First Time Using Our LEM MaxVac Pro (Nylon not Mylar Bags)

[@nobs3075]

I have used vacuum sealers for years and have even found 6 year old buffalo steaks that had somehow gotten forgotten in the rotation, that looked as good as the day I vacuumed them. I have also gotten shit bags that caused me no end of grief. I would also love a chamber vacuum sealer, but it is expensive. What I don't like is someone, like you for instance, that exaggerates things to push a product. My last food saver lasted me almost a decade, with some definite maintenance; replacement foam, etc. Just to share that I am not a novice user, I used that FS for hundreds of pounds of dry goods and the same for those same steaks cut from the whole strips and grinding my own beef. I have ten freezers and know of what I speak. My biggest issue is sealing bags. I do double seal. My main reason for wanting a chamber sealer is that wetter items do not seal well, whether it is Food Saver or some other brands that I use. For the price, I would hop that the chamber sealers have a better sealer. What you have is kind of ridiculous to compare to a FS and is why I found your video of minimal value. I am, however, interested in the Vevor one that is only about $375. compared to the one you are using, and could be $1500 or more. Apples to apricots?

[@alaskaguamas]

At what point was I pushing a product? I'm not monetized, I have no sponsors, I make no money on this channel. I started this channel to bring Alaska to people, it just so happens this video out performs every other video combined on my channel. Also, how can you suggest I'm exaggerating anything when I'm only giving you my own experience? Another thing, this unit isn't $1500, it was less than half of that. I'm glad you've had great success with a Food Saver. I haven't. I've had many over the years. Is it my technique? Perhaps. Ultimately, thank you for watching this video, regardless of its value to you. Thank you for taking time and commenting. I would highly encourage you to put up a video on how you're able to get 6 years out of a seal with a Food Saver. Tag me and I'll watch it. I really truly hope you have a good day.

[@nobs3075]

​@@alaskaguamas Can I call you Buckabag or Bucky for short. LOL I get 200 bags for about $20-25 for pint and quart bags and gallon bags; 100 for $25 or 25 cents each - for the biggest bag. If you need rolls for longer bags, it probably won't fit in your machine, but can outside of a FoodSaver. See, it's good to have both, and then I can see things getting a bit more expensive, but a buckabag? If the shipping is more expensive to Alaska, then your new bags will have a similar shipping cost. Anyway, it's questionable comments like that that makes KZbinrs lose some credibility. What is your reason that you couldn't say what you paid for the new machine. With tax, let's say you paid $600. A Food saver is $80 with tax at Cost-co. Like your machine, there are more expensive ones in both categories, but still apples to apricots. Sorry you don't believe that I had 6 year old buffalo steaks, but how is a video of sharing something that I've already eaten going to change your mind? Anyway, what you are going to find, as I did, is that even your higher end machine is not going to solve all your issues. I'll even share with you why; just call it bringing experience and common sense from Washington to Alaska. Your bags failed and will fail for one or more of three reasons. The first is that they weren't properly sealed. The crissy crossy lines had nothing to do with it. You have to be careful if sealing wet items. Now don't get your knickers in a twist, as I'm sure you'll tell me that never happened; fair enough. The heating elements melt all lines, and is a great indicator that the FS bag has been sealed properly. You bags don't have that, though the machine is pricey enough, we'll assume that will never be an issue. Of course, it you blew through FoodSavers every six months, I might start checking things in about a year. Maintenance must be a must up in Alaska. The second reason is that you are sealing mostly whole fish bodies, but there are still sharp edges and points, even cutting off the fins. This is where I put half my money as to why you had problems. From experience, no matter how much you try to be careful, if it has bones in the bag you will poke holes in many of them. Even 5mil bags will not cure the issue. The third reason is the moving around of frozen items to find other items. That and dropping bags on the floor accidentally. If you are only freezing enough to get you through the season you will never have freezer burn like you showed. So, that means you are not rotating, and if you are, bags are going to get punctures with all those fish bone fin edges. But still the freezer burn would not be that bad, because you would have caught it before that much damage. With less mouths to feed in the house that should diminish the issue, not your new machine. Consider doing filleting Tonight I pulled out some black beans, in a glass jar, that I made in 2013, that I will eat tomorrow with rice. Ten years old and a good screwed on lid and no freezer burn inside. I have lots of freezers. BTW, the vacuumed packs of steaks that last for YEARS were and are all steaks - not chops. Nothings that has bones in it has ever lasted so long. Even my Patagonian tooth-fish; aka Chilean Sea Bass, has lasted for years. My smoked mackerel I make lasts, but if I am not careful with the packages of fish with bones in it I do occasionally have issues, and eat those next. I rarely have to throw anything away, especially something as valuable as ANY Alaskan cold water fish. I have Alaskan halibut fillets that are two and three years old that I bought bulk and broke down the whole fish myself; Great tacos While I agree it would be nice to have your new sealer, at least going by how it looks, I hope you are forthcoming enough to do a video about how some of the bags from your new machine lost their seal in about six months, and what youv've learned to reduce the problem. Tag me if you do. Nothing should be that freezer burned by then, but I know that you will have many of the same issues as before. Just be more careful with the frozen bags and try to fillet more, even with your busy schedule. Even Salmon steaks last longer than the processed whole fish. I know it’s a pain in the buttock, but…. Today I broke down a 30lb. beef chuck roll. It took me over 4 hours. Tomorrow I will finish by grinding about 20lbs. of the meat. It is sitting in the fridge and drying out a bit. Putting 1.5lbs in pint bags, labeling, freezing and cleaning will probably take me another 2 hours. A pain, but I know what I am getting. I appreciate you take the time to do the videos, but you have to be more careful about how you present things to be relied upon by people. I hope you don't get too upset with some of my smart ass comments and can appreciate the time I took to write this. Peace

