How to choose a device for vacuum packaging of products: description of models. Vacuum packing machine

Vacuum-sealed products last longer than usual, and hiking conditions this can be a great help, especially if there are no grocery stores along the way. Naturally, not all products can be vacuum sealed. But knowing their list and having built several similar jars, you can easily store your rations in such a package, while sealing it in a similar way anywhere and at any time. How to make vacuum packaging with your own hands will be discussed further in detailed master class with photo.

Materials

To work you will need:

• glass jar with a tight-fitting lid;
• transparent plastic tube;
• small T-shaped air valve – 1 pc.;
• check valve- 2 pcs.;
• large syringe;
• drill;
• scissors.

You can purchase the tube and valves at a pet store. It is important that they match each other in diameter.

Step 1. Cut plastic straw into four pieces 5 cm long.

Step 2. Cut the end of one of the tubes at an angle.

Step 3. Place the remaining three pieces of straw onto the T-valve.

Step 4. Take the check valve and examine it carefully. You will see that for correct use it is marked. With the side labeled “in” or “in,” attach it to one of the T-valve tubes.

Step 5. To the second valve tube you need to attach a large plastic syringe without a needle. The design, in the end, should look like in the photo.

Step 6. Drill a hole in the lid of the jar exactly in the center. Its diameter should be half that of your existing plastic tube. This is necessary for a tight fit of the parts.

Step 7. Use the sharp cut end to insert the tube into the hole in the lid.

Step 8. Connect the second check valve with the inlet end to the tube in the lid, and the second end to the third tube on the valve.

The design for vacuum packaging is ready. To vacuum seal a product, you need to place it in a jar and use a syringe to suck the air out of it.

Kirill Sysoev

Calloused hands never get bored!

Content

To extend the shelf life of products and improve their quality, we use different technologies. One of them is progressive and simple - vacuumization. Meat, fish, vegetables are sealed in tight package, are removed from it maximum amount air, thereby preventing the proliferation of microorganisms. Invented for this purpose special device, a vacuum sealer that will be yours faithful assistant and an expert on freshness and consistent quality of stored products.

What is a vacuum sealer

For the life of bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms, they need favorable conditions, the important ones being heat and the presence of oxygen. With the advent of the refrigerator, people increased the shelf life of food. Cooling and freezing help keep meat, fish, and vegetables in a safe state for health. The use of vacuum technology helps not only to protect food supplies from spoilage, but also to preserve their microelements and vitamins. Prepared food is perfectly preserved in a vacuum. You can take it with you on the road without fear of poisoning.

Frozen foods, when stored for a long time, destroy their original structure. This problem is easily solved by a vacuum food packaging machine. Freeze foods that are pre-packaged in vacuum bags. This way the food will be preserved ideal conditions, and after defrosting it will delight you with delicious appearance, pristine taste, a full range of vitamins. To do this, you need to buy a machine for vacuum packaging of products. Its cost is more than compensated by the preserved food, which you won’t have to throw away.

Domestic

Compact vacuum packaging machine for home can be horizontal or vertical (the second takes less space in the kitchen). The household vacuumizer is equipped with a nozzle, a sealing tape, an electric pump, and a warning system that supplies light and sound signals. Place the food in a special bag, position the packaging according to the user instructions so that the nozzle is inside the container. Turn on the pump and wait for the signal indicating that the evacuation is complete. Press the button that turns on the seal.

Depending on the class, price, manufacturer, vacuum sealers used at home may have minimal or advanced functionality. More expensive models have several packaging modes. They are able to vacuum soft, delicate, fragile fruits, vegetables, and ready-made dishes without damaging them. Some models come with marinating containers. In a vacuum this the process is underway faster and you can cook meat or fish for the grill in 10-15 minutes.

How can a vacuum packaging machine be used at home? Sliced ​​meats, vegetables, and fruits are perfectly preserved without air. This packaging is convenient and safe to take with you to work, for a walk, or even on a hike. Pack sliced ​​sausage, cheese, meat along with the plate. When guests arrive, serving the treat will take a few seconds, and the cutting will not dry out or become chapped. With the help of vacuum sealers you can prepare dishes at low temperatures using Sous Vide technology for healthy eating.

