Got yourself a bargain there. Best way to keep your beans fresh. If you buy in kilos, the vac sealer will pay for itself in no time.

    I am just going to be passing Lidl tomorrow and just happen to spot these. Oh these would be good to try and they are cheap. Wonder if the wife will fall for it.Bet they don’t have them. Lol

    DavecUK Less than the price of a kilo of beans. I’d been looking at more expensive versions on line. Only negative is that this cheap one doesn’t have a cutter built in. But, I presume that like me you own scissors. :-)

    PS - looking at the pictures on Amazon this seems to be exactly the the same bar cosmetics.

    • LMSC replied to this.

        I’ve had one for a couple of years & it’s still going strong. Just have to take a little break between each seal as there’s an interlock to let the element cool

        I have had this one from amazon for a couple of years. I chose it for being very compact. It feels flimsy, but works great.

        However, one time I grabbed a pack of vacuum bags (3 rolls) for it from Lidl and most of the time they leak and lose the vacuum a few seconds after sealing - this never happens with other bags. Might just be a bad batch, but maybe something to be aware of?

        I have a couple of vacuum processors, only because we process a couple of cattle carcasses a year.
        The heat sealing strips overheat after a few minutes of continuous use so we use a couple at a time and pre-cut and seal bags from rolls.
        For coffee I roast 4×100g with my Nano, use standard bags with a one way valve and either, pack them in one bag and vacseal it or….
        I bought a set of vacuum containers and I put two 200g bags in the container and suck the air out of it.
        The containers are not as efficient as the sealed bags but they are reusable.

        I have wondered just what I am sucking out with the high suction system.

        I did this only once, one morning. By the afternoon, the beans had gassed out and there was no vacuum. One of my DUH moments! Surely this can only work for stale beans?

          Yes, true. Since then I’ve just been using my homemade glass jars with the valves (cut from coffee bags) inserted into the lids. Does the same thing by expelling the air and leaving the beans bathing in CO2 :)

          Grabbed a Lidl one today, my wife will be delighted to get some freezer space back 👍

          Thanks @Gagaryn

          13 days later

          Would you believe it. Walked int Lidl today and there were two vacuum sealers one with my name on it. And I also managed to bag some spare vacuum sealer bag rolls.

          I’ve had a vacuum sealer for years but I moved away from that due to my concern with the plastics the food is sealed in not being recyclable. I see now that recyclable ones are available I’ll start using it again… for food.

          As for coffee… Now I know I’m being a bit of a dunce here (yes I know, what’s new) but Tompoland are you making the tiny bags to hold just 18g of beans, cutting to size from a roll, sealing edges to make a pocket ready to take the beans? Because I’ve not seen any that small and if so, it must take you ages because you’d need 55 bags for every kilo of beans. Then once opened you just throw them away?… sorry recycle them and start all over again?

          I usually buy aboout 4 × 250g bags of different types of beans at a time because I like to try different ones. Even if I only have 2 cups a day at 18g per cup that will still only take me about 3 and a half weeks to get through and more often than not is is less, as my other half likes a cup too. I guess if like you I was roasting a lot then it might make sense, but for the likes of me it seems a lot of work and whether or not my taste buds could tell the difference between vacuum sealing and just freezing for a couple of weeks is debateable.

          5 months later

          So I’ve picked up a vacuum packing set of bags and pump and I am about to dip my toe into the world of vacuum packing. (I also have about 2kgs of beans in the freezer).

          I have a couple of questions for those who do this regularly if you don’t mind.

          1 - I like to alternate my beans and use them in 250g batches each time (stored in an Airscape or Coffeevac container) I tend to get through 250g in about 10 - 12 days. At a rough guess, it might take me up to 3 months to finish the last of this latest kilo. Would it stay fresh vaccum sealed for this long?

          2 - Is vacuum packing and then freezing a bad idea / pointless exercise if the beans won’t stay fresh for 3 months?

          3 - How do people store the beans once vacuum packed? Dark cool place?

          4 - (Perhaps the most stupid question) the bags that came with my vaccum packing set are of various sizes. The smallest fits 250g and there are 4 bags of this size, which is perfect for me. Presumably since the beans and bags will be vacuum packed, there’s no problem putting 250g in the larger bags - or should I look to get more of the smaller bags?

          5 - Do you vacuum pack beans as soon as you receive them from the roaster, or do you let them rest first?