Vacuum sealer?

[Charade]

Ok I hear you all but is there anyone who does whole chicken sealing that is the problem. bags don't come big enough for food saver and the machine itself is too short .. Anyone help?

 

[wyoDreamer]

Cabela's sells a commercial grade vacuum sealer that has a 15" wide bar. They have the roll of make your own bags that are 15" wide. That machine gets pricey at just under $500, but that is the one I want to get. It has alot of good reviews.

I wore out my first FoodSaver in about 6 years ago, but I used it hard. However, the replacement Foodsaver that I bought is not working out. It just doesn't vacumm tight enough and hold that vacuum after sealing. I have not gotten very good customer service with them either. If you go with a FoodSaver brand, I would suggest the GameSaver, because it has a dual pump and that is what I had to begin with. It would crush empty soda cans it vacuumed so good.

I have read alot of reviews on the shrink bags that people use for whole birds. Here is one site that has them so you have an idea what is being talked about.
http://www.chickenpickers.com/shrink_bags.html
Do an internet search and you will find more sites that sell them.

There are sites on the internet where people are selling smaller numbers of bags so you don't have to invest $150 for 1000 bags when you only do 25 birds a year. But you will have to do a search for them - I have a new computer and I lost the two sites that I had bookmarked for future reference for myself.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Food Saver, here, too. I buy the rolls instead of bags.

For freshly butchered birds, the bird must be dry (dry-ish), If there is a lot of moisture, it can interfere with the seal.

For the geese, they get frozen in good old fashioned freezer paper. Properly butcher paper wrapped meat, in a good frost-free freezer, can last for years.