Industrial

Unlike household tubeless packers, an industrial vacuum sealer for products is a solid unit. Of course, it is designed for much larger volumes of packaging raw materials, semi-finished products and ready-made dishes. Food packaged in a bag, subjected to vacuum, is placed in the chamber, the edge of the container is located on heating element, where the sealing line will be located. When you close the lid and press the “start” button, the packaging process begins automatically.

In the kitchen or at home, such a packer will look ridiculous. Its place is in manufacturing, fast food enterprises, kitchens of supermarkets, cafes, restaurants. It does an excellent job of increasing the shelf life of products different types, and with packaging, giving a marketable appearance to semi-finished products and ready-made dishes for sale. The complete set of industrial vacuum degassers often includes spare rubber seals, oil necessary for servicing the device, special inserts that reduce the size of the chamber if necessary.

Buy a vacuum sealer

Vacuum storage of food helps to save money, as it increases the shelf life of products and improves their taste. A review of popular models of packers, their advantages and disadvantages, will help you buy a vacuum sealer that will fully meet your requirements. You can purchase most of the models discussed in online stores that sell home appliances. In Moscow, St. Petersburg and others major cities Russian packers are widely represented in the stores of Eldorado, Technosila, Technopark and others.

Oberhof

- advanced model of vacuum degasser with interesting design. Oberhof is a European brand of German origin. This means that the build quality of the vacuumizer is beyond praise.

• Model name - Oberhof Leere T-15
• Characteristics - Operates from a 220V network, power - 110 W, vacuum created (maximum) - 0.8 bar, “Auto/Stop” function - the vacuum cleaner itself will pump out the air and seal the bag, “Stop” function - the ability to stop the vacuumizer at any time.
• Pros

The main features make it most interesting:

1. The function of pumping air not only from bags, but also from vacuum containers; for this, the kit includes 2 special hoses for different container valves. This is rare; usually vacuum sealers are always designed for one type of vacuum container and cannot work with another. At the same time, there are two most popular types of container valves on the market.
2. 2 modes to choose from, dry and wet, with dry everything is clear, but wet allows you to vacuum food with liquid, you can even pack meat with marinade, etc. Not all vacuum sealers are capable of handling wet products.
3. 2 pressure levels: high and low, with low pressure you can pack even the most fragile products without damage.
4. Great for sous vide cooking.
5. Compact size, will not take up much space in the kitchen (360x150x76 mm).
6. The kit includes a special stopper for vacuuming bottles. For example, you can vacuum open bottles of wine to preserve taste and aroma.
7. Increased strength of the sealing seam of bags and rolls.
8. Original design with a beautiful grooved lid.

• Cons: not identified

Redmond

This popular brand offers two models of machines for vacuum packaging of products in the home.

• Model name – REDMOND RVS-M020.
• Price – 4900 rubles.
• Characteristics – vacuum sealing machine with a power of 250 W. Case material – high-quality plastic with stainless steel elements, touch control buttons, LED indicator. The seam is 2.5 mm thick.
• Pros – Programs for hard and soft products, two types of packages included.
• Cons: there is no way to vacuum containers.

The second model of the Redmond packer has expanded functionality and is more expensive.

• Model name – REDMOND RVS-M021.
• Price – 8900 rubles.
• Characteristics – A model similar to the previous one, works with vacuum containers and bags.
• Pros – There are three containers and a tube for vacuuming them.
• Not found.

Caso

German company created as official distributor several European brands, since 2003 it has been producing kitchen appliances under its own name. Caso vacuum cleaners are in great demand in Germany and other European countries.

• Model name – CASO VC 10.
• Price – 4500 rubles.
• Characteristics – electronic vacuum packer with a power of 110 W. Works with bags up to 28 cm wide. Has a vacuum stop button for delicate products.
• Pros - You can use roll film, there is a sealing function without vacuum.
• Cons – There are none. An excellent packer for this price category.

This Caso model is more powerful, more functional, and more expensive. An excellent vacuum cleaner for those who choose the best.

• Model name – CASO VC 150.
• Price – 12800 rubles
• Characteristics – powerful packer (120 W), equipped with an electronic seam quality controller. Has a choice of welding modes for dry and wet products. There is a hose for working with vacuum containers.
• Pros - forms a double welding seam, compact, with a compartment for storing the cord.
• Cons – the packer is expensive, but the quality fully justifies the price.

