/ck/ - Food & Cooking

sealers, generally no.
for storing food, plastic wrap and a layer of foil or quality ziplock bags will be just as effective.
they're nice for marinating things, though.

i have no idea what a vacuum chamber would be used for, though.

>>5107410
Sous Vide

>>5107414
i've never heard of sous vide in a vacuum chamber.
sounds like another foodiefuckface gimmick.

>>5107420

Sous vide literally means "without air". The vacuum is the whole point. The food is sealed in the bag first using the vacuum, then it is cooked separately in a water bath.

>>5107424
sealing it in a bag would require a sealer, not a chamber.

if you freeze items for longer periods, vacuum sealing can come in handy
it'll keep things longer, with better quality, than without the vacuum
if that's worth the cost to is another matter

>>5107426
Chambers are far more effective at removing air, especially when it comes to more liquid based substances.

Wow, quality replies, /ck/. What else should I expect from the kings of ramen and take out?

OP, they are worth every penny if you're in a restaurant setting. Buy seasonal veggies in bulk when they are at their cheapest, enjoy cheap veggies for the rest of the season. There are also some really interesting techniques that can only be accomplished in a vacuum, namely compression, quick pickles, quick infusion.

>>5107795
>really interesting techniques that can only be accomplished in a vacuum, namely compression, quick pickles, quick infusion.
Written like a true hack.

>>5107426
>not a chamber.

"Chamber" is just short for "Chamber-type vacuum sealer". A "chamber" is a type of vacuum sealer. It's actually the preferable type because it makes it easy to add marinades to the food being sealed. The "foodsaver" type of vacuum sealer has a tendency to suck the marinade out of the bag. The chamber type can be used with liquids--not just marinades and such but you can also do soups, sauces, stews, etc.

I worked in a restaurant with a chamber vac-pac. We mostly used it for food storage, I don't recall anyone cooking sous vide while I was there.
The vac-pac itself was really quick and easy to use and I'd love to own one myself, but there's a hidden cost in the special bags that you need to buy to use the machine: each bag cost somehing like $2.
Maybe things have changed though - that was like 10 years ago.

I keep seeing the viability for a restaurant setting, but what about for home enthusiasts?

>>5107930

I've got one I use at home--bought it at an auction from a restaurant that went out of business. I have used it a couple times for sous vide but I find that it is very handy for making quick meals on a busy schedule. It makes it very easy to cook a large batch of food then portion it up in sealed bags for reheating later. Or, even if you don't cook the food in advance you can portion up the ingredients for individual dishes. Then when you want to cook you just grab a bag and go, with the prep work already having been done.

>>5107806

K, go ahead and show me how to compress watermelon without a chamber vacuum.

>>5107946
something, something, black people, something, magnetism, something, something, vacuum compression

>>5107946

Foodsaver type vacuum would do it, but not as effectively as a chamber vac.

>>5107943
nice score, how much did you pay for it?

>>5107974

right about $200. I can't recall the model off the top of my head but it cost about $1000 new.

>>5107962

I was more specific in my reply than I was in my post. I simply said "vacuum", to which he called me a hack.

Solid-state physicsbro here. I find vacuum chambers very useful when doing semiconductor deposition experiments.

>>5107424
>Sous vide literally means "without air"

no, the literal meaning is "under vacuum"
"without air" would be sans l'air.

>>5107404
THE main problem with at home vacuum sealers is you have to use pleated vacuum bags, if you look at the textured side of those foodsaver bags you'll see what I'm talking about. That texture is necessary because it allows a pathway for air to escape the bag.

Textured bags are where vacuum sealing gets expensive, chamber style vacuum machines use the much cheaper untextured bags.

I've been thinking about building a vacuum chamber. The plan, which I haven't started actually working on yet because I'm broke and lazy is:

Wooden box, probably made from 1/2 inch plywood. Thick plexiglass lid and gasket to provide an airtight seal once vacuum starts.

Box itself will be sealed inside with say, a heavy coat of polyurethane.

Inside the box will be a scavenged or hacked impulse sealer, triggered from outside the box when the vacuum is maxed.

To provide the vacuum, I'll use a vacuum pump of some sort (probably a 120v compressor from a refrigerator or window AC unit) plumbed into the box with regular plumbing fittings.

There are more details, but I'm pretty sure this should work. I just gotta get off my lazy ass and do it.

>>5109951
Fuck u asshole nobody cares about ur physics faggotry. Go put ur fuckin head in a vacuum chamber and pump that shit out until ur brain explodes.

>>5110087
>posts illiterate rant
>misspells phaggotry
1/10

>>5110203
fuk ur shit bitch I AM A PHYSICIST AND I WILL SLICE UR HEAD RIGHT OFF UR FASE/BODY ASK ME A PHYSIC QUISTION AND I WILL ANSWER IT UP BUT NOBODY CARES ABUT THAT MESS UP ON THIS SITE ALL THE TIME!!!!

>>5107404
This is the exact model I use at work

I have a hobby farm and grow veg and my own beef and pork. I got my hands on a used restaurant quality vacuum sealer to toss it all through on its way to the freezer.

I have now eaten nearly half of all of it and I have to say I am disappointed. I think there is a narrowly discernable difference but at the same time I am desperately trying to justify the expense and work I put into it so sometimes I feel I'm imagining it is better more than it is.

Unfortunately when taking into account the cost of special bags and the extra time I spent packaging it, the very narrow improvement over regular freezer bags wasn't really worth it and if I do it next year it will be on principle and how much neater my freezer is only.

It is good for marinating but honestly so is a god damn bag.

I was able to use it to makeshift laminate some stuff though so there is that.

>>5111175
Could you vacuum seal a live chicken?

>>5111198

Not with the one I have anyway. Besides they have sharp bits and I don't suspect it would thaw nicely with feathers and all. Certainly you would have to kill it. Chickens don't have the disposition you would need to vacuum seal it live. Whole fish, sans guts, I have done to satisfactory result.

>>5111175

Well, you're freezing it and then thawing it only a few months later. That's why you're not really discerning any dramatic difference.

>>5111242

How long does it take to make a difference? I never really eat anything more than a year after it died. It doesn't make sense to have more than you would eat between seasons. I'm not prepping for the apocalypse. I don't want to be still eating on my calves' great grandmothers when I slaughter them.

>>5111264

If you don't freeze it, a week, two tops. If you do freeze it, you'll start to notice a definite gap in quality at 12 months, and it spreads quickly after that.

The beauty of using a vacuum for marinades is that it dilates the cells and fibers of whatever you're marinating, so you get a much faster and deeper penetration. What might take 24 hours in a ziploc can be done in an hour (or less) with a vacuum sealer.

Lol at the people saying how expensive the "specialized bags" are.

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/ary-vacmaster-30723-8-x-12-chamber-vacuum-packaging-pouches-bags-1000-box/120VPM30723.html

5 cents a bag, compared to about 10 cents per ziplock or 25 cents per foodsaver bag.

>>5113018
excuse me, 50 cents a bag
http://www.foodsaver.com/bags-%26-rolls/T010-02042.html

>>5111277
>so you get a much faster and deeper penetration

O-oh, y-you do...?