I picked up a used Honda EU2000i Generator last week. All I can say is that I am really impressed with the quality of this machine. I was also impressed how quiet the Honda EU Generators are. I bought mine used for a great price. I picked it up in my car and it fit in the trunk of my 87 BMW 325is (bonus) That shows you how portable the 2000 watt generator is. I also like the fact that is is less than 50lbs. So it is easy to move around.

We should warn our kids about the Halloween Candy Debt and give them the option to not take the candy.

Kids, you don’t understand this yet, but here is how the game works. You get to collect as much candy as you can in one night each Halloween until you are 13 years old. What they don’t tell you is that from the age of about 21 to 90 you have to buy and give out candy. Here’s how that math looks:

Let’s say your average candy take was $8 per year for 13 years; you made $104 dollars (in candy). You then live to be 80 years old, having passed out an average of $20 in candy each Halloween.

59 years of passing out Halloween candy cost you $1,180 during your lifetime.

To recap you will be paying $1,180 for about $104 in candy.

And you thought credit cards were bad.

Okay, it seems these days everyone has a quote, so I thought I would create one, Even though I’m not famous yet. Here is my quote.

“Whole chickens are like old cars, they’re worth more when you part them out” – Roger Seher 2011

I’ve been quiet lately because I bit the bullet and jumped into a site redesign of www.LowTempCooking.com a site that caters to Sous Vide Cooking I originally built the site back in March of 08 before anyone knew what sous vide was. Now you can see thermal circulators and water baths aka water oven on the cooking shows. The site is up and open for business, but I’m only ½ way finished.
I still need to add more products, Build a sous vide recipe sharing app and possibly create a Sous Vide Forum.

The good news is the getting started price to explore sous vide cooking as come down. Now it is truly affordable to the home cook. The new line from SousVide Supreme is available in different colors and prices start at $299 for the smaller demi unit.
http://www.lowtempcooking.com/category/product-category/water-bath-water-ovens
This Could be the Christmas gift for the cook who thinks they have everything. You can test the waters by bringing it up in a conversation like:
“My Friend Roger mentioned something about sous vide cooking on one of the cooking shows, have you ever heard anything about cooking food sous vide?”

If they say yes, you may of found the perfect gift, that the whole family will enjoy!

Roger

P.S. I like sous vide so much that this is the 2nd year I cooked my thanksgiving turkey sous vide and it did not disappoint me or my guests. I even shot a few videos

Just a quick email to wish you and you loved ones
a Merry Christmas and/or happy holidays if you
don’t celebrate it.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your day/evening
and have a safe holiday!

Sincerely,
Roger Seher

A. Hi Dan,
Thanks for the question.  With the pro 2300 you can make bags from rolls.  You can cut the bags first using scissors or a paper cutter if you are going to make a lot of the same sized bags.
 
Then seal the first end of the bag by opening the lid on the pro 2300 and placing the bag material over the sealing strip. Make sure to butt the bagging material up against the rubber gasket.  lower the lid and start the machine.  By butting the bagging material against the gasket and not over it.  the vacuum sealer will not try to draw a vacuum on the open bag.

You can also seal the bag on the roll, then cut it to whatever length you need.
 
I hope this helps, I have other tips and mention the paper cutter in my Vacuum Sealing Guide
 
Roger Seher
www.provacuumSealers.com
www.SealerBags.com  

On Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:50:01 -0600
> Name = :Dan WXXXXXX
Phone:XXX-XXX-XXX
Message: Can you make
> bags with the PRO2300?

One of our customers contacted us with an error displayed on his 7306c thermal circulator.

Whenever he tried to change the temperature using the knob or switch to another program he saw “LLO” on the display and he was unable to change the settings.

The 7306c thermal circulator has a lock out feature to prevent someone from changing the temperature program settings on the machine. To activate this feature once the proper temperature is set, simply push in and hold the temperature knob in for 15 seconds.

Then if anyone tries to change the temperature or program the display will read LLO.

To unlock simply push in and hold the temperature knob for 15 seconds until the display shows Can.

I hope this helps anyone else who may happen to find themselves in this situation.

Thanks,

Roger

P.S. You can see videos of the 7306c thermal circulator here. If you need more sous vide bags they can be found here.

Most people limit the use of a vacuum sealer to buying in bulk and making smaller packages for the freezer. I think one of the best applications for the vacuum sealer in our busy lives is for left over’s.

Take your turkey leftovers for example, this year instead of just leaving all that turkey meat on the carcass covered with foil in the refrigerator (for way too long), why not vacuum seal it?

There are a couple different ways to vacuum seal your turkey dinner leftovers. The most common way is to let the turkey cool and vacuum pack the leftovers in smaller portions. This works well if you’re planning to freeze the leftover turkey for use at a later date. One thing I like to do when using this method is to package the turkey in single portion servings, and then freeze it.

Most vacuum sealer bags are boilable meaning you can place the vacuum packed bag in a pot of slow boiling water on the stove to reheat the contents at a later time. It doesn’t get any easier than that.

Another way is to make up plates or individual meals and vacuum pack the whole plate. This way you can keep the prepped meals in the refrigerator ready to reheat at a moment’s notice. The pro vacuum sealer can seal 15 inch wide bags for large plates.

Just remove the plate from the vacuum sealer bag, and reheat the meal in the microwave. You could even remove it from the vacuum sealer bag and cover with foil and reheat the plates in the oven. This is assuming of course that your plates are oven safe.

You can also transform that leftover turkey into good old-fashioned TV dinners. Portion out the plates on aluminum pie pans. Vacuum pack then freeze. Then when you’re ready just remove them from the vacuum sealer bag cover with foil and reheat in oven. Keep in mind some foods just don’t freeze well, like potatoes. So make extra stuffing.

Tips and Tricks.
Be careful during the vacuum sealing process, when using external type vacuum sealers like the food saver or the pro 2300 vacuum sealer with moist or soft food.

As the vacuum pump draws a vacuum on the contents of the bag the atmospheric pressure will be pressing against the outside of the bag. This force will begin to crush soft items and tend to force the liquids out of the bag and into the vacuum sealer.
One way to prevent this is to use the manual seal button on your vacuum sealer when the desired vacuum is reached. Another thing you can do is to freeze the plate or item prior to vacuum sealing.
For more vacuum sealing tips check out my eBook , The Complete Vacuum Sealing Guide

Please follow me on twitter, and if you liked this article and found it to be informative please use the retweet button to pass it along.

P.S. Need More Vacuum Sealer Bags?

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Thermal Circulators both hold the temperature precisely, and circulate the water at the same time. This is why they work so well. It’s kind of a set it and forget it appliance.

When I’m not using my thermal circulator for actually cooking food, I use it for quickly thawing food.

When I buy any products for later consumption, I almost always vacuum pack it into smaller portions. This helps protect from freezer burn, and speeds the thawing process when I am ready to use the product.

I can thaw the vacuum packed portion relatively quickly by placing it in the sink full of cold water. Since the product is vacuum packed it sinks right to the bottom.

Thermal circulators can circulate water and hold it at a given temperature. So I simply set my thermal circulator temperature very low so that the heating element does not come on but it circulates the water.

This thaws the product faster than just placing it in a sink full of water.

Sure you could do this in a sink by using a steady flow of water running through the tap, but that seems to waste a lot of water.

Roger