for added information, and I am a packaging specialist, the Ziploc sandwich bags only provide waterproof protection whereas the ziplock freezer bags provide more water vapor proof protection. in both of these cases you can only ensure waterproof protection or water vapor proof protection with a heat seal closure not the ziplock. but the freezer bags are heavier and water vapor proof type barrier whereas the sandwich bags are a waterproof type barrier. that's why you can get a vacuum seal on the freezer bags but not on the sandwich bags
Can you please tell me if the Caterlite machine is better than a Foodsaver or a Sunbeam? I know that the Caterlite is made in China but it was one that was recommended to me.
Love the detail-and want to offer an additional option: cut off the BOTTOM of ziplock bags, keep the top sealed/zipped, then follow the same instructions you posted with scraps from other bags. That way, when it comes time to use the stuff in the bag, you can just use the ziplock opening, and potentially just cut open the bottom again, reseal, and keep using the same bag! 👍🏻
I don't know. I've tried that by sucking the air out myself and they always start out looking vacuum sealed but after a day or so, air gets back in and the bag is loose like I didn't do anything. I don't think ziplock bags seals are air tight.
Sooooo, I guess I will share. I do the same thing, EXCEPT, I use the left overs of my vacuum seal bags. I simply make one inch wide strips about three to four inches long, from left over vacuum bag excess. The plastic used in vacuum seal bag seems to hold up better to the melting process. Hope this helps. =)
@@4tjinta Me either! I'm so sad! I have tried four bags and the air come out. I want to do this so bad. I bought several things to pack for later. Could cry!!
Thank you so much for your discovery. My sealer sits on top of the fridge because the bags are so expensive. Now I'm going to teach my man your discovery. It's going to improve our gardening this summer. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thanks for the tip. I vacuum sealed quite a lot of bags a few months ago they were well sealed and hard , but i just discovered today that many of these useless bags I bought from Amazon had air inside .
Amazing! Learned something new! I have already learned a lot about vacuum sealing from you. Such as using brown paper bag for things like flour! I am 62 and new to vacuum sealing. Thank you!
@@maryarcher8484 its really simple. The dust from sugars and flours bakingbsodas and of the likes will make a mess clog machine over time . so put powdered stuff in brown lunch bags fold like a buritto basicly and then put into sealing bag. I have used her suggestion works great.
@@CarrSasticCreations Thanks! Now I know what to do with the ends that I cut off. I'll keep that in mind. Usually, though, it's something that I don't want crushed, so the vacuum seal isn't necessary.
This was very informative and did not take a lot of time on explaining the nonsense that other TH-camrs try to explain she was straight to the point and how to do it I give her a 10 out of 10
Thank you for sharing this. It's a money saving game changer for me! I bought a box of heavy duty food grade gallon Zip lock bags a few years ago at a yard sale (If I remember I paid $5 for 2-hundred bags) I think this will work for me and I can finally use up this box. AWESOME!!!!
Just so you understand there is no need to cut off the top of the bag, you can either cut it off and completely disgard it since the topless bag will still work without the strips or you can leave the top intact and just push it into the channel sealing that bag below the zip line. I've done it both ways for years and now don't bother cutting off the tops.
Thanks so much! I just ordered a whole bunch of quart size freezer bags. Walgreens frequently has the buy 1 get 2 free promotion. And I just ordered a 16 lb bag of quality cat food for my kitty because the savings is much better at that size. And I have a 25 year old vacuum sealer that still works. I'll be getting busy sealing cat food with your tip!
This works great for pre-cut salads, we've all seen how fast they go brown once opened, by vac sealing them after a serving or 2 is eaten it's still nice and crisp later, I was just tossing them out after one day in the fridge.
That is what I was wondering. I cant tell you how much salad bags I end up throwing out after only two days of being open in the fridge they start to wilt and go soggy!! Thanks for this reply!
Thank You so much, I just bought 3 jumbo boxes of the vacuum bags, but I will be saving them for meat and using the less expensive freezer bags for beans and rice. Thank You for taking the time to make these videos I have learned so much from you and AP and several others.
Another way is to Cut the dimpled part off your used vacuum bags. After washing and drying, cut strips about an inch wide and use them as you are the zip lock part. The bags from gfs (food wholesaler in Naples) are really thick for the same money. PS, the tunnels only work in one direction on the vacuum bags, length wise and not width wise.
I've done this. It's a great trick! And so tru, you can't reuse the cut off part from the top as the vacuum straw. would be great though wouldn't it? When you get to the end of the roll and the left over is too small to actually seal anything, use it for this.
I’m 26 and when I find a wife one day I hope she is super smart like this woman is. This was the coolest thing watching you use those strips from the plastic baggies to “hack” the sealer. Suuupeer cute in a good way I subscribed 👏😎🔥❤
I certainly hope you find a woman who can count the cost first before she start tearing into my freezer and regular bags. Those bags cost a lot more and for the price, I would wait as long as I need to get the bags for this job.
I have a box of this type freezer bags that must have been a bad batch, as they are almost impossible to open without tearing the plastic. I couldn't bring myself to just throw the lot away, as they weren't cheap and it's a good-sized (Costco-size) box... But now, thanks to you, I'll be able to use them! The part you discarded is exactly the part that's unusable on these bags! Thank you!
Thank you for showing us this. I bought a vacuum sealer off Craigslist for $10. I have used it a lot, but, the bags are so darned expensive!! Those freezer bags are way cheaper!! I'm going to start doing this. I do this and then store them in a 5 gallon bucket I buy for $1 at our local Walmart bakery! Ideas like this save me money and make putting stuff in the pantry so much easier!! Thank you so much!
You will find vacuum sealer bags has a high failure rate, be wise and use cans, mason jars, or mylar bags. With the other bags, over time, will fail. If you rotate your food stocks every 3 to 4 years, then those are somewhat suitable. Watch for failures with the clear bags. They were NOT designed for long term storage. Hope this helps, but, please rotate your food stores.
