Cheap Foil Coffee Pouch Sealer
I started with me trying to find a heat sealer for 250gm coffee bags. Now this isn't a simple area and there are lots of heat sealers about . Budget operated foot sealers at £125, plus VAT and delivery. Spiffing stuff I thought I will have one of those, BUT beware, a bit of careful checking and "no sir these are impulse heat sealers and only a 2mm seal width and NOT suitable for foil/plastic coffee bags". "oh I said", "but sir we do have a constant heat sealer model that is ideal for that task only£395" <gulp>
OK I set my sights a bit lower and finally got a quote on a hand held crip constant heat sealer about 8mm for £145 plus VAT, plus delivery just wide enough to do 1kg and also 250gm bags. Speaking to a fellow roaster on the phone, I was a bit annoyed with the cost of these things…because i'm poor…even poorer at the moment He said that when they started out they used an iron to seal the bags….damm good idea I thought. The next day went examining my wifes iron, few tests in the garage, got thumped…so returned iron! So I had another bright idea….hair straighteners!
I'm getting there…be patient. Went to Superdrug and came across this!!
Now I'm not kidding and have used a foot operated sealer costing £600, this little puppy seals just as well! 10 seconds and it will seal in one clip a 250g coffee bag with a nice wide seal (that you won't pull apart), not the wimpy 5mm jobs. It will seal a 1kg bag in two goes (one each half). The 1kg bag was one of the thickest foil/PE coffee bags I have ever seen and it was no trouble!!
How much does this little wonder cost £8.99 and it is fantastic. It runs at about 200c, constant heat, 1 min warmup, has ceramic plates and no real inclination to stick to the bag. If a little plastic does get stuck to the plates, just use a thickish cotton cloth and with the plates nice and hot, place it between the plates, clamp and pull it out….takes all the crud off the plates.
I'm off to buy another one, just so I have a spare for sealing bags. Only one thing wrong with it….the colour clashes a bit with the roaster.1