[@gymsim]

Nice video! I've used a chamber vac sealer for many years and love it. Initial cost was high but it has paid for itself due to savings of the cost of the other expensive bags. Have seen other tips in the comments about putting ground meats in a bag so here is one I do. Use a 16-20oz plastic glass that has a rim small enough to fit inside the bag, fill it with meat and set on a table. Slide the bag over the glass and flip it over to dump out the contents into the bag. No mess on the seal that way and it makes for splitting up the meat per bag pretty even. If you still have your food saver don't throw it away if it has a mason jar sealing attachment. Those work great for vacuum sealing dry foods in like rice, beans, raisons, semi-perishable foods, etc. Dehydrated fruits, veggies, spices will store well for many years. Always label and date anything you vacuum seal. If in doubt, throw it out.

[@alaskaguamas]

Thanks for watching and thanks for commenting. I've definitely tried that and it helps.

[@Paul-fe4vl]

I've done the same as you. Still have a vac sealer with the hose that I use for a marinade jar and other attachments. But the chamber vac is so much nicer for wet foods and the bags are cheap in comparison. I also use a plastic cup for putting ground beef in and any other thing I want to seal in a bag. I use a kitchen scale to weigh the food so I can be fairly accurate on the portions. The cup works great for chili and soup which I can also vac seal with the chamber vac. And the bags can lay flat and not take up much space in the freezer. Even vac sealed a bag of water one time just to try it. It worked! But any liquid has to be pretty cold going in or it will start to boil as soon as the vacuum gets low.

[@keithbrookshire]

There are so many good things to say about the Chamber Vacuums as opposed to Food savers. The bags are MUCH cheaper so a volume user can make up the difference in the cost of the machine. Plus you can seal liquids and powders.

[@erickrewson6419]

I agree that a chamber vacuum sealer is a better choice for vacuum sealing, if you are only getting 6 months of shelf life out of your food saver type sealed food you aren't using it right. I find an occasional bag in my freezer that has lost its seal but most will last indefinitely. The lost seal bags are almost always when I seal wet food like fresh corn or have a bone in meat like deer ribs that pokes a hole on the bag after it seals. I always fill a bag with fresh meat, freeze it in the bag and then seal it, this way it never fails. I have found stuff in the back of a freezer that was ten years old and still sealed and as fresh as when I first packaged it. That said, a chamber vacuum sealer is on my list because they are a better choice.

