Kitchen appliances chat

Yes.

Don't.

Can anyone recommend a vacuum sealing machine for use before freezing food? As usual most of the online reviews seem to be unreliable, hopefully under £50 if possible (is that realistic?).

I have a Vacuum Sealer Pro - a bit pricier, but works well.

There is a smaller version.

You might do, the shit ones on Amazon are properly shit.
I spent about £30 on one and I hate it.
It sort of works some of the time, but looking forward to it breaking so I can throw it away.

Thanks @TW

@Acliff that was my concern, I want something to work and last so (as usual) should probably look behind the usual cheaper end of the market

Is vacuum sealing necessary? I’ve been putting stuff in boxes and freezer bags, I feel like a fool.

I have a vacuum sealer and items get much less freezer burn than using normal freezer bags. Plus it can be used for sous vide cooking, compressed fruit etc.

I had no idea vacuum sealers had a use beyond sous-vide cooking.
And this is coming from someone who bought a meat slicer.

I cured salmon gravadlax with dill and beetroot at Christmas with a vacuum bag.

It was phenomenal.

Oooh

Recipe pls

https://www.oneofeverything.ca/blog/2017/10/19/recipe-beet-cured-gravlax

Super simple really.
First batch I made the mistake of using pre shredded beetroot, which had added water, vinegar and sugar.
Grated beetroot was better for reducing the excess liquid.

Demolished 2 whole salmon sides between 8 people across 2 days.

I have a cheap one and it's a bit shit. If I was going to buy a sub £50 one I'd probably get an Inkbird one as other stuff of theirs that I've had has been decent.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09Z6C1CZD/
I imagine the ANOVA one is decent though, although I've resisted getting a new one due to all the plastic you end up using.

My mum used to do this with bricks in the garage

My father in law did the same, with clingfilmed bricks.

The vacuum bag means that the salt and sugar draw into salmon without extra weight (though I did add something on top to shape the fillet).
A lot less salt and sugar needed too, as there is less wastage.

Aha, I smoke a few sides every year for Christmas - it makes buying pissy little backs so underwhelming.

Anyone who's done research to pick between the Waterdrop and Brita DIY below sink water filters? I need to replace our jug and thought this could be a better solution?

I did a bit of research and found that it likely impacted the flow rates enough that you really needed a separate filtered water tap and cold water tap and I gave up at that point.

Im not sure. I have an osmio water filter in my van and the flow is good.

Water drop seem to say 0.75g/m so 3.5l/m ish

Actually seems a tap is 10-15l/m so not so great

I'm guessing your van probably has lower pressure than mains though so maybe less noticeable. The Brita one was something like 3l/min which was much lower than my tap (something like a third or a quarter, can't remember exactly).

yeah just edited.

it does seem osmio do 'whole house' ones that can do 30l/m.

Makes no sense without a separate tap/2 (3?)way tap in my opinion. You don't need filtered for pasta etc and flow rate is slow on filtered.
We have a second hand Franke/Brita tap with BRITA PURITY C50 Quell ST Filter. Tap was something like 100€. Filter is set to let 30% unfiltered through.
I wouldn't go back to jug because space and convenience. And it definitely makes a difference on filter coffe and green tea especially.
Only problem I see is finding someone that takes the huge filters back for recycling.

Okay, jug it is then thanks @c.h.e. and @aggi

A jug can also go in the fridge.

We have a jug, it's so annoying.
You post reminded me how annoying it is!

Haha yeah, ours just became a bit grim after a couple of years so need to swap it which also annoys me