Grrat video Jennie!! Well done!🤗 That is a great tip. I also like what another commenter said about double bagging and staggering the seal marks. Smart!! 😁 I agree Reliable Prepper. 👍 I dehydrated fruits (bananas, raisins) and some other things that failed after a few years. I like a combination of jars and mylar myself. Use vac for yearly used items, water protection for emergency items, and camping/hiking, etc. Hope this helps! 🕉 Life, Love & Peace, 🌻🍁👩🌾
@@tracyb3198 plastic breathes more than Mylar. Long-term storage in the freezer is better with vacuum sealing than freezer bags, but even that is supposed to be rotated at least annually.
Wow, what a great tip! How the heck did you ever figure this out? I love money saving tips and innovative new ways to use what's around my kitchen. Excellent job!
Thanks You! I already wash and reuse ziplock baggies once or twice. When they have seen the end I will be cutting the zipper ribs off to save for vacuum sealing 👍🏼
Great tip for when your low. I like that the food saver bags can be boiled. So that saves on clean up. I also know what to do with the little bags of beans that I don't want to lose tge instructions to.
Thanks so much for this great tip. I have ran out of bags on more than one occassion , but never knew I could use ziplock freezer type bags which i always have on hand.
Well I just tried this with Boulder freezer bags from Aldi with some dry rice. I have a Geryon vacuum sealer from Amazon that I just got for Christmas. The unit works very well with the bags that came with the sealer. It worked beautifully with my Boulder zip lock bag and then 10 mins later the vacuum was gone and the rice was moving freely in the bag. So that was a no go.
Thanks for this. I haven't bought a vacuum sealer because I didn't want to spend money on bags all of the time. Now that I know I can use cheaper bags I'll be getting one.
You can just reuse the usual vacuum sealer bags multiple times for savings. Ofc they will get shorter with each use, but you can save them for storing something smaller later. Rinse and repeat until it is too short to use for anything. Even if the bags contained something wet, you can wash it using dish soap, dry and then disinfect using UV and/or alcohol and reuse it. Plastics are meant to be reused anyway.
Seems like massive overkill to disinfect using UV or alcohol. I've been reusing plastic bags for decades, never had an issue with just washing in hot, strong detergent solution.
@@stinkycheese804 Well it depends on what kind of things you are storing, want to store, for how long and how anal you are about it. Most of the times just detergent will be fine. But if you are gonna store something perishable but you want to store it for long, then disinfecting could help.
@@Dion82866 Yeah, but there would be no more germs on the bag than the rest of the environment it's in, even less after washing. At the same time, I too am more mindful of what I touch, that others have touched, where I put my fingers afterwards, how close I am to people who cough or spew spittle while talking, etc. I don't go around wearing gloves or wiping door handles at stores, but yeah, I'm more mindful of other people being carriers of *anything* than I was pre-covid, though I have never once had a flu shot in my life (unless it was decades ago as a child), will have to think about that when I get older and have reduced immune responses.
I just wanted to take a second and say thank you for this video. This is completely fascinating I would’ve never thought of this. I have so many of those little Ziploc bags around my house it’s crazy but I don’t have a lot of the vacuum seals backs. You just saved me a ton of money.
Very cool. I always failed at this because I didn't use 3 strips to let the air out. Thank you for revealing your tricks. Very nice video of your hands. The best videos show all of you.
Amazon sells true vacuum sealer rolls in various widths and lengths. For instance, 2 rolls each 11" wide and 50' (yes 50 feet) for $21. Just cut the length you would use, seal one end while it's empty then fill and seal it like you would a regular bag. Mine have lasted for years now. Again, they are made from the same stuff that comes with your machine!
If you do have something hard or sharp that might poke through the bag, take some thin cardboard (like from a cereal box), cut it to size and place inside the bag on each side. The cardboard will mold around whatever is in the bag, but will protect it.
This is a great tip for some of us in lock down who can't buy the bags even if we wanted to. Good to know there is a way to seal foods in bags that we may already have in the house.
Real good technique. I did this, using about 1/2 " sections of swizzle sticks. your way would be better, I believe, if you had any ziplock bags on hand, which I didn`t at the time. I did not take all of the air out of the bags because, they do lay flatter if they have some air in them. I just slipped an oxygen absorber in the bag. This technique works well when you save your vegetable seed (them vac-seal bags are durn expensive)! Thanks
Girl, you taught me something new today! This year all my beans I had stored up for the winter was reduced to powder due to eggs in the bags. Now I know how to prevent that from happening again! I subscribed to your channel just based on this video!
@@reidweaver I read recently that people had found putting a couple of bay leaves in the bags kills any eggs, bugs. And putting them on the shelves in the pantry also deters them. (Wish it worked for mice 😁).
Amazing 🤩 I never thought this could be done this way. I thought you always had to have the brand name sealer bags. Thank you for sharing ❤️🌱 Blessings from Green, Ohio 🎄❤️🌱
I cut some small strips from the vacuum sealer bags to do this with freezer bags. You can get a lot of strips from just an inch or two of vacuum sealer material.
I have a Food Saver vacuum sealer. I used it to seal chip bags, plastic bags, and Walmart freezer bags without reusing the sealer ridges after cutting them off. I guess it depends on the sealer machine if it can seal various plastics and heat sealable materials.
That was a great tutorial, Jinne. Thanks so much. I have the same vacuum sealer that's just been sitting on my dining room table waiting to be used. Sometimes you just need a gentle nudge. Have a great day!
@@paulsnyder4676 Well not everyone wants to use Amazon, and there is a delivery fee, if you are not a heavy user. Not that Walmart is much more ethical - but *_Amazon is really taking it to the next level or craven._* Stealing tips from their drivers (settlement was in early 2021) and that is not the worst they did. Setting quotas so that people feel compelled to pee into bottles. Or not drink enough, that can lead to problems in too hot warehouses and can cause (or retrigger) urinal tract infections. Drivers shit into plastic bags, because they do not have time to go to the bathroom (and are inofficially instructed to use that strategy with their instructions on the first days). I is one thing to do that during a traffic jam or going into the woods when camping or in an emergency. But if your employer - a rich company, the largest in the world - shows you how they do not give a shit about you. And then there were the warehouses where they did not bother to have A/C (or to insulate them !) and it was more cost efficient for them to have the ambulance waiting outside, if people would collapse. (Only because in the U.S. there could be expensive lawsuits, if they could get away with it they would not mind having people die or be severely harmed because of dehydration. And there is a lot of pressure on workers NOT to drink enough because then they must go to the toilet more often - see quota problem, and a person that goes more often will be checked out by management.They have 10 hour shifts and 2 breaks, the toilets may be a longer walk away so they have to spend the short breaks with bathroom time. Humans are expendable for them, I assume they must select for psychopaths in their management (or people that fall in line with that mindset) - for them human are accessories to their machines and robots.
