So I managed to get a doe yesterday. Getting ready to process her now. I remember how to use my Foodsaver for the most part, but is meat considered a moist or dry food? It's moist, but not as moist as say chili or soup would be. Or maybe it's more cut and dry than that, pardon the pun, is it just dry like say flour and moist like meat or soup etc..

I run mine on the moist setting.

I always run mine on dry. I also pat my cuts with a paper towel to remove any excess moisture on the surface if needed. The last thing I do is always double seal the ends.

Congratulations on getting your doe.

The vacuum will pull juices to the opening, and as the sealer is melting shut the bag. Therefore I also double seal the ends of the bag. Make two sealing edges when the bag is empty, only the seal function, and another two to close the bag and contents. For the last two, which may be wet, I use the vacuum function for both.

only difference is on dry setting it pulls a little more vacuum before sealing

I put my meat in the bag, freeze it, then vacuum seal it. You will have some frost in the bag but a few seconds of holding the bag under the water faucet makes it dissapear.

Excellent tips on pre freezing! 100's of bags done and never considered it. Tks!

Some thing else I found useful is these absorbent pads like the ones you see at the grocery store in the bottom of the styrofoam meat trays. They were cheap from Amazon and work great to absorb excess moisture.

Great thread, just realized we have a dry/moist setting on our machine! I personally don’t use it for what it’s made for, wife does. So I would say she uses the dry setting. I do like the idea of freezing the meat first. That’s what a commercial packer would do. Way we made IQF meat patties years ago. I use the machine when I veneer wood pieces to make decorative box tops. Sucks the air out plus pulls the woods together.

Wrap mine in plastic wrap then in freezer paper, it'll be all eaten by late summer.

I'm with Mike. I put the meat in a plastic bread bag then squeeze the air out and tie it. Then wrap it in freezer paper. The vacuum bags are prone to getting holes in them as they get banged around in the freezer. The freezer wrap solves the problem and bread bags are way cheeper than food saver bags. I save the vacuum sealer for fish, it shines there.

I can't get my foodsaver to seal.,moisture and blood gets sucked up in the seal.

My wife puts a small piece of paper towel folded up by the end she is sealing. Keeps the liquid from getting to the seal.

X 2 Riverwolf.

I also take my burger and compact it in a butter tub. Makes about a pound. I empty the tubs on a cookie sheet and freeze for a couple of hours. The meat keeps it's shape when you seal it.

For the couple of sealers I’ve used, the ‘moist’ setting uses more heat and or longer sealing time to make sure any moisture in the seal area won’t ruin the seal. I’ve also found just chilling the meat to 40 degrees cuts the fluid flow dramatically compared to trying to seal ‘warm’ or room temperature meat. So I cut things to the portion size, and let set in the refrigerator overnight and do the sealing the next day. Walk in freezers/coolers can chill the whole carcass. I find cold meat easier to cut/process. So if I have a chilled carcass I cut and vacuum seal in one session.

Thanks from my wife, about the freezing tip. She hates unclogging the machine.

Thanks everybody! Got her all sealed up yesterday morning, didn't have time for the freezing trick due to having to go to work last night and having to get it done quick so I could get some sleep, but plan on using that trick in the future unless I forget it!

Freeze a little prior to vacuum sealing.

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