on my first one. Now I would probably just settle for having a little bit of air in there so that I could guarantee a good seal

I got this one end of November for about 50 bucks and it was the best sous vide accessory I've purchased. I can't imagine not having one now. I've started buying meat in bulk, portioning it out and freezing it so I can make it whenever. Plus I've found other uses for storing things. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0044XDA3S

TheWirecutter.com is a pretty nifty review site. They pretty much aggregate reviews and information from the web and try to provide information on good buys. Here is the sealer they recommended. I bought it off Amazon yesterday and it should arrive today. I'm looking forward to it.

Just sealed two bags of this recipe with a lower end foodsaver: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0044XDA3S

It has a drip tray in the sealing chamber so some liquid is ok. Only issue I had was the first seal was not 100% so I just closed the lid and sealed again on the same spot, no issues. Granted, it's not 100% air tight but it's pretty close and I imagine will ultimately be fine.

There was also a suggestion on here to freeze the unsealed bag for an hour or so (to get the liquid mostly solid) then seal. I'd imagine that works well.

Getting a Food Saver or equivalent will literally pay for itself 10Xs over. Saving hops, meat, freezing fruit/vegetables etc it’ll save you money.

Amazon also shows that there is an update for this model at $69.50.

most everyone that has good quantity uses turkey bags haha. you cut the fan leaves, hang dry, put in paper bags for a bit, then trim, then into turkey bags or those vacuum packer bags for long term storage

I picked this model up for about $50 http://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-V2244-Vacuum-Sealing-System/dp/B0044XDA3S

Its cheap and easy to use. It does have problems with liquids, but that means you have to manually tell it to seal or it will get the internals wet. I made a mistake and got my machine wet with a beat balsamic and it broke the machine. Luckily the machine is dead simple and I was able to take it apart and repair the faulty shut off switch. Don't let it scare you though. When I make chicken stock I put it in the vacuum sealer bags which I make from a roll and thrown them in the freezer.

If you freeze foods you will appreciate the food saver. I was on the fence about it, but love how easy everything stores in my freezer with no/minimal freezer burn. Cooking sous vide, I can now do the longer cooks without worrying about my ziploc bag opening up.

Do you have or know anyone who owns a vacuum food saver?

If not, you can try those Space Bags you attach your home vacuum to. I tried the Space Bags for some extra pillows but, it seemed to slowly leak and expand with air again. It could've been because I over stuffed it though.

Whatever you end up doing, try and make sure they're clean, dry and coated all over with oil. Wouldn't hurt to toss in those little Silica Gel packets, either.

There are just two of us, and I end up freezing often. If I've made a large batch of soup/stew kinds of things, I usually freeze in these freezer containers or quart-sized ziplocs, so they are in batches of one or two servings each. To reheat, it is easiest to put in a pot on the stove (run under hot water to loosen it from the edge of the container or bag), but you could leave in the fridge for a day to thaw then spoon into a bowl or mug and microwave.

When I made a big pork shoulder, after shredding I added bbq sauce to about 1/4 and we ate that for a few days. The rest I froze in three FoodSaver bags - unseasoned except for the rub I put on before cooking. Used one bag to make carnitas, the other two are still in the freezer...little blank canvases. =) For thawing the FoodSaver bags or Ziploc bags, I put them in a big bowl of cold water. Once they are soft (half hour or so?) you can reheat however you want.

