Back to blog
Vacuum Packaging: What You Need To Know
Packaging or sealing products in an airless environment have been long an effective way to protect items or enhance shelf life. But it is always worthwhile checking to see that your vacuum packaging is being done correctly and efficiently.
Firstly, which type of machine is right for you? Broadly speaking, there are two types of machines – the domestic vacuum sealer and the commercial vacuum chamber. The domestic machine (like our VH329 vacuum sealer $101.75 +gst) is a very cost-effective entry level machine and will cover all the basic household needs, such as food storage improvement, through drawing the air directly out of the bag using the built in pump. We have a range of these ‘out of chamber’ vacuum sealers that can increasingly handle more work load and speed to use before the need to move to a commercial chamber machine.
The vacuum chambers (beginning with our VH43 model $3,261.30 +gst) are all European made to the highest international standard. With these machines, the product is bagged, placed inside the chamber and air extracted from the chamber and the vacuum seal bag.
Once the vacuum is created, the seal bar heats and seals the bag. The atmospheric pressure is then restored to the chamber causing the bag to cling tightly around its contents. Ther are a multitude of sizes and options available with our vacuum chambers including gas flushed and ‘soft air’ features which allow perfect packing of delicate items.
For an environment where speed and output matter, it’s possible to put multiple bags inside the chamber at once, and some machines have double chambers allowing the next bag to be put in place while the vacuum sealing is underway in the alternate chamber (see image).
The second part of the equation is the vacuum bags themselves. Not all vacuum bags are created equal! Type is important but so is quality. These bags are not simply a poly bag. Acceptable quality bags should be sealed on 3 sides and need to have multiple layers, (including nylon), and satisfactory micron thickness to provide the maximum barrier to oxygen which will preserve the packed item. One must also be sure to use the correct bag variant. Due to the method of pumping the air out of bags, the domestic (‘out of chamber’) machines must always use bags that have specially designed channels in the plastic film. These channels give an unrestricted pathway for the air to flow out, and allows wrinkle free packaging. The vacuum bags for the commercial vacuum chamber machines are flat and smooth and present the packages item very professionally, for example, meat, fish, and small good. Whilst the commercial vacuum chambers are somewhat more expensive than the domestic, there are considerable savings to be found using the flat bags which should be considered when making your initial purchase.
We welcome any calls or visits to discuss you or your customer’s specific requirements. With a wide variety of machines and bag types and sizes, we’ll make sure you get the most efficient size machine and the perfect bags to use with them.
For further details or to speak with a sales consultant:
(03) 9428 1652 – venus@venuspacking.previewsite.com.au – www.venuspack.com.au
