Do you have a FoodSaver? I got one for Christmas and I have to say I am in love with it! I am going to have to rank it on my top 10 favorite gifts! If you are a stockpiler I highly recommend the foodsaver. My only regret is that I didn’t get one sooner. We used it for the first time this past weekend and it was so easy to use!
Stockpiling 101 – FoodSaver and Stockpiling
There are a few tips that I want to share with you. When you are freezing an item it is best to “pre-freeze” it. Meaning that you want to lay it flat and freeze it until it is firm (2-3 hours). We simply weighed our hamburger into 1/2 lb portions and patted them and put them on a cookie sheet to “pre-freeze”. After 3 hours we then simply placed them into the food saver bags and sealed them. Another tip is that if you want the food to be moist then you want to use the moist setting so for all meat you would use that setting.
Here you can see that we placed the meat into the package and sealed it. The thing I love is that you can thaw the meat directly from the freezer in the sealed package! It is simple to mark directly onto the package with a permanent marker the date you sealed it and according the manufacturer it adds 2 years to the life of the meat.
Here is the final product! As you can see hubby helped me use the food saver and is showing off our handy work! You can use the food saver to expand the life of so many foods that you stockpile. The foodsaver says that it extends the life of frozen items for up to 2 years! I use it for fruits and berries, meat, poultry, fish, vegetables and marinara! By using the foodsaver you can really extend the shelf life of foods. It is an awesome way to build you stockpile and think outside of the box.
Items you can freeze include but are not limited to fruits, vegetables, raw meats, poultry fish, bread, buns, butter and much more!
Always be on the lookout for clearance and sales on the foodsaver and bags! You can often find great deals at FoodSaver.com I would love to hear what you think about the foodsaver. Do you love it as much as I do?
Be sure to check out our Freezer Cooking Series:
How to Freezer Cook Series – Part 1 – Sample Menu and Getting Started
How to Freezer Cook Series – Part 2 – Why Does Freezer Cooking Work
How to Freezer Cook Series – Part 3 – Planning Your Meals
How to Freezer Cook Series – Part 4 – Tips and Tricks for Freezer Efficiency
How to Freezer Cook Series – Part 5 – What Can You Freeze?
How to Freezer Cook Series – Part 6 – Freezer Storage
How to Freezer Cook Series – Part 7 – Tips for Thawing Your Meals
How to Freezer Cook Series – Part 8 – Make Your Own Freezer Pancakes
Melissa is a soccer mom who has been married to her best friend for 21 years. She loves sharing recipes, travel reviews and tips that focus on helping busy families make memories.
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Lethea Benson
August 6, 2010 at 7:55 amI have a Foodsaver & like you, I LOVE IT!!!
Melissa
August 6, 2010 at 11:37 pm🙂
michelle mitchell
August 6, 2010 at 8:39 amI recently mentioned to a friend that I wanted a FoodSaver and she said she had one she would GIVE me! I’ve been using that thing like crazy and I absolutely love it. I am learning to freeze many different things and so far I have not been disappointed.
Have you ever tried any non-foodsaver brand bags? I’m wondering how they would work. The bags can be expensive but I’ve heard that they sell them at Kohl’s and I’m tempted to see how much they are when they are on sale there.
Melissa
August 6, 2010 at 11:37 pmI have not tried the non-food saver brand bags. I too would like to know how they work. If you go for it let me know!
Dusty
April 9, 2011 at 11:02 pmI have the FoodSaver GameSaver Deluxe Plus. I tried the ZipVac rolls, 8″ & 10″ – www zipvac com – and they work great. They can also be used for freezerbag cooking and you can boil food in them according to the mfg. I use mine primarily for vacuum sealing wheat, oats and other whole grains, beans, and other dry items. I just ordered 12 8″ rolls from them, shipping was $3. They also have a survey and 20% off if you answer the non intrusive question(s).
If you are sealing dry items, use a paper coffee filter over the stuff to act like a filter & avoid getting tiny bits of dust or chaff in the actual seal. If in doubt, I make a second seal after blowing anything that could be between the first seal and end of the bag.
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
April 10, 2011 at 9:41 amThanks Dusty!
