I finally tried out the Talia food saver that I got for Christmas. I
could not believe how easy it was to operate. I picked up an economy
pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts today, made up some bags,
stuck two (half) breasts in each bag, stuck one end in the vacuum
channel, closed the lid, pump started running, the air got sucked out of
the bags, bags got sealed, pushed a button to release the top and pulled
out a vacuum pack with enough chicken for dinner for two. Piece of
cake. I like this machine.

"Dave Smith" > wrote in message
...
>I finally tried out the Talia food saver that I got for Christmas. I
> could not believe how easy it was to operate. I picked up an economy
> pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts today, made up some bags,
> stuck two (half) breasts in each bag, stuck one end in the vacuum
> channel, closed the lid, pump started running, the air got sucked out of
> the bags, bags got sealed, pushed a button to release the top and pulled
> out a vacuum pack with enough chicken for dinner for two. Piece of
> cake. I like this machine.
>
>

I got one for Christmas too, and have only sealed one bag so far, but I've
got a few canisters filled. I also got the jar-sealer things, and I can see
how those are going to be really handy, especially for things that I'm going
to want to open and reseal multiple times. And canning jars and lids are
pretty cheap.

D.Currie wrote:
> "Dave Smith" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>I finally tried out the Talia food saver that I got for Christmas. I
>>could not believe how easy it was to operate. I picked up an economy
>>pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts today, made up some bags,
>>stuck two (half) breasts in each bag, stuck one end in the vacuum
>>channel, closed the lid, pump started running, the air got sucked out of
>>the bags, bags got sealed, pushed a button to release the top and pulled
>>out a vacuum pack with enough chicken for dinner for two. Piece of
>>cake. I like this machine.
>>
>>
>
>
> I got one for Christmas too, and have only sealed one bag so far, but I've
> got a few canisters filled. I also got the jar-sealer things, and I can see
> how those are going to be really handy, especially for things that I'm going
> to want to open and reseal multiple times. And canning jars and lids are
> pretty cheap.
>
>
Congrats to you both. The biggest savings factor that I've found for it
is buying meats, poultry, etc in bulk when they're on sale, freezing
them and into the freezer. As most here already know, I won't be
without one again.

--
Steve

Life should *not* be a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body. But rather
to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body
thoroughly used up, worn out and screaming, "WHOO HOOOOO, what a ride!"

D.Currie wrote:
> "Dave Smith" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>I finally tried out the Talia food saver that I got for Christmas. I
>>could not believe how easy it was to operate. I picked up an economy
>>pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts today, made up some bags,
>>stuck two (half) breasts in each bag, stuck one end in the vacuum
>>channel, closed the lid, pump started running, the air got sucked out of
>>the bags, bags got sealed, pushed a button to release the top and pulled
>>out a vacuum pack with enough chicken for dinner for two. Piece of
>>cake. I like this machine.
>>
>>
>
>
> I got one for Christmas too, and have only sealed one bag so far, but I've
> got a few canisters filled. I also got the jar-sealer things, and I can see
> how those are going to be really handy, especially for things that I'm going
> to want to open and reseal multiple times. And canning jars and lids are
> pretty cheap.
>
>
Congrats to you both. The biggest savings factor that I've found for it
is buying meats, poultry, etc in bulk when they're on sale, freezing
them and into the freezer. As most here already know, I won't be
without one again.

--
Steve

Life should *not* be a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body. But rather
to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body
thoroughly used up, worn out and screaming, "WHOO HOOOOO, what a ride!"

Dave Smith > wrote:

>I finally tried out the Talia food saver that I got for Christmas. I
>could not believe how easy it was to operate. I picked up an economy
>pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts today, made up some bags,
>stuck two (half) breasts in each bag, stuck one end in the vacuum
>channel, closed the lid, pump started running, the air got sucked out of
>the bags, bags got sealed, pushed a button to release the top and pulled
>out a vacuum pack with enough chicken for dinner for two. Piece of
>cake. I like this machine.
>
And you will love it when you discover the package of chicken behind
everything else next year and it has no freezer burn.

--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral, 48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)

Dave Smith wrote:
> I finally tried out the Talia food saver that I got for Christmas.
> I could not believe how easy it was to operate. I picked up an
> economy pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts today, made up
> some bags, stuck two (half) breasts in each bag, stuck one end in
> the vacuum channel, closed the lid, pump started running, the air
> got sucked out of the bags, bags got sealed, pushed a button to
> release the top and pulled out a vacuum pack with enough chicken
> for dinner for two. Piece of cake. I like this machine.

