It is not unusual for us to open a new bag of chips, pour out a couple servings and then fail to find a clip to keep the top of the bag from unfolding and going stale. Sometimes we end up using a paper clip or use one clip to secure two bags. Clips and twist ties are not a very good solution for keeping bags closed and food fresh. What you really need is a way to easily reseal the bag like the Air Lock from FRESHeTECH.
The Air Lock is a small hand-held bag reseller that reminds me of a miniature version of a Food Saver, but without the vacuum feature. We use a Food Saver when we freeze leftovers, but it’s not economical to use it for things like chips, crackers, and cereals because you have to use special bags with it.
The Air Lock does not require special storage bags because it can create an airtight seal on any existing plastic bag using micro-thermal technology.
The device has a built-in rechargeable battery that charges through a USB cable, so you don’t need to feed it batteries. You just clamp the edges like you would with a stapler, but you slide the Air Lock across the end of the bag to create the seal.
The Air Lock even has a built-in magnet so you can store it on the side of your fridge.
You can read more about the FRESHeTECH Air Lock by visiting freshetech.com and you can buy one from The Grommet or Amazon for $15.
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I had something similar years ago (that used AA batteries or an AC adapter). I found its effectiveness varied a great deal depending on the bag material.
I put one in my Amazon cart. If I end up buying one, I’ll do a review.
I also had a AA battery version of this a while back. I can verify that the device didn’t work so well with certain materials. I tried at least 3 of these types of devices, and none of them were able to reliably seal any of my bags. There was always some tiny gap somewhere that let out the air, and getting the bag completely sealed involved going over the same spot multiple times. I’ve since given up and just use clips again. I’m interested to see if anyone else has had better luck with these.
I can see the usefullness of this, I had the AA version which worked OK, if you use it slowly and carefully.
The big question is, WHO has half eaten Doritos packets at home ? Here they are either full or empty, there does not seem to be an intermediate state, or at least not long enough to close the bag.
Ha! I guess we’re a bit different at our house. We always have opened bags of chips, a bag of Fritos, a bag of Cheetos, and a bag of something else like Doritos, BBQ chips, etc. We usually create a mixture of chips to go with a sandwich.
The bag material is the key to freshness–it has to be oxygen-impermeable, like the Food Saver bags–so an air-tight seal doesn’t help much.