Can you make small sealed sachets with a vacuum sealer?

[beachcruiser]

A question for those with a vacuum sealer, can you make small sealed sachets - say 5cm x 3cm (not necessarily Vacuum sealed)? I'd like to be able to make single serve sachets of butter and oil for cooking and adding to dehydrated measl while bushwalking, I've always found re-sealable containers messy for this. The small sachets of oils you get with some asian 2-minute noodle packets work well and I'd like to make my own.

I don't yet have a vacuum sealer (it's on the wish list) so I was wondering whether it would also do this job - I can see from the Sunbeam Vacuum sealer instructions that you can use it as a sealer only when making a bag from the roll but to make a small sachet efficiently you would need to turn the material sideways.

Another option would be to get a heat sealer without the vacuum facility, like this:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-Heat-Sealer-200mm-for-sealing-plastic-bags-Warranty-/370587011836

Anyone else have a good solution for this?

[photohiker]

You can certainly make small sachets with the sunbeam food safe machine. The issue is sealing the sachets when they contain oils and butter, not sure that would work out so well.

[corvus]

Oily meals do not seal well in a Vacuum sealer as the oil is attracted to the suction and the seal is incomplete ,the heat sealer mentioned by beachcruiser should work but have not had any experience with that method .
Just a thought perhaps if you had frozen butter it would Vac seal OK.

[photohiker]

The sunbeam machine and others I have seen allow for heat seal only if you use manual operation. The issue is that oil or butter will invariably get on the area to be sealed and the heat sealing won't work so well.

Turning the bag sideways to seal the edge works fine. If you want the vac to work then the final seal has to be lengthways to allow the air to flow out of the bag.

[michael_p]

As others have said trying to seal oil into a sachet would be difficult with a vac seal. I can understand the problem. If I take oil for cooking it is usually stored in two nested ziplock type bags. I find this works well for stopping the oil from leaking too far.

Just a thought. You could place the oil into a small container, say a film canister or smaller, that has a lid that seals well. Then try vac seal that. Never tried this this idea myself but it might work.

As to butter. You can buy the bulk packs of the small portions from catering suppliers. Got a party shop nearby, they normally sell this type of stuff. Or, freeze some small portions of butter and try and vac seal it whilst it is still frozen. Being frozen may be enough to stop it running. Try a small bit first so if it doesn't work then you don't have much to clean out of the vac sealer.

It is easy enough to make sachet sized bags from larger bags or rolls of sealer plastic. Just cut to size and seal around the edges. I would suggest that any edge that you seal should be done twice. I've had a couple of bad experiences with seals breaking so I do all my seals twice now

Cheers,
Michael.

Last edited by michael_p on Wed 27 Aug, 2014 8:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

[walkerchris77]

How about using the little butters u get for breakfast in motels and Macdonald s. Would be easier to vacuum seal being already wrapped in fold and they are pretty tough.

just realized Michael p made they same point. note to self read full post before posting.

[Nuts]

If you cut a strip of paper (towel) and place it in the lip of the bag (outside the 'seal-line') it stops the excess oil (etc) coming out during the seal.
It doesn't really matter if some does leak, just don't seal again with a dirty seal line.

[beachcruiser]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I was thinking of only sealing not vacuum sealing, particularly for oil, as this keeps fine in the cupboard in an open bottle the bit of air that's in the sealed packet isn't going to affect the longevity. Good tips on making sure the oil doesn't get on the sealing element. The Sunbeam Foodsaver instructions that I looked at online suggested freezing liquids or runny foods before vac sealing so that could work for butter, probably worth trying to vac seal butter so it keeps better.

I did look into buying the individual serve butter packets, found a few places online that have them. Also saw Maccas suggested in another post as a source, I reckon some of that sugary whipped butter you get with the hotcakes would go nicely on a cracker for lunch in the bush when you feel like an energy boost!