You will soon ask yourself why you never got one for yourself years ago,
and why you waited so long after Christmas to try it.

BOB
wishing my old antique Foodsaver would finally die so I could get a newer
model with a whistle or bell or two

BOB wrote:

> BOB
> wishing my old antique Foodsaver would finally die so I could get a newer
> model with a whistle or bell or two
>
>

Me too BOB, but the dang thing just won't die!

--
Steve

Life should *not* be a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body. But rather
to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body
thoroughly used up, worn out and screaming, "WHOO HOOOOO, what a ride!"

BOB wrote:

>
> You will soon ask yourself why you never got one for yourself years ago,
> and why you waited so long after Christmas to try it.

It never occurred to me before that it would be worth my while, but the
conversation about them here last month got me thinking. I didn't have
anything that needed to be stored until yesterday and someone had mentioned
something about having trouble getting theirs to work (a different make).
This thing was a breeze. I put some of the chicken into the bags that came
with the machine. All I had to do was to put the chicken breasts in the back,
set the open end into the vacuum area and press down. The pump came on and
sucked out all the air and when it stopped it was done. Having had such great
success with that I made a bag from the roll and it was equally simple. I was
really impressed with the ease of operation, mush simpler than I had
expected.


> wishing my old antique Foodsaver would finally die so I could get a newer
> model with a whistle or bell or two

What bells and whistles do you need. I would be content just to find an
inexpensive source of material. That was the thing that made me reconsider
the need. It looked like it was going to cost about 50 cents per foot of
plastic, which out to question the economy of the whole idea of vacuum
packing to save money.

Dave Smith wrote:
>
> What bells and whistles do you need. I would be content just to find an
> inexpensive source of material. That was the thing that made me reconsider
> the need. It looked like it was going to cost about 50 cents per foot of
> plastic, which out to question the economy of the whole idea of vacuum
> packing to save money.
>
>

The bags are re-useable first off. Secondly, my time "wasted" shopping
is valuable to me. Plus from the reviews I've seen and people that I
talked to the thinner bags are prone to freezer burn in a commercial
style freezer that holds the temps at -15 to -20dF such as mine.

Everyones different and has different needs. When the Tilia that I have
goes belly up (if the *#&# thing ever does) a new Tilia will be ordered
the same day.

As for the bag expense, if you get on Tilia's mailing list every so
often they run the bag materials at around 1/2 price and I stock up. It
doesn't go bad.

--
Steve

Life should *not* be a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body. But rather
to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body
thoroughly used up, worn out and screaming, "WHOO HOOOOO, what a ride!"

Dave Smith wrote:
>
> What bells and whistles do you need. I would be content just to find an
> inexpensive source of material. That was the thing that made me reconsider
> the need. It looked like it was going to cost about 50 cents per foot of
> plastic, which out to question the economy of the whole idea of vacuum
> packing to save money.
>
>

The bags are re-useable first off. Secondly, my time "wasted" shopping
is valuable to me. Plus from the reviews I've seen and people that I
talked to the thinner bags are prone to freezer burn in a commercial
style freezer that holds the temps at -15 to -20dF such as mine.

Everyones different and has different needs. When the Tilia that I have
goes belly up (if the *#&# thing ever does) a new Tilia will be ordered
the same day.

As for the bag expense, if you get on Tilia's mailing list every so
often they run the bag materials at around 1/2 price and I stock up. It
doesn't go bad.

--
Steve

Life should *not* be a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body. But rather
to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body
thoroughly used up, worn out and screaming, "WHOO HOOOOO, what a ride!"

Steve Calvin wrote:
> Dave Smith wrote:
>>
>> What bells and whistles do you need. I would be content just to find
>> an inexpensive source of material.
>>
>
> The bags are re-useable first off.
>
> Everyones different and has different needs. When the Tilia that I
> have
> goes belly up (if the *#&# thing ever does) a new Tilia will be
> ordered
> the same day.
>
> As for the bag expense, if you get on Tilia's mailing list every so
> often they run the bag materials at around 1/2 price and I stock up.
> It doesn't go bad.

There are also a lot of bags for Tilia available on eBay.