DON OCONNELL
May 26, 2012 at 1:54 pmI buy my saver bags at Menards (home owner store) and they have worked perfectly every time
sharri
March 31, 2013 at 12:25 amI have tried to use other bags, they will not seal at least they have not for me and i have tried several if u find any that do please let me know.
however, we have a place called wings of eagles, it gets food , household beauty anything really like cereal, in date boxes 2 for 1 1 dollar a box, well they had foodsaver bag rolls I got 8 rolls for less than the price of 1 roll! happy dance!! we have a few of these outlet places in our town lakeland. saves alot of $ hope it helps.
Donna Murphy
February 27, 2015 at 12:17 pmI love my food saver. It should be called food godsend.Im on my third one (upgrades) and I bragged so much to my neighbor I had to give her one. Although I really don’t think she’s used. Doesn’t cook eats junk food. Great even for freezing soups. Best things I’ve bought in my 57 yrs. Were food saver, food dehydrater. I dehydrate EVERYTHING and make seasonings. soup mixes omg so much. Put in the fs bags I cut( buy the bags and rolls at menards for $4.99 @22ft. Verses $10.99 at kmart). Anyway I buy baskets make little packets of whatever wrap a ribbon around a few and there you go a great gift and I only costs pennies. I make just about every spice stores have. Yet as said pennies. Can also fs non food items such as bath beads or salts. You know different gift baskets. Omg dry some flowers ect. Put in bags wrap as gift with note when ready poke few holes and you have roomfreshner. Love love food saver
Vicki
August 10, 2010 at 12:03 pmI love mine also. I have had mine for about 2 years and have used it over an over. It’s also a great way to preserve that frugal garden produce that we love. I have used it on bell peppers, lima beans, cabbage for soups, and corn. A great food and time saver!!!
Melissa
August 10, 2010 at 1:58 pmThanks! I agree Vicki!
Tonia
August 20, 2010 at 12:02 pmI absolutely love our foodsaver! It is the perfect addition to any stockpiling family!
I always use the non-brand bags and they work just as well as the brand bags! In fact, after we used the brand bags that came with ours, we have never used them again. I can never cough up the money to pay for the brand bags, lol!
Thank you for your tips, I never thought about pre-freezing. This makes a lot of sense, especially with the fruits. I wouldn’t even try to do this with fruit because it would squish them…but pre-freezing would solve that issue! Wonderful!!!
Melissa
September 4, 2010 at 3:24 pmThanks Tonia!
I hope it helps 🙂
El
November 11, 2010 at 1:25 pmI had never tried a Foodsaver. I just ordered a foodsaver hand vac, I got 2 bags with it. I was wondering if we could have an alternative to these expensive bags.
Can we use ziploc bags in any way?
thx
Melissa
November 11, 2010 at 3:57 pmNo you can not use ziploc but you can use any off brand ones!
El
November 11, 2010 at 6:21 pmwhich ones are the off brand ones?.. i hv no clue abt the vac food system… 🙁
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
February 5, 2012 at 6:19 pmYou can google offbrand vacuum sealed bags.
sharri
March 31, 2013 at 12:27 amwhich other bags have you tried I am open to trying others the ones I have tried did not seal.
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
March 31, 2013 at 1:58 pmI only use FoodSaver brand.
Julie
September 2, 2010 at 10:34 pmI have a food saver and I really love it as well! We spent an entire day cooking meals,9 total, placing them in containers in single servings and freezing them. After they were froze, we took them out of the freezer and put them in food saver bags and sealed them. We made many different items with my stockpile of items. A lot of noodle dishes and even soup. It worked really well for my husband to take to work instead of the pricey frozen meals that go in the microwave! He just took the zip sealed bag and a dish, it was very easy for him!
Melissa
September 4, 2010 at 3:25 pmThat is an awesome frugal tip Julie! Thanks for sharing!
Deserae
November 14, 2010 at 1:44 pmI purchased a Food Saver last month and LOVE it. I have only fr0zen meat so far, but after reading these comments I will have to broaden my use. Freezing prepared meals into individual servings for lunch boxes is genius.
