I am using the stasher bags for sous vide and came up with the simple way to vacuum seal the bags.
It is similar to the chamber vacuum sealer method but I am using the plastic reusable vacuum bag as the external chamber.
I place the unsealed stasher bag with the product inside the plastic reusable vacuum bag then I seal the external bag by using the manual pump which comes with it.
This removes the air from both external and internal bags. The second step is to seal the inside stasher bag by pressing on the seal area while the external bag is still sealed. After this you can open the external bag and take out the stasher bag which is perfectly vacuum sealed.
This is a very efficient, simple and quick technique.
Stasher bags are reusable bags made out of silicone. They are manufactured by Stasher company and may be bought directly from them.
Anova sells them as well in their WEB store and they are also available on Amazon. They are manufactured in two sizes and I use the larger 7" bags. Stasher bags at Anova:
Even though the āusualā plastic food certified bags are supposed to be safe for sous vide style cooking the silicone bags are much safer since they do not contain plastics at all and they may be reused thousands of times per manufacturerās information. There are multiple reviews online on cooking safety in plastic and of course multiple researchers / reviewers / bloggers have different opinions. For people who are hesitant about cooking in plastic the silicone sous vide bags is a bullet proof solution.
The plastic reusable sous vide bags are sold by multiple vendors and I buy them on Amazon. Just search for āreusable sous vide bagsā. These are the bags I use:
I do not use them to directly prepaire the meals in them. I use them for vacuum sealing as explained in the original post or for double bagging if I am concerned about loosing the seal in the silicone bag.
YouTube has videos on stasher bags and plastic reusable sous vide bags. Just watch them and youāll get an idea.
is roughly 8 by 10 inches and will work using the same vacuum method.
The difference here is that it has a hard plastic sealing closure which will not be used in this case.
You can place the item(s) in the silicone bag and use the large reusable bag or 11 inch food saver type roll film (assuming you have FoodSaver). Youāve got to leave the item(s) double bagged but the advantage is that your food will allways be in contact only with silicone and not with the polyethylene material of the outer bag.
These bags:
may be used as well with the same approach.
These bags are a bit larger then stasher. Both are of the same design and are much easier to clean. They are quite handy because they have a wide opening with nothing to obstruct placing or removing the food. Stasher bags have issues with being not easily cleanable if stuff like spices get into the corners of the sealing closure. So you got to be careful when using them. The reviews Iāve seen do not mention this problem.
A good read on sous vide plastic safety can be found here:
I have switched to using the bags alternative to stasher which I mentioned in this thread already. Those are also much cheaper (four alternatives for $18 vs. one stasher for $12).
I still use stasher bags occasionally but the biggest problem in my experience is that SV items usually have some spices applied and those little pieces tend to collect in the zip lock seal area either when you place the piece in or removing it from the bag. Those are especially hard to remove if they are trapped in the seal ends. People mention this in the Amazon reviews Iāve seen. You got to meticulously clean stashers or you may even get mold developed in the corners and there are photos of this in Amazon reviews as well.
The alternatives are so much easier to clean and I just cook the food double bagged.
Thanks so much Greg for sharing! I must add to it that Iām using similar product like you do, just from another brand called SoVide.
The kit Iām using has 3 different size bags so it gives me the flexibility to cook larger portions, it is more expensive than the one you are using but you get more
Iāve been using both these zip-locking bags and Stashers and find these bags way superior to Stashers. Much easier to clean, 100% hermetic, seal doesnāt pop open, round corners, accordion bottom allows large pieces of food, easy to reverse for washing, 20.3 cm (8") unobstructed opening, and less expensive.
These bags are non-toxic and tasteless, safe and environmentally friendly, and are resistant to temperatures between -50 ā ~ 250 ā (-58 Ā°F ~ 482Ā°F), safe for refrigerators, freezers microwave ovens, electric ovens as well as sous-vide cooking, of course.
Bag size: 20.5 cm x 18 cm (8" wide x 7" high) with 20.5 cm (8") opening. Available colours: White, red, green, and blue.
Retail price is: C$3.97 or U$3.06 / each (as of Nov 17, 2017) with FREE worldwide shipping via Aliexpress, China.
SOURCE: ANDYāS STORE at https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Reusable-Silicone-Vacuum-Food-Fresh-Bags-Wraps-Fridge-Food-Storage-Containers-Refrigerator-Bag-Kitchen-Colored-Ziplock/32824467163.html
Iām not affiliated in any way with the vendor. Iām merely a very satisfied customer.
@ANDRE1D Those are exactly the bags I use as well and which are showed in my link. I just buy them in set of four from Amazon which is delivered within a week. Shipping from China may take a month so I figured I spend an extra $1 per bag. As I mentioned, in order to remove the air I use the method I described in the first post and do not use the hard plastic closures. I just leave the silicone bag double bagged inside reusable SV bag. I also find those bags easier to handle than stashers.
