Kitchen food vacuum sealer "station"

[Brad Schmid]

All,
After many years of cluttered up counter space for the vacuum sealer or manually pulling it out of a storage area and temporarily sitting it on a work surface, I've had enough... So, since i'm building a new kitchen island soon anyway, I figured i'd design something into it to store and use the sealer.
Background for size and weight purposes: The vacuum sealer I am using is a Weston 2300.
My curiosities and questions are:

1- Has anybody done this and have a successful design they'd be willing to share?
2- Has anybody used a mixer lift mechanism to do this? Are they strong and stable enough for this purpose?
3- What would be the best way to have a working space in front of the sealer to hold the food and bag while it's being sealed? Can a lift hold enough weight for the appliance and a work space?
4- Any other clever ideas?
5- What am I forgetting?

As always, pictures welcome.

Thanks gang!

[Richard Coers]

Those mixer lifts are real space hogs. They nearly take up all the space in the cabinet, and then protrude into walking area in the kitchen. My sealer is so small it's super easy to take out of a drawer and simply set up on the countertop.

[Frank Pratt]

I agree about the lifts taking up too much space. Our sealer just goes in a cupboard.

[Michael Drew]

I built a stand alone cabinet for mine. It's always there, ready to use. Bags and other kitchen type items go in the drawers.
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[Jim Becker]

I haven't done it and it wouldn't be practical with the small kitchen here in our "downsize" house, but it should be very doable with almost any of the small appliance lifts. Vacuum sealers are not as heavy as mixers and the like, at least any I've seen. If you use it enough that this convenience will be helpful, I say "go for it".

[Brad Schmid]

Those mixer lifts are real space hogs. They nearly take up all the space in the cabinet, and then protrude into walking area in the kitchen. My sealer is so small it's super easy to take out of a drawer and simply set up on the countertop.

Thanks Richard/Frank, I wondered how much space the lifts took up... I'll keep this in mind.
Brad

[Brad Schmid]

I built a stand alone cabinet for mine. It's always there, ready to use. Bags and other kitchen type items go in the drawers.
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Thanks Michael,
This may ultimately be the route that I take. I have a matching piece of granite initially intended for when i built a standalone coffee bar. I may shift it's purpose. I need a cabinet installed trash bin anyway and I could do dual purpose for the sealer and trash rather than take up any island space with those 2 things. Thanks for the idea.
Brad

[Brad Schmid]

I haven't done it and it wouldn't be practical with the small kitchen here in our "downsize" house, but it should be very doable with almost any of the small appliance lifts. Vacuum sealers are not as heavy as mixers and the like, at least any I've seen. If you use it enough that this convenience will be helpful, I say "go for it".

Thats what I was thinking... doable... and we use it regularly so its worthwhile for me doing something... I figured if somebody did something clever already, here is where i would find it.

I do alot of meat and cheese smoking and thus sealing of large things like cheese blocks, brisket, pork butt, ribs, sausage, etc. both raw and post cook and of many sizes. To handle this, I was forced into a more commercial duty type of sealer and it weighs over 23 lbs. I think our KitchenAid mixer is more in the 30 lb range, so it is a little more. That's why i was wondering if the lifts would be a solution or not. I can manage manually moving the weight myself (although i don't enjoy it), but my wife struggles with the size and weight and gets frustrated.

Like you suggest, i'm "going for it", but still looking for tried and true ideas.
Thanks Jim.
Brad

[Jim Becker]

I think you'll be fine with a 23 pound machine with any of the sturdy appliance lifts. I use one in the shop for my OSS which lives under the drum sander. So there's the weight of the tool plus the weight of the sturdy work surface I used for the purpose. For whatever lift you choose, be sure to follow the installation instructions carefully so that when it's in the "up" position, the work surface that the sealer sits on clears the counter edge.

I use a smaller sealer and it just lives on the top shelf of one of the corner turntable thingies...'gets pulled out only when needed, but my use is incidental compared to yours. If I actually had an appropriate cabinet, I'd do this for the small microwave since it's only used a few times a week for little jobs like a frozen lunch or melting butter. But our kitchen now is too small to even think about that. (The two things I do miss about our old property was the large kitchen and the room sized shower. :) )

[Bruce Page]

Ours lives in a pantry cabinet. I built a "station" for our coffee maker and I still grumble on the amount of space it takes up.

[Jim Becker]

Ours lives in a pantry cabinet. I built a "station" for our coffee maker and I still grumble on the amount of space it takes up.
I have zero issue with taking space for my beloved espresso machine! Priorities, man!!! :D

[Bruce Page]

I have zero issue with taking space for my beloved espresso machine! Priorities, man!!! :D

I've adjusted. :) I dislike over-crowded counters so I live with it.

[Brad Schmid]

I think you'll be fine with a 23 pound machine with any of the sturdy appliance lifts. I use one in the shop for my OSS which lives under the drum sander. So there's the weight of the tool plus the weight of the sturdy work surface I used for the purpose. For whatever lift you choose, be sure to follow the installation instructions carefully so that when it's in the "up" position, the work surface that the sealer sits on clears the counter edge.



Good to know a good lift (with substantial mounting bracketry/hardware) could possibly handle the weight. I'll have to compare the available ones and see if any are better than the others... My main concern is when sealing something large like a 22 lb brisket, the weight of machine+worksurface+meat is going to be 45+ lbs.
Brad

[Brad Schmid]

I have zero issue with taking space for my beloved espresso machine! Priorities, man!!! :D

Coffee vs meat priorities? who wins? hmmm, that is a tough one... The horror of "first world" problems :D

[Brad Schmid]

Ours lives in a pantry cabinet. I built a "station" for our coffee maker and I still grumble on the amount of space it takes up.

I would like that but my problem here is my pantry is fairly small (and already full) with nowhere to expand. :(
Brad

[Jim Becker]

Coffee vs meat priorities? who wins? hmmm, that is a tough one... The horror of "first world" problems :D
The beloved morning latté always wins over meat. Why? Because Professor Dr. SWMBO likes meat a lot less than I do and the morning coffee is not optional for either of us. I make enough meatless meals to keep her happy and she eats the meaty ones when they are on the menu, too. Tomorrow, it's corn beef and cabbage. :)

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On your other concern about weight, absolutely pay attention to the specifications for the lifts you consider. The Rev-A-Shelf unit I used in the shop is rated up to 60 lbs.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0042QB6M4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

[Brad Schmid]

The beloved morning latté always wins over meat. Why? Because Professor Dr. SWMBO likes meat a lot less than I do and the morning coffee is not optional for either of us. I make enough meatless meals to keep her happy and she eats the meaty ones when they are on the menu, too. Tomorrow, it's corn beef and cabbage. :)

-----
On your other concern about weight, absolutely pay attention to the specifications for the lifts you consider. The Rev-A-Shelf unit I used in the shop is rated up to 60 lbs.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0042QB6M4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Fair enough ;)

And that 60lb rev-a-shelf might do the job nicely if i do decide to go that route.
Brad

[Alan Lightstone]

The beloved morning latté always wins over meat. Why? Because Professor Dr. SWMBO likes meat a lot less than I do and the morning coffee is not optional for either of us. I make enough meatless meals to keep her happy and she eats the meaty ones when they are on the menu, too.

You just described my life.