Vacumm sealer recommendations ?


 

JSMcdowell

TVWBB All-Star
I just read over Tim's post in this forum, but there didn't seem to be model recommendations. Price is of course a factor, but as much as I have been using mine lately, I have no problems paying for a good one.

I currently have the very small Foodsaver model, that will only handle 8" rolls. It's been great, but time to move up.

I freeze a lot of uncooked & cooked meats. Not sure if I would be big on the canister sealing, but would consider it.

Let me know which ones you have liked and disliked.

Thanks in advance!
 
Hi Josh I've made posts on this in the past. Should be in the archives.

I have a more expensive one that I have been using for 3 years or more now without any problems. It has a 15" wide seal bar. It will take 15" wide material. This is really handy and allows me to seal most anything I run into. Whole cakes, pies, etc. Large pieces of meat and other stuff. Full casseroles, etc. Using roll bag material from 6,8,11,15" widths also adds tons of flexibility of odd sized items. And you can make your own bags from the rolls themselves if you want. A heavier duty unit is handy for that as well. I don't, I just keep roll stock on hand as well as bags.

It will also seal the smaller bags two at a time due to that width.

It can also be used with the accessories from foodsaver. I have used the canisters, but now just use them for storage as I found they did't hold vacuum reliably. I have used the jar attachments but they can be a pain as you have to fiddle with them a lot and the lid seal has to be almost perfect. Find some jars that work and some that don't.

The seal on this unit is really wide too .22". So it is very reliable and less particular if there is fine debris or other issue. More forgiving. You never have to hold down on the bar/lid while the unit is sealing. Might have to just touch it lightly sometimes at the start but that's about it.

It is fan cooled and has an almost non existent cycle time if you are bagging a lot. Pretty much continuous duty in my experience so far. The instructions say to wait 20 seconds between seals but I never have over total time of ownership and never had an issue. Maybe if you were doing 100 bags at a time it might matter.

It has a double pump and goes to 28.5 inches Hg of vacuum according to spec. It's fast by comparison and vacs very tight. There are controls to manual seal.

All of the parts for the machine are available. Meaning you can repair them if something breaks. Which was a big issue for me. Since owning it I had to replace the teflon tape over the sealer element once. Cost about a dollar. I simply bought a roll of the teflon tape and will never have to buy tape again.

I use bulk bags and have always used the mesh type because they are cheaper, but it will use standard FS bags as well. Note that foodsafer/tilia will also use the mesh type bags that you can typically buy much cheaper. I never buy bags at a department store. I have always bought mesh bags mail order.

Now that said, this is probably considered a semi commercial unit. Anything higher in quality is pretty much true commercial and is typically internal cavity type. So way more expensive. This unit is not cheap either and I look at it as the Home Kitchen Aid stand mixer of the vac sealer world
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I paid $350 for mine several years ago. They are currently at 375-400 now depending on where you buy.

Cablelas and Basspro sell their version of this unit but they remove the fan. They have more electronic controls that this standard one doesn't have. I like this one better because of the cooling fan and the cord storage it has.

Foodsaver makes a dual pump unit that has much better vaccuum that is called Gamesaver Pro. I bought one of these for my parents and it has worked fine without issue for just about 2 years now. It has a wider seal than the standard FS and better cycle time. It also has more vacuum. You can't get parts for it though if it breaks. I think you are still in the same boat in that you can't send it in for repairs either like the other FS products. That unit cost about $275-$300 including shipping when I bought it for them.

Below that are the various FS, Tillia, and other sealers that are more econocmically priced. You can't repair them but some would certainly say you can replace a number of them without hitting the price of the unit.

The unit I have is called Pro 2100(white) or Pro 2300 (SS). I have the stainless steel. They are not the most counter top friendly in that your interior decorator may gasp. I keep mine stored on one of my rolling shelves and set it up on the counter when I need it.

The FS Gamesaver Turbo Pro is smaller as it is only 11" and less bulikier and is more counter top friendly. This is NOT the same as the Gamesaver Pro which looks the same but is single pump and less vac capacity. The GS Pro runs around $200. Not sure if they still sell the Turbo Pro version.

Some sources for Pro 2100/2300:

Provaccuum

Sealers Unlimited

They are also branded as Weston and available there.

Weston

If you search on Pro 2100 you will find a number of sellers.

Cablas and Basspro are good sources of other models and duty rating of vac sealers that you can get a look feel for what you are looking for. They have a decent variety and different levels beyond the typical consumer version sold in the department stores/mail order houses. I'm not knocking FS at all. It's all what you are looking for, want to spend, and can justify for your purpose.

Cabelas (two pages)

Basspro

There are even book on selecting one. Just search on vacuum sealer guide.

Otherwise there are plenty of foodsaver users out there that can give testimony and loads of folks use them and are happy. I had different selection criteria than most I suppose. Very happy with this unit.
 
Ray,

Thank you for the very detailed response. Started trying to read it on my phone Friday night... figured I would fully read it this when I got in this morning.

