Reddit mentions of Ziploc Vacuum Starter Kit, 3-Quart Bags, 1-Pump

If you have a crock pot you can buy a digital thermostat controller to use with it and turn it into a sous vide machine. Basically you fill up the crock pot with water, the device has a little probe you put in the water, and you plug the crock pot into this device, and the device into the wall. You set the temperature and it just switches the crock pot on and off based on the temperature you set. Since crock pots heat up from all directions the temperature stays pretty consistent throughout.

I also have used Ziploc vacuum pump bags with pretty good success. They do leak out some air over the long-term so they don't work as well for freezing things for a long time (still works pretty good though) but they work perfectly fine for sous vide in my experience. Less than $100 investment for the temperature controller, the hand pump and a bunch of extra bags.

For anyone looking for the most affordable vacuum sealing option, the Ziploc Vacuum Starter Kit is a handheld pump selling for under $10 $5 on Amazon. Works great and the replacement bags are as cheap and easy to find on Amazon (quart is sandwich baggy sized, perfect for panties. gallon is great for shirts and large items).

I use this combo to make vacuum sealed jars.

https://www.target.com/p/ball-12ct-wide-mouth-pint-jars/-/A-50624128

https://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-T03-0023-01-Wide-Mouth-Jar-Sealer/dp/B00005TN7H/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1498677791&sr=8-12&keywords=wide+mouth

https://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Vacuum-Starter-3-Quart-1-Pump/dp/B003UEMFUG/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1498677774&sr=8-1&keywords=ziploc+pump

I really need to write up a blog post about this, but I have a super easy way to store hops vacuum sealed. This short of it is:

1. This guy for the little hand vacuum pump.
   
   
2. The FoodSaver regular mouth jar sealer attachment.
   
   
3. A set of quart mason jars.
   
   Put the hops in the jar, attach the lid and jar sealer, hold the hand pump over the sealer hole, and pump for about 15 seconds. The jar should now have an air-tight seal, just toss it in the freezer and enjoy fresh hops year 'round. 1 quart holds ~0.5 lbs of pellet hops.
   
   The benefit of this method is that you don't have to shell out ~$100+ for a FoodSaver + attachments. If you already have mason jars you'll only need the hand pump and attachment, which will run you ~$15.

I wanted a sous vide setup but I wanted to keep it as close to $100 as possible. My "kit" arrived from Amazon last night:

• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017HX16FA?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003UEMFUG?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J5IPF5I?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00
  
  It worked like it was supposed to, and turned a cheap steak into something decent:
  
  https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B7rA1_fCC5zDR3ZVNUhVdlo3dEU&usp=sharing
  
  The controls were not the most intuitive, but it doesn't matter enough to pay a premium.
  

You can also buy sous vide vacuum bags that use a pump to withdraw the air. Just stop when the gravy gets to the top. Here's one

This. But, if you need to go with a cheaper route to start, you could try one of the hand-pump sealers.

Absolutely. We decided to save counter space and go with one of these. Fits in a drawer! We just buy the "off brand" zipper storage bags that have a "port" for a hand pump. Great buy for us!

These Zip-loc vacuum bags are another way to get air tight storage without the large initial investment of the Foodsaver. The bags can leak though, if too much product is stored in them or if they get a pinhole leak somewhere. I'm using these until I can justify buying a foodsaver myself :)

My husband is the same and buying something like this was totally worth it: Ziploc Vacuum Starter Kit, 3-Quart Bags, 1-Pump https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003UEMFUG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_XP3yCbM2GC72V.

Unfortunately Ziploc doesn't really make the bags anymore but the pump works with any vacuum bag that has that hole/port (I know we use FoodSaver brand). Keeps the cheese mold free for much, much longer and isn't too expensive.