Henkelman

For business owners, the Henkelman company produces professional vacuum sealers. Below are reviews of two popular units.

• Model name – Henkelman MINI ECO
• Price – 70200
• Features – This is an industrial packer. Machine width 340 cm, length – 515 cm, height – 315. Power consumption 40 W. Forms a double seam.
• Pros - Low level operating noise. Very simple controls. For industrial equipment It's not expensive.
• No cons

The professional model Henkelman Jumbo 42 is the leader in popularity. It is compact, reliable, beautiful. An excellent assistant in small food production.

• Model name – Henkelman Jumbo 42
• Price – 205,000 rubles.
• Features – Stainless steel packer with low voltage control system. Has a high electrical protection class. Liquid is discharged from the pump automatically.
• Pros - modern design, reliability and safety. High performance. Solders a strong, high-quality seam.
• Cons – branded packer, it’s perfect.

Zigmund Shtain

Among kitchen appliances, which the German company Sigmund Stein specializes in, pays special attention to packers. The sealed vacuum bags produced by this brand's home appliance look professional and preserve food perfectly.

• Model name – Zigmund & Shtain Kuchen-Profi VS-505.
• Price – 8400 rubles.
• Specifications – black and gray household sealer, suction speed 12 liters per minute, power 170 W.
• Pros: The film container is located inside the case, which is very convenient. Stylish, beautiful device. Vacuum containers included.
• Cons: none found.

A model that has all the advantages of Sigmund Stein, but is slightly cheaper due to the absence of vacuum containers, is described below.

• Model name – Zigmund & Shtain Kuchen-Profi VS-504.
• Price – 4800 rubles
• Characteristics - the device has plastic case gray, with a motor sucking at a speed of 9 liters per minute. The maximum width of the package is 30 cm.
• Pros: modern design, reduced noise level, vacuum hose included.
• Vacuum containers will have to be purchased separately.

Gochu

Packer High Quality from the Korean company Gochu will be a good purchase for your kitchen. It has a number of useful advantages at a low price.

• Model name – GOCHU VAC-470.
• Price – 6800 rubles.
• Characteristics – Power 130 W, suction speed 18 liters per minute. There are full and partial vacuum modes. The packer can work with vacuum containers.
• Pros: thoughtful, unusual case design.
• Cons: containers and vacuum hose are not included.

Vama

Small industrial packers Vama are designed to work in shops for food processing, production of semi-finished products, sausages. They are actively used in catering establishments.

• Model name – Vama VacBox 300.
• Price – from 100,000 rubles.
• Characteristics – Medium load packer, designed for a five-hour work shift with breaks. Housing and camera material – stainless steel. The length of the welding bar is 300 mm. dimensions– 395x490x360 mm.
• Pros: reliability and ease of control. Manufacturer's warranty – 5 years.
• Cons – not designed for long-term use throughout the day.

For use in shift work environments, Vama offers a more powerful packer model.

• Model name – Vama VacBox 450.
• Price – 130,000 rubles.
• Characteristics - a device with dimensions 645x620x435 mm and a welding bar length of 420 mm. The duration of the vacuum cycle is 35-50 seconds.
• Pros: powerful, reliable, safe. The controls are touch-sensitive and intuitive.
• Cons: massive, take into account the overall dimensions.

How to choose a vacuum sealer

To purchase a device that will become your reliable assistant, decide what is expected of it. When buying equipment for a cafe, restaurant or small production workshop, choose industrial single-chamber vacuum degassers. Depending on the expected workload, decide on the power, parameters and volume of the model’s chamber. Any household appliance will not cope with production loads and will quickly fail.

Inexpensive tubeless packers are suitable for the kitchen. The selection principle is the same: decide how the device will be used. If you need to vacuumize meat, fish, or cheese to increase shelf life, any vacuumizer with a minimum set of functions will do. Do you pack berries, mushrooms, and vegetables before freezing? Check that the device has a program for vacuuming soft and fragile products. Are you going to marinate meat often? You need a sealer with vacuum containers and a hose included.

A vacuum bag is an indispensable item for storing food. Firstly, when air is pumped out of a bag of food, its volume becomes significantly smaller and it takes up less weight. Secondly, if there is not enough air in the bag, the food will be stored much longer, because there are a lot of bacteria in the air and so on.

