# Poultry Shrink Bags VS. Vacuum Sealer



## Pheasant283 (Mar 24, 2010)

Poultry Shrink Bags VS. Vacuum Sealer. Hi there, I will be raising, processing and selling a few meat birds this Spring / Summer. Looking at different options as far as packaging. In the past I have used a Vacuum sealer, however it seems that the bags only seal right about 1/2 the time, then frost ends up in the bag. I am considering trying the Poultry Shrink bags, looking for any advice / experience anyone has with these.


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## Fire-Man (Apr 30, 2005)

Pheasant283 said:


> Poultry Shrink Bags VS. Vacuum Sealer. Hi there, I will be raising, processing and selling a few meat birds this Spring / Summer. Looking at different options as far as packaging. In the past I have used a Vacuum sealer, however it seems that the bags only seal right about 1/2 the time, then frost ends up in the bag. I am considering trying the Poultry Shrink bags, looking for any advice / experience anyone has with these.


 
The shrink bags are good and would probably work better for most when processing/bagging birds. Having only about 50% seal on GOOD vacuum bags probably means you are not doing something right. I use vacuum bags ofter--sometimes vacuum sealing as much as 3 whole hogs at one time and rarely have a bag that does not hold a seal. The biggest problem I feel with not holding a seal is vacuum sealing meat with juices in it and it draws this liquid into the sealing area causing it to not hold a seal. This can be controlled atleast a couple ways.


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## redgate (Sep 18, 2008)

We've used both, though I find the vacuum bags ridiculously expensive. We use only the shrink bags now--still expensive, but not nearly as much. The key with the shrink bags is to use the right size--too tight and not all the air can escape, too lose and not all the air can escape. Takes a bit of practice, but it's easy enough to get the hang of.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Agree with Fireman.....you've got to make sure the sealing area stays dry. We'll wipe it with a paper towel, then roll up the towel and stick it in the bag with 'juicy' meats.

Also, ours can switch to manual seal from auto seal by pushing the manual seal button.

And finally, we double seal everything after having seal failures. Cuts your seal failure to about nothing.

BUT if I were gonna sell birds, I'd go with the heat shrink personally.


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## Westvalleyfarm (Feb 13, 2015)

I like the shrink bags for large volume. We try to do at least a hundred birds because it takes as much time to set up and clean up afterwards for 100 birds as it does 10.


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## AdmiralD7S (Nov 1, 2013)

I agree that shrink bags are the way to go. 2 yeas ago, we ended up processing around 80 birds. Shrink bags took 10-15 seconds total time including inserting the bird, tying off (or stapling) the opening, cutting the vent hole, dipping in hot water, wiping the vent hole dry, and applying the freezer-safe label. Our food saver was taking 2-3 times as long as big heavy birds are not conducive to getting the sealer bags flat for the seal/seam, and we had around 10% failures even when operating the food saver in "liquid mode."

It may r may not be important to you, but another advantage of the shrink bags is you don't need electricity. Make a fire to boil some water and off you go!


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## Fire-Man (Apr 30, 2005)

AdmiralD7S said:


> we had around 10% failures even when operating the food saver in "liquid mode."


I have not heard of this mode----interesting---which model has this "Liquid mode" and what does this mode do? Thanks


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## AdmiralD7S (Nov 1, 2013)

Fire-Man said:


> I have not heard of this mode----interesting---which model has this "Liquid mode" and what does this mode do? Thanks



I have the V3240. I believe many others have the feature as well.


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## JHizzle207 (Mar 24, 2015)

We do both, shrink bags for whole birds and vac seal cut-ups.

There's something going wrong with your vac sealer or process if you're getting inconsistent seals. Also, the commercial rolls of vac material from Amazon is of higher quality and substantially cheaper than the retail stuff in stores.


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## msweeten (Jan 22, 2015)

Getting ready to process our birds in a few weeks... I have a vacuum sealer, debating on using bags or getting heat sealing bags.


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## Lookin4GoodLife (Oct 14, 2013)

JHizzle207 said:


> Also, the commercial rolls of vac material from Amazon is of higher quality and substantially cheaper than the retail stuff in stores.


Do you have a link for what you've used with success? And could someone post a link to the shrink bags you've used with success. I'm planning on raising some meat birds next year myself, but do not have a vacuum sealer and have not started researching that yet.


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## tree-farmer (Jul 5, 2015)

We got a vacuum sealer because we needed something now, but I think I may order some shrink bags for the turkeys.
I expect to like the shrink bags more but still glad we bought the vacuum sealer


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## Sanza (Sep 8, 2008)

I know it's extra work but I freeze my chickens first and then vacuum seal and have no problem with juices from the meat causing sealing problems


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## Ray (Dec 5, 2002)

Wow, a most interresting thread!! I have had several vacuum sealers. The one before my present unit, worked fairly well. It had a wet cycle. But when it finally failed. I went in search of a new and better vacuum sealer!! and found none of the non-comercial ones should be used in more than a couple consecutive seals? Like do two or three and make sure that you have a couple minutes rest I between seals. I never realized that they couldn't be used seal afte seal after seal? So appearantly I ruined all of my vacuum sealers?. hehe I used Em! and they aren't made to be used consecutivly! The one O settled on said it was good for 20 consecutive seals? I think?? and it won't do as well as my old units!! everything has turned to junk!! unless you want to spend a thousand dollar bill! and I'd be willing to bet if I did? the one I'd get would be junk!!! hehe my good luck!! 
This shrink bag is intriguing! Kinda expensive? but not so much considering you don,t have to buy a shrink machine to use them in?? hehe just a pot of 180 degree water? and some time!! Thanks for this thread!!! I will try this product sometime in the future!! best wishes, ray


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