Mar 15, 2009 10:23 pm US/Pacific
Buy It And Try It: VacuSeal
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―
We've all seen those big vacuum sealers people have on their countertops. Some are quite bulky, but this one fits in a drawer. How does it work?
If you want to save time and take the work out of preparing food, the folks at Super Suppers will do it for you. "We do all the work for you, all the chopping, all the shopping and the assembly part," said Mary Clark.
I brought her my Packmate VacuSeal, which claims to be the easy way to lock in freshness. It says it'll save you money so you can buy in bulk.
"If it's not too labor-intensive, I'd use it," Mary said.
The handheld sealer comes with three reusable medium sized bags that have special valves for the vacuum. Mary first tries it on her confetti rice, and within seconds, the air is gone.
"It was simple, very simple," she said.
Next, barbeque pork. The instructions for food with moisture are a bit different. You have to put a paper towel folded into a square inside the bag, against the valve, then use the VacuSeal until liquid reaches the paper towel, but it doesn't seem to do the job.
"It feels like there's some air in there," Mary said.
The troubleshooting guide says the contents need to be within one inch of the valve, so she shifts the food and tries again, but now it's sucking up the barbeque sauce and the air is still in the bag.
The directions say if that happens, you should clean the bag and valve and start over. "It's too much work," Mary said.
We now realize some air has returned to our rice bag too, so we move the rich within an inch of the valve and try again, but a minute later, Mary's still not happy.
"It feels like there is air in there," she said.
We tried it on broccoli, and it seemed to work well, and no air sneaks back in.
Mary says the VacuSeal was good with the broccoli, but not the pork or rice; she's not impressed.
"I'd probably stick with the Ziploc bags," she said.
The VacuSeal costs $19.95 plus shipping and processing. You can buy it from AsSeenOnTVGuys.com
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