I really like the Pro2100/2300 models because of the 15" capacity and the clear lid. The extra wide seal area is also a great plus. Little more than I had thought I would spend, but I may just put if off a little while so I can get that one. I have 2 comps in the next month, so I will probably wait till after then.

Thanks again.
 
No problem. Been awhile and I needed to update from previous posts I made on the topic.

Lots of choices out there, but I really wanted something that could deal with all kinds of sizes without balking and be very reliable and repairable should it break as well as deal with short cycle times during longer runs.

Good luck
 
Ray, finally got one of these a couple weeks ago. It works great just as advertised. The Weston was on amazon for around $340. It even came with an extra strip of the sealing tape.

Thank you again for the great review.
 
Ray, thanks for the write-up! I would like know how it works for ground meat? I can find no write-ups or pictures or video's for that matter on sealing moisture laden meats. My problems is with ground meat. When sucking down the bag all the juices start getting drawn out and then it either doesn't seal or seals loose with air in it.
 
Tim, this model doesn't have any problems with sealing through juices. I poured some brisket slices & juice in a bag this weekend and it sealed right through it. The seal is nearly a 1/4" thick. The liquid reservoir is very large and easy to clean on this if you do have juices pull through while vacuuming.

Also it has a manual stop & seal button. So you press start for the automatic mode and once you get to your desired level of vacuum you can press the button, it stop the vacuum and starts sealing. So you if you don't want to squeeze a ground meat to tight you can stop the vacuum at any time.
 
Thanks Josh! That's good to hear. That's my main problem, never getting the air removed from ground meat bags is the problem. I could never marinate meat in marinate with the junk I've buying!
 
Hey Josh, can you share the link for that $340 deal please? Gosh, all I'm seeing is vendors at $100 higher?
 
I have the Foodsaver one that is a step up from the base model. I really like it, but I'm not sure what size it is and if it's bigger than yours. I just buy the normal sheets of bag from Walmart and make whatever length bags I need to seal in instead of using pre-cut and size bags.
 
There is an excellent book out that will answer many of your questions about vacuum sealers:
The Complete Vacuum Sealer Guide by Roger Seher (available from Amazon - I have the Kindle version).

Dale53
 
When I am sealing really juicy stuff, I vacuum seal it once, then move it back a wee bit and vacuum seal it again (if it by chance didn't fully seal the first time... then all the juices are sucked away from the sealing strip). That has worked for me with all different types of units.

Ray, thanks for the write-up! I would like know how it works for ground meat? I can find no write-ups or pictures or video's for that matter on sealing moisture laden meats. My problems is with ground meat. When sucking down the bag all the juices start getting drawn out and then it either doesn't seal or seals loose with air in it.
 
Thanks for all who have provided input on this thread. I was looking for a better solutions than my food saver (JUNK). I bit the bullet and purchased a Pro 2300 (SS). All I can say I want to vacuum seal everything in site. This thing is amazing. Ray posted the link and I purchased in on Amazon. Bags are pretty inexpensive and this unit is a time saver. It also puts down double the seal of my old food saver. The amount of time saved is well worth the money........ I am not a salesman or affiliated with this company, just letting you guys know this is head and shoulders above any food saver product.


Mike
 
I just picked up the FS 3880 from Costco which is on sale for just over $100 right now. I took it home and sealed up about 8 lbs of pulled pork from this weekend cook and it did a fantastic job. While I would have loved one of the professional jobber, when I saw them in person, they were enormous. Even this 3880 is pretty good sized and for less than 1/3 the price, it's all I need.
 
One tip for vacuum sealing items with juice, ie ground beef, temper the product for a short time in the freezer, then vacuum seal the package.
 
What I do with hamburger, steaks, fish, and anything else that leaks moisture is use Costco version of saran wrap, and wrap the items with the wrap before i put them in the foodsaver bags. This stops the moisture from drawing up and ruining the seal. The only drawback to this is when you are ready to use the thawed product, its a pain to find the edge of the wrap as it gets sucked up very tight and you use "lose" the edge of the wrap. For drumsticks and some pork chops, i use sandwich bags without the seal strip and just fold the end of the bag over before putting it in my foodsaver bag. 3 drumsticks in one sandwich bag, and usually a single porkchop in a bag. I just have a cheap foodsaver, not anything expensive.
 
my tilia foodsaver ll died recently and i researched the vac sealers and i saw a video on the comparison of westons 2300 unit and a vacupack elite on youtube. they took a bag sealed in each of the sealers and put both in another vacuum sealer and recorded the bags getting the residual air sucked out of them. the vacupack held its vacuum longer in the test. i saw originally the 2300 was recommended by americas test kitchen when they were made in italy by a different manufacturer, but that changed and they are now being made in china. i understand they quit using a jaw coupling for a cheaper design. i ended up going with the vacupack elite and so far, i like it a lot. i like how the sealer actually crimps the two bag surfaces. on the tilia, i was double sealing everything. the accesories from the foodsaver can be used if you take about an inch of the hose from the vacupack accessory, cut it and one of the ends of the foodsaver tube, and push the foodsaver hose inside the vacupack hose. also, i like how it has a water trap on it to protect the innerds.
 

 

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