DIY Cryovac Systems

Don't confuse cryvac and vacuum sealing. The $200 units at the shops are vacumm sealing machines. They do extend the life of food but do not go through the cryvac process which extends it much longer.

It is also worth asking your butcher if they actually cryvac or just vacuum seal.

Cheers,

Jim.

Smudger,

Good question we are also looking at purchasing one....Was told the Danos Direct is a pretty good unit.....Interested to hear people views also......

The wife and I have been using a Sunbeam brand vacuum sealer for some time now, and we have been very happy with the results so far.

We understand that it is only a vacuum sealer, and that does not worry us too greatly, as we always consume our meats and goods within a couple of weeks anyway.

We are just happy to have the fridge clean and not concern ourselves with the meat juices that can be a problem in fridges.

Hope this heps,

Geoff.

Hi I have a Danos Direct and it works great so does the Sunbeam, the only difference between vacuum and cryovac is the name, cryovac is the name of the plastic manufacturer, it is like saying I will Hoover the carpet instead of vacuuming it.

Some places do gas before they vacuum but this is pretty rare, you can also use oxygen scavengers but also a bit of overkill.

The most important part of the system is the plastic bag, they are made up of multilayer sheets, some are airtight, one to melt together and seal and the outer one is a heavy protector.

I hope this helps.

Have fun

Craig

We have an Orved brand vacuum sealer - made in Italy. Uses any vacuum bags. Bought from the Butcher Wholesalers in Adelaide for about $300.

The butchers cryovac is no doubt better (their machines cost over $3000), but we have been very happy with what ours has done over the past 2 years. The most we have kept red meat for is 3 weeks, and it was as good as the day we packed it. We also prepare other food and seal it - pieces of pumpkin and coleslaw keeps nicely in the cryovac bags without refrigeration. I even cryovac the odd LandCruiser spare parts, like wheel bearings!

If you want to cryovac casseroles, stews etc, you'll need to freeze them first and then vacuum pack them.

Good bags cost about $30 per 100 from the wholesalers.

We have an Orved cryovac machine..Had for 6 or 7 years...Just be careful because every now and again you can have one let go a couple of days after you have sealed them..this has happened to us and causes a few issues

now before we go bush we seal our meat at least 3 days before and check it carefully just before we pack it in the camping fridge on the day we leave...the slightest hint of a leak and that pack doesnt go

We thought about getting a machine a while ago, and then kind of forgot about it. This thread has reminded me again. I think it's a top idea.

I have only just started looking into it again and remember looking at the brand advertised in 4wd mags previously, sI eemed rather expensive.

Here it is, it was called Vacuseal, wow talk about expensive! First model is $350 next up is $500. Anyone got one of these, worth the money?

www.vacuseal.com.au/

This seems to be the pick of the bunch on Ebay, Food Saver brand sells for around $100 plus postage, anyone got one and what do you reckon?

Site Link

I know you generally get what you pay for, but no point paying top dollar for a bunch of features you may never use.

Here is another cryovac type machine - domestic one on special for $250, commercial ones start at $1000

Site Link

Here is another cryovac type machine - domestic one on special for $270, commercial ones start at $1000

Site Link

The plastic (lexan) containers are great also a bit expensive but great

I thought I'd share my progress so far.
Vacuseal has great customer service, as far as answering email inquiries promptly anyway. I asked about the bags and confirmed that you have to use their particular bags.

The ebay unit is made in china as expected, seems reasonable any cost savings would be the initial purchase price and ability to use other or standard sorts of bags and cheaper non patented vacuum seal variety. Of course this unit costs half of what you pay for a Vacuseal base model but as a result it has half the suction power as well - that's 0.035mpa compared to 0.8 bar. (0.035mpa = 0.3 bar). I guess this means that it may not suction some things well enough or otherwise would just take longer to do the same job.

So there you go, you do get what you pay for but I still haven't decided weather the cheaper one would be more versatile and do the vacuum packing job adequately enough.

In china it sells for around $66 according to the conversion rate, so there is a mark up in the $100 ebay price.

Yes I research stuff obsessively prior to purchase at times!