Paula Freeman
December 18, 2010 at 9:14 amI love my foodsaver. I have had one since the first year it came out. As my children moved out I would give them the older models and get the newer one for myself. Nothing was wrong with it I just wanted the newest one. They are all working still. My one dd is a costume designer and she package her patterns togather so that don’t get all mixed up. And she will food saver a project all togather so everything for that project is one place when she is ready to sew. The other dd is a actress and she does that same idea with costume pieces. She can mark them and put them in a box so they are not all over the house. I am the cook so I foodsaver the leftovers for later. We also use it for our hurricane supplies.
sharleen
January 5, 2011 at 2:58 pmI too have a foodsaver. But.. the bags are so expensive that I quit using it because they’re too pricey. Right now I’m using ziploc bags and getting as much air out as I can.
Melissa
January 5, 2011 at 3:07 pmI got a good deal at Kohls on mine using a 30% off coupon and earning Kohls cash…hope that helps!
carol
January 5, 2011 at 9:11 pmI have had a foodsaver for a couple of years, but only started using it about a year ago. It is great for stockpiling meats and saving leftovers for our family of 3! The bags are expensive even when i did a google search, but I found them much more reasonable @ Sam’s Club!
Melissa
January 5, 2011 at 10:15 pmGreat tip! Thanks Carol!
Pauletta
April 8, 2011 at 12:18 amI have a foodsaver and I love it. My husband does too. I also have a freshsaver (handheld) that I use for sandwich meats and cheese, lettuce etc. You zip the bag and then seal it . It keeps meat and cheese fresh so much longer.I use the ziploc bags for the freshsealer. I bought them at Kroger with coupons.
Leslie
May 15, 2011 at 7:33 pmI have used a foodsaver for many years. I stockpile but most of mine is thru the use of the foodsaver. I am just starting the coupon part. I buy cheese and meat at Costco and freeze it or keep it in the fridge. I ALWaYS double seal the meat and cheese. I also cook extra so that we can “tv dinner” anytime we need to and know it will taste great! I have kept cheese in the fridge for several months with no growing. So if you are a bulk food buyer the food saver is the way to go. Pre freezing is awesome, especially for sauces and fresh veggies and fruits. Haven’t had much luck with bread and other soft stuff even with prefeeezing. Anyone have any tips on that?
Julie
June 20, 2011 at 6:28 pmI was just gifted a used food saver b/c I did a favor for a friend’s mother in law. 🙂 Now I have to figure out how to use it and what I need to buy in order to use it. Looks like it will save us money in the long run.
Jaime Benavides
June 21, 2011 at 2:13 pmHi! Thank you for posting this. I am in the market to purchase a Foodsaver. I just don’t know which model would be best. Any suggestions??? Thank you!!! 🙂
Karen
June 21, 2011 at 6:37 pmAnother idea on where to get the bags…I’m using my Swagbucks to get them free on Amazon. 🙂
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
June 21, 2011 at 6:42 pmFABULOUS!!!!
Jan
July 9, 2011 at 11:40 amI just got one of the top models… On sale at kohls. I have been eyeing them for a long time. So far so good. I am single and my kids are trends and live with their dad … So you can imagine the food I get when they visit but are spoiled by the time they come back…. I have heard bed bath and beyond with their 20 % coupon is also good. I think the some what higher bag cost is off set by what I will save in spoiled foods. I just ordered the marinade container and bottle stoppers. Looking forward to enjoying one glass of my favorite wine then resealing for later. Yum. Back when I used to cook for five I did a lot of cook ahead meals. Trying to get back to that on a smaller scale.
Carolyn
September 3, 2011 at 4:21 pmI cn’t even tell you how old my food saver is. I know my grandson is 17 and I got it when he was a tiny little thing. It is actually a Tillia Food Saver, the original, long, white thing and I’ve never had a bit of problem with it. They have come out with many different styles since then but I still have my original made in Italy and paid well over $200 for it. It has been worth every penny. Hubby and my sons hunt so we freeze a lot of venison. Yes, we live a Food Saver life here. Matter of fact, need to run and get another case of bag rolls as my favorite store is having their 10# meat sale this week.
