Foodsaver for Salad????

[Nanci]

I finally broke down and bought a FoodSaver. I tried to package a salad in a bag and brought it for lunch, but I found it soggy. I did read that the best place to store lettuce is in a canister. Can I also store things like cucumber, peppers, celery and tomatoes? I suspect that the cucumber and tomatoes made it soggy. My husband isn't ready to give up. I can't stand the thought of little baggies for each item.

So, I'm searching for your suggestions. I did of course use it to seal a left over pork tenderloin, hotdogs, etc and love it so far!!!!

Thanks,

Nanci

[funnybone]

I don't have a food saver, but I was wondering if you "dressed" the salad. If so, that is why it would be soggy. If you didn't, then I wouldn't see why it would be soggy, unless the vegetables were not completely dry when packed.

[Nanci]

The salad wasn't dressed and the veggies had been pretty throughly dried. However, the peppers, tomatoes and celery were cut up.

Thanks for trying.

Nanci

[Personal Chef]

For the salad greens, throw in 1 or 2 paper towels. The towels absorb the water from the greens. I think you'll still be able to throw in the peppers and celery, but I'd leave out the tomatoes.

[luv2cook]

I've got one, too, but my problem is I've noticed that when I try to vaccuum vegs, it gives them a different texture and I haven't really noticed them last much longer.

Also, I did some choco chips. They looked dried. Then I did flour. The flour, after I unsealed it, was very cakey and it stayed that way. No amount of stirring took that away.

SO: Any of you with this thing, any clues?

WHile I'm at it, some of the bags act like they're sealed but later on, develop a "leak" and get air. I've lost 2lbs of onion and some potatos that way...

[luv2cook]

Just pushing this up to see if anyone has any clues...

[funnybone]

I believe someone mentioned this a couple of months back on a post and I think it was "defective bags" You may want to check out the old posts, or hope that person who wrote that will see this. You should contact Tilia and see what they say if you get not response here.

[Curleytop]

My suggestion would be to call TILIA 1-800-772-5452. They are in San Francisco! When I first got mine, years and years ago, I had a few questions, and they were able to solve my problem.

I personally don't think that packing salad in either the bag material or the canister would work. It takes out the air, and crushes all the crunchy stuff. I once tried vacuum packing pretzels, and they all crushed! I still have an ancient seal-a-meal, and when I just want to seal something, WITHOUT VACUUM PACKING, (like open bags of cereal or pretzels) I use it. I don't like to use the sealer by itself on the Foodsaver. (if the plastic bag melts, it is a mess:mad: ):

[Jewel]

We've been using the FoodSaver for salad, but we cheat a bit...I buy mostly bagged salad, since DH is usually the only one eating it, and his salad taste's aren't that creative. I use the 2.5 qt canister, and he re-vacpacks it each time he dips into it. So far, we've noticed that it does keep the greens crisper longer, but it also makes the lettuce a little dry looking...probably because the air is removed! So, it's crisper, but it looks a little old. Does that make sense?? He still likes it this way, but says he wouldn't mind if we just went back to keeping it in the bags.

Any time there is a leak in the bag, I find it's generally along the seams. I've taken a pre-made bag OR one that I've made from a roll and re-sealed the bag on all four sides with the FoodSaver sealer feature, and so far that has worked every time. Instead of 2 lbs of onions at one time, try making those smaller quantities. I store my onions and potatoes in a canvas drawstring bag in my cupboard, and the only time I vacpack one is if I cut into it and only use half. Works really well for us with purple onions, since the only time we usually use those is for burgers, and we never need a whole one! Good luck!