Using Continuous Vacuum Packing Rolls
A question that we are asked quite regularly is ‘What are the advantages of continuous rolls over vacuum pouches?’ The advantage of continuous vacuum rolls over pouches is that they are more cost effective if you are packing small amounts of varying sized items. For example many of our customers who use their vacuum packing machines at home use them to pack small quantities of a wide variety of things and find it more cost effective to buy one or two rolls rather than to buy packs of 50 or 100 of several different sizes of vacuum pouch.

The disadvantage of continuous rolls is that they are less convenient to use, since you need to cut the roll to the correct length and then seal one of the open ends using the heat sealer on the vacuum packing machine. This doubles the time taken for each packing operation, which may be a problem if you are packing a lot of things.
You can use continuous rolls in combination with bags to give you the best of both speed and flexibility. For example, you could buy a pack of 16x25cm bags and a pack of 20x30 bags for packing smaller items and then buy a 30cm roll which would allow you to pack the occasional item up to 30x60cms.

We supply continuous rolls in three widths - 15cms, 20cms and 30cms. Each vacuum roll is 6 metres long and there are either two or four continuous rolls in a pack. When you are cutting rolls to length you must remember to allow 2 inches or so for the finished vacuum pouch to fit into the machine and for the heat seal.

To get the best performance from your vacuum packing machine and to pack things as economically as possible, you should always match the vacuum pouch size to the item being packed allowing as little waste as possible at the sides and only enough room at the top to make the heat seal.

One tip that is worth remembering when you are putting items into the vacuum pouch is to turn the top of the pouch back on itself. This prevents the part of the vacuum pouch that is going to be heat sealed from coming into contact with the food. If this part of the bag gets food or liquid on it then it may prevent the machine from making a perfect seal.