Melissa
September 4, 2011 at 8:31 amI love my food saver. I primarily use it for meats, but it works great for other food items as well. Makes it easy to stock up on sale items. Our favorite is when you can find split chicken breast for 99 cents, my husband and I go buy 100 pounds or more! Can’t imagine how much money this thing has saved me by being able to shop that way!
Carolyn
September 4, 2011 at 11:15 amTry the Pillsbury Grands biscuits. I sprinkle them with a tiny bit of flour, froze them on a cookie sheet and sealed them with my food saver. I got this idea from……I think it was Granny B’s, maybe Mary B’s frozen biscuits that Wally World used to carry. Now Wally has their own brand and they are just not the same.
At least you can use the amount of biscuits that you need rather than using the entire package.
Thanks for the tips on the alternative bags. I’ve been buying the foodsaver bags from Wally, the big box that has different sizes in it and yes, it is expensive.
BTW, love Stockpiling Moms and my beloved Foodsaver, LOL
I also do burger patties this way
don
October 30, 2011 at 3:02 pmIf you have a Menards near you… they sell their own brand that I use in my food saver and they work great at 1/2 the price of the food saver bags…if you dont have Menards maybe see if your hw store carries them or order at menards.com …HTH!
sonja
March 31, 2013 at 5:19 pmOur Menards stopped carrying their brand and started carrying ziplock brand, they work just as well!
If you have the newer model that you can Stop the suction, and start sealing, you don’t have to pre-freeze stuff!! I do BIG bags of gumbo with mine! Just lay it on a cookie sheet (or empty frezer shelf) until it freezes flat!
Kathy Roberts
January 3, 2012 at 10:18 amAfter reading all the comments, I am going to shop for a foodsaver! There are only two of us here, my husband loves for me to save money & so do I! Love your website, keep up the great work !
Julane
February 8, 2012 at 6:37 pmBelieve it or not, I am actually on my second one. I cannot do without it. Shelled peas and beans freeze so well. I freeze cinnamon rolls and biscuits (out of the can), avacodos and small amounts of celery, chopped onions and chopped bell peppers. Deli chickens when on sale are deboned and put up for salad, enchaladas and spaghetti. Cannot imagine life witho9ut it!
Tami
March 10, 2012 at 4:59 pmAnother handy use is to seal salads in jars. You can make them to take inyour lunch or just cut up and have ready to serve to your family, saes time and money, makes the lettuce last longer. Hint, don’t put cut up tomatoes or cucumbers in for storage they release to much liquid which speeds up wilting.
Don’t forget to clean the tray and vacuum tube regularly on your foodsaver to prolong the life of it. My mothe and I have been fortunate and have purchased several at garage sales and estate sales for less than $5, take them home clean them up and regift them to people who need them.
Donna
March 15, 2012 at 1:40 pmI love my foodsaver. At first I bought an off name brand but soon found out that it would not hold up like the brand name. I use it for everything. Neat tricks are freezing left over stew in a bread pan before placing them in a bag and sealing them. It can also be used for things like easter basket grass ….. a great way to save precious space. Lastly it is not just for women. My husband had tools that he no longer used. He greased them up and sealed them so that they can be preserved without rusting.
Theresa
May 26, 2012 at 1:47 pmThere is a $2/1 Foodsaver bags coupon on coupons.com! And if you are in the market for one, there is a $10/1 Foodsaver appliance greater than $69.
Like Foodsaver on Facebook. Post your pictures of your great ideas to use your Foodsaver (and it sounds like you all have lots!). Each week they pick “Fan of the Week.” I won last month and got $100 in canisters and bags. SO EASY!
Tammy
May 29, 2012 at 12:53 pmI did repin this….ty
teresa
August 3, 2012 at 10:32 pmI have had my Food Saver for about 12 years now. I freeze a lot of my garden’s harvest in them. I cut my bags about 2-3 times larger than needed so that once I cut the sealed top off there is still plenty of bag left for me to reuse it. I also will freeze meat in cheapo plastic bags, the kind that need a twist tie. Then when they are frozen, I stick the bagged meat into my Food Saver and seal them that way. Meat juices creep me out, so by doing it this way I feel that I can reuse those bags again for meat. I write MEAT on them with a sharpie to make sure I do not use them for raw items.
