On 11/22/2015 5:58 PM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
On Sun, 22 Nov 2015 10:55:20 -0600, Don Y
wrote:

There are "specialty" products that can be used to vacuum-pack
(e.g.) foodstuffs. But, AFAICT, they all use "special" media
to do so -- special bags (that you are now dependent upon
for continued use of said product).

Does anyone make a vacuum sealer that can be applied to
more generic media? Or, does the medium need special
characteristics (e.g., air channels) to be useful?

E.g., when shrink-wrapping to a "card", you draw air
*through* that card (perforations) to pull the plastic
film down onto the card (and "set" it with heat).

Could you, for example, have a device that just took regular
plastic bags (Ziploc, "baggies", etc.) and use them for this
function?

It looks like people use all sorts of containers for vacuum
sealiing. This one http://tinyurl.com/ohhtmrh (youtube) shows Mason jars
being vacuum sealed.


Those work great. BUT!
After thinking about it, reducing the small amount of air in the
container by half can't have a dramatic effect. Yes, every little
bit helps, but I'm not convinced it's the panacea that the youtubers
claim.
I does keep the lid on without the ring.

I save peanut butter jars because they have a seal in the lid.
If you poke a tiny hole in the lid and cover it loosely with
tape, like black electrical tape, you can suck the air out and seal
it with the tape. You need a different kind of interface to the
vacuum pump. The handheld foodsavers work fine. I did some test runs
and the seal was still good after a few months.

Never did anything with it because I keep coming back to the opinion
that vacuum sealing in a jar doesn't do much good.