@@paulsnyder4676 Maybe one could find them on etsy, that seems to be the more ethical online option, and people claim often also with better prices than on Amazon - only delivery takes longer. i would assume preppers and down to earth homemakers are not the "instant gratification crowd" - so they can deal with it if delivery takes a few days. And if you run out of bags and would like to do the bagging today or tomorrow, and still do not want to use Amazon (which offers reasonable bulk prices and FAST delivery) that hack is a good workaround.
@@xyzsame4081 in the UK, which is all I know, there are many online providers such as Wilko, Lakeland (bit pricey) and also ordinary supermarkeys that can deliver, maybe not overnight, but if you are practicing preparedness, it should be natural to keep a stock of what you nedd!
Hi Jinne.....i spend so much money buying those special bags....and recently they are hard to find...now I can use my freezer bags......I love your channel...thank you......GOD bless.....stay well❤💐❤
You are a GODSEND!!! I purchased a new Sorbent Systems Snorkel vac last year, along with 1,000 smooth-sided bags. The Snorkel sat in the box past the return period and didn't work when I finally opened it. So, I bought a Cabella sealer and discovered I couldn't use all those beautiful, SMOOTH bags with it -- UNTIL NOW!!! Can't wait to try this!!!
I said today I need more freezer bags. I was stressed out because I hate paying for them. However I love my sealer. Divine intervention I found this. Thank you you're amazing
I so wish I could buy a Freeze Dryer! I'm a 70 year young lady on a fixed income and really can't afford one. I love freeze dried fruit 🍓! Today I did Vacuum Sealing with the Mason Electric 06. It worked great, every jar sealed. I have watched every one of your videos. Printed all the worksheets. I will be getting a green house for my Dining room and growing herbs and vegetables. I can't wait. I have always had a garden. Now I have a flower bed but I will hide some veggies in there.
As a 57 year old that purchased a very expensive freeze dryer (it was my dream item I wanted for years), don't buy one. I'm an avid researcher and the lack of specific instructions on how to freeze dry was ridiculous. It seems so magical, right? Pop in some food and the next day have instant bags and bags of yummy dried fruit to munch on. No one tells you what temp to use, for how long, or that there's more than one step with each having their own procedures. You end up spending hundreds of dollars on wasted food while testing because it ends up being spoiled/inedible. Oh, did I mention if you don't have an extra 220V outlet laying around, gotta pay an electrician. Don't do it unless you have a ton of disposable income and don't mind spending literal days wasting food.
This is great to know! I always have the storage/freezer bags around. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I learn so much from you. Thanks for being so awesome 👏
Suggested modification for ziplock freezer bags 1-leave ziplock in place and heat seal along edge 2-cut other end of bag and use as described in video (one vacuum bag could be cut to produce many venting strips) 3-when you need the contents just cut off the initial heat seal and you still have the use of the ziplock 4-could be repeated if enough plastic remains for another seal Thoughts?
Rain Country sells vacuum chambers on their Etsy store and with it you can vacuum seal any jar with a metal lid that precious contained pickles, sauerkraut, etc.. It is a God send and I use it to seal anything that I want to last a long time.
WOW! Another one of your super powers (the other being vacuum sealing flour, etc by putting it in paper bags first)! Thank you for sharing this. I think I will use this the most when I have "planned overs" of chicken, hamburgers, even casseroles in the fridge for a few days. Will save on the Food Saver bags.
I got a V2222 Foodsaver and it works, but continue to read . On the V2222 the heater for the sealer is on the bottom of the machine and the top has only a rubber seal. It only works when you put the rough side of the strips toward the top and stick those strips in far and let only a bit stick out, Also on my machine , if I seal it twice on the same spot, the plastic will melt. I just seal it twice at 2 different areas. Just for info , I used the 1 quart great value bags . they are about $3 for 70 bags.
Another way to do it is to used the embossed vacuum bag & cut horizontal strips of 1 inch wide & 3 inch in length. It does the same with normal bags. I did this when I ran out of embossed bags & only had one left.
Hi, after watching you and shopping around i just ordered the vacuum (and used your link), I'm excited. Trying not to freak out as all this unrest escalates. Love you, THANK!
Thank you so so much for sharing i taught I wasted my money on my vacuum sealer an mylar bags but hear comes your advice that saves the Day AWERSOM !!!!🤗🤗🤗YOU SAVE MY TIME AN MONEY 💰 🤗🤗🤗🤗
This is great. Thank you so much for sharing this information. Just got a food save with extra bags; but good to know that I can use the freezer bags in a pinch.
It’s a lot of work but I did it and was very happy with results. Adding additional bags to food supply and noticed a lot of the bags had come unsealed or had air in them.
neat idea, I thought about trying it with coffee straws before. I normally buy my vacuum sealer rolls on amazon in bulk for cheap but if I ever run out I might do something similar.
I give the content creator a big thumbs up for coming up with this concept. Hopefully the bag material proves good enough over time. All plastics sheeting will allow oxygen to pass thru over time, it’s called permeability. Good vacuum bags are laminated sheets of various plastics even though it looks like a single sheet of plastic it’s really multiple sheets. The true test of this method is will this freezer bag material maintain the vacuum over time.
Always wanted a vacuum sealer, but didn't want to have to buy special bags. This is great to know, may buy one. Btw, these are the bags I always use. I prefer the freezer slider ones because they're thicker & don't leak...when you don't have a sealer.
