Reynolds handi-vac
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It's on my x-mas list for my daughter to get me.
rdwj
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What do those run?
IowaStateFan
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$10 for the base unit that includes a couple (3?) quart size bags at Walmart. I bought a couple of boxes of bags (1 ea gal and quart) for $3/ea. Can't tell you how many bags were in a box but it wasn't very many.
rdwj
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That seems pretty reasonable. I need to do something with all these hops I have in the fridge
Beerthoven
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I bought one of these the other day at Kroger's for $10. Took it home and zipped up a bunch of hops. It worked great.
I think it will work best for small items that can fit in quart or gallon sized bags. It would be really tedious to use this on 55# of grain, for example.
I think it will work best for small items that can fit in quart or gallon sized bags. It would be really tedious to use this on 55# of grain, for example.
Soulive
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I've never seen this before. Looks like I'll have to pick one up for hops. Nice find...
Funkenjaeger
Well-Known Member
Some more info, opinions, etc in this older thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=43680&highlight=reynolds
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=43680&highlight=reynolds
Believe it's 14 per box for quart, and 9 per box for gallon.IowaStateFan said:
A word of warning...
I bought one, and it's OK - but a decent number of the bags I've used haven't held their seal for very long. Now, I'm an idiot, but I'm smart enough to use a vacuum sealer, and there were several bags that no matter how many times I tried, they wouldn't work. I mean, I'd suck out the air, they'd be closed, they'd look perfect, but by the next day (or even within a few minutes), the vacuum was gone and there was air in the bags.
I do have some steaks frozen in the bags (different bags, natch), and for that this seems ideal - since as the meat freezes, the bag conforms directly to it; there's no way for air to enter. For hops, it's been very hit or miss.
I bought one, and it's OK - but a decent number of the bags I've used haven't held their seal for very long. Now, I'm an idiot, but I'm smart enough to use a vacuum sealer, and there were several bags that no matter how many times I tried, they wouldn't work. I mean, I'd suck out the air, they'd be closed, they'd look perfect, but by the next day (or even within a few minutes), the vacuum was gone and there was air in the bags.
I do have some steaks frozen in the bags (different bags, natch), and for that this seems ideal - since as the meat freezes, the bag conforms directly to it; there's no way for air to enter. For hops, it's been very hit or miss.
Bernie Brewer
Grouchy Old Fart
the_bird said:
Yeah, exact same scenario here.
Brewing Clamper
Well-Known Member
the_bird said:
This is what I was afraid of. I have to return my FoodSaver because it stopped sucking (too bad you can't do that with the SWMBO!) and I thought about replacing it with this thing. I think I'll stick with the foodsaver.
Beerthoven
Well-Known Member
the_bird said:
This hasn't happened to me yet, but I've only used two bags. I can see how it could easily happen, though, if the zip-seal isn't closed just right.
Beerthoven said:
It's not even that; I mean, trying the same bag a good ten or fifteen times, there's no damage to the bag evident.... you figure I'll get a good seal ONE of those times, right?
Again, I think it's a good product for "wet" goods like meat; for hops, not so much.
Beerthoven
Well-Known Member
the_bird said:
For $10 ... I guess we get what we pay for, eh.
I like mine so far, but I do check the bags in the freezer every so often just to be sure.
Funkenjaeger
Well-Known Member
I simply won't buy an expensive vacuum sealer, at least not at this time - I just don't have the spare cash, or the space to store it, or the need for it for other uses - so for me it's a choice between using the reynolds handi-vac or just using plain freezer bags, therefore it's no contest. I plan to keep an eye out for leaky bags, and will throw away any that refuse to seal reliably.
So, among the bags that CAN be sealed properly, when they're opened and re-sealed, to they reliably seal each time or does it take a few tries sometimes? I'm just wondering if the leaky bags issue is more of a problem of getting a few "bad" bags while the rest are pretty much good. If that's the case then you should be able to just toss (or re-purpose for meat, etc) bags that don't seal well, and just keep a stock of ones that are known to seal correctly. I've noticed that among regular freezer bags I've used in the past, the quality control isn't great - most are watertight but a fair number of them leak, so it wouldn't be that surprising if a moderate percentage of these vacuum seal bags are also leaky due to defects. It'd be a hassle to have to have to test your bags to weed out leaky ones, but in my case it's still better than the alternative.
So, among the bags that CAN be sealed properly, when they're opened and re-sealed, to they reliably seal each time or does it take a few tries sometimes? I'm just wondering if the leaky bags issue is more of a problem of getting a few "bad" bags while the rest are pretty much good. If that's the case then you should be able to just toss (or re-purpose for meat, etc) bags that don't seal well, and just keep a stock of ones that are known to seal correctly. I've noticed that among regular freezer bags I've used in the past, the quality control isn't great - most are watertight but a fair number of them leak, so it wouldn't be that surprising if a moderate percentage of these vacuum seal bags are also leaky due to defects. It'd be a hassle to have to have to test your bags to weed out leaky ones, but in my case it's still better than the alternative.
SuperiorBrew
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the_bird said:
+1
almost half of mine that i put hops in and all of the ones i put coffee beans in let go after 12 hours or so. Will have to use it for stuff i plan to freeze i think
Beerthoven
Well-Known Member
the_bird said:
Its happened to me now. Both of the bags I have hops frozen in lost their seal after about 2 weeks. I re-vacuumed them and they lost their seal again within a few hours.
I'm going to try putting some tape over the gasket to see if that helps.
ohiobrewtus
Well-Known Member
Odd, all of the hops that I bagged up using mine are still sealed after 2 months.