Jill

jmcquown wrote:
> Steve Calvin wrote:
>
>>Dave Smith wrote:
>>
>>>What bells and whistles do you need. I would be content just to find
>>>an inexpensive source of material.
>>>
>>
>>The bags are re-useable first off.
>>
>>Everyones different and has different needs. When the Tilia that I
>>have
>>goes belly up (if the *#&# thing ever does) a new Tilia will be
>>ordered
>>the same day.
>>
>>As for the bag expense, if you get on Tilia's mailing list every so
>>often they run the bag materials at around 1/2 price and I stock up.
>>It doesn't go bad.
>
>
> There are also a lot of bags for Tilia available on eBay.
>
> Jill
>
>
But be careful. A lot of them aren't genuine and are much thinner. Or
the "genuine Tilia" ones that I got certainly weren't. Negative feedback
left but that's about the only recourse except to toss 'em out and get
the real thing. I'm not saying that they all are, just to be careful.

--
Steve

Life should *not* be a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body. But rather
to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body
thoroughly used up, worn out and screaming, "WHOO HOOOOO, what a ride!"

Steve Calvin wrote:
> jmcquown wrote:
>> Steve Calvin wrote:
>>
>>> Dave Smith wrote:
>>>
>>>> What bells and whistles do you need. I would be content just to
>>>> find an inexpensive source of material.
>>>>
>>>
>>> The bags are re-useable first off.
>>>
>>> Everyones different and has different needs. When the Tilia that I
>>> have
>>> goes belly up (if the *#&# thing ever does) a new Tilia will be
>>> ordered
>>> the same day.
>>>
>>> As for the bag expense, if you get on Tilia's mailing list every so
>>> often they run the bag materials at around 1/2 price and I stock up.
>>> It doesn't go bad.
>>
>>
>> There are also a lot of bags for Tilia available on eBay.
>>
>> Jill
>>
>>
> But be careful. A lot of them aren't genuine and are much thinner. Or
> the "genuine Tilia" ones that I got certainly weren't. Negative
> feedback left but that's about the only recourse except to toss 'em
> out and get the real thing. I'm not saying that they all are, just to
> be careful.

Agreed, but that is true of about anything on eBay. Some people are
reliable and represent their items honestly, others don't.

Jill

Steve Calvin wrote:
> jmcquown wrote:
>> Steve Calvin wrote:
>>
>>> Dave Smith wrote:
>>>
>>>> What bells and whistles do you need. I would be content just to
>>>> find an inexpensive source of material.
>>>>
>>>
>>> The bags are re-useable first off.
>>>
>>> Everyones different and has different needs. When the Tilia that I
>>> have
>>> goes belly up (if the *#&# thing ever does) a new Tilia will be
>>> ordered
>>> the same day.
>>>
>>> As for the bag expense, if you get on Tilia's mailing list every so
>>> often they run the bag materials at around 1/2 price and I stock up.
>>> It doesn't go bad.
>>
>>
>> There are also a lot of bags for Tilia available on eBay.
>>
>> Jill
>>
>>
> But be careful. A lot of them aren't genuine and are much thinner. Or
> the "genuine Tilia" ones that I got certainly weren't. Negative
> feedback left but that's about the only recourse except to toss 'em
> out and get the real thing. I'm not saying that they all are, just to
> be careful.

Agreed, but that is true of about anything on eBay. Some people are
reliable and represent their items honestly, others don't.

Jill

On 2005-01-08, Dave Smith > wrote:

> What bells and whistles do you need. I would be content just to find an
> inexpensive source of material. That was the thing that made me reconsider
> the need. It looked like it was going to cost about 50 cents per foot of
> plastic, which out to question the economy of the whole idea of vacuum
> packing to save money.

If you have Costco, or know someone, you can get that down to about 30¢ ft.
The rest of the savings is dependent on the sale price of the food.
Occasionally, I will buy when, say, chicken is 30% off. But, on that rare
occasion chicken is discounted by 60%, you can bet I'm all over that and the
ol' Tilia gets a serious workout. Another example is the huge discounts on
fish last summer. Alaskan salmon for $2lb and pollock for $1lb. I bought
about a years worth. No way would it have kept without the vac packing.

nb

nb

"notbob" > wrote in message
...

> If you have Costco, or know someone, you can get that down to about 30¢
> ft.
> The rest of the savings is dependent on the sale price of the food.
> Occasionally, I will buy when, say, chicken is 30% off. But, on that rare
> occasion chicken is discounted by 60%, you can bet I'm all over that and
> the
> ol' Tilia gets a serious workout. Another example is the huge discounts
> on
> fish last summer. Alaskan salmon for $2lb and pollock for $1lb. I bought
> about a years worth. No way would it have kept without the vac packing.