You can also cut strips out of the textured side of the food saver bags. Good way to save and reuse food saver bags or the excess part of bags you have sealed. Cut the texture side into strips to use later.. I always do double seals incase one fails. The food saver strips can be used to seal mylar bags with ypur food saver machine.
@@brendachapman4559 someone in some group I'm in said that's what they use the little coffee stir sticks. I've never seen anyone talk about using the other end of the bag. That would be interesting.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I was sealing food and ran out of the bags. Went to the store and lo and behold just like jar lids, they were out of replacement bags. So I haven't been able to continue until they get more in and I'm there while they are still on the shelf
This is such a great video. I love this! Oh and the fact you just put the bag of beans in is so great because that is added protection and less fuss. Ty for figuring this out and sharing!
Funny when that happens although YT gets it wrong sometimes ie I was watching a vegan cooking piece but the add was for farm fresh meat. Lol...good thing I'm not precious.
Nice video. Thx. U have your act together. Before using a bag to vacuum packing I suggest taking a sample bag, filling it fairly full of water, and let it sit a day on dry Kleenex or other paper. Typically food bags in a box are made of low density polyethylene, LDPE, and will ever so slowly leak. Pretty sure that true vacuum bags area made of is high density polyethylene, HDPE. Save HDPE bags u find. Thx again. I learned a lot.
Brilliant! I have a Food Saver and haven't used it (seriously, maybe once) since I bought it. The bags are quite expensive, imo, and we try to store in glass when we can. Thank you for sharing this tip! Now I'll have to start collecting the strips from the bags used for random projects (sorting items for the kids, dry goods in the pantry, etc), for use with the zipper bags to use those up. I'm so glad to see that the store brand works so well! Have you done this enough to know if the seal lasts a significant amount of time?
I don't know whether or not there's a difference between the quality of the final seal but we use a "snorkel" style vacuum sealer which does not care whether the freezer bag is textured or smooth. In operation, it extends a snorkel into the bag, then, after the appropriate amount of vacuum time, the snorkel withdraws as the sealing heater commences. We have bags sealed over a decade ago which are still rock solid.
for added information, and I am a packaging specialist, the Ziploc sandwich bags only provide waterproof protection whereas the ziplock freezer bags provide more water vapor proof protection. in both of these cases you can only ensure waterproof protection or water vapor proof protection with a heat seal closure not the ziplock. but the freezer bags are heavier and water vapor proof type barrier whereas the sandwich bags are a waterproof type barrier. that's why you can get a vacuum seal on the freezer bags but not on the sandwich bags
Can you please tell me if the Caterlite machine is better than a Foodsaver or a Sunbeam? I know that the Caterlite is made in China but it was one that was recommended to me.
Love the detail-and want to offer an additional option: cut off the BOTTOM of ziplock bags, keep the top sealed/zipped, then follow the same instructions you posted with scraps from other bags. That way, when it comes time to use the stuff in the bag, you can just use the ziplock opening, and potentially just cut open the bottom again, reseal, and keep using the same bag! 👍🏻
Very good idea!!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Did you try it? I wonder whether the zipper top can keep up with the vacuum pressure.
@@CyberSERT No, i think she is just making snack-sized bags if you don't need the top ribbed pieces to help suck out the air. Wonderful IDEA!
I don't know. I've tried that by sucking the air out myself and they always start out looking vacuum sealed but after a day or so, air gets back in and the bag is loose like I didn't do anything. I don't think ziplock bags seals are air tight.
I watched over 2,000 TH-cam videos and this was by far some of the best money saving tip I've ever seen
I attest 2,000 TH-cam videos is doable :) It is a good hack tip, if you don't have any food saver bags at all.
2000 huh?
In general not on this subject
@@pamelapruett7833 lol, i thought it was common sense, but i guess some people take what others say literally
I agree
Sooooo, I guess I will share.
I do the same thing, EXCEPT, I use the left overs of my vacuum seal bags.
I simply make one inch wide strips about three to four inches long, from left over vacuum bag excess.
The plastic used in vacuum seal bag seems to hold up better to the melting process.
Hope this helps. =)
great , I will try that...wow 2 great tips in one day, in one video+comments thanks so much.
Thanks for this tip.
You beat me to it, that is also how I do it using mylar bags. Works well.
Does not work for me 😞
@@4tjinta Me either! I'm so sad! I have tried four bags and the air come out. I want to do this so bad. I bought several things to pack for later. Could cry!!
Thank you so much for your discovery. My sealer sits on top of the fridge because the bags are so expensive. Now I'm going to teach my man your discovery. It's going to improve our gardening this summer. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
When I double seal, I just move the bag up or down 3/8"--1/2" and if one seal fails I have an backup seal I double seal every bag like that.
That is a great idea!
and no melt thru
@@maryjanegreen7601 Nope, no melt through because I move up or down 3/8” - 1/2” from the first seal. It’s just a double seal in case one fails.
Which machine do you have? Thanks!
Thanks for the tip. I vacuum sealed quite a lot of bags a few months ago they were well sealed and hard , but i just discovered today that many of these useless bags I bought from Amazon had air inside .
Amazing! Learned something new! I have already learned a lot about vacuum sealing from you. Such as using brown paper bag for things like flour! I am 62 and new to vacuum sealing. Thank you!
same here, and I am almost 62 ugh lol.
Is their a video on the flour sealing in paper bag,?
Paper bag? Flour?
@@cherylinchrist4826 I also use paper bags to store my flour in also, and for sugar.
@@maryarcher8484 its really simple. The dust from sugars and flours bakingbsodas and of the likes will make a mess clog machine over time . so put powdered stuff in brown lunch bags fold like a buritto basicly and then put into sealing bag. I have used her suggestion works great.
You can also use chip bags that have the silver lining
Yes! They are Mylar. Work great too.
Yes, but they do not vacuum seal, just seal. Still good to keep food fresh.
@@CarrSasticCreations Thanks! Now I know what to do with the ends that I cut off. I'll keep that in mind. Usually, though, it's something that I don't want crushed, so the vacuum seal isn't necessary.
Thanks for this tip!
