Foodsaver vs. Black and Decker


 
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John G.

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Anyone have any comments? I bought a Black and Decker vacum seal system because it was about $100 less than the Foodsaver. The problem I'm having is that it doesn't seal very well. If there is any moisture at the seal point, it doesn't seal. If there is a crimp (miniscule...) in the bag it doesn't seal. I basically need to put my full weight (>200 lbs.) onto the thing for it to work, when conditions are perfect.

How does the Foodsaver work? Does it handle moisture well? How about crimps in the bad? Would I need to basically stand on the thing to get it to seal?

I'm thinking about returning my Black and Decker and just getting the Foodsaver. Any comments are appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Hi John!!

I just got the Foodsaver for Christmas. I just went trhough and put all of the chicken and hamburgers and removed them from the ziplocs and Vacuum sealed them with the Food Saver... It worked great.. Sealed and vacuumed with no problem.

I looked at the black and decker (for price obviously) but I recieved the foodsaver for Christmas.

Maybe it like comparing a Brinkman to a W.S.M.

Unless you own a W.S.M. you'll never know what you are missing.
 
Don't know anything about the B&D, but I do have a Food Saver 845 that I received as an early Christmas gift. IT WORKS GREAT !!!!!
 
I've owned a FoodSaver 1050 for a few months now and I haven't had any problems with it. I'd hate to be without it now.
 
I have a FoodSaver (1060 I think). When I first got it, stuff wasn't sealing well and it ran for too long, until I figured out a rubber strip in the lid was out of alignment preventing the vacuum from being formed.

Perhaps you are having a similar issue with your new toy. Do you need to remove a piece of protective packing tape covering the lid switch?
 
John

If you are using a roll for your bags, make the bag a little longer than needed. This will eliminate the wrinkle and you can reuse the bag. Take a paper towel and wipe the inside of the bag where the seal is going to be. If the product that you are putting in the bag is moist place a couple of paper towels inside the bag to catch the liquid as the air is sucked out. If you are using pre made bags put less in them to avoid wrinkles. Hope this helps. I have the Foodsaver and it works fine.
 
ah I see now, yes, wrinkles in the FoodSaver bag can cause it to not work well also .... what Tony said ...

As for moisture, FoodSaver has a small channel to handle a bit, but your not SUPPOSED to let moisture enter the sealer, they recommend pre-freezing. I haven't noticed the odd drop cause me any grief yet, but one member said he fried his FoodSaver by allowing liquid to get into the machine.
 
Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions. In response...

1. Threre is no strip on the lid to interfere with sealing. The problem really only happens when I am trying to seal very moist meat.

2. I probably should make the bags a bit longer. I'm portioning the meat into 6 oz. portions though, and because I'm usually packing 15 lbs of meat at a time, I'm trying to go as small as possible. I guess that if a bag doesn't seal though, I'm wasting anyway.

3. Paper towels? So I'd put the paper towel in the bag with the meat?

Thanks again!
 
John

Yes, put the paper towels in the mouth of the bag. Make sure it's not where the seal is going to be. As the air is sucked out any moisture will be absorbed by the towels and the seal will be complete by the time any liquid reaches the seal. Making the bags longer really helps. You can wash them out and reuse them again several times.
 
About a month ago my old Food saver finally died. It would vaccum but it would never kick into sealing mode. And all this happend as I was finishing 4 pork butts to seal and freeze for some friends about 10:00 at night.

So in a state of panic I ran to Walmart to buy a new one. The only thing they had was the Black and Decker. I didn't even know B&D made a sealer till I saw it on the shelf. I hesitated a bit, then grabbed it and headed home.

It was a nightmare.

3 out of 4 bags didn't seal right. Half the time it wouldn't achieve enough vaccum to even try to seal. I fiddled for almost 3 hours and finally gave up.

Now, I'm not an expert at vacuum packing, but I've owned a Food Saver for over 8 years and I've packed hundreds if not thousands of things over those years and I couldn't make the thing work consistently.

The next morning I took it back and went to Sam's Club and bought a Food Saver. I repacked everything without a single failure, even using the B&D bags.

It was just my experience, but I won't be trying that again soon.
 
Matt, that's a great idea. Red and/or gold would show off the contents. I've used green cellophane to wrap foods and don't think it does the food any justice.

Why not email them your suggestion?
 
I know people love their Foodsavers, but they all have one complaint: the high cost of the bags. Because of that, I bought a Sinbo food sealer last summer for about $75 on Ebay and have been really happy with it. It uses plain commercial vacuum bags. You can buy a case of commercial vacuum bags for less than a nickel per bag, and most Sinbo owners say they work as good as a Foodsaver. I've never used a Foodsaver, so I can't compare them, but I've had no problems getting a tight seal from the Sinbo. Probably the only disadvantage of the Sinbo compared to a Foodsaver is that it takes a little bit longer to learn how to use it and get the hang of it and it doesn't have a jar port for sealing jars. A lot of Qers are switching to Sinbo sealers because of the lower costs of the bags.

To learn more, see this helpful thread in the Cookshack forum.
 
Dave,

Last time I went to Wally World to pick up some FoodSaver bags, I got a 2-pack of Black & Decker bag rolls. They are about 1/2 the price of FS bags.

I gotta tell you, those B&D bags worked every bit as good as FS bags.

Earlier this month, Amazon ran a special on the 8" FS bag rolls: 3 rolls for 9.99. I got me 9 rolls, and free shipping. Wish I'da bought more.
 
Another option that I seen in other forums is to roll the bag down before you put your product in. It'll keep the seal area nice and dry.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> ... I gotta tell you, those B&D bags worked every bit as good as FS bags.
... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Thanks very much for the tip Tom. I didn't know there were cheaper alternatives. Are they also boilable and microwaveable for reheating?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Scott Greenia:
Another option that I seen in other forums is to roll the bag down before you put your product in. It'll keep the seal area nice and dry. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wow, that's why I read these boards. Easy, helpful, "why on earth didn't I think of that" hints.
icon_biggrin.gif
 
Clay J, that is the post I've been waiting for. Tomorrow I'm going to return my B & D and get the Foodsaver...

Thanks.
 
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