In this tutorial we'll look at how to make a simple vacuum bag to hold a small amount of food, like a sandwich or something like that. In principle, you can take a larger bag, we just use a syringe as a pump that pumps out air. So it will take a long time to pump out air from a large bag. But no one is stopping you from modernizing the design.

Materials and tools that the author needed:

List of materials:
- a large-volume syringe (the author has 50 “cubes”);
- air tubes;
- tee;
- good adhesive tape, packing tape (or other);
- two air valves;
- Vacuum package.
Tubes, valves and other small items can be found in stores specializing in aquarium equipment.

List of tools:
- scissors;
- a toothpick or other sharp object.

Vacuum bag manufacturing process:

Step one. Cutting tubes
First of all, you will need to cut three pieces of the air tube. Such tubes are usually used when supplying air to aquariums. Two valves are connected to these three tubes, as well as a syringe. We use scissors.

Step two. We put the tubes on the tee
Now take the air tee in your hands and place the three tubes that you cut off earlier on its ends. They must be pulled with some force so that everything is sealed.

Step three. Installation of valves
For the pump to function properly, there are two valves in the system. One works to release air; it is triggered when the syringe piston moves to the beginning, that is, it displaces air. The second valve opens when you pull the plunger of the syringe, thereby pumping air out of the food bag. On valves, as a rule, there are designations IN and OUT, that is, input and output. If you can't figure it out, try blowing through the valve with your mouth.

What should happen in the end, look at the photo.

Step four. Assembling the pump
The pump can now be completely assembled. There was one short, unused tube left on the tee. We connect a syringe to it. Take a syringe with as large a volume as possible, so you will have to pump less. Choose syringes with rubber pistons; they last longer and work easier. To make the piston slide easier, it can be lubricated vegetable oil, for example, olive or sunflower.

Next you will need a piece of a long tube; we will insert this tube into the bag. You need to connect the tube to the valve that works to suck in air. For the author, this valve is located directly relative to the outlet of the syringe, and the “exhalation” valve is located on the side.

Step five. Hole for tube
Make a small hole in the vacuum bag for the tube. It can be made with a toothpick or other similar object. The hole should be smaller than the diameter of the tube; it will expand on its own when you insert the tube.

Step six. Food
Place food or other items in the bag. The author decided to use lemon slices as an experiment. Please note that after the air is sucked out from the outside, the bag will be affected by Atmosphere pressure, and will compress the contents.

Step seven. Preparing the straw
The tube should be sharp so that it can be easily inserted into the bag. To do this, the author cuts it at an angle with scissors. As an improvement to the design, you can use a large steel IV needle. This will save you from having to pierce the bag with a toothpick every time. You simply insert the needle and pump out the air.

Step eight. Pumping out the air

Now insert the straw into the opening of the bag and close the bag securely. After this, you can use the syringe to pump out the air. The larger the volume of the syringe, the faster you will pump out the air. Hold the entry point of the tube into the bag with your fingers just in case.

Step nine. Closing the package 1. First, let's talk about food. Place the food in a regular ziplock bag and close it, leaving the zipper slightly open. Insert a regular tube into this place and press the bag around. Make sure that air only passes through the straw. We begin to blow air out of the bag. When you see that all the air has been blown out, carefully remove the tube and close the bag.

2. If you don't have a string lock bag on hand, you can make your own. To do this, take a regular bag of food and two preferably wide straws. Cut one of the tubes lengthwise. We wrap the second tube around the top of the bag, and then put the cut tube over the bag wrapped over the tube.

3. To ensure that your things take up little space on the road, use vacuum bags. Prepare a stack of the items you need and place them in a large bag or trash bag. Before doing this, be sure to check that there are no cracks or holes in the bag. The package should be a maximum of two-thirds full.

4. Take the remaining third part of the bag in your hands and insert the vacuum cleaner pipe into the hole. Press the bag tightly against the tube. Turn on the vacuum cleaner and remove the air. Make sure that the vacuum cleaner tube does not touch the bag, otherwise the vacuum cleaner may become clogged or simply tear it. After this, quickly pull out the tube and, after twisting the bag, tie it.