Good idea
This was very informative and did not take a lot of time on explaining the nonsense that other TH-camrs try to explain she was straight to the point and how to do it I give her a 10 out of 10
Thank you for figuring this out. Those vacuum sealing bags are expensive.
Thank you for sharing this. It's a money saving game changer for me! I bought a box of heavy duty food grade gallon Zip lock bags a few years ago at a yard sale (If I remember I paid $5 for 2-hundred bags) I think this will work for me and I can finally use up this box. AWESOME!!!!
Just so you understand there is no need to cut off the top of the bag, you can either cut it off and completely disgard it since the topless bag will still work without the strips or you can leave the top intact and just push it into the channel sealing that bag below the zip line. I've done it both ways for years and now don't bother cutting off the tops.
Thanks so much! I just ordered a whole bunch of quart size freezer bags. Walgreens frequently has the buy 1 get 2 free promotion. And I just ordered a 16 lb bag of quality cat food for my kitty because the savings is much better at that size. And I have a 25 year old vacuum sealer that still works. I'll be getting busy sealing cat food with your tip!
This works great for pre-cut salads, we've all seen how fast they go brown once opened, by vac sealing them after a serving or 2 is eaten it's still nice and crisp later, I was just tossing them out after one day in the fridge.
Not in the future, dnt waste! Emp grid going down. God bless you
That is what I was wondering. I cant tell you how much salad bags I end up throwing out after only two days of being open in the fridge they start to wilt and go soggy!! Thanks for this reply!
I cut the tabs off and then re seal right above the first seal. So then you don't have to worry about the extra thickness or overheating the bag
Great job. I've seen it done before but your explanation, demonstration and patience was AWESOME compared to others. Thank you
Thank You so much, I just bought 3 jumbo boxes of the vacuum bags, but I will be saving them for meat and using the less expensive freezer bags for beans and rice. Thank You for taking the time to make these videos I have learned so much from you and AP and several others.
I've done this, but only used 2 pieces for tabs. I've had some trouble with bags sealing so will definitely use 3 tabs. Thanks for the great tip!
Why do you use the tabs?
@@chrisharris1419 Did you watch the video. She explains why
I did?
@@chrisharris1419 She never explained why the tabs are used. Provides channels for air to be sucked out before melting???
Another way is to Cut the dimpled part off your used vacuum bags. After washing and drying, cut strips about an inch wide and use them as you are the zip lock part. The bags from gfs (food wholesaler in Naples) are really thick for the same money.
PS, the tunnels only work in one direction on the vacuum bags, length wise and not width wise.
Wow James that really works.
I have tried this one, but now discover that I used width wise cut strips. Going to try it 'your' way. TFS
Thank you so much!!
I was thinking this same idea.
I've done this. It's a great trick! And so tru, you can't reuse the cut off part from the top as the vacuum straw. would be great though wouldn't it?
When you get to the end of the roll and the left over is too small to actually seal anything, use it for this.
Your thoughtful instructions paired with crisp, close images makes the process look so easy. Thank you for teaching me a new skill!
I’m 26 and when I find a wife one day I hope she is super smart like this woman is. This was the coolest thing watching you use those strips from the plastic baggies to “hack” the sealer. Suuupeer cute in a good way I subscribed 👏😎🔥❤
I certainly hope you find a woman who can count the cost first before she start tearing into my freezer and regular bags. Those bags cost a lot more and for the price, I would wait as long as I need to get the bags for this job.
@@utb4itub Not only that a hundred feet of food sealer bar roll will cost you 1\5 of freezer bags...this is a video of what not to do
I have a box of this type freezer bags that must have been a bad batch, as they are almost impossible to open without tearing the plastic. I couldn't bring myself to just throw the lot away, as they weren't cheap and it's a good-sized (Costco-size) box... But now, thanks to you, I'll be able to use them! The part you discarded is exactly the part that's unusable on these bags! Thank you!
I appreciate you trying this out to figure out how to do it. You've saved us lots of $$$.
Thank you for showing us this. I bought a vacuum sealer off Craigslist for $10. I have used it a lot, but, the bags are so darned expensive!! Those freezer bags are way cheaper!! I'm going to start doing this. I do this and then store them in a 5 gallon bucket I buy for $1 at our local Walmart bakery! Ideas like this save me money and make putting stuff in the pantry so much easier!! Thank you so much!
You will find vacuum sealer bags has a high failure rate, be wise and use cans, mason jars, or mylar bags. With the other bags, over time, will fail. If you rotate your food stocks every 3 to 4 years, then those are somewhat suitable. Watch for failures with the clear bags. They were NOT designed for long term storage. Hope this helps, but, please rotate your food stores.
Vacuum bags ARE made for long term storage. Maybe the ziplock bags aren’t but the vacuum bags are
@@tracyb3198 LOL !!! do some research, Don't bet your food supply on it,
Grrat video Jennie!! Well done!🤗 That is a great tip. I also like what another commenter said about double bagging and staggering the seal marks. Smart!! 😁
I agree Reliable Prepper. 👍
I dehydrated fruits (bananas, raisins) and some other things that failed after a few years. I like a combination of jars and mylar myself. Use vac for yearly used items, water protection for emergency items, and camping/hiking, etc. Hope this helps! 🕉
Life, Love & Peace, 🌻🍁👩🌾
Also great for vacuuming your precious yarn. Moths can’t survive😁
@@tracyb3198 plastic breathes more than Mylar. Long-term storage in the freezer is better with vacuum sealing than freezer bags, but even that is supposed to be rotated at least annually.
Hey, that's really good to know in case we get in a pinch and can't get any more of those bags. Thank you for sharing!!!
Wow, what a great tip! How the heck did you ever figure this out? I love money saving tips and innovative new ways to use what's around my kitchen. Excellent job!
Thanks You! I already wash and reuse ziplock baggies once or twice. When they have seen the end I will be cutting the zipper ribs off to save for vacuum sealing 👍🏼
Great tip for when your low. I like that the food saver bags can be boiled. So that saves on clean up. I also know what to do with the little bags of beans that I don't want to lose tge instructions to.
