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    When it comes to product selection, the very idea of 'the best' products is annoying at best. At worst, it is completely worthless. Seriously. Why? Picking the 'best' product or service requires knowledge of information only you know. After all, you are buying a particular service or product to address your particular needs and you will use it in a particular situation. When you pick a product based on what some hyped sales page, glossy brochure, or fast talking salesman says is 'best,' you are missing the point. You have to pick the product or service based on a set of facts and factors that make sense to you. Or else, the only benefit, the product or service you bought produced would be to put money in the pocket of the salesman or website owner that pushed the product on you. Not a good star. If you are in the market for vacuum sealers, keep the following needs-based consumer guide in mind. By framing the selection process based on considerations instead of straight out recommending a particular brand and model, you increase your chances of making an informed choice as you select among the many different makes and models of vacuum sealers.

How big will your packages be?

    Many types of vacuum sealers come in different sizes. They have to since people have different size requirements. Some people store watermelon slices. Others store fish. Size impacts the price of these different vacuum sealers. You have to have a clear idea regarding the packages you will be packing. One way to estimate this is to focus on the wide range of food or other items you see yourself packing. Quickly run through them in your mind. Are you missing anything?

How moist will your items be?

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    The key component of most vacuum sealers is their vacuum element. If you will be constantly packing moist items, you should consider vacuum sealers that have a strong vacuum. Keep in mind that moisture doesn't mean just wet items. The item might be spongy or be made mostly of water. Something might seem dry but is actually moist inside. Don't get this wrong. Some vacuum sealers specialize in moist items.

How often will you use it?

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    Putting asides the tricky question of the durability of average products made in China, your choice of vacuum sealers should focus also on how frequently you will be using the unit. If you see yourself sealing lots of packages, you might need to step up to a heavy duty model. You might need a unit that has features that can help it withstand the test of time.

How thick will your plastic be?

Think of the different plastic bags you will likely be using. Keep in mind that thicker sheet plastic packaging materials require different types of vacuum sealers. Make sure to pick the model that is geared towards the thickness of the plastic packing materials you'll be using.
Keep the questions above in mind when trying to navigate among different makes and models of vacuum sealers. By choosing based on your needs and particular usage situation, you increase your chances of walking home with the right model.

 
 
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    It is too easy to confuse a slow cooker with many of the crock pots out there in the market. After all, they do tend to look alike. A slow cooker is composed of a pot, a cover, and an electric heating element. Surprise surprise, crock pots also tend to ship in the form of a pot, a cover, and, you guessed it, an electric heating element. Talk about confusing. If the look of these cooking machines are confusing enough, people tend to cook the same dishes with a slow cooker as with crock pots. No wonder many people mistakenly think a slow cooker is the same as a crock pot. The truth is there is a difference among the two. Not surprisingly, the difference is not all that obvious.

They cook different food

    If you want to truly know someone, pay attention to what they do instead of what they say. The same goes with telling the difference between a slow cooker and crock pots. Instead of getting caught up in the label of the cooking appliance, focus instead on what people use these for. While they tend to cook the same dishes, most cooks prefer to use larger chunks of meat and larger chunks of food with crock pots. This is because the distributed heating elements of crock pots ensure a wider distribution of heat and steamed heat to bigger chunks of meat. Slow cookers, on the other hand, tend to focus on soups, stews, and other liquid-rich dishes with smaller-grained ingredients. Since the heat comes from the bottom of slow cookers only, the granular size or the size of the chunks of the dish's ingredients must be small enough to be cooked this way. While slow cookers also use steamed heat to cook, they aren't as efficient in distributing such heat. In fact, if you are going to run your slow cooker for several days, there might be a risk of bacterial contamination or other health issues if you cut your meat chunks too large.

They have different heating methods

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    Crock pots have heating elements at the bottom and the sides while slow cookers' heating elements are located in the bottom only. This might seem like an empty detail but it isn't. It has a tremendous impact on two things: the size of the ingredients you should cook and the amount of overall heat produced. Both these factors affect the kinds of meals you can prepare using these devices. Crock pots are very popular because they can cook rough chunks of meat over an extended period of time and truly soften the chunks. Slow cookers, on the other hand, can't properly handle rough meat chunks since their heating element is only located at the bottom. While slow cookers can output some steamed heat, this may not be enough to cook large chunks of meat. You have to spend extra time on your ingredients if you are going to be using slow cookers to cook. At the very least, you have to take care and cut the ingredients into small enough pieces so the slow cookers' heat can thoroughly cook them. You don't want a nasty surprise from a slow cooker you let run for several days. The meat might not have been cooked enough.

Keep the differences above in mind when trying to decide between a crock pot or slow cookers. This is not a case of a distinction without a difference. The difference might directly impact not just the taste and texture of your food, but your health as well.

    Jess

    Welcome to my blog.  With so many new and great kitchen items it can be hard to decide what you need and what is just wasting space.