[@georgerichardson5116]

I used to have similar problems with my Food Saver until I started cuffing the bag opening to keep the seal area clean and I also double seal each end of the bags. I haven't had a fail in almost 10 years since doing it this way.

[@gotskillz135]

Just recently purchased a avid armor usvx chamber vacuum sealer and it’s definitely a game changer thanks for sharing

[@rickcrawford9389]

I've been using my Foodsavers almost daily for 30 years and buying knock off rolls on Amazon for about 18 cents a foot. I've never had the problems you have with bags and freezer burn. Had things in the freezer for a long time and they hold up. Not sure why you have such a bad result.

[@carlosV-uy4gg]

Thank you for the video and time you put on it to share with us

[@alaskaguamas]

My pleasure!

[@devonblaine]

Hello from Eagle River. My foodsaver bags aren't holding a seal for my sous vide cooking so I'm looking for a chamber sealer.

[@alaskaguamas]

When I was in Anchorage within the last couple of weeks, they had the one I have at Costco for $649. I really like ours and have used it so many times now.

[@thomasdronet9629]

I enjoyed this video thank you for putting it out there.

[@alaskaguamas]

Thank you for watching it. Have a great day!!!

[@kmisercola7180]

As Sky Kitchen said there are ways to keep your bags clean. I personally do not like folding the bags. I have 3 containers, 2 plastic McDonalds soda cups a quart container like chinese soup comes in. I cut the bottoms out and slide the item to be sealed through the cup. Also get some plastic freezer sheets from LEM or whoever and place items like cheese, lunch meat , bacon etc in the wrap and slide it through the cup/funnel, easy peazy. I would put a couple pictures here but don't think we can. I can always message you the pictures of my little system. Also I use 6x12. 8x12 and 10x15 bags

[@Jonathanpatton523]

That's very cool, dad! I love it

[@poko247]

Great food prep! You won't be able to fit a full long salmon in the Vac chamber so you would have to cut them down. This also would have helped in the food saver. the bigger mass becomes a challenge for any sealer. Great Video! Cheers! poko

[@alaskaguamas]

You definitely cannot fit a full filet into this. But, I typically portion them out and freeze in sets of 4 since we have 4 left at home these days.

[@TheWhitetailrancher]

It would have been nice to see a comparable video to the example that you provided as a food saver failure. because I have both sealer types and I simply do not have the food saver failure you do. but I believe that is all in proper packaging and consumables purchasing. so neither the freezer burning issue OR the terribly high priced consumables (bags). I would have enjoyed seeing you package the same size salmon in your chamber machine that you obviously did utilizing your food saver. I think you are going to have at least some of the same issues. simply because of technique. I hope I am completely wrong. But I suspect a very similar outcome.

[@alaskaguamas]

So far, I've not had the issue. But it's also only a couple months in. I'll have to do a follow-up video and call BS on my own video if it is.

[@philipdove1705]

What do you think of the 399 lem vacuum sealer at Costco it seems to be half the size as your particular model

[@jimmieburleigh9549]

You can use any bag even zip locks or storage bags with no seal.

[@alaskaguamas]

That, I don't know. I would imagine if you cut off the seal portion of the zip lock, or sealed it behind the zip lock seal, it might work. I haven't thought to even try that.

[@jimmieburleigh9549]

@@alaskaguamas it works. I haven't tried it but I bet if you played with it you could seal it above the zip so you could temp seal the un used portion

[@ruchancakaloglu]

you have to fold the entrance area ( palstic bag ) outwards not to contaminate the vacuum seal area with meat. Otherwise meat particles will eventually make pass the air

[@skykitchen867]

I bought a "bag fill funnel" which come in a pack of two from Amazon. It is a round piece of plastic that goes into the bag about four inches with a large rim to hold while you pour your ingredients in. It keeps the seal area and the upper inner part of the bag dry so you won't have to wipe it. Works great!

[@convincedquaker]

@@skykitchen867 Folding back is free and easy. No gadget required.

[@wayneyeo186]

All our vacuum sealing is done portion controlled by weight, then i know for certain what is in each bag.

[@Blueskies-h3e]

Down here in Southern California we get big bluefin Tuna. That hood looks a little not too tall. What’s a good brand that has a taller hood???

