Some new equipment to review, and some cook pics

[sudsandswine]

Been a little busy lately with life, but ya gotta eat, so I've still been cooking some things. I also ended up buying a new chamber vac, a dehydrator, and a jerky gun several weeks ago. I posted a thread awhile back to see if anyone had experience with the brand, didn't seem to be the case, so I yolo'd and am beta testing.

We'll start with the new gear first. This Meat! brand company is based in Columbia Missouri, just down i70 from me an hour or two. On the website they state that the products are designed in MO, and made internationally (China). I try to buy 'murican when I can, and what I found is pretty much all chamber vacs are made in China ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ figured at least the company is HQ'd locally.

The chamber vac is pretty heavy, as expected. The build quality is nice, commensurate with expectations for a premium product. It's easy to adjust the amount of time that vacuum builds and how long the heat bar seals. The pump does require oil, the unit comes with enough to fill it the first time. Quality vacuum pump oil is readily available at most auto parts stores, so not being "oil-less" didn't really bother me, though it does require a bit of maintenance. While I havent tried vacuum sealing anything with an excess amount of liquid that would pose a problem for my Foodsaver, I have sealed quite a bit of things with it and it has worked well. I bought a couple thousand bags of various sizes for the same amount of money I spend on vacuum bag "rolls" over the course of a year.







No issue with warm spaghetti



or some ground beef

 

[sudsandswine]

I also bought their 6 tray dehydrator. It also met my expectations from a build qualityrice perspective. There are several models on Amazon that appear to have the same aesthetics and button layout, so the dehydrator may be rebranded from a generic supplier. I got this unit significantly cheaper than the other similar looking options on Amazon, so there's that. My only complaint is that there are temp presets instead of being able to dial in to a specific temp. I imagine this has to do with the logic used by the controller, and while it does seem like there's a temp setting to cover all the common dehydration temps, the Excalibur unit I had did let you variably adjust it, albeit analog. It runs more quietly than the Excalibur I had did, from day one there were a couple rattles I couldn't get rid of that annoyed me.

I also bought their jerky gun which appears to be identical to the LEM unit I used to have, both in appearance and quality. For all I know they come from the same factory. I got all the Meat! branded equipment on sale and it was cheaper than any comparable option.



Some beef jerky I made with their jerky gun (no pics handy), but it's pretty much identical in appearance and quality to the LEM jerky gun I had previously and is half the price.



I picked up this cart from Craigslist and wheel it into and out of the laundry room off the kitchen when I want to use the dehydrator or vacuum sealer. If I didn't have the room or the cart, I probably wouldn't have this (or any) chamber vac since I wouldn't want it as a permanent fixture in the kitchen. Thankfully I do and it's not an issue. I keep the vac bags, jerky gun, and some misc supplies on the middle shelf.

 

[sudsandswine]

In cooking news...

I've started using a MAP torch to light my Primo XL, the knockoff Looftlighter I bought from Sam's a few years back hasn't been working great lately. This is much more reliable and quick.



Surf 'n turf for some friends - broke down a tendorloin I bought at Sam's





Some Argentinian red shrimp hit with BPS Bacon Jalapeno...'twas good :thumb:



Costco had pork belly on sale a couple weeks back. I made 3 different varieties. Left is a maple bourbon mix with some coarse black pepper. Middle ended up being a "pancetta" recipe I mixed up before realizing it wasn't for "bacon". I went with it, cure/salt mix still worked, we'll see. Right is a mix with local honey and some chili flakes.







Got an "air chilled" chicken, spatchcocked it, then dry brined it with Naturiffic Harvest Brine and let it chillax in the fridge for a couple days. Into the roti-basket on the Weber kettle rotisserie with a chunk of pecan.











It came out REALLY good. The dry brine was applied to exterior only but it had a nice flavor throughout :thumb: got turkey day on the brain now.

Got a Prairie Fresh All Natural Boston butt on sale, 10lbs. 3lbs went to pressure cooker pork chile verde and the other 5lbs went to bratwurst and Polish sausage. It kinda took on a brown color after sitting linked in the fridge for a day...it'll pinken up when cooking (yes I just made up that word)



Pork chile verdo into the Ninja Foodi - we like to use this recipe, it's always a hit.



