Ikea Bag Holder DIY upgrade

I have been using the Ikea VARIERA 701.548.00 Stainless Steel Pot Lid Organizer as a bag holder for a while with no rust at all. The accordion style allows you to adjust it to fit your container and bag width because I switch between a 12 Qt Cambro and Coleman 24 Can stacker. The organizer works great for keep the bag separated and upright, but I was still having some issues with floaters. I had used clips but thought there had to be a better way and this is what I came up with.

The addition of some 1/4 inch I.D. tubing from your local hardware store makes a great upgrade and it only cost around $3.

I cut 2 lengths of tubing to form handles on each end of the organizer making sure the length of tubing formed a handle that would sit just below the lid of either my 12 quart cambro style sous vide container or the 24 quart Coleman stacker cooler that I use for longer cooks. I used a heat gun to soften the tips of the tubing so it would stretch over the tips at each end of the organizer.

I cut a 3rd length of tubing that I fastened to one handle tight with a zip tie. I made the length so that when the organizer was stretched out fully I had enough length to wrap around the other handle. I used another zip tie put on loosely so the tubing can be squeezed in and out of it allowing me to adjust the length, yellow zip tie in the picture. This piece of tubing allows acts as a hold down across the bags to prevent them from floating up.

Using this setup I am able to arrange all the bags at once outside the hot water bath, fasten them in place, and then lower them in all at once. It also allows me to remove them all at once from the hot water bath. The tubing handles are cooler than the stainless steel to the touch and are much more comfortable to grab at the surface instead of having to reach into 150 F water quickly with bare fingers or with tongs.

4 Likes

Brilliant!

Very nice idea! Thank you!

Always nice to know ingenuity isn’t dead. Well done.

Like this idea. I have all the components and will try then let you know how it turns out for me.
Thanks

Duhhhhh…this is like the big bang theory…and I feel like penny…penny…penny! LOL nice job. I’m gonna keep my eye on you!

Nice

A little more expensive - I just bought two pot holders and concertina the second one out to fit the pan as well and stick it on top.

I got the idea from someone else in the site.

Its fiddle free.

Next time I’m up at Ikea, I’ll pick one of these up! Thx!

Unfortunately the pot lid holder seems to be sold out. At least in all swedish IKEA’s. :disappointed:

Keep checking Peter. The first time I checked the local Ikea here they were out, but a week later they received a shipment of 200. You may have to be quick getting in and buying one once they restock. I went in the day after they restocked and they had already sold almost 100 of them!
In fact a lady started talking to me while I was grabbing a couple and after we got talking about sous vide cooking she grabbed two herself and said she’s be ordering an Anova for her husband when she got home! :slight_smile: This Variera pot lid organizers go fast!