Got one of them there vacuum sealers for my birthday. Packaged up the bass from this weekend. The thing is sweet. Think I'm gonna go home and vacuum seal all my woman's underwear just as an excuse to play with the thing.
Question for those who have experience with them. How long will they keep fresh with vacuum sealing? I tried to only keep fish for three months before with the old method. Will they last longer and better or the same amount of time?

I have one and I love it. I have eaten fish over a year old and it was still good but not as good as fresh caught.

I think a year is going to be your max shelf life. A good deep freezer will extend frozen shelflife some. i would say absolute max in a good deep freeze that is not opened too often is 18 months. Cod/Haddock may last a little longer because of such low fat levels.

_Zac_

I have a vacuum sealer and a constant temperature chest freezer. I have used this combination on a great many things to extend their shelf life.
I just finished up my last fillet of striped bass two weeks ago. It was dated from October of last year. It was excellent.

One trick that I have found usefull is to freeze the fillet first and then vacuum pack it. This way the fillet does not get all flattened out.

I have one. I use it to vacuum pack fresh bunker, and it works extremley well.

Fungus is right, but only freeze it for a couple of hrs then pack it. Also worked good for some antique levelwinds I wanted to preserve. During times of plenty it works great for preserving garden herbs :laughs: It does suck all the air out of a can. Bags are expensive. I have a Foodsaver and its around 10 bucks for 22 quart bags. The also have Gal bags and rolls where you can make a custom size.

Where can I get one of those and how much is reasonable to pay for one? Is there any trouble with bags? Funny this thread came up because just this past weekend I was saying I need to get one. Must be SB preminition:D

I have the food saver also and bythe rolls and love it!!
My Cod Had, Fluke Bass will all last a year!! I have never gone over that as we eat a lot of fish all winter and its usually gone buy this time.
Par freezing is the way to go with most stuff!!
But your darker fish like Blues, Mac, stuff like that still have a shelf life of like 6 months MAX.

I use it for ebeything!! I have Flares, towles, extra spark plugs, rigs reels, the list goes forever of things I have vacumed!! You will see!

15 years ago we got one at the Barnstible fair grounds . They have come along way sence.you can now get them at Wal Mart and BJs. we buy a lot in bulk and repack to usable family sizes.

I just got one before the herring showed up. Mine is the game saver and I got it fron Cabellas. works great, all my herring are vacked and in the deep freezzz now I am putting up squid. so far so good.

Originally posted by Swede
Bags are expensive. I have a Foodsaver and its around 10 bucks for 22 quart bags. The also have Gal bags and rolls where you can make a custom size.

Go to one of the wholesale clubs like BJ's or COSTCO and the bags are a lot cheaper. You can also reuse bags....just wash them well after you thaw the fish out.

I agree, I bought one a few years ago after reading about it on this board. They are WONDERFUL ( think they should advertise on fishing shows) . Anyway, WELL worth the money. From bait, to fish (to eat over the winter) to regular bulk food, these are a must have.
I bet I have sold 6 of these when people see the bags and start asking me about them.

I buy the bags on sale on the net....by the rolls 6 twin boxes at a time...not that bad. Great if you have a garden too!
The one I have is a foodsaver pro II but they make all kinds of models. I just finished up last years fluke last night...you would be hard pressed to tell it from fresh....really.

I love mine. I buy a box of rolls in different sizes. It's nice to fill up the freezer with meat and fish.

Last fall I vacum sealed a change of clothes to keep in the hull of the kayak.

I'm investing in a second one to keep at the trailer over the summer.

Vacum seal extra hooks, and other stuff that rust in the surf bag. the same with the Storms to keep them soft (add some smelly jelly).

Nils

Try this place for bags....
http://www.uline.com/AdvSearchResult.asp?Ref=Pwrshp&Source=ALL&keywords=vacuum+bag

hey redlite, hows fishin' in the nook this year?

Which brand do you all have??? On Froogle....a search of "vacuum sealer" comes up with several ranging from $35 to $279!!!

I assume it's the Tilia brand...seems they are the most popular.

Thanks