[frugalfranny]

For the people that have Food Savers........

Have you used the containers that you can buy for it?
Any problems with them? Do they last?

I am thinking about slowly buying more of the containers that are made to use with it and would like to know if they hold up---are sturdy and if you have had any problems with them breaking/cracking/etc. after being in the freezer.

They aren't cheap ---but over the long haul-- because they would be re-usable I would think that they would be cheaper than the rolls you have to buy for it.

TIA---------any help/advice appreciated!!

 

[craftypam]

I wanted to buy more of them to put them into the freezer instead of buying the expensive bags. When I read the boxes that they come in at the store; nowhere does it say that you can put them in the freezer. You can buy an attachment at bed, bath & beyond and you can use canning jars with the foodsaver. I'm not sure how well those freeze either.

 

[2ndGenGranola]

I have 2 of the containers and I love using them. I have had them something like 5 years I guess. Never tried them in the freezer though.

 

[savvy_sniper]

The Foodsaver canisters do NOT go in the freezer. I freeze my various flours prior to putting them in the canisters. I have only had my canisters for 6-9 months - so far so good. I wash all of mine by hand and allow to air dry.

 

[frugalfranny]

Oh crumb........then if they can't go in the freezer I don't want that many of them............I have other things that work in the refer.

boy! the 'bag rolls' are expensive.......and I NEVER see them on sale.

 

[Grainlady]

I've used canisters for over 20 years, but they CAN fail. I've had several of them crack over the years. My favorite use for canisters is to store lettuce in, especially when I have leaf lettuce out of the garden. It keeps SOOOOO much longer. So do fresh strawberries.

As the others mentioned, the canisters aren't used in the freezer, but they are great for refrigerator/pantry use. I keep ground coffee in a canister because it's not used very often.

You will also find Universal Lids available, which will make nearly any container into a canister. FoodSaver®

Food I store in canning jars I vacuum seal with canning lids and the FoodSaver jar sealer. When I move the jars from storage to the kitchen and will need to get in-and-out of the jar frequently, I'll put a Universal Lid on it.

I'm strictly a bag person for the freezer. The cost is worth it compared to the price of wasted food. You can find a less expensive generic brand at Wal-Mart. They aren't as thick, but still work well for many things.

Did you check the FoodSaver web site? I just got an e-mail the other day from them for on-line purchases. It was 20 or 25% off.

Years ago I found a great buy on bags at a salvage store and I bought a LARGE supply of bags and am still using them.

In the freezer, have 3 plastic baskets with foods "filed" in them. I can pull out the veggie/fruit basket and flip through it for frozen peas, green beans, etc... All meat are vacuum-sealed in bags. I quick-freeze soup/stew/chili in 1-cup plastic containers. When completely frozen, I take them out of the freezer, pop the soup "bricks" out of the containers, so I can use the storage containers for something else. Stack the soup "bricks" in a plastic FoodSaver bag and vacuum seal. I also freeze quick-frozen dollops of mashed potatoes and seal them in a FoodSaver bag. I only make mashed potatoes a few times a year (usually when I find buy one bag - get one free) and freeze them. Now I can take out one or more servings, as needed.

 

[savvy_sniper]

Like grainlady said, sign up to get emails on the foodsaver website and you will receive discount notifications from time to time. Between the regular quantity discounts on the rolls on the site, the discounts in the email and free shipping on orders over $100 you can save close to 50%.

 

[RaineyDaye]

I've used Foodsaver canisters for about 6 months and haven't had any problems. I find that the most useful Foodsaver accessory is the wide mouth lid attachment to vacuum seal mason jars. I also use the largest canister to vacuum seal and reuse glass jars that have metal lids, such as pasta sauce, pickles, etc. You can put your food in the jar, put the lid on tight, and put the whole thing inside the largest canister. Then you vacuum seal the Foodsaver canister, and the Foodsaver sucks the air out of the glass jar inside the canister, too. Then you remove the jar from the canister and the little dimple in the metal lid is concave, indicating the air is out of jar. You might be able to put these glass jars in the freezer, but I've never tried it as my freezer is the top part of my refrigerator and I'm sure a glass jar would fall out and break.

 

[frugalfranny]

Thanks everyone for the help.

I am SOOOOOOO glad I asked first as I was just about to go out and buy a bunch!!

So glad I found out about the freezer thing --BEFORE I went out and bought a bunch. Could still use some for my dehydrated stuff though........just don't want a BUNCH.

I sure will be going to their website to sign up too........will take any coupons.

As for the jars in the freezer............UM....no, I don't do any sort of glass in the freezer. I am sure I would just break it----been there, done that. Only takes one time of breaking a jar and cleaning up jam for me to learn THAT lesson!

 

[cheles2kids]

I see I'm late in replying but thought I'd add that I also do not use the containers, I use mason jars soley with my FoodSaver.

I have wide mouth quarts, pints & 1/2 gallons that I store all of my kitchen 'staples' in.
I keep them sitting out on my kitchen counter. I love using them this way, because they're easily washed & I can quickly see what is in each container as well.

I seal my wide mouth jars with the attachment but I also have 1 very large FoodSaver container (can't rem. the size right off, but it's the largest container they sell) that I can set smaller/odd sized jars in to seal as well.

The cheapest place I've found the FoodSaver bags are on Ebay, I'll see if I can find the sellers name and will come back and post it later.
He buys in bulk because he runs a meat processing company and sells them as kind of a side business.
You can buy the premade bags or the rolls of either 50 or 100 feet and then just cut and seal them the size you need, which is the way we do it.

 

[frugalfranny]

I did go to the website today. Thanks for all the info about it.

Also got on ebay to check out some prices.

Don't think I am too hot on the containers anymore....so back to the bags.