Why would you want a Vacuum Sealer for homebrewing?

Vacuum sealers are indispensable for storing hops.  You can save money by getting in on bulk hop buys – See: Recent Hop Finds. Use your vacuum sealer to break these up and to preserve freshness.  You can also store specialty grains in vacuum bags.  Other uses include: storing base grains, partial dry yeast packs and storing and preserving other beer ingredients.

What’s a Chamber Vacuum Sealer?

A FoodSaver (or similar) is a standard home suction type vacuum sealer that relies on special bags. We generally call them… vacuum sealer bags. These bags are embossed or textured to create channels on the inside of the bag. Those channels allow a FoodSaver to draw out air and create a vacuum all while the machine is clamped down. When this process is done a heat strip seals the bag locking in the vacuum state.

A chamber style vacuum sealer does not rely on channeled bags. It evacuates the entire chamber and seals the bag. When this is done, prior to pressure equalization the bag does not look like it’s vacuum sealed at all. When pressure equalizes the bag immediately collapses and whammo, it’s sealed.

What are the Advantages of Chamber Vacuum Sealers?

• Generally speaking, these remove more oxygen than FoodSaver machines.
• Vacuum sealing wet or moist items is much easier. Since the entire chamber is evacuated, these aren’t prone to drawing out liquid like FoodSaver machines.
• Bag cost. The special bags required by FoodSaver are more complex to produce and can lead to higher costs. Smooth sided vacuum bags can be had for less. If you’re re-using Mylar bags your bag cost essentially goes to 0.
• One of the biggest benefits, to me, is being able to seal Mylar bags. Mylar bags have smooth sides and do not work with FoodSaver and similar. The lack of channels foils the process.

Why Mylar

Generally speaking Mylar bags consist of three layers. Two Mylar layers that laminate a center aluminum foil layer. This combination provides strength, flexibility and durability along with an extremely low Oxygen Transmission Rate (OTR). These bags also block potentially damaging light. Combine this with vacuum sealing and you’ve got an outstanding way to store food & more.

For homebrewer’s… Vacuum sealed Mylar bags are an excellent  way to store hops and other oxygen sensitive materials.  As a testament to this, many hop distributors distribute hops in Mylar bags.  Sometimes those are vacuum sealed and sometimes they are nitrogen flushed.

Re-using packaging can be a big money saver. You’ll see in my review below that I re-use hop bags. Those cost me $0 and are an excellent vehicle for storing hops

I have a post on some techniques that I developed to seal Mylar bags with traditional vacuum sealers. That’s one of the most popular posts on Homebrew Finds, I’m guessing that many people that find that post are not homebrewers, but are interested in this because of the prohibitive costs of Mylar capable machines.

A note to non-brewers: Based on the popularity of our Mylar sealing post, it’s entirely possible that you don’t homebrew. If that’s you, most of the trials in this review focus on sealing hops. If you don’t brew A: Why not? Connect with Us and start! or B: Picture… other things instead of hops 🙂

In the past, chamber vacuum sealers have been very expensive. When I published my post on sealing Mylar bags back in 2011, they cost thousands of dollars. They were generally intended for commercial use and had price tags to match.

I’m happy to say some much more economical options have become available. Here’s a hands on look at Avid Armor’s USV20 Chamber Vacuum Sealer.

Hands on Review Avid Armor USV20 Chamber Vacuum Sealer

The USV20 fresh out of the boxA look inside. It came with manuals, vacuum sealer bags, a quick start guide and a vac sealed toy avocado.A look at the contents

Check Current Price & Availability, Review Continues Below:

• Avid Armor Chamber Vacuum Sealer Model USV20 Ultra Series, Compact Size Perfect for Liquid-Rich Wet Foods Fresh Meats, Marinades, Soups, Sauces and More. Vacuum Packaging the Professional Way << the model evaluated in this review – affiliate link, note that multiple variations of this product may be available, as such a different version may appear at this link
• Avid Armor Chamber Vacuum Sealer Model USV32 Ultra Series, Perfect for Liquid-Rich Foods including Fresh Meats, Marinades, Soups, Sauces and More. Vacuum Packaging the Professional Way – features a larger chamber – affiliate link, note that multiple variations of this product may be available, as such a different version may appear at this link
• The Avid Armor Store on Amazon – vacuum sealers, bags and more
• Avid Armor Chamber Machine Vacuum Pouches Size 10″ x 13″
• Chamber Machine Vacuum Pouches 8″ x 12″
• Avid Armor Chamber Machine Vacuum Pouches Size 6×12″
• Related: Search Amazon for “food grade Mylar Bags”

Note that multiple variations of this product may be available, as such a different version may appear at these links

Avid Armor Chamber Vacuum Sealer Machine USV20 Ultra Series for Wet Foods, Meat Vacuum Packing Machine, Compact with 11.5-Inch Vaccum Sealer Bar

$324.00

Avid Armor Ultra Series USV32: Premium Chamber Vacuum Sealer Machine High-Performance Vacuum Chamber Sealer for Professional and Home Use, Ideal Commercial Vacuum Sealer Machine for Food Preservation

$569.00

Avid Armor - Chamber Vacuum Sealer Machine USV1 Ultra SeriesONE, Food Sealer for Wet Foods, Meat Sealers, Packing Machine, Compact Vacuum Chamber Sealer with 10-Inch Vacuum Sealer Bar

$289.00

Avid Armor Chamber Vacuum Sealer Machine USVX Ultra Series 10" Seal Bar for Liquid-Rich Wet Foods, Cooking Sous Vide, Infusions. Compact Size Vacuum Chamber Sealer Black Color Great for the Countertop

$389.00

Continue reading →