Pasta is OK to put in the freezer, but its texture will be a little different once you reheat it. If you're going to eat it soon or if you aren't feeling like taking the extra steps, it would be OK to freeze it with the chicken/stew. I personally would prefer to make just enough pasta to eat for now, then just freeze the extra stew/meat and, when you decide to reheat and eat it, take the ten minutes to make some fresh pasta. It's worth it. Good luck!

amazon has a food saver on sale right now for less than 60 bucks https://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-Vacuum-Sealing-System-Starter/dp/B0044XDA3S/ref=as_li_ss_tl?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=41fd713f-6bfe-4299-a021-d2b94872bb19&pf_rd_s=slot-3&pf_rd_t=701&pf_rd_i=gb_main&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=ABG0YPB8S98RVS62C53T&linkCode=sl1&tag=wickawesdeal-20&linkId=7a49db44e22852d7c98c0cbffd787091

Think it is the white version of this one...

http://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-Vacuum-Sealing-System-Starter/dp/B0044XDA3S/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1456886851&sr=1-1&keywords=foodsaver+2244

well, I agree with the sous vide if you have a vacuum sealer. you can get a foodsaver one on amazon for the price of a couple ribeyes. This is the model that I have and it's suited me very well. It's also great if you like to buy in bulk. I've found that I've saved a lot of money using this thing. However, I'd say put it somewhere where you'd see it or else you're easy to forget about it. /end mini commercial

The sous vide makes the meat really tender and you can add your marinade right in there when you vacuum it in, saving yourself a ton of time. I usually finish it off using a cast iron pan or under the broiler.

just cook up batches of your favorite foods and vaccu-seal individual meals. freeze them and they'll act like ice in your cooler. toss one in your backpack before leaving camp in the morning and you'll have a thawed out lunch later on. leave it on the dash of your car to reheat with no effort. or boil the bag in water. re-use the same boiling water all week. eat it straight from the pouch and you'll never have to do dishes.

here's one on amazon for $62

http://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-V2244-Vacuum-Sealing-System/dp/B0044XDA3S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406920355&sr=8-1&keywords=vaccum+sealer

Get a Foodsaver:http://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-Vacuum-Sealing-System-Starter/dp/B0044XDA3S

I ordered one of these and going to put a desiccant pack inside. May only use it for Nylon and seldom used PLA[Food Saver](FoodSaver V2244 Vacuum Sealing System with Starter Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0044XDA3S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Zr4rxbB7XN4CB)

FoodSaver V2244 Vacuum Sealing System with Starter Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0044XDA3S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Zr4rxbB7XN4CB

I buy meat in bulk and use this ffodsaver for everything. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0044XDA3S/?tag=calwar-20
I have tuna steaks from over a year ago that still taste fresh!

I use a vacuum sealer for all cereal, chip, and frozen bags. You don't need to use those fancy bags they come with, you can re-seal the existing bags without sucking the air out. I've been doing this for years. I'm on my second one of these types now:
http://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-V2244-Vacuum-Sealing-System/dp/B0044XDA3S/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1406324824&sr=8-2&keywords=foodsaver

Lipavia Sous Vide Container - 26 Qt works perfectly for me. It's too big for 90% of what I do but when I want to do several racks of ribs or steaks for the extended family, the extra size is great. I also use it to hold all my sous vide stuff (vacuum sealer, Joule, bags, etc) when I'm not cooking in it.

https://www.amazon.com/LIPAVI-Sous-Vide-Container-Polycarbonate/dp/B014U596GO?ref=ast_p_ep

This foodsaver works perfectly for me.
https://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-Vacuum-Sealing-System-Starter/dp/B0044XDA3S/ref=sr_1_9?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1518471516&sr=1-9&keywords=food+saver

Absolutely. There are some caveats though. My wife and I have this vacuum sealer (Amazon link) and we also have a smoker so we'll do 30 pounds of pulled pork at a time and that sort of thing. Here's the catch though. There can't be any moisture when you vacuum seal or it just pulls the liquid out and won't seal. So, you end up having to slightly freeze everything (about an hour or so) and then seal it. It isn't a big deal but it does take a bit of time.

The other thing though is that it does give us the freedom to buy in bulk when stuff goes on sale and really helps pay for itself very quickly. Costco sells the freezer bags and Amazon does as well. Those seem to be the two cheapest places to get them.

Like /u/skwibby said, it's an essential kitchen item.