I recently purchased this along with the vacuum sealer from ANOVA. So far we have been testing. Cooked ribs that were the best we ever had. This weekend we marinated some chicken thighs, vacuum sealed it, juice and all, and froze. Worked amazing. Today, I put two bags in the cooker, following the guide on here at 165 when you look up time/temp for bone in thighs. I used an actual sous vide bag, not a zip lock. It was the amazon brand. After about an hour I checked on it and one of the bags was full of water and had leaked out. We pulled out the bag and saw it had a crack along the inside of the seam. The seal itself wasn’t broken, it just cracked along it. So we continued cooking the other one, that we made sue was fine. About 30 minutes later, we looked and that bag had the exact same crack, along a different portion of the inside of the seam(the side closest to the chicken, not the side that you could cut off and be fine.). Any idea what we are doing wrong? You are supposed to be able to cook from frozen, so not sure? Any help is very much appreciated. I don’t want to return all of it because of a simple fix. I think it has so much potential. Thank you and have a great Thanksgiving!
If, what you are trying to get across is this…
“The PREMADE in the factory seals failed” NOT your own seals then the quality / tolerance / QC is definitely suspect.
IF it was rubbing up near a rib bone edge & was jostled around in a packed freezer then it is anyone’s guess.
Swap out for another brand, double check the specs & thickness (none of which you’ve alluded to here) & see if it can be pinned on anything with certainty.
Any prior vac sealing experience? did you dry wipe the seal, double seal? …or all new to you?
Hi! Thank you for responding.
The pictures are attached. It is the Amazon brand the 150ft roll if that helps.
I am completely new to it! I really want to buy bulk meat on sale and eat healthier. Used manual seal on wet. It had liquid in it but I made sure the seal was set. It doesn’t appear to be a broken seal? It is like the plastic connected to the seal I made.
Both bags broke the same way, but not in the same spot along the axis. (if it was a spot on the vacuum sealer that messed it up)
I really appreciate the help!
I have been cooking SV from frozen for about two years now, a couple of times per week, and have experienced no such difficulties. I have not bought that brand of bags. I buy Foodsaver brand bag assortments and ANOVA brand. I am developing a preference for bag material etched on both surfaces.
In general elastomer material selection, one wants to use it at a temperature warmer than the Glass Transition Temperature - to brittle - and cooler than the Melting Temperature, region called the Rubber Region.
Looks like a production fault to me.
Hopefully you set the vac sealer to automatic? so the process cannot be brought into question from holding the heating wire on excessively thus weakening the plastic surrounding it.
Can you confirm, you sealed the TOP (after inserting your ribs)
The picture of the failure is SIDE WALL as per straight from the factory?
If it is along the area you made the seal then did it have a good amount of EXCESS space upon which for the vacuum to form? OR was the bag fit tight before you loaded it, IE (& I understand this may be hard for a beginner to grasp) oversizing the bag length helps to some degree effect a seal whilst leaving anything / most wet / gloop further down the bag.
From the picture angle the bag (if not sitting & hiding excess) looks too tight for the quantity put in maybe?
I’ve had bad seals but that angle of pic looks like it is just below the seal, is that correct?
TBH i’d be wary of anything merely described as amazon brand without knowing who was behind it, an amazon return doesn’t mean that problem will be scrutinised & fixed, likely merely a big order for an average spec relying on bulk to make up the profit margin supplying to amazon.
Generic no names care a lot less than a brand that made its name & reputation via specialism, thus likely to have better qc’ing & spec tolerances.
In all the years we have had vac sealers bags, rolls et al, we’ve scrutinised the purchase beyond basic price alone.
Amazon own brand puppy pee pads are a shining example of a really rotten, thin, not for for purpose product, thinner smaller …false economy.
Consider double-sealing bags or using a different brand for better durability. Enjoy your cooking adventures!