Vacuum sealer?

[Zak33]

Nick (Deckard) used to vac pack meat with herbs and garlic to intensify the flavour then freeze it.

herb rub.. or garlic rub or whatever for your meat... all over.. then vac pack and freeze

was powerful

it was a deep freeze marinade.. and as it defrosted in the vac pack it took on the flavour.

[Zak33]

As for farms, I would if I were you. You might get a surprise at what's available, and at how much better it tastes. Also, it's not necessarily more expensive. My local farm is actually a bit cheaper than supermarkets

mine too

quality far superior... price slightly lower... custom cuts no problem.. and good bread and eggs there too.

[peterb]

Thanks for the above...

I am tempted to 'make an offer'.

[peterb]

Just spotted this for £25

http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-...etail&id=25912

Friend has just bought one, seems to do the job...

[Saracen]

Just spotted this for £25

http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-...etail&id=25912

Friend has just bought one, seems to do the job...

Had one. Okay for occasional use, but didn't last long. IMHO, not a good idea for serious use. This is a classic case of buy cheap, buy often. My advice, avoid unless it's infrequent use.

[peterb]

Mm, thank you. It will be infrequent (until I realise how useful it is!) but it does have a three year warranty... So if it lasts three years, at £8/year...

My worry about buying something more expensive is that I won't use it and it'll just gather dust.

I shall ponder....

[Saracen]

Mm, thank you. It will be infrequent (until I realise how useful it is!) but it does have a three year warranty... So if it lasts three years, at £8/year...

My worry about buying something more expensive is that I won't use it and it'll just gather dust.

I shall ponder....

Fully understand that logic .... 'cos it's exactly how I bought that one.

Or at least, one very similar, about the same price, exactly the same 'brand', and from the same chain. It might not the exactly the same model.

Personally, I wish I'd put the cost towards a better model straight away. It'd have been cheaper in the long-term. But, of course, your mileage may vary. Certainly, using them regularly has advantages, but might require a bit of a mindset adjustment, and a small adaptation in buying habits.

And that one, or my version of that one, doesn't have the external tube required to use vacuum-seal pots and containers. It's just bags. So it's not quite as versatile.

[peterb]

A friend bought the Silvercrest today. It seems quite sturdy, and the air extraction pipe could have a tube put over it. Also looked rapt the Eiffel Pro (not the LN version) which is 4 x the price and two years warranty. Need to find the OEM of the Silvercrest model...

[Saracen]

A friend bought the Silvercrest today. It seems quite sturdy, and the air extraction pipe could have a tube put over it. Also looked rapt the Eiffel Pro (not the LN version) which is 4 x the price and two years warranty. Need to find the OEM of the Silvercrest model...

Yeah, but that's kinda like choosing between two German-made cars ..... Mercedes and Wartburg.

Seriously, though, yeah the Silvercrest seems quite sturdy, and well-made. I thought that too, but pretty rapidly, the vacuum pump stopped vacuuming. At which point, you have a bag sealer. And from accounts I found online, my experience was .... not unusual.

You do get what you pay for with those. As long as you buy it knowing that, fair enough.

[peterb]

After a lot of humming and Arrington, I am going to dip my toe in the water with the cheaper one - and keep my receipt very carefully!

Rational is that if it fails early, I get a refund, if it fails later I either get a replacement or partial refund, and if it fails after 3 years, the cost is negligible, and if I don't use it as much as expected, I won't have an expensive gadget looking at me reproachfully.

If I use it more than expected, it may well fail prematurely so the above considerations apply, and I get a better replacement.

Think I've convinced myself!

(Or TL;DR - been looking at these for a while, not convinced enough to splash out on a more expensive machine, this offers a low cost entry point! And I have seen it work in practice therefore lower immediate financial risk )

[g8ina]

Lidl's own branded Silvercrest stuff is usually pretty good, I have their breadmaker, and just bought their knife sharpener, which also does ceramic blades, 12 quid.

[Saracen]

Lidl's own branded Silvercrest stuff is usually pretty good, I have their breadmaker, and just bought their knife sharpener, which also does ceramic blades, 12 quid.

In general, entirely agree. And for the money, that Silvercrest one isn't bad.

One other thing, Peter.

I still haven't got around to getting the Eiffel Pro, but I did use one, albeit fairly briefly. The other big difference was how much it .... ermmm .... 'sucked'. I'll rephrase that. The efficiency of the vacuum pump at removing air.

My 'feel' for that was that the Eiffel was quite markedly better. Going back to German cars, you might struggle to get the Wartburg over 80mph, but at 140, the Mercedes may still be pulling like an express train.

That said, I do absolutely understand your logic. The Eiffel is a lot moee unless you're sure you'll use it sufficiently. My bet is you'll either use it so much you wish you'd bought the eiffel, or so little you wonder why you even wasted £25 on the Silvercrest. But there's only one way to find out.