I don't know if I'm onto something or not, but I've vaccum seal regular zip locks by closing the zipper almost all the way but leaving a drinking straw right at the edge. Put it on the counter, suck on the straw, then remove the straw and seal the zipper in one quick motion. It's not perfect, but I bet there's only a fraction of the original air in there.
That probably works just about as well as the Handi-Vac.
I'm still using it, just not for hops; it's for freezing meat only (which it seems to be doing a good job of, BTW).
rdwj
Well-Known Member
*sigh* I actually had a food saver in the cart the other day and was sort of shamed into putting it back.
Beerthoven
Well-Known Member
From the Troubleshooting section of the Reynolds Handi-Vac Website:
Vacuum Freezer Bag takes longer than 20 seconds to tighten around food, or loosens after air is removed:
1. Food particles are trapped in Zipper. Try another Bag if particles can not be removed completely.
2. Zipper not completely sealed. Open Bag and reclose Zipper. Run fingers across entire Zipper to ensure it's completely closed.
3. Air Valve has not closed. Remove air from Bag again. Immediately press center of Air Valve with finger to ensure seal.
(Not much help, but there it is.)
Vacuum Freezer Bag takes longer than 20 seconds to tighten around food, or loosens after air is removed:
1. Food particles are trapped in Zipper. Try another Bag if particles can not be removed completely.
2. Zipper not completely sealed. Open Bag and reclose Zipper. Run fingers across entire Zipper to ensure it's completely closed.
3. Air Valve has not closed. Remove air from Bag again. Immediately press center of Air Valve with finger to ensure seal.
(Not much help, but there it is.)
I'll have to try #3, although it's odd that the bag SEEMS to work for a while, but then fails (either after an hour or two weeks). In any case, if you can't trust them for long-term storage.....
I've tried this by holding the valve after all the air is sucked out, but it still didn't work for me. Hopefully others will have better luck.Beerthoven said:
I consider this my penance for being impressionable and buying things on impulse. Which is why I'm staying out of kegging threads
Funkenjaeger
Well-Known Member
I wonder if a light coat of keg lube on the zipper would help. That seems like a very likely place for it to leak.
I'd test it, but none of the three bags I got with the starter kit have showed signs of leakage - though from the sounds of it I imagine it'll happen sooner or later once I get some more bags.
I'd test it, but none of the three bags I got with the starter kit have showed signs of leakage - though from the sounds of it I imagine it'll happen sooner or later once I get some more bags.
You guys scared the C@#$P out of me.
I ran home to check on my precious, expensive hops that I bagged with the Reynolds Handi Vac a couple weeks ago. I had about 10 small and large bags in the freezer. All were still intact, holding vacuum.
I ran home to check on my precious, expensive hops that I bagged with the Reynolds Handi Vac a couple weeks ago. I had about 10 small and large bags in the freezer. All were still intact, holding vacuum.
Kevin Dean
Well-Known Member
The only thing I've had a problem sealing with that thing is the DME... it doesn't work.
Hops and oranges (SWMBO likes Blue Moon with orange) stay sealed for quite a while.
Hops and oranges (SWMBO likes Blue Moon with orange) stay sealed for quite a while.
IowaStateFan
Well-Known Member
Kevin Dean said:The only thing I've had a problem sealing with that thing is the DME... it doesn't work.
DME (and Corn Sugar) won't stay sealed for me either. Hops seem fine and I sealed some brown sugar without any problem. Wonder if the DME is too fine and gets sucked into the seal around the vacuum hole so that it won't seal tight?
IowaStateFan said:
I don't have the reynolds gadget, got a food saver. My DME, I just put it into a plastic bag, push the air out of it and fold it over, then place that into the foodsaver bag and vacuum seal that. I'm sure that I'm not getting all the air out, but I've opened and sealed it numerous times and it's still a powder, not that big block that I used to get here in humid south florida when it was just sealed in a ziplock.
Allan
Doc Thirst
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IowaStateFan said:
Exactly
I picked up one of these and had the mystery leak that lots of folks are talking about here. I started to compare the bags that sealed with those that lost their seal and it didn't take long for me to figure out what has happening. The dust from the hop pellets was getting sucked into the little seal area. I couldn't repair the issue, but doing a double bag cured the problem. I found that if you leave the dust behind, or don't fill the bag past half you are in pretty good shape as well. Look closely at your failed seals and I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts you will notice a bit of hop dust in the seal.
Doc Thirst
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For sure, let me know, its been 100% for me...no seal, small ring of dust around the the circle. I'm racking my brain now thinking of what might cause the same behavior with jerky.
SuperiorBrew
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I have a hard time getting mine to suck the air out of the bags at all now, when you put it on your hand it seems to suck the same as it always did but when you lay it on a bag you have to wiggle it around for a minute to get it to start and even then it dosnt go as fast or as hard as it did before.
Doc Thirst
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SuperiorBrew said:
I noticed there is a slight delay before it really starts doing its thing. I'm speculating, but I'd imagine it first breaks the adhesive seal around the hole (causing delay), sucks out the air, then, after the vacuum is removed, reseals(unless the adhesive has been compromised i.e. hop dust).
Tonight I'm going to take one of the non-sealing bags and suck out all the air, then sick a piece of tap over the hole. I predict this will stop the leakage, or at least slow it considerably. I really don't think the issue is with the zip-lock.
SuperiorBrew
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yea I have noticed that when we used it for coffee beans it worked progressivly worse each time the bag was opened, maybe chaff or oil gets in the ziplock part of the sucker hole start to weaken.