I'll probably get a Sunbeam Vac sealer this weekend so I'll post an update once I've had a go

[Skid]

Hey Beachcruiser,
I have had good success sealing bags (without vacuum) using a realy high tech arrangement of....
- wooden chopping board
- bamboo chopstick
- baking paper
- iron (ie a household appliance rumoured to be able to remove wrinkles from clothes)

I lay the chopstick on the chopping board, lay the bag on top so the line to be sealed is over the chopstick, cover with the baking paper, run hot iron over the chopstick.
Works a treat! I actually prefer this method for my bags of breakfast 'gunk' (oats, fruit, powdered milk etc) as without a vacuum the mix is fre to move around a little. This makes for an easier to mix meal than the 'brick' that vacuum sealing produces. Sure the volume is a little greater, but it is a trade off that works for me.
Hope this helps.

I have a trip coming up and will probably try to make a daisy chain of little seasoning packets this way (ie. one long bag that has been divided off into small sections, just open one section at a time)

[beachcruiser]

Interesting Skid, great idea!
Do you use the 'vacuum sealing' bags or just regular plastic bags for that method?

[walkerchris77]

Hey Beachcruiser,
I have had good success sealing bags (without vacuum) using a realy high tech arrangement of....
- wooden chopping board
- bamboo chopstick
- baking paper
- iron (ie a household appliance rumoured to be able to remove wrinkles from clothes)

I lay the chopstick on the chopping board, lay the bag on top so the line to be sealed is over the chopstick, cover with the baking paper, run hot iron over the chopstick.
Works a treat! I actually prefer this method for my bags of breakfast 'gunk' (oats, fruit, powdered milk etc) as without a vacuum the mix is fre to move around a little. This makes for an easier to mix meal than the 'brick' that vacuum sealing produces. Sure the volume is a little greater, but it is a trade off that works for me.
Hope this helps.

I have a trip coming up and will probably try to make a daisy chain of little seasoning packets this way (ie. one long bag that has been divided off into small sections, just open one section at a time)

id better start keeping those chop sticks from my Chinese take away place.

[Skid]

Interesting Skid, great idea!
Do you use the 'vacuum sealing' bags or just regular plastic bags for that method?

I have used both 'regular' (ie smooth plastic) bags and vacuum bags for this method. If you do want to 'pull a vacuum' then use the vacuum bags as they work well for this. The smooth bags I have used work fine with no vacuum but tend to 'seal' too early when trying to pull a vacuum. I hope this makes sense?

My next project will be to make some clear plastic 'folding top' water proof bags. The 'brand' folding top bags I have work ok, however it is nice to be able to see what is in the bag at a glance....

[north-north-west]

Hey Beachcruiser,
I have had good success sealing bags (without vacuum) using a realy high tech arrangement of....
- wooden chopping board
- bamboo chopstick
- baking paper
- iron (ie a household appliance rumoured to be able to remove wrinkles from clothes)

I lay the chopstick on the chopping board, lay the bag on top so the line to be sealed is over the chopstick, cover with the baking paper, run hot iron over the chopstick.
Works a treat! I actually prefer this method for my bags of breakfast 'gunk' (oats, fruit, powdered milk etc) as without a vacuum the mix is free to move around a little. This makes for an easier to mix meal than the 'brick' that vacuum sealing produces. Sure the volume is a little greater...

Great thinking. Try hitting the bags with a hairdryer - a lot of these plastics will do the heatshrink thing, and that will reduce the volume.

[jjoz58]

I've never had much luck sealing any type of liquid in vacuum bags regardless of size and I would imagine the smaller the harder. In the end I just bought them from overseas as it was easier, because I couldn't find olive oil sachets here.
http://www.packitgourmet.com/Condiments-c52.html?page=2

[beachcruiser]

Thanks for the link jjoz58, presume they made it through Australian customs OK then?

[jjoz58]

Thanks for the link jjoz58, presume they made it through Australian customs OK then?

Mate I get most of my meals or ingredients from the states and never had any trouble with customs, and that includes the freeze dried chicken, beef and sausage on that site. I get most of the prepacked meals from Camp Saver, http://www.campsaver.com/ , as it's free shipping over $400. Doesn't take much to get $400 worth of food or other gear especially if a couple of people buy stuff and with double meals starting at about $6au it's great value. Just watch clothing as some company's have a no shipping to Australia policy and Camp Saver stick to it. You get around that by opening a a virtual post office box at Ship It To or a similar company. http://www.shipito.com/ If you go this way you can get multiple parcels shipped there and then combine them into one. It's surprising the number of companies that give free shipping in the states, so you can save a fortune in postage.

