Re:VacMouseketeers POST HERE!!!!

[Shane Teasley]

Newbie here and I mean absolute newbie as my first time using drybags was this test. I’ve looked into the product for a couple of years and to be honest purchasing the sealer had been keeping me from trying drybags as I have a FS professional II.. I was contemplating drybags again and perusing the forum the day the call went out for volunteers so I jumped on it and I’m a little late to the party getting started on my test but I have jumped in head first.

I won’t be able to post pics till tomorrow but I started Wed night with a strip loin from Sams. I first tried playing around a little experimenting with one bag testing the vacuum override and various sealing numbers to glean how drybags would behave compared to FS bags. I tried a full piece of the vacmouse material as well as trimmed it down as per one of the above posters. Once my confidence was gained I tried and my first attempt I couldn’t get a good vacuum but with a little adjusting I was able to obtain what I thought was a decent vacuum and seal. I went ahead and sealed once more above the original seal and thought this wasn’t too bad. I admittedly read through a bunch of posts and gained others insights to tricks such as panty hose, massaging the air, etc. My foodsaver has the vacuum override as I mentioned and without that I wouldn’t have been successful IMO. I’ve seen reference to the dry/moist setting in other posts and without the override I may have been able to do this with a machine that offers those settings but absent either I don’t think I could do this. Maybe others can and do but I don’t see me being able to be able to use drybags on a FS without those type settings.

Ok, now before I continue and since this is my first attempt and I don’t want to hijack this thread I do have several questions/concerns and would have them even if I was using the snorkel sealer. If I need to post elsewhere I will but my main concern is how well of a bond I was able to achieve since I have no frame of reference. I’ve looked at some pictures posted here and I see some wrinkles or ridges in the bags in some and I have some as well. I really don’t know if it’s bonding properly or what to expect. Yesterday there was a slight bump I noticed on part where it wasn’t snug. This was on the top and I decided to flip the meat over thinking its still early in the process and by flipping the weight of the meat will now cause the bonding to happen on that side. I have a small fan that I’m running near the meat and it’s sitting on a slightly raised wire rack on the bottom of the fridge. The other concern was just how much space does it need? I realize more is better but what is the minimum amount? I took out the bottom drawer and shelf and have it placed there. I’m going tomorrow to get another rack as this one is raised about an inch and I have about an inch or so on each side of the primal and about 4 inches to spare above it. I think with the fan the airflow is good but giving serious consideration to moving it up on a midshelf, the rest of the fridge be damned. Later on I will have access to a completely empty full size fridge and I plan on doing several at a time but for now this is what I have.
Like I said I will not have pics till later but any advice is appreciated.