Thanks so much for this great tip. I have ran out of bags on more than one occassion , but never knew I could use ziplock freezer type bags which i always have on hand.
My sweet hubby bought me a vacuum sealer today! Great tips! Thank you Jinny!
Awesome!!! You'll be sealing everything up!! 😍😘
Well I just tried this with Boulder freezer bags from Aldi with some dry rice. I have a Geryon vacuum sealer from Amazon that I just got for Christmas. The unit works very well with the bags that came with the sealer. It worked beautifully with my Boulder zip lock bag and then 10 mins later the vacuum was gone and the rice was moving freely in the bag. So that was a no go.
I’ve wondered if it was possible to use freezer bags this way but never tried it. You’re amazing Jinny!
And I also feel like I’m butchering the spelling of your name ;) What is the the correct spelling?
I spell it Jinne, but any way is fine... Call me anything but "later to dinner". 😂😉
😂😉
Wonder if you could use the leftover strips of the vacuum bags to vacuum seal Mylar bags? Think I’ll try it.
Yea, looks ok but I don’t want to ruin my machine
Thanks for this. I haven't bought a vacuum sealer because I didn't want to spend money on bags all of the time. Now that I know I can use cheaper bags I'll be getting one.
You can just reuse the usual vacuum sealer bags multiple times for savings. Ofc they will get shorter with each use, but you can save them for storing something smaller later. Rinse and repeat until it is too short to use for anything. Even if the bags contained something wet, you can wash it using dish soap, dry and then disinfect using UV and/or alcohol and reuse it. Plastics are meant to be reused anyway.
Seems like massive overkill to disinfect using UV or alcohol. I've been reusing plastic bags for decades, never had an issue with just washing in hot, strong detergent solution.
@@stinkycheese804 Well it depends on what kind of things you are storing, want to store, for how long and how anal you are about it. Most of the times just detergent will be fine. But if you are gonna store something perishable but you want to store it for long, then disinfecting could help.
@@stinkycheese804 same here
@@stinkycheese804 That's true for me as well. I think the c-19 scare has everyone paranoid about every little germ!
@@Dion82866 Yeah, but there would be no more germs on the bag than the rest of the environment it's in, even less after washing. At the same time, I too am more mindful of what I touch, that others have touched, where I put my fingers afterwards, how close I am to people who cough or spew spittle while talking, etc. I don't go around wearing gloves or wiping door handles at stores, but yeah, I'm more mindful of other people being carriers of *anything* than I was pre-covid, though I have never once had a flu shot in my life (unless it was decades ago as a child), will have to think about that when I get older and have reduced immune responses.
I’m new to the vacuum sealing world and this helped a lot; thanks!
I just wanted to take a second and say thank you for this video. This is completely fascinating I would’ve never thought of this. I have so many of those little Ziploc bags around my house it’s crazy but I don’t have a lot of the vacuum seals backs. You just saved me a ton of money.
Very cool. I always failed at this because I didn't use 3 strips to let the air out. Thank you for revealing your tricks. Very nice video of your hands. The best videos show all of you.
Love the vaccume bag tip! I don't know how many times I've ran out of the rolls and had to wait to get more. Thank you so much Jinne! 💕
How long will food last this way
Amazon sells true vacuum sealer rolls in various widths and lengths. For instance, 2 rolls each 11" wide and 50' (yes 50 feet) for $21. Just cut the length you would use, seal one end while it's empty then fill and seal it like you would a regular bag. Mine have lasted for years now. Again, they are made from the same stuff that comes with your machine!
If you do have something hard or sharp that might poke through the bag, take some thin cardboard (like from a cereal box), cut it to size and place inside the bag on each side. The cardboard will mold around whatever is in the bag, but will protect it.
Yes this is a good way but round the corners so they don't poke the bag
My machine is a much older version and will not work but its great that you figured a efficient way to use other kinds of bags!
This is a great tip for some of us in lock down who can't buy the bags even if we wanted to. Good to know there is a way to seal foods in bags that we may already have in the house.
EXCELLENT! There are no mylar or sealameal bags in South America, so this is an AWESOME and ECONOMICAL workaround! Thanks!
Perfect timing on this tip! I am desperately low on food saver bags and I have alot of food to bag up. This will save me alotta money too, thank you
Real good technique. I did this, using about 1/2 " sections of swizzle sticks. your way would be better, I believe, if you had any ziplock bags on hand, which I didn`t at the time. I did not take all of the air out of the bags because, they do lay flatter if they have some air in them. I just slipped an oxygen absorber in the bag. This technique works well when you save your vegetable seed (them vac-seal bags are durn expensive)! Thanks
Girl, you taught me something new today! This year all my beans I had stored up for the winter was reduced to powder due to eggs in the bags. Now I know how to prevent that from happening again! I subscribed to your channel just based on this video!
Maybe I'm just uneducated inn this, but why were there eggs in the beans, and how did they make powder?
@@kellyfennel3187 Bug eggs.
You can also get oxygen absorbers to throw in bags you aren't freezing. It will kill any potential critters.
@@reidweaver I read recently that people had found putting a couple of bay leaves in the bags kills any eggs, bugs. And putting them on the shelves in the pantry also deters them. (Wish it worked for mice 😁).
@@kellyfennel3187 I don't get it either. If the oxygen isn't in there, bugs shouldn't be able to hatch from eggs.
This has got to be the best advice/hack I have learned in a VERY VERY LONG TIME!! THANKYOU
Amazing 🤩 I never thought this could be done this way. I thought you always had to have the brand name sealer bags. Thank you for sharing ❤️🌱 Blessings from Green, Ohio 🎄❤️🌱
I cut some small strips from the vacuum sealer bags to do this with freezer bags. You can get a lot of strips from just an inch or two of vacuum sealer material.
I have a Food Saver vacuum sealer. I used it to seal chip bags, plastic bags, and Walmart freezer bags without reusing the sealer ridges after cutting them off. I guess it depends on the sealer machine if it can seal various plastics and heat sealable materials.
That was a great tutorial, Jinne. Thanks so much. I have the same vacuum sealer that's just been sitting on my dining room table waiting to be used. Sometimes you just need a gentle nudge. Have a great day!