Vaccum pack your lettuce and spinach in a big pickle Jar, it works!
http://www.salad-in-a-jar.com/skinny-secrets/the-lettuce-experiment-and-a-giveaway

I use this pump from Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Vacuum-Starter-3-Quart-1-Pump/dp/B003UEMFUG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372406357&sr=8-1&keywords=ziploc+pump

Get

I bought a ton of hops and have no idea how I will ever get through them unless I make a ton of big IPAs. On hand, I have 1 pound of centennial, columbus, and belma. About 14 ounces of cascade. Maybe 2 ounces of citra, and 4 of simcoe. They take up a lot of room, but not THAT much room. In my side-by-side fridge, they take up maybe a shelf. The centennial are whole hops and are like 2x the size, so you have to take that into consideration.

For storing, they go in the freezer, vacuum sealed. I didn't want to buy a big vacuum sealer, so I bought one of these ziploc hand vacuum pumps as well as a jar vacuum pump valve thing and that way I can do a kind of quick ghetto vacuum seal on bigger hops bags and store the smaller amounts of things in vacuum sealed jars. It's not amazing or as great surely as a regular foodsaver type vacuum, but it's way smaller and cheap, even compared to the foodsaver version of the hand pump.

I plan on storing my seeds for years. Here's how I do it:

1. Drill a 3/4" hole in the lid of a 2 or 4 oz. baby food jar, using a Forstner bit. Tape over the hole with micropore tape on both sides. Fill the jar half-way with Damprid (calcium chloride). Silica gel only gets RH down to 40%, whereas CaCl2 lowers it to <25%. Stuff the rest of the jar with cotton and screw the lid on. I stick the baby food jar to the bottom of a pint- or quart-sized wide-mouth mason jar using these from Wallyworld.
   
   
2. Put the seeds in small ziploc baggies or breeder's packs inside the mason jar. Make sure they're slightly open and not airtight.
   
   
3. Put some oxygen absorber packets in there.
   
   
4. Put the lid on and vacuum seal the jar with one of these and a vacuum pump. You can use a Food Saver pump if you have one but I went with a cheaper option. I squirt some silicone in a ring around the lip for a better seal to the jar sealer.
   
   
5. Screw the jar ring on and store the mason jar in the fridge.
   
   This method takes care of the 3 things that lower seed viability--humidity, oxidation (with the oxygen absorbers and vacuum seal), and temperature. I also plan on saving herb for the long haul like this, but with 62% Boveda packs instead of the CaCl2.

Not a damn thing new with this...

http://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Vacuum-Starter-3-Quart-1-Pump/dp/B003UEMFUG

Oh and if you don't want the manual pump, just get the battery operated one...

http://www.amazon.com/Reynolds-00590-Handi-Vac-Vacuum-Sealing-Starter/dp/B000XY8PDW

I would freeze them. And quickly, peaches go from perfect to icky before you will realize it. See if you can find one of these freezer storage kits, should be at a grocery or Target/Walmart. Take a look at this guide for freezing methods. This is an easy way to make them last so you can pull them out later for muffins, pancakes, smoothies, chutney, etc.

That's when you have to use a vacuum seal bag. The vacuum bags are thicker, usually between 3 and 5 mm and the plastic withstands a higher temperature than zip locks. I've had bags fail on me a few times now and I can't tell you how much it sucks. Sous vide cooking isn't instant gratification so it doubly sucks when I bag rips after waiting hours. I'll use zip locks when I'm making boneless chicken breast or burger patty's that cook in 1 hour but for anything that cooks over night or is an expensive cut of meat I use a vacuum bag. For someone starting out and you don't want to drop 80 bucks on vacuum sealer you can look into one of these 5 dollar zip loc kit. It uses a hand pump and special high grade bags. It's cheap to get started but the bags can get expensive.

http://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Vacuum-Starter-3-Quart-1-Pump/dp/B003UEMFUG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419735910&sr=8-1&keywords=ziploc+vacuum+sealer+pump

FoodSaver Wide-Mouth Jar Sealer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00005TN7H/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_WIx-yb44GTHDE



 Ziploc Vacuum Starter Kit, 3-Quart Bags, 1-Pump https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003UEMFUG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_iLx-yb422N6MD

You want to get the wide mouth jar sealer so you can get the greens out of the jar. I think I got  vacuum pump thing at Walmart and it was just the pump bc I didn't spend that much on it, but it's still one of the cheaper ones on Amazon and it's rly good quality.

