Anyone have any recommendations for a vacuum marinade machine?  I am exploring whether or not it makes sense to get one.  I am primarily thinking about using it for making jerky to save time of marinading overnight.  I would prefer something that could hold about 5 lbs of meat plus marinade and finishes in about 15-30 minutes.  That way I could slice the meat, marinade, and smoke all in the same day.

There's a study that seems to prove that vacuum marinading has little merit after the food is cooked.  It sums up, "Under the conditions of this study, use of vacuum during mari- nation appeared to offer no significant advantage over marination at atmospheric pressure.

You can read it here.

thanks for the information, but if it saves me a lot of time to get similar results I am open to exploring a vacuum

I was not sure after reading it, was the study more concerned about moisture retention in the bird then possible flavor enhancements, causing them to weigh more and therefore retailers get more money.  It was hard to tell. 

The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of vacuum on moisture retention and quality characteristics of marinated chicken breast fillets.

I saw it used but never used it.  Larry loved his vac tumbler, but that man had way more disposable income then me!  Pricy for a workingman!  But I think he felt like you Lew...He had a very limited time to get that flavor in the meat at a competition and I think he felt this gave him a leg up!

D.C. Curtis, Ltd. Flavor Maker

That looks nice, but I could buy another grill for that price.  If I was going to start selling jerky that I made, then maybe I would consider that.

I did not really look at the link again...his was about a $1000 are they still in that range?

I did not really look at the link again...his was about a $1000 are they still in that range?

$1500-$2000

I bought a less pricy model about a year ago.  At about the time it was delivered I read that study where the benefits kinda' cooked away.  So I thought, "Oh, well.  I'll use it when I need faster results."  Haven't used it.

I was not sure after reading it, was the study more concerned about moisture retention in the bird then possible flavor enhancements, causing them to weigh more and therefore retailers get more money.

They apparently thought, "If you weighed two chicken breasts before and after marinading you could assume that any weight gain was soaked-in marinade and more is better."