[@alaskaguamas]

I'm not sure. I know they exist and what I've seen they're typically twice the price. We can have issues getting things here. Amazon doesn't ship everything here, but it's way better than it used to be. I used to go fishing with my grandpa out of San Pedro as a kid. I grew up down there and don't envy you guys these days. I do miss Huntington Beach though and going to the beach. Have a great one

[@zbow1974]

you got bad bags, get the thicker bags, got some in my freezer from over 2 years ago and they are just fine. i use the old style food saver machine and i double seal with it,

[@waynethebarber1095]

Nice video, but it raises lots of questions for me. Sre the bad seals the FoodSaver or your fault? Maybe you need to use 2 seals till you find out why your seals go bad. I have seen lots of vac bags on the net very cheep. I have to say I am new to this and I have lots to learn. But for now, I will keep my FoodSaver....

[@alaskaguamas]

It's very possible it was my foodsavers. They were old. I'm seeing that other people don't have the same problem. Thanks for the comment.

[@michaelgriffith2762]

Fellow Alaskan here…how’s this sealer holding up? I just bought one but it doesn’t seem to get all of the air out of the bags. Most. But not all. The edges of my salmon have a few pockets here and there. It doesn’t suck down super hard on the meat.

[@alaskaguamas]

My apologies, I haven't been getting notifications that I'm getting comments. The seal is great. I opened up some halibut from last year and it tasted as fresh as when I sealed it.

[@Marc-we4gf]

Great video 👍

[@snydrman]

How did this work on salmon fillets? I’m looking at this unit for sealing reds but not sure if the fillets will fit thanks

[@alaskaguamas]

Apologies, i'm not getting notifications I have messages. It works great, we can thaw salmon a year later and it tastes as fresh as if we caught it that day.

[@johnanderson3700]

Can you vacuum jars and other containers as well as bags with this machine?

[@alaskaguamas]

From what I understand, you can. I know you can do jars, but I don't know what else.

[@tae-hyunglee2935]

hello? I'm Korean so I can't speak English well, but please understand. Can I use a product called "Syntus 8" x 150' Food Vacuum Seal Roll Keeper" when using ANOVA CHAMBER VACUUM SEALER?

[@alaskaguamas]

It appears that roll type is for regular sucking vacuum sealers, like a food saver.

[@waynethebarber1095]

Thinking more about this, on wet things did you par freeze the food ot keep it from comming up the bag? Did you leave enough bag on the end? Did you pulse the FS to not let the water come up so high? Did you have the bag lower so it would be below the FS? Twin seals? There are lots of videos on KZbin to help. Have you watched any of them? I think you need to do some research to see why things are not working for you....

[@alaskaguamas]

At this point it doesn't matter. I've gotten rid of my foodsavers and only have this machine. It works great and the other day I sealed near with a liquid marinade, that's something you cannot do with a foodsaver.

[@workinprogress9613]

This was in 2022. How long had you had it before making this video? And how are things going with it today, June 2024?

[@alaskaguamas]

Great question. I had recently got it then and still use it all the time. I just noticed I have almost 400 vacuums on it now. I just found out it counts for you.

[@MCLdy]

I have this and use it for retort canning smoked salmon.

[@danonitro3654]

Thanks brother!

[@steveschrock9084]

Have had one for 1 1/2 yrs vac pump went out going to be 9mo+ to get pump. Very disappointed Order your parts now. Good luck.

[@alaskaguamas]

Oh man, sorry to hear that. I've not had any issues with mine. Good to know though. I may just order one now for when it does go out.

[@hperlmutter112]

I did the same thing what a brisket I ground it made hamburgers absolutely delicious, I also did meatballs they fell apart a little bit not enough riding to moist

[@alaskaguamas]

I will throw an egg or two into the mix to help keep it together, maybe a little bread crumbs as well. I personally think ground brisket tastes better than ground chuck. Thanks for watching.

[@hollisfarmshoney]

What brand of food saver did you have, the actual "Food Saver" brand or a different company?

[@alaskaguamas]

I have only ever owned Food Saver branded vacuum sealers of that type.

[@aperson1181]

where to get the bags? how do you set it up?