Whew...I'm tired. Thanks for lookin' :becky:

 

[ssv3]

Yessir!!

Thanks for the review. I've been wanting a chamber vac sealer for a long time but my cheap foodsaver just won't die. Def picking one up and yours looks great. This is the one on my list (with the oil pump) but looks like there is a contender. How does it compare spec and price wise?

 

[ssv3]

Oh and amazing cooks like always. :clap2:

 

[sudsandswine]

Yessir!!

Thanks for the review. I've been wanting a chamber vac sealer for a long time but my cheap foodsaver just won't die. Def picking one up and yours looks great. This is the one on my list (with the oil pump) but looks like there is a contender. How does it compare spec and price wise?

This is a link to their site: https://www.meatyourmaker.com their grinders look nice too.

This is the chamber vac I bought:

https://www.meatyourmaker.com/preserve/food-sealer/vacuum-sealers/chamber-vacuum-sealer/1117075.html

It appeared that the Vacmaster, while the Cadillac option, was also made abroad...so I figured I'll roll the dice at this price. Too early to comment on its longevity yet but the company says there is a "lifetime warranty". There was a 25% off promo when I was shopping, so I bit.

The order shipped quickly, was well packed, and the products met my expectations from an initial look and feel perspective. I'll obviously update after continued use. My Coscto purchased Foodsaver has probably sealed up 1000lbs+ worth of food and is still going strong. I plan to keep it for things that don't fit inside the chamber vac, like ribs and that sort of thing. We'll see.

 

[Happy Hapgood]

I'm a retired HVAC guy and you cannot go wrong with an oil Vac vs Oil-less. Will last you the rest of your life with proper care and maybe able to pass it on to kin.



Of course follow manufacturer's instructions but above all, keep the oil level at the proper level.


You can get the good oil at an HVAC supply house or Appliance supply store.

 

[Titch]

Food looks great, splendid post

 

[TravelingJ]

Looking forward to updates on this. That's really cool that you could support a semi-local company, and I love the cart. I'm not far from needing something like that, after my friends bought me a meat slicer.

 

[Shiz-Nit]

That's pretty dang sweet

 

[halfcocked]

Whew! What a read and list. How long did it take you to knock out all that good stuff?

 

[Mike Twangzer]

Looks spectacular .... and you probably are in line for a well earned rest and relaxation vacation..

 

[sudsandswine]

Whew! What a read and list. How long did it take you to knock out all that good stuff?

The bacon started a little over a week ago, the sausage, pork, and chicken were all the past couple days. Gives me something to do at night after everyone else goes to bed :thumb:

 

[kevinstaggs]

The cooks, esp the grilled shrimp, really trip my trigger. And the equipment? Looks kinda' like a NASA lab to me...

 

[jzadski]

Great post. I will have to keep Meat in mind when I decide to upgrade. I would never try to vac seal spaghetti in my food saver, very cool. All your cooks look great. I am a sucker though for sausage and that looks killer.

 

[sudsandswine]

One of the "justifications" I used to sell myself on it (I'm a great salesman to my #1 customer) is I want to make some "heat and eat" meals that I can cook in advance, seal in the bag, then drop into a pot of hot water to reheat it. The green chile pork is a good example of something that would be difficult to vacuum seal with my Foodsaver.

 

[Free Mr. Tony]

I make a ton of soups to stockpile for winter. I have always wanted a chamber sealer for mainly that purpose. It just seemed like a lot of money and space to eat up to seal soup. That's why I never could talk myself into it. At that price, it's much more palatable. I just have to wonder why it's so much cheaper than most other similar options. Not knocking it, just wondering aloud.

 

[sudsandswine]

Their reasoning is that they sell direct to the consumer ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ bypassing the middleman. I had the same thought but when I received it, there wasn’t any visible quality red flags. Time will tell!

 

[ssv3]

Thanks for the info!!

 

[Chett. L]

Wow that unreal!