Chamber vs Vacuum Sealer

[Mwhit]

Has anyone used a chamber sealer before? I forked over the money for a nicer vacuum sealer for my meat birds, but I’m still not impressed.

A little bit of liquid can screw things up quickly with the vacuum sealer.

 

[iwltfum]

Has anyone used a chamber sealer before? I forked over the money for a nicer vacuum sealer for my meat birds, but I’m still not impressed.

A little bit of liquid can screw things up quickly with the vacuum sealer.

I have not, but if you haven't looked into heat shrink bags I would recommend it. They are a huge jump in efficiency from vac sealing in my opinion. I still vac seal when I freeze cut-ups and I vac seal venison, but the heat shrink bags are the way to go for whole birds.

 

[DemeterAD9]

I haven’t used a chamber sealer but an alternative option is the shrink bags you dip in hot water. I’ve been contemplating them myself but I also don’t really want to fork out the $ just yet. I’ll make do with vacuum sealers for the smaller birds and good old freezer paper for the chunky ones. Of course any size bird will fit in a vacuum sealer bag if you part them out or even halve them.

 

[Mwhit]

I’ll look in to the shrink bags. How do they hold up in the freezer compared to vac sealing?

 

[Molpet]

A little bit of liquid can screw things up quickly with the vacuum sealer.

Some bags now have a strip that absorbs a little bit of liquid. Some people fold up paper towels between the meat and the opening.

 

[FunClucks]

I’ll look in to the shrink bags. How do they hold up in the freezer compared to vac sealing?

Shrink wrap bags are like a plastic bag in the shape of your chicken. Same as the commercial whole chickens are sold in. Not as durable as vacuum bags (those can be thicker and tossed around in the freezer more with less care for the plastic getting poked), so handle gently and don't have poky things in the freezer. But they shrink around the bird perfectly when done with good technique, keep the air out like a dream, and are super quick to do. I love them for my whole birds, especially CX - get the correct size of bag for your bird if it's a large one.

For smaller birds, or cut up birds, I place them in a gallon ziplock bag, squeeze the air out by hand, and freeze flat. Works good enough for me. If it's in there long enough to get freezer burned (1-2 years), I'm not rotating my meat enough.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I’ll look in to the shrink bags. How do they hold up in the freezer compared to vac sealing?

Shrink bags hold up really good in the freezer, as long as the seal is mostly complete, or complete. A bag that seals properly prevents freezer burn.

 

[Mwhit]

Shrink bags hold up really good in the freezer, as long as the seal is mostly complete, or complete. A bag that seals properly prevents freezer burn.

I think I may give them a try next batch of birds I raise. Any preferred brands?

 

[MysteryChicken]

I think I may give them a try next batch of birds I raise. Any preferred brands?

MorePack, or FPSB.
They're for whole birds.

 

[Mwhit]

Thanks I’ll check it out