Looking for a way to preserve this season’s harvest and more?
The Weston PRO-2300 Vacuum Sealer is up to the task.
I got a chance to test out the Weston PRO-2300 Vacuum Sealer and Weston Vacuum Sealer Bags and this is how well they performed.
Now is the season of harvest. We have finished harvesting our gardens and hunting season is here. Between the overflowing garden produce and meat harvested out in the wilds along with meat from the farmstead the refrigerator is overpacked. The freezer is the next step but without careful preparation freezer burn can destroy all of your hard earned work. This is where vacuum sealing comes in. Seal out the air that promotes spoiling, freezer burn and takes up valuable space.
Weston is on the forefront of vacuum sealing technology. Along with the supplied Weston PRO-2300 Vacuum Sealer supplied was two types of 3 MIL thick constructed vacuum bags. The first is the below Gallon size already made bag. This package contains 100 vacuum bags ready to put to good use.
The other bags supplied was a cut to length yourself Weston 15″ wide by 50′ long roll. This allows you to make a custom size bag of your choice.
My very excited assistant for this review is my wife Jess. She is quite the homesteader with our gardens and flock of chickens and a fellow blogger for her website.
For the first test my wife and I froze loose cut apple slices on a cake sheet. This kept the apple slices from oxidizing. We then took them out of the freezer and bagged them in a Weston gallon size bag. Vacuum sealing the apple slices with the Weston PRO-2300 the size used now was a lot smaller. Sealed up tight and air free they went back into the freezer ready for a quick apple pie recipe in the future. I can almost taste it already!
What does it all look like in action? A freshly processed chicken from our flock became a test subject. Before the deep freeze it received the vacuum seal treatment using the Weston PRO-2300 in a Weston Gallon Vacuum Bag. Quick and easy this farm fresh chicken is ready to help fill the freezer.
Little snacks can be sealed for future trips to the woods or really wherever. Invent your own “survival mints” for your off the grid bag.
So vacuum sealing is only for food items right? Actually it is for anything you need to keep clean and safe (and also fits in a bag!). Ammunition is a hot commodity today much more than ever before. Keep your investments safe from corrosion, dirt and other dangers out of sight when vacuum sealed. A bag of vacuum sealed ammo will stay fresh when all others have been ruined. You can make your own size bag and also double seal as I did below.
What can vacuum packing do for the hunter, prepper, fisherman, camper. etc.? Well in the great outdoors dry clothing can be a life saver. Take a dunk into the river from your canoe and minutes to get to dry clothing might be a life or death situation. Vacuum seal clothing? Yes! Below is a military surplus set of B.D.U.’s that will always be clean, dry and scent free until you need them. They also pack down quite small meaning more gear can be carried too.
With the above items vacuum sealed my scientific background took over. How could I give the Weston PRO-2300 and the supplied Weston bags the ultimate test? How about a submersion test when packed with various easy to ruin by moisture items. First off steel shot from a shotgun shell. Steel shot is notorious for getting rusty with any little bit of humidity. Now how about a freshly clean cloth wash rag, a paper napkin along with an ordinary tissue? Now we’re talking. Throw in a test paper with writing in ink from two different pens and a pencil? Why not add some coins for a tarnish test? Oh yes there are five Federal bulk pack .22 long rifle cartridges in there too. The budget .22 ammo can go bad quite quickly with moisture. The final item was a long ago beach find, a smooth partial brick for weight.
With the test items put together the Weston PRO-2300 was put to work. I double sealed the experiment bag and it was nice and tightly packed. It looks quite good right now but will it last for a full six days deep in a murky pond without the contents being ruined?
The rope was secured to the experiment and into the pond it went. The deep hole I chose was at the very least ten feet deep. Plenty of snapping turtles and big bass will keep it company until I pull the sunken treasure up later. The excitement mounted every time I walked past that rope over the next six days.
It was 6 full days later when I grabbed the rope and dragged the experiment ashore. The sealed package was miraculously in the same shape as when it went into a deep hole in the pond. Opening the package the seal was indeed still intact. When the scissors cut into the bag air rushed in. I dumped out the dry contents and took a look for any water or humidity damage. What I found absolutely astounded me. First off the paper, with the ink and pencil writing was in perfect pre-pond shape. The paper napkin and the tissue was dry as could be. The cloth wash rag had the same fresh smell when it came out of the dryer. I was really surprised no nasty pond muck smell made it anywhere into the vacuum sealed package. The coins were in perfect shape along with the steel shot from a shotgun shell. The five Federal bulk pack .22 cartridges were in the same shape as they went into the abyss. Even the brick weight made it through the dive with no moisture.
A close up image of the steel shot proves no moisture or water damage occurred during the experiment. The lack of any damage to these “underwater cache” items proves how useful it is at keeping items safe and dry. Use your imagination on what can be saved away for another day safe, dry and corrosion free.
With the above examples other items that I vacuum sealed were speed loaders for my Hawken black powder rifle to assure the powder stays dry. Carry them in your pocket through snow, ice and rain and they will be ready when you need them. Survival kits complete with matches, knives, and other various equipment prone to damage by rough environments are a prime example of other uses for vacuum sealing other than just food.
In summary after testing out the Weston PRO-2300 and the Weston brand vacuum bags I can attest to being highly impressed with their products. There was a lot of air displacing suction and perfect heat seals when using the Weston PRO-2300 Vacuum Sealer. The Weston brand bags supplied were tough and sealed well. These are not cheap imitations but quality made bags that can be reused over and over again. Cut them to your choice of size. There are so many options when using these products you will be vacuum sealing everything around the house in short order. Head on over to the Weston website and see all of the great vacuum sealing products along with many other items ready for your kitchen and more.
Do you like articles about the outdoors? You can follow him @ericthewoodsman on Twitter, The Classic Woodsman on Facebook, @theclassicwoodsman on Instagram, and The Classic Woodsman YouTube Channel.
NEXT: LEGEND OF THE ALASKAN WILDS: DICK PROENNEKE