[@alaskaguamas]

I bought them on Amazon. There are videos from LEM that show you how to get it set up.

[@luigifabio77]

I really like the machine, though I wish it were able to use bigger bags - several things won't fit in 10x15" bags. With that said - how much less are the bags? I ask because the machine runs ~$850-900 and considering that a nice foodsaver runs $150, even at 1/3rd the cost for bags you'll hit breakeven in ... years. Several. I've also had - like several others here - pretty good luck with foodsaver bag endurance, so I possibly am less sensitive to that aspect.

[@dontfit6380]

Luigi Fabio: if you have a Costco it’s $649.99

[@alaskaguamas]

I actually bought mine from a local place for $639

[@luigifabio77]

@@alaskaguamas thank you to you and @Dont' Fit, I'll look at the local Costco, that's probably the easiest thing for me.

[@TheWhitetailrancher]

I also grind all of my own "Ground beef" I've never seen or even heard of anyone grinding a "hamberger" none the less, I agree that ground beef brisket is fantastic, I blend 50% brisket and 50% short rib. EVEN better, you may want to give that a try as well. BUT be careful as many unscrupulous meat cutters will try to charge you for the bone as well as the meat on short rib. Luckily i raise and butcher all of my own meat as well so I just save the bones and intra-bone meat and make stock out of it.

[@alaskaguamas]

Calling it ground hamburger may be a regional thing. Raised in southern California and everyone I know out there calls it hamburger vs ground beef.

[@dianaballiet3661]

I helped my grandmother grind by hand crank to make ground beef. She was a very strong lady!

[@cmwHisArtist]

I’m old enough to remember when they first came out and they were $30…..

[@chemmii]

Must be nice to be able to afford one of these..... The way I've been doing it for decades is preparing the meat, be it stakes, burgers,cor whatever, putting it on trays till there pretty solid, then using freezer bags or just wrapping them tightly in freezer rap. Guess I will continue since I have never had freezer burn on any of my meat.!!

[@alaskaguamas]

For years I would wet my salmon to glaze it and then freeze it in freezer bags. I also used freezer bags for meat for many years. Try looking into marketplace or something similar for used sealers. Even a foodsaver can work really well and they're far less expensive.

[@workinprogress9613]

Where do you buy more bags?

[@alaskaguamas]

Amazon, believe it or not.

[@DreStyle]

Is it me or is the audio not sync And did this happen just? Or did you moved it around alot? Because when I look at the seal of my anova it looks pretty good close to me, have to find out tough 😊

[@DreStyle]

Ah lol I pauzed the vid ty type comment it resumed automatically.. And now it's fine lol

[@alaskaguamas]

That's KZbin for you.

[@TheWhitetailrancher]

here is a little tip for you that you might want to try. NOT telling you what to do at all. Just something to try if you want to. 50% brisket and 50% short rib. as a ground beef blend to make ANY ground beef product with including your burger patties. I think you might very much enjoy this blend over straight brisket. Just offering a suggestion friend!

[@alaskaguamas]

Your comment is appreciated. I will often mix brisket and chuck together, I can't remember if I said that. They may have been mixed in this one. I hadn't thought about short ribs though. I'll have to try that out.

[@seecanon5840]

Does it seal pint or quart jars of dry goods like dehydrated vegetables?

[@alaskaguamas]

It does, I just have not done it yet.

[@danpalchak6916]

You need to be careful with glass though. The resulting vacuum pressure will put stress on the glass, making it more susceptible to breakage.

[@LUCIERNAGA25]

Work with Mylo bags? Nice video. Thanks

[@alaskaguamas]

These are 3mm Mylar bags, I believe.

[@ddfiv]

The bags that come with it are just 3.15mil PE/nylon bags. The mylar bags are the shiny, silvery, reflective ones that are for blocking out light. I had some 1gal, 10mil, aluminized, mylar bags that were super beefy. They were great bags, and super tough, but hard to seal. I'd be curious if anybody had experience using the heavy aluminized bags like those with this chamber vac, and if it had any trouble sealing.