I think people don't get that because the informercials are so heavy on the
money saving thing. I'm all about the no freezer burn thing. I want to go
into the freezer and get a package of *whatever* that is good to eat.
What's worse than thinking 'i'll take out a package of pork chops and
finding out they are done for ... great, pizza for dinner, yuck.

nancy

Dave Smith > wrote:
>I finally tried out the Talia food saver that I got for Christmas. I
>could not believe how easy it was to operate. I picked up an economy
>pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts today, made up some bags,
>stuck two (half) breasts in each bag, stuck one end in the vacuum
>channel, closed the lid, pump started running, the air got sucked out of
>the bags, bags got sealed, pushed a button to release the top and pulled
>out a vacuum pack with enough chicken for dinner for two. Piece of
>cake. I like this machine.

You're going to run out of bags. And freezer space.

And then you're going to start noticing the little
sale-price signs in the beef case at the supermarket,
and wishing you had bags and space.

--Blair
"I may insulate my garage
next weekend."

Dave Smith > wrote:
>I finally tried out the Talia food saver that I got for Christmas. I
>could not believe how easy it was to operate. I picked up an economy
>pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts today, made up some bags,
>stuck two (half) breasts in each bag, stuck one end in the vacuum
>channel, closed the lid, pump started running, the air got sucked out of
>the bags, bags got sealed, pushed a button to release the top and pulled
>out a vacuum pack with enough chicken for dinner for two. Piece of
>cake. I like this machine.

You're going to run out of bags. And freezer space.

And then you're going to start noticing the little
sale-price signs in the beef case at the supermarket,
and wishing you had bags and space.

--Blair
"I may insulate my garage
next weekend."

Nancy Young > wrote:
>I think people don't get that because the informercials are so heavy on the
>money saving thing. I'm all about the no freezer burn thing. I want to go
>into the freezer and get a package of *whatever* that is good to eat.
>What's worse than thinking 'i'll take out a package of pork chops and
>finding out they are done for ... great, pizza for dinner, yuck.

The only time I've ever had anything go remotely "bad" in
a Tilia bag was when one got nicked by something else in
the freezer and it lost vacuum and grew some freezer-burn.

Testimonial:

Because of my dieting, I have had about two steaks at home
in 6 months, but I have about 15 of them stored up.

A few weeks ago, on a splurge for hitting my goals,
I pulled one out of the freezer that was dated sometime
early last year when the local stores were going crazy
offering bone-in strip at 1999 prices.

Dropped the bag in a full sink of cool water, waited half
an hour, slit it open, and it smelled like I'd bought
it yesterday.

Grilled up perfect.

--Blair
"Handy tip: clip the price sticker
and put it in the bag; saves you from
getting out the sharpie to mark the
date, cut, weight, and how hard you
saved."

Nancy Young > wrote:
>I think people don't get that because the informercials are so heavy on the
>money saving thing. I'm all about the no freezer burn thing. I want to go
>into the freezer and get a package of *whatever* that is good to eat.
>What's worse than thinking 'i'll take out a package of pork chops and
>finding out they are done for ... great, pizza for dinner, yuck.

The only time I've ever had anything go remotely "bad" in
a Tilia bag was when one got nicked by something else in
the freezer and it lost vacuum and grew some freezer-burn.

Testimonial:

Because of my dieting, I have had about two steaks at home
in 6 months, but I have about 15 of them stored up.

A few weeks ago, on a splurge for hitting my goals,
I pulled one out of the freezer that was dated sometime
early last year when the local stores were going crazy
offering bone-in strip at 1999 prices.

Dropped the bag in a full sink of cool water, waited half
an hour, slit it open, and it smelled like I'd bought
it yesterday.

Grilled up perfect.

--Blair
"Handy tip: clip the price sticker
and put it in the bag; saves you from
getting out the sharpie to mark the
date, cut, weight, and how hard you
saved."

"Blair P. Houghton" > wrote in message
...
> Nancy Young > wrote:
>>I think people don't get that because the informercials are so heavy on
>>the
>>money saving thing. I'm all about the no freezer burn thing. I want to
>>go
>>into the freezer and get a package of *whatever* that is good to eat.
>>What's worse than thinking 'i'll take out a package of pork chops and
>>finding out they are done for ... great, pizza for dinner, yuck.
>
> The only time I've ever had anything go remotely "bad" in
> a Tilia bag was when one got nicked by something else in
> the freezer and it lost vacuum and grew some freezer-burn.
>
> Testimonial:
>
> Because of my dieting, I have had about two steaks at home
> in 6 months, but I have about 15 of them stored up.
>
> A few weeks ago, on a splurge for hitting my goals,
> I pulled one out of the freezer that was dated sometime
> early last year when the local stores were going crazy
> offering bone-in strip at 1999 prices.
>
> Dropped the bag in a full sink of cool water, waited half
> an hour, slit it open, and it smelled like I'd bought
> it yesterday.

