Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Nature abhors a vacuum, but I love this one: Product Review



I am going to tell you about a super exciting product that will change your life. It will make your kids less whiny. It will do your laundry for you, folding included. It will pick up your house leaving you with lots of time to sit on the couch and eat bon bons (what ever those are). Actually this product is a bit more humble in it's claims.

The Reynolds Handi-vac will not clean your house, but it will help prevent freezer burn and keep your refrigerated foods fresher longer. We shop at Costco which makes our chest freezer a integral part of our food storage. My husband and I had been toying with the idea of getting a vacuum food storage device, but had been put off by the cost of the vacuum sealer, the amount of space the sealer takes up and the cost of the bags. According to the information included with my Handi-vac Reynolds spent years (I can just imagine scores of scientists dressed in lab coats and goggles intently researching this puzzling problem) coming up with a design for this product.

However long it took them to invent this they sure came up with a winner. The starter set is under ten bucks which includes the Handi-vac and three quart bags. You will quickly find that those three bags will only whet your appetite, so I recommend getting more bags when you buy the Handi-vac. The bags are reusable, another thing that the other sealers really can't claim. They are just like regular plastic zipper storage bags, so you can take a portion of the food out and immediately reseal the bag all with out having to cut away part of the bag to reseal it.

The most exciting thing about the Handi-vac is that it is teeny tiny compared to the other sealers. We are able to store ours in the kitchen utensil drawer with no problem. No need to use up any precious counter space. When you are using it you do have to move it around a bit to find the right position to get the air out of the bags. Over all this is one impressive product, one that I would have bought even if I had not been given one to try.

Some less domestically inclined folk may be wondering why I am so excited about removing the air from the bags in which I store my food. Well first off there is nothing cooler than seeing air being sucked out of something. I am a huge fan of space bags too. I guess it is the science nerd in me. Air is the enemy of food. It contains oxygen, which while it is great to breath it is also a very destructive element. If you look below you will see a picture of a pear that is cut up. Normally after a few days in the fridge that pear would be brown and slimy thanks to it's reaction with the air. Remove the air and it stays as nice as the moment it was cut. The same thing goes for freezing. The air in the bag will cause the frozen food to get freezer burn which changes the flavor of the food.

I highly recommend this product. Even if you decide that you hate or that is does not work well for your family you are only out a little bit of money. Go give it a try!

8 comments:

Valerie said...

Hi there,

So, as a gift last Christmas we received a FoodSaver. The same idea as yours, but we love it. I hate freezer burned meat!

Thanks for this idea, what a great Holiday gift.

Karen said...

Cool idea, but the replacement bags are just too pricey for me to justify. That's why the unit is so cheap, they get you on the bags! Otherwise, it's a cool concept.

Zephra said...

I was thinking about buying it but the bags are just so expensive.

Anonymous said...

When the dust buster dies......
Best wishes

Anonymous said...

Cool - I'll have to keep that one in mind. :)

Anonymous said...

Coporate sell out

Anonymous said...

Oo that does look neat ... we go for fresh when we can ...

chichimama said...

So where do you fine them? Costco? The grocery store?

I may have to get once for my mom and sister for the holidays...we are all big freezer people.

Will it do liquids??? That has always been my big beef with the big ones, because I like to seal my chicken in marinade, etc.