Fed Up With FoodSaver Vacuum Sealers

[jlazar]

Just threw out our latest Foodsaver due to too many failed seals. Replaced with a Nesco VS-12. About $100 on Amazon. Very happy with how this suctions and seals.
Deluxe Vacuum Sealer | NESCO®

[fzxdoc]

Yay, another vacuum sealer vendor based in the USA with a real customer service department. Good to know. Thanks!

Kathryn

[lonnie mac]

Ha. I gotta old Nesco VS-02 I bought in 15'. Still love that thing.

[smokenoob]

I have to hold the lid down tight on my foodsaver or the sucker doesn’t turn off
time to shop…..

[HawkerXP]

So, the Cat in the Hat is back!

[smokenoob]

HawkerXP Dog!

[HawkerXP]

With spicey brown, please. Woof!

[Dr. Pepper]

smokenoob I followed someone’s advice , and for a few bucks bought replacement gaskets for my FoodSaver. Try that before discarding.

[RichieB]

Dr. Pepper I never got a consistent seal. I know ppl. say gaskets, pressure as smokenoob said. Why should a product that is new have to be leaned on, replaced gaskets to work to be relevent. I threw mine in the trash. I've got a Avid Armor 7900 . I do not do a lot of sealing. This low profile unit has not failed once. No leaning, no gasket replacement needed. And a good value.

[Dr. Pepper]

And you don't miss leaning? Every once in a while get a hankering to lean on something? 😜

[scottranda]

Ut oh. Mine gave out on me yesterday!!! 😬

[Mr. Bones]

Ruh Roh

[Santamarina]

I bought this one from MEAT Your Maker about a year ago. On average it gets used every 4-5 days. Never one bad seal. Never one suction issue. I use their roll bags and cut to size.

It’s only $80, and they often have sales. Loved it so much I bought their meat grinder too. Another solid product from MEAT Your Maker!

https://www.meatyourmaker.com/preser...5.html#start=1

[STEbbq]

Yeah my short list is the Anova, Meat Your Maker, and Avid sealers. I haven’t done a comparison between the $100 models yet but those three seem the best.

[Brisket Syndicate]

I've been using a sealer from Cabela's, for years, with great success. Hundreds of bags each month, and still going strong.

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/cabelas-12-commercial-grade-vacuum-sealer

[Mark V]

On my LEM Vaxmac Pro Chamber vacuum sealer. 38 seconds really is needed for a good vacuum seal. 8 seconds is good for things that could squish, cake, bread, etc. Bags with openings of 8 inches or better will save hassle, easier to get food in without smearing stuff all over the bag opening. 3 mil bags are good for most things. I had failures with 3 mil bags with things with bones, dino ribs, etc. I suggest 5 mil for things like that.

[bunky2021]

Really happy I stumbled across this thread. It seems like quite a few of you fine folks are accomplished "vacuum sealers."

What would you recommend for someone like me who's getting his first sealer? I'll use it probably once per week and have a small kitchen. Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

[rickgregory]

Really happy I stumbled across this thread. It seems like quite a few of you fine folks are accomplished "vacuum sealers."

What would you recommend for someone like me who's getting his first sealer? I'll use it probably once per week and have a small kitchen. Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Something like the entry level Avid Armor or the Nescos. The main limitations of the ~$100 and under sealers is that they require a pause between sealing since the sealing bar seems to overheat. My Nesco wont even activate the seal function unless it's cooled. Now... this is about 15 seconds or so and isn't a big deal if you're sealing just a few items.

Where it would be an issue is when you're sealing a few dozen things at once or even a dozen+. Then the enforced pause could become annoying.

If you're sealing a lot of stuff regularly, the bags for the entry level sealers are more than the bags for things like fzxdoc uses too.

But I seal a few things at a time and irregularly. For example, if I buy a single steak in the supermarket and intend to cook it within a few days, I don't bother removing it from the packaging and sealing it. If my market does one of their BOGO deals on NY steaks, though, I might buy a half dozen and then I will, of course, seal most of them and freeze them.

So, if you anticipate sealing a few things every week, the entry level sealers will be fine. If you start buying things in bulk and sealing a lot of things at once, you can upgrade of course.

[Mark V]

I use a sealer a lot, sometimes 20-30 bags in a session. The Foodsaver I had would overheat like you said after about 10, then of course it would overheat faster leading you to have to pause every few bags. My solution was to go to a chamber sealer. That was quite a bit more expensive, but no pauses anymore and I could also easily seal wet things including soup, and also powders.

[rickgregory]

Yeah, chambers are the stuff, but $$$. If you do a lot and esp if you want to seal liquids and powders, they're great. But for my needs, I can't justify the huge jump from $60-100 to $500-ish.

For soups, I just ladle them into ziplocs, lay flat, get as much air out as i can and freeze. Dry spices go in snack size ziplocs which are then vac-sealed... but I rarely do that since I don't buy a lot of bulk (high quantity) spices.

[tmaan235]

I might have a workaround for over heaters, not a solution though. My 1st was by Food Saver and at 6 to 10 bags it would enforce a cooldown. I buy in bulk and like Mark 10 to 20 bags sometimes. It was painful. My workaround was to keep a rag in icewater and force the cooldown by slowly dragging the freezing rag over the seal bars. It allowed me to keep my sanity with big jobs. My second will bag a pork tenderloin cut into chops and hasn't complained yet, still pretty new yet, film at 11

[RichieB]

I have the Avid Armor AVS7900. $60 at Amazon. Very happy with it. Just did 2 racks of STL ribs today. I threw out the Food Saver. Don't do a lot of sealing. For what I do its meets my needs. Also, I haven't had the issue that rickgregory noted with having to wait in between seals. Maybe I lucked out with the sealer.

[Draznnl]

I have this sealer as well and have never had to wait between seals. The other day, I packed and sealed a dozen steaks I had cut from a strip loin. My AVS 7900 worked like a charm.

[DavidNorcross]

I highly recommend Avid Armor. Their products are great, their bag prices are reasonable and their service is top notch.

[RichieB]

See, I knew we would agree real soon bro'.

[DavidNorcross]

Yup. I am thrilled you actually got my point this time

[Dr. Pepper]

I have been satisfied with my Costco Food Savers. Get the clamshell one, not the upright self-sealing one. The self-sealing one depends on feeding the bag opening into the slot. If your bag is wrinkled (I often clean and re-use if not from a prior fatty content) or floppy, you can't feed into the slot, whereas you can lay the open end of a floppy bag on the clamshell model.

Costco also sells boxes of the Food Savers bags, which brings down the price as well.

Finally, if I want to vacuum bag something very wet, like soup, or Italian beef in broth, I fill the bag, apply a clip to temporarily keep the top apposed, and place upright in the freezer. Next day I take it out, then seal it, and back into the freezer.

[HotSun]

Brilliant solution for vacuum sealing wet items!

[bunky2021]

Appreciate the suggestions!

I'm looking for a sealer that's relatively compact. Our kitchen countertop real estate is somewhat limited.

If I brought home a chamber sealer, it's likely y'all wouldn't see me around here any longer. My wife would take one look at that behemoth and begin beating me severely around and about the head and shoulders.

[rickgregory]

The Avid Armor, Nescos, etc can easily be stored in a drawer etc too.

[RichieB]

My Avid Armor is in a kitchen cabenet.