Carolyn
August 4, 2012 at 12:21 pmYes love my foodsaver. Haven’t been lucky enough to find the bags on sale. We are trying vacuum pak some bags of cornmeal. Want to stockpile cornmeal and flour as price is to rise because of the drought. Do you know of any reason it shouldn’t be okay?
Sue
August 5, 2012 at 11:39 amI love my foodsaver. I buy my bags from ebay. Never had a problem with them.
My first one stopped working not sure why but there was a great day around Christmas last year and I bought another for $40. It came with 6 canisters and bags. Great deal I thought.
cher
December 16, 2012 at 9:21 amI just got a Food Saver and this will be very helpful. I hope it will get my freezer more organized as well as help with monthly meal planning.
Sandra U.
December 16, 2012 at 9:30 pmI don’t have a food saver but would love to have one. Would make it much easier for me to plan and make meals ahead of time so I can just pop them in.
Heather Pfingsten
December 16, 2012 at 10:40 pmI have to admit that I got a FoodSaver for Christmas last year and I am yet to use it. I also took advantage of a deal for free handheld FoodSavers at Target last year.
I just forwarded this article to my husband with the hopes that it will peak his interest and we will break open the box prior to this Christmas!
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
March 31, 2013 at 1:59 pmYou have to use it! It is awesome!
kristen
January 17, 2013 at 6:36 amWe simply would not be able to stockpile to the extent we do without our Food Saver! The thing is a miracle machine
Debbie
February 11, 2013 at 9:07 pmI’m in Canada…I’ve found a way to never having to pay for my bags. We have a nation wide chain of stores called Canadian Tire that, when you shop/buy gasoline there (I only buy gas/loss leaders/sale items there ) and they give you “Canadian Tire Money” of .4% of your purchase. Over a year we generally have over $100 of this Canadian Tire money which we can spend at par in the store. We use it to buy FoodSaver bags and canning supplies all for free. Another trick we use is that we save bread bags or use dollar store food storage bags to put our meat into before putting it in the FoodSaver bags, this way we can reuse the bags, usually at least twice, as the bags are clean- as we remove the meat from the bags before it thaws.
Laura
March 4, 2013 at 3:07 pmI’ve had one Foodsaver or another for over 15 years. Love them! In fact, when I was separating from my husband, we fought about two things-the Foodsaver and the Salad Shooter. He ended up with both, but I got the pressure canner 🙂 First purchase for my new place was a Foodsaver-haven’t stopped using it since. Not only for food, but since I am in Florida, hurricane supplies-matches and candles, fire starters, important documents, first aid kit and sewing kit. I also like to reuse jars from purchased foods and use the canisters (that I did take when I left, unbeknownst to him, heh hee) to keep rice, flour, etc. that I don’t need a bunch of at one time. It’s really helped me stay on budget since I can take advantage of sales. If it ever dies, I will get another one. It’s as important in my kitchen as my chef’s knife and cast iron skillet!
Bonnie
May 20, 2013 at 11:56 amWhat brand of foodsaver do you have? There are so many!
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May 24, 2014 at 8:43 pmHow do you do your marinades with out it ruining the seal?
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
May 25, 2014 at 3:12 pmYou have to flash freeze before sealing.
Jenn
July 28, 2014 at 3:42 amI buy my bags from Sam’s Club. It costs about $40 for (4) 11″ rolls, (2) 8″ rolls, and (6) heat seal bags. Much cheaper than the manufacturer’s website.
Tiffany
January 25, 2015 at 3:59 amI definitely need to invest in a foodsaver. Great tips.
Mandy
May 27, 2015 at 8:38 pmI use my foodsaver on just the seal mode with all the bags of chips my many teenagers come home with. They eat a handful or two….I use scissors to cut the bag top evenly and “seal”. (I do NOT use the vacuum)
These stay fresh for a pretty long time at least a week and a half and I just keep resealing until the bag is gone. This works with the inner bag of boxes of cereal as well.
If the bag is too large i fold them at 45 degree angle to make them fit the sealer and it still will seal the layers.
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
May 28, 2015 at 5:27 pmGreat tip!