New vac sealer, bags leaking air.

General
1

New Vacuum Sealer problems!!

I just bought a new Anova Vacuum Sealer Pro. Im new to this kinda thing. I’m having an issue with vacuum seal failing after a while.

I’m vacuum sealing dry small dog food in 2-cup portions. The pieces are small and rounded, about the same size and shape of M&Ms. I’ve gone through an entire roll of bags trying this, and many of them are still slowly leaking air back in after sealing.

Here’s what’s happening:

  • First batch: sealed normally, then put into the freezer. About 3/4 of those bags lost vacuum and puffed back up.

  • Second batch (next day): used brand-new bags and double-sealed each one. I was careful to keep the sealing area clean this time as I read that can be an issue.

  • Even with that, several of those bags started leaking air again shortly after going into the freezer.

Right now:

  • 8 bags have clearly failed and feel like normal ziplock bags with air in them

  • 4 bags are still rock solid

  • I just sealed 3 more and I’m going to leave them on my counter overnight and not put them in the freezer to see if that makes a difference. (UPDATE: 1 of the 3 bags on the counter puffed back up so far).

All bags contain only dry kibble. No moisture or liquids.

Since some bags hold perfectly while most have fail under the same conditions, I’m not sure whether this points to a bag issue, a sealing issue, or something else. I’ve already used the entire roll trying to get consistent results.

Please help!! I’m soo lost as to what I’m doing wrong.

2

This sounds like tiny punctures from the kibble edges or crumbs near the seal I have had the same issue with dry food. Try adding a paper towel inside near the seal or using thicker mylar-style bags and triple sealing.

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The kibble is rounded, like an M&M, so I’m not thinking punctures. I tried leaving 6” of head space to see if that would help, it didn’t. This food is VERY “dusty”, so I’m guessing bad seals. Even though I tried to be clean and did the paper towel trick, I still had mostly failures. I can’t visually see any failures but they must be there.

I just did one where I put the kibble into a brown paper lunch bag, rolled it up, and then sealed it. I’ll know in an hour or two if that helps control “dust”.