Anyone try this with food saver type vacuum sealer. I have one you must slide the top of bag into it.
Brilliant! I’ve been thinking about this for a while as the cost of those bags are high and not readily found.
They are readily found on Amazon. They come in 50 foot rolls which makes them about the same price as the zip lock bags she is using.
I found my foodsaver mini likes the "happy seal" brand that were much cheaper.
@@paulsnyder4676 Well not everyone wants to use Amazon, and there is a delivery fee, if you are not a heavy user. Not that Walmart is much more ethical - but *_Amazon is really taking it to the next level or craven._* Stealing tips from their drivers (settlement was in early 2021) and that is not the worst they did.
Setting quotas so that people feel compelled to pee into bottles. Or not drink enough, that can lead to problems in too hot warehouses and can cause (or retrigger) urinal tract infections.
Drivers shit into plastic bags, because they do not have time to go to the bathroom (and are inofficially instructed to use that strategy with their instructions on the first days).
I is one thing to do that during a traffic jam or going into the woods when camping or in an emergency.
But if your employer - a rich company, the largest in the world - shows you how they do not give a shit about you.
And then there were the warehouses where they did not bother to have A/C (or to insulate them !) and it was more cost efficient for them to have the ambulance waiting outside, if people would collapse. (Only because in the U.S. there could be expensive lawsuits, if they could get away with it they would not mind having people die or be severely harmed because of dehydration. And there is a lot of pressure on workers NOT to drink enough because then they must go to the toilet more often - see quota problem, and a person that goes more often will be checked out by management.They have 10 hour shifts and 2 breaks, the toilets may be a longer walk away so they have to spend the short breaks with bathroom time.
Humans are expendable for them, I assume they must select for psychopaths in their management (or people that fall in line with that mindset) - for them human are accessories to their machines and robots.
@@paulsnyder4676 Maybe one could find them on etsy, that seems to be the more ethical online option, and people claim often also with better prices than on Amazon - only delivery takes longer. i would assume preppers and down to earth homemakers are not the "instant gratification crowd" - so they can deal with it if delivery takes a few days.
And if you run out of bags and would like to do the bagging today or tomorrow, and still do not want to use Amazon (which offers reasonable bulk prices and FAST delivery) that hack is a good workaround.
@@xyzsame4081 in the UK, which is all I know, there are many online providers such as Wilko, Lakeland (bit pricey) and also ordinary supermarkeys that can deliver, maybe not overnight, but if you are practicing preparedness, it should be natural to keep a stock of what you nedd!
Hi Jinne.....i spend so much money buying those special bags....and recently they are hard to find...now I can use my freezer bags......I love your channel...thank you......GOD bless.....stay well❤💐❤
The best tutorial I've seen on this subject. Well done. Thanks.
You are a GODSEND!!!
I purchased a new Sorbent Systems Snorkel vac last year, along with 1,000 smooth-sided bags. The Snorkel sat in the box past the return period and didn't work when I finally opened it.
So, I bought a Cabella sealer and discovered I couldn't use all those beautiful, SMOOTH bags with it -- UNTIL NOW!!!
Can't wait to try this!!!
I said today I need more freezer bags. I was stressed out because I hate paying for them. However I love my sealer. Divine intervention I found this. Thank you you're amazing
i have been doing the same stuff with my vacumn sealer as well this is a very good idea for storing food in your freezer or pantry
Thank you so much! My vacuum sealer I ordered came but my bags I ordered did not amazon reimbursed me but now I have an alternative😊
You explained it clearly but with effort for those who are starting to seal food. Thank you.
Thank you so much! I have seen this done before on other channels but didn't quite understand what they were doing. You explained it so nicely!
I so wish I could buy a Freeze Dryer! I'm a 70 year young lady on a fixed income and really can't afford one. I love freeze dried fruit 🍓! Today I did Vacuum Sealing with the Mason Electric 06. It worked great, every jar sealed. I have watched every one of your videos. Printed all the worksheets. I will be getting a green house for my Dining room and growing herbs and vegetables. I can't wait. I have always had a garden. Now I have a flower bed but I will hide some veggies in there.
As a 57 year old that purchased a very expensive freeze dryer (it was my dream item I wanted for years), don't buy one. I'm an avid researcher and the lack of specific instructions on how to freeze dry was ridiculous. It seems so magical, right? Pop in some food and the next day have instant bags and bags of yummy dried fruit to munch on. No one tells you what temp to use, for how long, or that there's more than one step with each having their own procedures. You end up spending hundreds of dollars on wasted food while testing because it ends up being spoiled/inedible. Oh, did I mention if you don't have an extra 220V outlet laying around, gotta pay an electrician. Don't do it unless you have a ton of disposable income and don't mind spending literal days wasting food.
This is great to know! I always have the storage/freezer bags around. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I learn so much from you. Thanks for being so awesome 👏
I just love creative people! Thanks for the info.
Suggested modification for ziplock freezer bags
1-leave ziplock in place and heat seal along edge
2-cut other end of bag and use as described in video (one vacuum bag could be cut to produce many venting strips)
3-when you need the contents just cut off the initial heat seal and you still have the use of the ziplock
4-could be repeated if enough plastic remains for another seal
Thoughts?
still too expensive, just buy the roll of vacuum sealer bags
Rain Country sells vacuum chambers on their Etsy store and with it you can vacuum seal any jar with a metal lid that precious contained pickles, sauerkraut, etc.. It is a God send and I use it to seal anything that I want to last a long time.
Thanks for the hint !
You did an excellent job of explaining how to do this!
If u have any left over vacuum seal bags, u can cut strips from those as well and throw those in the gallon freezer bags
WOW! Another one of your super powers (the other being vacuum sealing flour, etc by putting it in paper bags first)! Thank you for sharing this. I think I will use this the most when I have "planned overs" of chicken, hamburgers, even casseroles in the fridge for a few days. Will save on the Food Saver bags.
Thank you soo much! I love that you can use regular freezer bags in a pinch. I'll save my zippers.