Don't underestimate your freezer so you can buy the ingredients you want. It took me years to embrace this while cooking for 2. Need heavy cream for a recipe but feel like it's wasteful? Go ahead and buy it, you can freeze the leftover as ice cubes and put them in a bag when frozen. Flash freezing items like that (or cut up bell pepper for example) is helpful. Also, try to vacuum seal your bags using a straw or [something like this] (http://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Vacuum-Starter-3-Quart-1-Pump/dp/B003UEMFUG) to get the most freezer life out of items.

Personally, if it's within the budget, I'd rather put the money into an inexpensive vacuum sealer. I had a Ziploc brand manual vacuum pump:

Ziploc vacuum kit

The pump worked nicely, but the bags would gradually leak and lose their vacuum, leading to freezer burn.

I got a $40 vacuum sealer (Crenova VS-1) when I got my Anova, and I've been very happy with it. And (2) 50-foot rolls of 11" vacuum bag material for $18 on Amazon has made it pretty affordable to use. Almost certainly cheaper per-bag than the Ziploc vacuum bags, and it works better. Reliable seals, and no leaks.

Ziploc Vacuum Starter Kit, 3-Quart Bags, 1-Pump https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003UEMFUG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_tVGIBb65QDBXC

There's a ton of them, I searched vacuum storage hand pump.

I'm not finding the ones I used to see that took the wine saver style valve, but maybe they were shitty and bad products got weeded out.

I'm using this kind of hand pump + ziploc bag

https://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Vacuum-Starter-3-Quart-1-Pump/dp/B003UEMFUG/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1475021418&sr=8-1&keywords=ziploc+sous+vide+hand+pump

These are basically ziploc freezer bags, which can handle extreme temps. My understanding is normal ziploc bags cannot handle the higher temps for cooking.

Looking at the clamp sealer, I think those are just pricier, less flexible with cooking methods, and not needed since sous vide cooking doesn't reall require a perfect air tight seal.

Travel Compression Tool. No batteries needed.

Seems like a good idea. Width and height are right, but what about depth? If I stack my battery and phone, it easily doubles the depth. I could buy one for a tablet, but is that going to be deep enough? I might just go for this instead. http://amzn.com/B003UEMFUG I know a quart bag is JUST enough to hold my Nexus 4 in its wallet case and external battery. But you are right about the swiping. An unvacuumed bag makes it very hard to glyph hack.

Somebody pointed out a cheap/nice solution to me that seems to keep my hops fresh.

1. Ziploc Vacuum Pump
   
2. Ball 8oz. canning jar
   
3. Jar Sealer
   
   Put hops 4oz. of hops in jar, put inner canning lid on, suck out all the air with the pump, then put the outer lid on and store in freezer.
   
   You could always get a vacuum sealer instead, but I like the low tech approach. If any one piece breaks I am out $10 at the most. Nothing has broken in 2 years of use.

I use the zip lock freezer ones that you can suck the air out of. But you have to fold and rubber band it so the zipper and the hole you suck the air out of doesn't have a chance to leak.

So it's take a ounce or so of hop pellets put them in the zip lock bag. Seal. Pump the air out. Fold towards the bottom of the bag to seal off the zip. Fold over again to seal off the hole. Then fold the loose bag from the side and then rubber band the bag to keep the folds. This works pretty well.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003UEMFUG/ref=mp_s_a_1_8_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1473725657&sr=8-8&keywords=ziploc+vacuum+bags+quart

Just pretend like the meat is your tablet or smartphone. Having a dedicated device for bath time reading reduces bag waste, saving you money and helping the environment.

