[onebarrel]

Hop plug maker...


2 ton jack (overkill) nylon disks are for pushing and for seperating 1/2 to 1 oz plugs


hop back (purchased) holds 3 oz of cones


growler - 1 gallon mini keg (use to hold vanilla for icecream machine)

[ndcube]

Why the hop plug maker?  To save space in your freezer?

[onebarrel]

Yes, and also to keep them fresh longer.

I vaccum bag my cones but because there is oxygen in there they don't keep longer than 8 months... I usually get 3 lbs per year from my plants, but between that and pellets I buy I usually end up throwing cones out I don't use - this will cut down on the amount of waste because I believe that plugs stay fresher longer... who knows I may be able to double the storeage life.

Right now it is in the testing phase... it cost me nothing to put together and I can always dimantle it if it fails.

[ndcube]

I vaccum bag my cones but because there is oxygen in there they don't keep longer than 8 months...

How is there still O2 in the bag?  Is the vacuum not very strong?

[mikeypedersen]

That 1 gallon mini keg is sweet!  Where did you find that?

[onebarrel]

There is always going to be some oxygen in there unless you can purge it with something first (nitrogen)...

I use the typical foodsaver vaccum sealer with there best quality plastic bags... strong enough but not as strong as a commercial unit. I am just compairing my bagging system to what they use a say HopUnion... they use mylar/aluminum
bags and purge with nitrogen which I believe you can only do in a closed system, then they hit it with a massive vaccum which
looks to have very wide sealings bars on it (11 lbs brick of pellets)

The mini keg I got at a resturant equipment salvage yard... $20