Nutrichef Vacuum Sealer
Nutri Chef Vacuum Sealer, 12", Silver
Nutrichef Vacuum Sealer is the very nice product . I hunted for a while to find a reasonably priced tool for this job. Compared to the others I have seen, the Nutri chef is:
• Small (about the size of a dozen eggs)
• Lightweight
• Straightforward
• Inexpensive
• Economical (uses generic bag material)
In the 48 hours I’ve owned it. I’ve packaged up perhaps a dozen food items. The seals all appear to be holding.
I purchased bag material in bulk from Amazon for about 16c/foot (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCZMQUU/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_1), which means the bags cost 10c or so. This is less than a third of the price of Food Saver bags, and one-fifth of the price of the Waring bags.
The only things that kept me from a FIVE star rating are:
1. It can be tricky to get the bags in the right position. If you do not, they will not seal properly. I attached a photo showing a setup that works for me. The end of the bag must be about halfway in to the “Vacuum Chamber”.
2. The instructions are not clear, perhaps because they weren’t written by an English speaker. Some drawings to show where to place the bags would have been very helpful.
3. Once closed and sealed, the bags can take up a lot of space in the freezer, because at least 1-1/2″ of extra material is needed at the closure end, making them bulky.
4. Making each bag by sealing each end takes close to two minutes, so the process can get slow. It would be very simple to design a unit that aligns the bag material properly and semi-automatically, which would make the whole process much faster (Nutri chef: Are you listening? I can help you with this).
Time will tell about how well these work at food preservation, and how long the unit lasts. I will post an update later.
I do write a lot of reviews, but they usually are very sober. However, this item is terrific.
I am single, and I often have trouble buying things in reasonable sizes, so I buy extra, and freeze it. I figured that the Nutri Chef would reduce freezer burn and keep things longer. It does, but…
Since buying the sealer, I have found a lot of extra uses. Sous vide cooking is incredibly good. Simply take a skinless chicken breast, heat it, in the bag, to 160° for 40 minutes or so, and you produce the juiciest ever meat for things like chicken salad.
Salmon burgers are very delicate objects, yet I found that I could vacuum seal them without excessively flattening them. Again, sous vide to the desired temperature, then an fry at high heat to sear. I freeze them, also, and can transport them to my girlfriend’s house (she loves them…)
Butchers dry age meat at about 35° for weeks. Mine literally raises the price 3-fold for the aging. Do this in your fridge, and you are likely to simply have spoiled meat. However, in a vacuum-sealed bag, you can enjoy the benefits of aging without the fear of spoilage.
Tonight, I made up a nice 2 pound batch of mashed gingered carrots, and a large quantity of caramelized onions. These jobs take a long time to cook.
Even though both of them had a lot of residual liquid, the Nutri Chef sealed them right up, allowing me to prepare serving sized bags for the next time. FYI: the pureed carrots can be reconstituted with water and pureed into a delicious soup.
I’m really surprised how much I like this thing. I raised my rating from four stars to five.
Promised Review By Masta Qui