[dee_legg]

I've always found nalgene bottles to be oil proof. They are widely available at most outdoor stores and the smallest containers usually go for a couple of bucks. They are also reusable too so save on plastic wastage!

Happy bushwalking!

[Nuts]

Yes, you can get tiny ones as well. This would also be my choice for oil and sauce.

[corvus]

Word of warning regarding Nalgene bottles,after a period of use Olive Oil makes them go brittle ,had it happened to a couple in the past.

Last edited by corvus on Thu 04 Sep, 2014 7:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[RonK]

I'd like to be able to make single serve sachets of butter and oil for cooking and adding to dehydrated measl while bushwalking, I've always found re-sealable containers messy for this. Anyone else have a good solution for this?

It is possible to buy them online, but easy and free to collect portion control serves of butter or margarine, jam, marmalade, honey, peanut butter, Vegemite, salt, pepper, soy sauce, ginger, tomato sauce and the like from cafes and restaurants.

[corvus]

I'd like to be able to make single serve sachets of butter and oil for cooking and adding to dehydrated measl while bushwalking, I've always found re-sealable containers messy for this. Anyone else have a good solution for this?

It is possible to buy them online, but easy and free to collect portion control serves of butter or margarine, jam, marmalade, honey, peanut butter, Vegemite, salt, pepper, soy sauce, ginger, tomato sauce and the like from cafes and restaurants.

Wonder who pays for those "free"to collect portions??

[RonK]

I'd like to be able to make single serve sachets of butter and oil for cooking and adding to dehydrated measl while bushwalking, I've always found re-sealable containers messy for this. Anyone else have a good solution for this?

It is possible to buy them online, but easy and free to collect portion control serves of butter or margarine, jam, marmalade, honey, peanut butter, Vegemite, salt, pepper, soy sauce, ginger, tomato sauce and the like from cafes and restaurants.

Wonder who pays for those "free"to collect portions??

As a paying customer I've paid for them whether I use them or not.

[corvus]

You only collect one serve then

[RonK]

Usually around 6 or so from all the unused around the table of my cycling bunch. Four mornings a week if I want 'em all. You do realise that once they've been served to somebody the unused portions go in the bin?

[beachcruiser]

Mate I get most of my meals or ingredients from the states and never had any trouble with customs, and that includes the freeze dried chicken, beef and sausage on that site. I get most of the prepacked meals from Camp Saver, http://www.campsaver.com/ , as it's free shipping over $400. Doesn't take much to get $400 worth of food or other gear especially if a couple of people buy stuff and with double meals starting at about $6au it's great value.

Thanks jjoz58, good to know, I've bought from Campsaver before but hadn't thought of buying food and there's lots of good stuff on that Pack it Gourmet site

[beachcruiser]

Well I still haven't gotten around to getting a vacuum sealer to test the sachet building but have been doing a bunch of dehydrating and testing recipes, might even start another thread on that.

This site seems to have a pretty good selection of portion control packs available, spreads, sauces, condiments and even salad dressings.

http://pantrypacker.com.au/search?type=product&q=portion+control

[corvus]

Don't want to join their web site.

[beachcruiser]

Back from the trip I was planning to make the sealed sachets for, 2 successes and one failure.

The plan was to boost the flavour of some dehydrated meals with a sauce sachet, the meals were Beef Satay, Salmon Laksa and Beef Massamun Curry. I used pastes from a jar for the Laksa and Massamun and Ayam Satay sauce from a tin. I froze the pastes in glad wrap lined ice cube trays then vacuum sealed them, took 2 attempts to get the Laksa paste vacuum sealed (pictured is attempt 1).
The sachets travelled well and the Laksa and Massamun eaten on days 5 and 6 were good, the satay which I was planning to eat on day 2 had gone off, sachet had blown up like a balloon so assuming bacterial activity inside I didn't eat it... (I have previously added Satay flavour with a homemade mix of peanut butter, tamarind past and sweet soy sauce so in future I'll stick to that)

[michael_p]

Thank you for sharing your results. Very interesting. Freezing really looks to be the way to maximise the vacuum sealing.

Pity about the satay, good decision not to eat it.

Cheers,
Michael.