I got a V2222 Foodsaver and it works, but continue to read .
On the V2222 the heater for the sealer is on the bottom of the machine and the top has only a rubber seal.
It only works when you put the rough side of the strips toward the top and stick those strips in far and let only a bit stick out,
Also on my machine , if I seal it twice on the same spot, the plastic will melt. I just seal it twice at 2 different areas.
Just for info , I used the 1 quart great value bags . they are about $3 for 70 bags.
Another way to do it is to used the embossed vacuum bag & cut horizontal strips of 1 inch wide & 3 inch in length. It does the same with normal bags. I did this when I ran out of embossed bags & only had one left.
Hi, after watching you and shopping around i just ordered the vacuum (and used your link), I'm excited. Trying not to freak out as all this unrest escalates. Love you, THANK!
Thanks. I have been looking at a vacuum sealer for a year, not sure what to do with it. Very helpful.
That's an amazing hack, OMG!!I have been going through boxes of Food SAVER rolls and they are expensive. Thank you so much for sharing this ❣❣
Thank you so so much for sharing i taught I wasted my money on my vacuum sealer an mylar bags but hear comes your advice that saves the Day AWERSOM !!!!🤗🤗🤗YOU SAVE MY TIME AN MONEY 💰 🤗🤗🤗🤗
This is great. Thank you so much for sharing this information. Just got a food save with extra bags; but good to know that I can use the freezer bags in a pinch.
It’s a lot of work but I did it and was very happy with results. Adding additional bags to food supply and noticed a lot of the bags had come unsealed or had air in them.
neat idea, I thought about trying it with coffee straws before. I normally buy my vacuum sealer rolls on amazon in bulk for cheap but if I ever run out I might do something similar.
Plastic is not a barrier to water vapor or oxygen. Only metalized or metal foil bags are appropriate for long term storage.
I give the content creator a big thumbs up for coming up with this concept. Hopefully the bag material proves good enough over time.
All plastics sheeting will allow oxygen to pass thru over time, it’s called permeability. Good vacuum bags are laminated sheets of various plastics even though it looks like a single sheet of plastic it’s really multiple sheets. The true test of this method is will this freezer bag material maintain the vacuum over time.
Excellent, the main cost in vac sealing has always been the bags, not the machines and this solves that problem.
I have put off buying a vac sealer because the refills would be kind of dear. Thank you for making it cost effective. Now, what else do know? 🤔
I got a mini food saver unit $130 and a cheap $40 full-size sealer both works. Used quart freezer bags. Thanks for the tip!
Now this is great information!
Always wanted a vacuum sealer, but didn't want to have to buy special bags. This is great to know, may buy one. Btw, these are the bags I always use. I prefer the freezer slider ones because they're thicker & don't leak...when you don't have a sealer.
You can also cut strips out of the textured side of the food saver bags. Good way to save and reuse food saver bags or the excess part of bags you have sealed. Cut the texture side into strips to use later.. I always do double seals incase one fails.
The food saver strips can be used to seal mylar bags with ypur food saver machine.
You can also use straws to take the air out.
Thank you for the information. I was long to seal up smaller bag.
This is a blessing... Money saver.
It’s working! You are so smart!!! . I really learned something!
What brand is your Sealing Machine that this worked on if you don’t mind me asking pls?
Nice job Jinnie. I would never have thought of this. I used to live in Maine. Loved it. Miss the north.
Have you ever cut the bottom of the freezer bag off and then sealed that end (leaving the 'zipper' part in tact)?
Wonder if you could use those tiny plastic coffee stirring sticks if you cut the other end like that? Much love and Blessings
@Joshua N. I will try soon as I get some of those little coffee straws.
@@brendachapman4559 someone in some group I'm in said that's what they use the little coffee stir sticks. I've never seen anyone talk about using the other end of the bag. That would be interesting.
I don’t think the zipper is air proof to allow a vacuum seal.
@@vickigrice4663 you could heat seal the top edge of the zipper flap to protect against possible air leak and still leave the zipper functional
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
I was sealing food and ran out of the bags. Went to the store and lo and behold just like jar lids, they were out of replacement bags. So I haven't been able to continue until they get more in and I'm there while they are still on the shelf
Great information, thank you.
Wondering why you didn't just add another bag of beans instead of cutting the large bag down?
This is such a great video. I love this! Oh and the fact you just put the bag of beans in is so great because that is added protection and less fuss. Ty for figuring this out and sharing!
Great idea! I just tuck the bags over into the "ditch" section and let 'er go! Blessings to you and your family!
Thank you for sharing different options, that's fantastic God bless you and your family
How funny, the add before the video was reusable bags!
I know
Funny when that happens although YT gets it wrong sometimes ie I was watching a vegan cooking piece but the add was for farm fresh meat. Lol...good thing I'm not precious.
Nice video. Thx. U have your act together. Before using a bag to vacuum packing I suggest taking a sample bag, filling it fairly full of water, and let it sit a day on dry Kleenex or other paper. Typically food bags in a box are made of low density polyethylene, LDPE, and will ever so slowly leak. Pretty sure that true vacuum bags area made of is high density polyethylene, HDPE. Save HDPE bags u find. Thx again. I learned a lot.
Brilliant! I have a Food Saver and haven't used it (seriously, maybe once) since I bought it. The bags are quite expensive, imo, and we try to store in glass when we can. Thank you for sharing this tip! Now I'll have to start collecting the strips from the bags used for random projects (sorting items for the kids, dry goods in the pantry, etc), for use with the zipper bags to use those up. I'm so glad to see that the store brand works so well!
Have you done this enough to know if the seal lasts a significant amount of time?
I use my Food Saver for freezing meat. I buy the family package of HB at Sam's and freeze it in 1 lb packages. I love my Food Saver!
I don't know whether or not there's a difference between the quality of the final seal but we use a "snorkel" style vacuum sealer which does not care whether the freezer bag is textured or smooth.
In operation, it extends a snorkel into the bag, then, after the appropriate amount of vacuum time, the snorkel withdraws as the sealing heater commences.
We have bags sealed over a decade ago which are still rock solid.