5. If you want to pack your things and don’t have a vacuum cleaner at hand, you can use another method. This method is less effective, but also produces results. Place your items in the bag and check that there are no holes or cracks anywhere. Tie the top of the bag, leaving a small opening. Fill the bathtub or sink with water to such a level that your items in the bag are completely covered with water, but the top of the bag is not.

6. Having lowered the bag into the water, begin to press it with your hands, expelling the air. Be careful not to let water get into the bag. Once most of the air is out, remove the bag, twist and tie the top. This is how easy it is to create vacuum bags with your own hands. Stay with us and learn more and more new, useful and interesting things.

Well, after a certain number of experiments we can say that work on budget system Vacuuming of products is completed.

Buying a ready-made vacuum sealer is a bit expensive. Give 8-10 thousand rubles. For a device that is needed not every day, but only several times a year, a toad dissuaded me. So I decided to make it myself. Let me make a reservation right away - the result is not ideal. The whole process requires some skill. Sometimes a package that is not sealed has to be repackaged. But it's still cheaper than buying a ready-made packer.

In fact, you can do without a compressor (see photo 1). I think a manual vacuum pump (see photo 2) or a converted bicycle pump would be quite suitable. Perhaps even a regular vacuum cleaner or electric pump for air mattresses will do...

And to seal the bags I used... a bag sealer (see photo 3)! Many large supermarkets have these things. They seal customers' bags in bags so that they don't put anything they don't need in there. I bought such a device before the crisis, second-hand. Got it for pennies. Now, of course, it will cost more.

All that remains is to put it all together into a single whole. This is where some difficulties arose. Pumping out the air and immediately sealing the bag is not as easy as it might seem.

I connected a hose to the suction pipe of the compressor. I didn’t forget about the filter (I don’t really want grains of rice or other debris inside the compressor). I attached the tip of a ballpoint pen to the hose.

At first I did this: I took a bag with the contents and sealed it. Then he cut off the corner of the bag, inserted the tip there and turned on the compressor. The air was sucked out of the bag, after which I sealed the corner. But this method failed. The package wrinkled, it was sealed crookedly and not airtight. And for all the manipulations one pair of hands was not enough.

Therefore, instead of a pen tip, I made a special nozzle. It is flattened at one end copper tube, into which a piece of tin folded in half and soldered at the edge was soldered. It turned out to be a very flat tube that did not interfere with the closing of the sealer flaps. To prevent the tip from being squeezed, a thin steel wire was inserted inside (see photos 4 and 5).

Now the process looks like this: the bag with the contents and the inserted nozzle is inserted into the soldering iron and sealed. The seam is interrupted only at the point where the flat tip enters the bag (see photo 6).

Without removing the bag, I turn on the compressor and pump out the air. Since the edge of the bag is still clamped in the soldering iron, it doesn't wrinkle. As soon as the air has been pumped out (this can be seen by the way the bag has stopped shrinking and you can hear how the compressor has begun to hum strained), I carefully remove the nozzle and immediately seal the bag again. It turns out airtight and smooth. To be on the safe side, I seal the bag again a little further from the first seam.

For the demonstration, I used ground beef that had been dried overnight. I'm not going to store it for a long time, so I didn't put bags of silica gel and rusty nails inside). The last package had to be repacked later (see photo 7).

A few words about packaging bags. Not just any bags are suitable, but specifically those designed for vacuum sealing (see photo 8). Fortunately, you can buy it now. I buy from a company that sells disposable tableware, garbage bags, shoe covers and other consumables for food establishments. As a last resort, you can buy such packages online.

When choosing bags, take those that are denser. If there is no difference for soft foods, then “prickly” foods (long grain rice, oats, buckwheat) can “pierce” the film. It sounds strange, but I have encountered this. When vacuumed, the film of the bag is stretched and the solid contents are stretched if handled carelessly (for example, if dropped on hard surface) may well damage it. And after a while the package will “inflate”.

If everything is done correctly, the packaging will preserve the food for a very long time. I’ve had two-kilogram packages of rice and buckwheat for three years now. Flat and hard, like a brick. I can’t vouch for the taste, I haven’t opened it yet, but I can’t see any bugs or mold.
I apologize for the paucity and quality of photographs. The process takes all hands, and there is nothing left to hold the camera!