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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2016 00:33
by Butterbean
Bob, I love your shelving. If you don't mind my asking, where'd you pick them up at?

Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2016 00:51
by Bob K
I got them at Ikea : http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70022763/

They even have the flat SS hooks.

Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2016 19:06
by Rich
First Impressions of the Vacmaster VP 215. Heavy ! Operation of the machine is easy, almost intuitive. It arrived without any visible damage to the box, I added oil per the instructions and away I went. Oil, a replacement heat bar strip, a phillips head screw driver, a silver metal band, 75 (3 mil) bags in assorted sizes, and a couple of other parts were with the unit. I've had one bag failure and I suspect that it was operator error. One thing I notice immediately was that the pressure gauge is not working correctly. I called the folks at Vacmaster, got a person and was transferred to Tech support. They walked me through a possible fix which seemed to work initially, but alas, did not fix the problem. Vacmaster Tech Support said they will send a new gauge which he said was not hard to install...beats sending that heavy beast back !! I ordered 4 mil bags which were about $.08 per bag, I thought that was reasonable for a good heavy duty bag. So far so good, would definitely recommend the machine.

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2016 21:33
by Bob K
Bummer on the gauge Rich! Did you get the unit direct from Vacmaster?

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2016 01:46
by Butterbean
Rich wrote:RedZed, I'm back like a bad penny ! I pulled the trigger and bought a VP215 chamber vacuum machine...any suggestions on the vacuum time/seal time/cool time...you mentioned you thought that may have been an issue on a different batch ?

Still here, and Still Learnin' :mrgreen:

cheers,

Rich
Sorry I missed this Rich.

I've concluded that the reason the casings pulled off the meat wasn't due to the vacuum but the meat drying further than the limit of what the casing could shrink. Those with made with binders were thicker and had no issues. I think using a binder in the small collagen casings is a wise move since the added moisture will aid in the stuffing of these things. If not used, be sure not to add too much liquid to aid in the stuffing.

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2016 05:59
by Rich
Bob K, Nope, got the unit from a vendor, don't know if I'm allowed to name the vendor on this forum but I would recommend them... called vacmaster direct and they were a pleasure to deal with, spoke on Friday, the fix the tech support guy recommended did't take, called Monday morning, bada boom bada bing, new gauge on the way...was nice to call a company and speak with a person !

Butterbean, no worries...i experimented a bit, tried a binder for the first time and liked the results, tried it on a smoke sausage and will try it on my next batch of snack sticks...thank you for the input on the casing shrinkage vs the possibility of too much vacuum...

cheers,

Rich

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2016 16:51
by Bob K
Feel free to name vendors Rich. For bags I use the http://www.webstaurantstore.com/ good selection and prices

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2016 17:41
by Rich
Bob K,

I also used http://www.webstaurantstore.com/ as the vendor...best price i found that included free shipping.

Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 05:42
by Rich
new gauge arrived, installed in less than 5 minutes...working like a champ...

cheers,

Rich

Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 14:56
by Bob K
Well that sure beat sending it back! Also good to know they have qualified techs available via phone and more repair parts than the usual consumer replacement parts.

Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 06:51
by Rich
Bob K,

I was/am very happy with the company...and yes, doing the fix myself was much better than boxing that thing up and sending it back...still working like a champ...

Cheers,

Rich

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 21:14
by Bob K
For those with chamber machines-

You can vac seal mason jars by putting on lid and screw top loosely. Great for dried herbs like chives that you do not want crushed, or pickles and kraut stored in fridge and with no 0² longer storage time.

In the VP215 up to pint size can stand upright.

Re: Using Vacmaster Chamber Machine

Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2019 00:46
by udaman
hi , i just got a vacmaster vp 215, where is a good
place to buy bags?
i've looked here and can't find a thread that talks about this.
there seems to be a lot of differance
in pricing on the web.
thx
hope i'm posting this here correctly

Re: Using Vacmaster Chamber Machine

Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2019 13:05
by Bob K
If you can use US vendors...For bags I use the https://www.webstaurantstore.com/search ... -bags.html good selection and prices

Re: Using Vacmaster Chamber Machine

Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2019 15:32
by udaman
thank you i will look at their site.
i really like the sealer , works a lot
better then my old bag sealer.