I've always read/heard that you shouldn't defrost meat in this way....
rather let it defrost naturally.
Or is that an old wives tale. I'll be miffed to think I've waited all those
(collective) hours when I could have been tucking in much sooner!



> Grilled up perfect.
>
> --Blair
> "Handy tip: clip the price sticker
> and put it in the bag; saves you from
> getting out the sharpie to mark the
> date, cut, weight, and how hard you
> saved."

"Blair P. Houghton" > wrote in message
...
> Nancy Young > wrote:
>>I think people don't get that because the informercials are so heavy on
>>the
>>money saving thing. I'm all about the no freezer burn thing. I want to
>>go
>>into the freezer and get a package of *whatever* that is good to eat.
>>What's worse than thinking 'i'll take out a package of pork chops and
>>finding out they are done for ... great, pizza for dinner, yuck.
>
> The only time I've ever had anything go remotely "bad" in
> a Tilia bag was when one got nicked by something else in
> the freezer and it lost vacuum and grew some freezer-burn.
>
> Testimonial:
>
> Because of my dieting, I have had about two steaks at home
> in 6 months, but I have about 15 of them stored up.
>
> A few weeks ago, on a splurge for hitting my goals,
> I pulled one out of the freezer that was dated sometime
> early last year when the local stores were going crazy
> offering bone-in strip at 1999 prices.
>
> Dropped the bag in a full sink of cool water, waited half
> an hour, slit it open, and it smelled like I'd bought
> it yesterday.

I've always read/heard that you shouldn't defrost meat in this way....
rather let it defrost naturally.
Or is that an old wives tale. I'll be miffed to think I've waited all those
(collective) hours when I could have been tucking in much sooner!



> Grilled up perfect.
>
> --Blair
> "Handy tip: clip the price sticker
> and put it in the bag; saves you from
> getting out the sharpie to mark the
> date, cut, weight, and how hard you
> saved."

"Blair P. Houghton" > wrote in message
...
> Dave Smith > wrote:
>>I finally tried out the Talia food saver that I got for Christmas. I
>>could not believe how easy it was to operate. I picked up an economy
>>pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts today, made up some bags,
>>stuck two (half) breasts in each bag, stuck one end in the vacuum
>>channel, closed the lid, pump started running, the air got sucked out of
>>the bags, bags got sealed, pushed a button to release the top and pulled
>>out a vacuum pack with enough chicken for dinner for two. Piece of
>>cake. I like this machine.
>
> You're going to run out of bags. And freezer space.

That problem already happened when I bought a whole lamb. Solution was easy,
though. New freezer!

>
> And then you're going to start noticing the little
> sale-price signs in the beef case at the supermarket,
> and wishing you had bags and space.


Well, I'm thinking that this might save me a bit of space, since the
vacuumed packages are smaller than all the wrapping when I package things
conventionally.

And I might be able to move a few things out of the freezer that don't
really need to be there if they're in vacuum canisters, like my whole wheat
flour...

Yeah, that'll work! Gotta go shopping!

:-)

Jay wrote:
> "Blair P. Houghton" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Nancy Young > wrote:
>>> I think people don't get that because the informercials are so
>>> heavy on the
>>> money saving thing. I'm all about the no freezer burn thing.
>>
>> Testimonial:
>>
>> Because of my dieting, I have had about two steaks at home
>> in 6 months, but I have about 15 of them stored up.
>>
>> A few weeks ago, on a splurge for hitting my goals,
>> I pulled one out of the freezer that was dated sometime
>> early last year when the local stores were going crazy
>> offering bone-in strip at 1999 prices.
>>
>> Dropped the bag in a full sink of cool water, waited half
>> an hour, slit it open, and it smelled like I'd bought
>> it yesterday.
>
> I've always read/heard that you shouldn't defrost meat in this way....
> rather let it defrost naturally.
> Or is that an old wives tale. I'll be miffed to think I've waited all
> those (collective) hours when I could have been tucking in much
> sooner!
>
I defrost things this way all the time. The caveat is COOL water. Don't
attempt to rush things but putting a package of meat/fish/chicken in warm or
hot water.