[@alaskaguamas]

@@ddfiv Thanks for your comment. i hadn't realized these were not mylar. I do architecture for a living and we used to, in the old days (before me) use mylar to draw on and they were a clear plastic sheet. I did a quick search and found you're correct. My apologies.

[@ddfiv]

@@alaskaguamas No apologies necessary! I just pointed that out in the hopes it may help you or your viewers. PE/nylon and mylar bags each have characteristics that make them useful in different situations. Mylar is good for long term storage, as it helps prevent light from contributing to the breakdown of your foods. It is also better at preventing oxygen exchange. They are not as puncture resistant as PE/Nylon type bags, and are generally more expensive. PE/Nylon are usually pretty tough, have good puncture resistance, are cheaper (and as you pointed out, especially the ones for chamber sealers) and great for preventing freezer burn... which is exactly what you needed. The drawback is they let light through, don't protect against gas exchange as well as mylar, and are not ideal for long term (by long term I mean 5-10 years or more). It's just about choosing the right tool to best accomplish your intended goal.

[@frankwolf6920]

where do you buty the bags

[@alaskaguamas]

I bought them on Amazon. www.amazon.com/Chamber-Machine-Vacuum-Pouches-Pre-Cut/dp/B08BWF1LSX/ref=sr_1_4?crid=4A71T8KJ3CB9&keywords=vacuum+chamber+bags&qid=1659980023&sprefix=vacuum+chamber+bags%2Caps%2C198&sr=8-4

[@convincedquaker]

Best to buy your bags directly from a restaurant supply store, either in person or online. Cheaper than Amazon and fantastic selection.

[@sighermike]

@@convincedquaker Perhaps that's true. There are no public restaurant supply stores in Alaska to take advantage of these cost savings.

[@robertkaspert4092]

I've never had a problem with my Food Saver and never paid that much for bag's

[@alaskaguamas]

To be fair, I'm giving you a price based on the length of a roll and the cost of a roll. Food saver rolls are quite expensive comparatively. But, as you say, I paid a lot more for the unit than a Food Saver, so at some point it'll even out. Right now, I've probably still got more money into this thing than if I'd bought a new food saver.

[@RA-sz5tu]

I grew up in the 60s and 70s with 12 in the fam, we'd eat that salmon lol

[@snoopy4802]

Has anyone tried the power xl ?

[@alaskaguamas]

I have not.

[@snoopy4802]

@@alaskaguamas I actually bought one and used it one day and it already has stopped vacuuming but seals 😭

[@alaskaguamas]

@@snoopy4802 If it's not been too long, I'd take it right back. Clearly a mfr defect.

[@snoopy4802]

@@alaskaguamas I'm going to call them and send it back.

[@gamerkadja7620]

Great!

[@sabaof8]

Most FoodSaver failures are due to poor quality bags. Good bulk-roll bags are available.

[@alaskaguamas]

I've only ever bought FoodSaver brand bags.

[@USA__2023]

Your bags are more than likely polyethylene and nylon, not Mylar. They are the most common chamber vac bags.

[@alaskaguamas]

Yes, we discovered they are nylon, I believe. Not Mylar.

[@convincedquaker]

Exactly

[@josephrollins7181]

I'm sorry to tell him wipe it off. That bag a little bit with a paper towel. It's not good enough to expect a good seal. He needs to go back to the drawing board

[@BRZZ-xw4hd]

good vid but the back ground music .please dude.

[@convincedquaker]

I highly doubt that those bags are mylar. They're the identical polyethylene plastic as is used in the FoodSaver bags, just unembossed. That machine looks like it would be a huge P.I.T.A. to clean when the inevitable liquid spillover occurs. The background music is unnecessary and distracting.

[@alaskaguamas]

I'm sorry you feel so strongly about this video. I welcome you to make your own. We still have yet to spill anything in it after many, many uses and if we do it'll be my problem to clean up. I sincerely hope you wake up in a better mood tomorrow.

[@ballatwenty4]

Random Mexican flag in the kitchen.

[@alaskaguamas]

If you knew my last name and saw my family, it wouldn't seem so random. One of my kids painted that flag. Look closely and you'll see Hebrew on a few things too. ;-)

[@rockyreynolds4027]

Why buy beef when there’s so many moose around and they taste a lot better