Also for the hops, if you aren't going to buy a food saver, these are cheap enough that they are worth it. It will really be better to purge the air from the hops bags. Probably the grains too, so you don't get that weird ice crystal shit going on, and end up with soggy defrosted gross grains.

https://smile.amazon.com/Ziploc-Vacuum-Starter-3-Quart-1-Pump/dp/B003UEMFUG

These: Wide Mouth Mason Jars
This: FoodSaver Wide-Mouth Jar Sealer
This: Ziploc Vacuum Starter Kit

http://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Vacuum-Starter-3-Quart-1-Pump/dp/B003UEMFUG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377408035&sr=8-1&keywords=ziploc+hand+pump+vacuum

this with the gallon sized bags. they loose their seal after about 30 minutes so you have to make modifications.

1. as soon as you are done pumping out air, put tape over the vacuum port.
   
2. during cooking, i think it leaks some air in with the normal opening. i think you can mitigate this by putting some oil on the track. its a tip i recently heard but havent tried.
   
   pulling the air out and then taping over the vacuum port with clear packing tape lets them keep a pretty good hold.

If you're on a really tight budget, I bought this from Walmart and it hasnt let me down yet.
http://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Vacuum-Starter-3-Quart-1-Pump/dp/B003UEMFUG

Ziploc makes vacuum seal bags with hand pumps! They're what I use. They're great.

http://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Vacuum-Starter-3-Quart-1-Pump/dp/B003UEMFUG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415290541&sr=8-1&keywords=ziploc+vacuum+kit

I find they do lose the seal, but very slowly and has only been a problem with storage of food, not sous vide.

You can buy a separate vacuum sealer gizmo (an extra $100 or so, plus bags). This can also be used to improve food preservation and storage.

But Kenji on serious eats has described a method involving dipping a ziploc in water before sealing it shut, so the water pushes the air out, and then eventually said to just use the new product ziploc put out. That's hardly more than the cost of a regular ziploc bag.

You're welcome :-)

My Foodsaver vac sealer was $80ish at Walmart a couple years ago... I've definitely gotten my money's worth out of it, BUT had I known about this I totally would have gotten it instead. If you do decide to go with the table-top model, I highly recommend Foodsaver over Ziploc (returned 2 faulty Ziploc ones before biting the bullet and spending a bit more on the Foodsaver), BUT use the Ziploc sealing material (the Foodsaver material is hard to cut).

For $5 you can get a hand pump and some special bags made by Zip-lock. I use these all the time, but note that the bags are slightly more expensive than standard ones (there's a small one-way valve on them). But result is less air in the bag so less floating, and never really need a powered vacuum though it is still nice for giant cooks like pork shoulder.

I use this for sous-vide. The bags are reusable.

I wouldn't call myself a cook by any means. Give me a stove, pan, and I'll show you some burnt food ;) I got in to sous vide cooking to take the guess work out cooking. It was one of the best decisions I've made this year. I can cook steak to a perfect 134 degree medium rare steak through and through, it's amazing. Chicken also a favorite of mine too, it comes out so tender and juicy and it just falls apart on your fork.


If anyone's interested in a diy setup on the cheap just buy [ziploc vacuum pump kit]{http://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Vacuum-Starter-3-Quart-1-Pump/dp/B003UEMFUG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370916055&sr=8-1&keywords=ziploc+vacuum+pump} for 5 bucks. Then get any old thermos ice chest, they work amazing at holding in heat. Just fill the thermos to the desired temp (140 med) water, then check it every 10 minutes or so and add hot water if needed. After 1 hour of cooking you'll have an amazingly tender perfectly cooked steak. Also it doesn't hurt to smoke while your waiting for it cook :)

google around there's a bunch of DIY guides and they'll list cooking time and temps.