Jill

Jay wrote:
> "Blair P. Houghton" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Nancy Young > wrote:
>>> I think people don't get that because the informercials are so
>>> heavy on the
>>> money saving thing. I'm all about the no freezer burn thing.
>>
>> Testimonial:
>>
>> Because of my dieting, I have had about two steaks at home
>> in 6 months, but I have about 15 of them stored up.
>>
>> A few weeks ago, on a splurge for hitting my goals,
>> I pulled one out of the freezer that was dated sometime
>> early last year when the local stores were going crazy
>> offering bone-in strip at 1999 prices.
>>
>> Dropped the bag in a full sink of cool water, waited half
>> an hour, slit it open, and it smelled like I'd bought
>> it yesterday.
>
> I've always read/heard that you shouldn't defrost meat in this way....
> rather let it defrost naturally.
> Or is that an old wives tale. I'll be miffed to think I've waited all
> those (collective) hours when I could have been tucking in much
> sooner!
>
I defrost things this way all the time. The caveat is COOL water. Don't
attempt to rush things but putting a package of meat/fish/chicken in warm or
hot water.

Jill

"Blair P. Houghton" > wrote in message
...
> Nancy Young > wrote:
>>I think people don't get that because the informercials are so heavy on
>>the
>>money saving thing. I'm all about the no freezer burn thing. I want to
>>go
>>into the freezer and get a package of *whatever* that is good to eat.
>>What's worse than thinking 'i'll take out a package of pork chops and
>>finding out they are done for ... great, pizza for dinner, yuck.

> Because of my dieting, I have had about two steaks at home
> in 6 months, but I have about 15 of them stored up.
>
> A few weeks ago, on a splurge for hitting my goals,
> I pulled one out of the freezer that was dated sometime
> early last year when the local stores were going crazy
> offering bone-in strip at 1999 prices.
>
> Dropped the bag in a full sink of cool water, waited half
> an hour, slit it open, and it smelled like I'd bought
> it yesterday.
>
> Grilled up perfect.

That's what I love the best. Knowing there's food in the freezer so I
can stock up like that. Apparently I have no talent for wrapping
cuts of meat for the freezer because no matter what, freezer burn
city within say 3-4 weeks. I was *so* careful, I tried everything.
Forget it. Now, if I see a nice bunch of steaks that look good, or
sometimes a filet of beef, like that, I don't hesitate to stock up.
Love my Tilia.

nancy

"Blair P. Houghton" > wrote in message
...
> Nancy Young > wrote:
>>I think people don't get that because the informercials are so heavy on
>>the
>>money saving thing. I'm all about the no freezer burn thing. I want to
>>go
>>into the freezer and get a package of *whatever* that is good to eat.
>>What's worse than thinking 'i'll take out a package of pork chops and
>>finding out they are done for ... great, pizza for dinner, yuck.

> Because of my dieting, I have had about two steaks at home
> in 6 months, but I have about 15 of them stored up.
>
> A few weeks ago, on a splurge for hitting my goals,
> I pulled one out of the freezer that was dated sometime
> early last year when the local stores were going crazy
> offering bone-in strip at 1999 prices.
>
> Dropped the bag in a full sink of cool water, waited half
> an hour, slit it open, and it smelled like I'd bought
> it yesterday.
>
> Grilled up perfect.

That's what I love the best. Knowing there's food in the freezer so I
can stock up like that. Apparently I have no talent for wrapping
cuts of meat for the freezer because no matter what, freezer burn
city within say 3-4 weeks. I was *so* careful, I tried everything.
Forget it. Now, if I see a nice bunch of steaks that look good, or
sometimes a filet of beef, like that, I don't hesitate to stock up.
Love my Tilia.

nancy

The biggest use of my Tilla is homemade piggy link sausage. I have found a
great sausage spice with no msg at sauasagesource.com and Boston Butts are
always on sale at .99 to 1.18lb in my area so I make my own piggy links for
breakfast at about 90% fat [I remove visible fat from the outside at
processing] and place 24 links in a bag large enough that when I take a
serving out I reseal and use over and over. The last serving is usually
down to a 11x1.5 inch size but it still works.


