WOOT! After researching and taking notes for six months I finally pulled the trigger on a new vacuum sealer. And NOOOOOO, it ain't no foodsaver! As you all probably know I'm a chef by trade and an all-around kitchen geek. Clamp style sealers are very inexpensive and do a good job on many things but don't work so well to seal liquids. And since I do a lot of sous vide cooking I like to be able to cook in a liquid. This requires a chamber vacuum sealer.

Enter the VacMaster VP215! It's a chamber vac with a rotary oil pump. It pulls almost 30" of vacuum! Here's a few pics!






Here's one of the main reasons I bought it over other similar machines: The ability to seal retort pouches!




You may think you don't know what a "retort pouch" is, but you may have one in your pantry right now. They're the pouches you buy your tuna in. They were developed for the military for MREs.

With this machine I can now easily seal liquids like chili, marinara sauce, gravy, soup, etc. And the retort pouches will let me can stuff in "flexible cans" that are just like a Ball Jar but not breakable.

Now, that might be interesting to you here's the REAL DEAL reason to have this for survival stuff:






This is a couple shots of the first retort pouches I sealed- filled with fire gear! Again, these are very, very thick pouches constructed with three layers, the middle being made of mylar. These don't break, rupture or leak easily. The VP215 has a double-wire seal bar, creating two seals to ensure the integrity of the pouch.

Two the pouches I sealed contain four Weber grill lighter tables each. Those of us who've used the Weber and WetFire products have concluded that if they're not identical then at least the difference isn't worth talking about. One fatal flaw of both products is that exposure to air kills them quickly (between 1 week and 1 month, depending on conditions). The flimsy packaging of WetFire can be a real problem if you rely on it.

But a retort pouch isn't at all flimsy. They were designed to keep food edible for years in every conceivable climate and situation. I will track these to verify but you've gotta see them to believe them! They're very thick and really tough.

The bonus- my mom has been canning since she was a little girl, almost 60 years. I can use a pressure canner to make my own homemade MREs, shelf stable but with recognizable food in them! I can control the sodium and additives, creating what I want to eat...did I mention I'm a chef and science geek?

Retort pouches are available with capacities from 2 oz to 16 oz, so you have a lot of options for using them.

I'll keep you all posted as I explore the possibilities of this machine.

Anyhoo, just though you guys might dig this. It was expensive, almost a $1,000 USD, but well worth it to me.