--
Emil Luca

"Nancy Young" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Blair P. Houghton" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Nancy Young > wrote:
>>>I think people don't get that because the informercials are so heavy on
>>>the
>>>money saving thing. I'm all about the no freezer burn thing. I want to
>>>go
>>>into the freezer and get a package of *whatever* that is good to eat.
>>>What's worse than thinking 'i'll take out a package of pork chops and
>>>finding out they are done for ... great, pizza for dinner, yuck.
>
>> Because of my dieting, I have had about two steaks at home
>> in 6 months, but I have about 15 of them stored up.
>>
>> A few weeks ago, on a splurge for hitting my goals,
>> I pulled one out of the freezer that was dated sometime
>> early last year when the local stores were going crazy
>> offering bone-in strip at 1999 prices.
>>
>> Dropped the bag in a full sink of cool water, waited half
>> an hour, slit it open, and it smelled like I'd bought
>> it yesterday.
>>
>> Grilled up perfect.
>
> That's what I love the best. Knowing there's food in the freezer so I
> can stock up like that. Apparently I have no talent for wrapping
> cuts of meat for the freezer because no matter what, freezer burn
> city within say 3-4 weeks. I was *so* careful, I tried everything.
> Forget it. Now, if I see a nice bunch of steaks that look good, or
> sometimes a filet of beef, like that, I don't hesitate to stock up.
> Love my Tilia.
>
> nancy
>

> I defrost things this way all the time. The caveat is COOL water. Don't
> attempt to rush things but putting a package of meat/fish/chicken in warm or
> hot water.
>

I've always heard this too, but never quite understood what the harm is in
using slightly warm water (room temperature-ish or only slightly above).
Is the temperature of cool water really that much less hospitable to
microbes that it's going to make a difference in the time before you cook
it anyway?

-C

> I defrost things this way all the time. The caveat is COOL water. Don't
> attempt to rush things but putting a package of meat/fish/chicken in warm or
> hot water.
>

I've always heard this too, but never quite understood what the harm is in
using slightly warm water (room temperature-ish or only slightly above).
Is the temperature of cool water really that much less hospitable to
microbes that it's going to make a difference in the time before you cook
it anyway?

-C

Warm water will quickly thaw the outside of the product. This will allow
bacteria to grow on the surface since it is so much warmer.
Changing the temperature in cool or even cold water allows an even change of
temperature in the product.


--
Emil Luca

"Chris De Young" > wrote in message
...
>> I defrost things this way all the time. The caveat is COOL water. Don't
>> attempt to rush things but putting a package of meat/fish/chicken in warm
>> or
>> hot water.
>>
>
> I've always heard this too, but never quite understood what the harm is in
> using slightly warm water (room temperature-ish or only slightly above).
> Is the temperature of cool water really that much less hospitable to
> microbes that it's going to make a difference in the time before you cook
> it anyway?
>
> -C

Warm water will quickly thaw the outside of the product. This will allow
bacteria to grow on the surface since it is so much warmer.
Changing the temperature in cool or even cold water allows an even change of
temperature in the product.


--
Emil Luca

"Chris De Young" > wrote in message
...
>> I defrost things this way all the time. The caveat is COOL water. Don't
>> attempt to rush things but putting a package of meat/fish/chicken in warm
>> or
>> hot water.
>>
>
> I've always heard this too, but never quite understood what the harm is in
> using slightly warm water (room temperature-ish or only slightly above).
> Is the temperature of cool water really that much less hospitable to
> microbes that it's going to make a difference in the time before you cook
> it anyway?
>
> -C

In rec.food.cooking, jmcquown > wrote:
> >
> I defrost things this way all the time. The caveat is COOL water. Don't
> attempt to rush things but putting a package of meat/fish/chicken in warm or
> hot water.


I use water of various temp, depending on what I am defrosting, how much
time 'till dinner, etc.

While I wouldn't use water hot enough to cook anything, I find that warm
water will work just fine, especially for stuff that uses hot temps to
cook. If the water starts out at 90 or 100, dropping in 5 pounds of
frozen meat cools it off pretty quickly.


--
In the councils of government, we must guard against the
acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought,
by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the
disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
-- Dwight David Eisenhower

In rec.food.cooking, jmcquown > wrote:
> >
> I defrost things this way all the time. The caveat is COOL water. Don't
> attempt to rush things but putting a package of meat/fish/chicken in warm or
> hot water.


I use water of various temp, depending on what I am defrosting, how much
time 'till dinner, etc.

While I wouldn't use water hot enough to cook anything, I find that warm
water will work just fine, especially for stuff that uses hot temps to
cook. If the water starts out at 90 or 100, dropping in 5 pounds of
frozen meat cools it off pretty quickly.


--
In the councils of government, we must guard against the
acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought,
by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the
disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
-- Dwight David Eisenhower

In rec.food.cooking, Emil > wrote:
> Warm water will quickly thaw the outside of the product. This will allow
> bacteria to grow on the surface since it is so much warmer.
> Changing the temperature in cool or even cold water allows an even change of
> temperature in the product.

Taking your analysis to the logical conclusion, do you recommend not
using water any warmer than 40 degrees?

My frozen meat is rinsed off, and then sealed airtight in a sterile Tilia
bag. I'm not really concerned about bacteria on the surface, given that
I usually again rinse the surface after it is thawed. Not only that, but
the meat either gets roasted at 350 or grilled at 700 degrees or so.
This will easily kill anything on the surface.

That bing said, I'm more careful with chicken than say, pork roasts, and
if I've defrosted commercially made hamburger, I cook it thouroughly.
Then again, even if I use fresh commerially made burgers, I cook them
thouroughly.

--
In the councils of government, we must guard against the
acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought,
by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the
disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
-- Dwight David Eisenhower

In rec.food.cooking, Emil > wrote:
> Warm water will quickly thaw the outside of the product. This will allow
> bacteria to grow on the surface since it is so much warmer.
> Changing the temperature in cool or even cold water allows an even change of
> temperature in the product.

Taking your analysis to the logical conclusion, do you recommend not
using water any warmer than 40 degrees?

My frozen meat is rinsed off, and then sealed airtight in a sterile Tilia
bag. I'm not really concerned about bacteria on the surface, given that
I usually again rinse the surface after it is thawed. Not only that, but
the meat either gets roasted at 350 or grilled at 700 degrees or so.
This will easily kill anything on the surface.

That bing said, I'm more careful with chicken than say, pork roasts, and
if I've defrosted commercially made hamburger, I cook it thouroughly.
Then again, even if I use fresh commerially made burgers, I cook them
thouroughly.

--
In the councils of government, we must guard against the
acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought,
by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the
disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
-- Dwight David Eisenhower

Emil > wrote:
>The biggest use of my Tilla is homemade piggy link sausage. I have found a
>great sausage spice with no msg at sauasagesource.com and Boston Butts are
>always on sale at .99 to 1.18lb in my area so I make my own piggy links for
>breakfast at about 90% fat [I remove visible fat from the outside at
>processing] and place 24 links in a bag large enough that when I take a
>serving out I reseal and use over and over. The last serving is usually
>down to a 11x1.5 inch size but it still works.

Does the sausage spice have a particular name?

And what's the standard breakfast-sausage spice mixture anyway?
Sage and something, I know that.

What cut are you using?

I presume you mean 10% fat. 90% fat would be almost pure fat.

I can buy ham at 2.5% fat. Probably wouldn't make a
great sausage. But ground center-cut pork chops with a
nice spice...maybe 5% fat...

--Blair
"Jonesing for sausage."

Chris De Young > wrote:
>> I defrost things this way all the time. The caveat is COOL water. Don't
>> attempt to rush things but putting a package of meat/fish/chicken in warm or
>> hot water.
>
>I've always heard this too, but never quite understood what the harm is in
>using slightly warm water (room temperature-ish or only slightly above).

1. You want a steak to still be cool when you cook it
(helps keep it pink or red inside while the outside
sears).

2. Cool water gives you better control, albeit with a
longer defrosting time.

3. The warmer the water, the more you'll encourage germs
to multiply.

Cool, running water is the fastest way to defrost anything
without making it warm enough to become bacteria soup.

>Is the temperature of cool water really that much less hospitable to
>microbes that it's going to make a difference in the time before you cook
>it anyway?

Maybe not, but warm water will be cool within minutes of
dropping the big, frozen thing in it anyway.

--Blair
"And we're not talking about
Sheldon's head."

Blair P. Houghton > wrote:

>1. You want a steak to still be cool when you cook it
>(helps keep it pink or red inside while the outside
>sears).

I find the opposite. If it's room temperature when you
cook it, then you can get the entire steak cooked uniformly
pink/red, without the inside being still raw or the outside
being too well done.

S.

Blair P. Houghton > wrote in
:

> 2. Cool water gives you better control, albeit with a
> longer defrosting time.
>
>

I find using the bottom of a thick roasting pan and a fan defrosts faster
than cool water for slabs of meat. Just turn upside down the pan and put
the raw meat directly on the pan. Oh! have the fan blowing air at the
meat. Between the heat transfer properties of the pan and the moving air
things defrost fairly quickly.

When I use the water method I invaritably get water soaked meat.

--
Starchless in Manitoba.
Type 2 Diabetic 1AC 5.6mmol or 101mg/dl