Best vacuum sealer under $150?

[rickgregory]

So my $80 Foodsaver sealer (V2244) seals but doesn't vacuum. Nothing happens when I press the button so, though I'll try a few things, I think it's dead. It lasted for several years, but I hear that the new Foodsavers are, well, crap.

I've looked at the Anova, but it's new-ish so I don't know how good it really is. Most of the sub-$100 ones from Nesco, etc have about 10-15% 1 star reviews on Amazon. Sure, that could be lemons, but...

The issue is that I don't vac seal enough to spent $300+ and anyway my kitchen is small. So.. assuming $150 is the upper limit, what do people like for vac sealers?

[johnec00]

Don't know if its the best, but I've happy with this one.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C464ZCQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It gets used quite a bit (I'm on my third set of 100' rolls of bag material and its going strong).

Looks like it has a coupon for $35 off at the moment.

[Red Man]

I’ve had this one for a year. It’s gotten a lot of use and I haven’t had any issues.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0753J8N5F/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_dJbdEb2652Z2T

[GroceryBoy]

Red Man. My Food Saver just puked. Not even 2 yrs old! Is your NutiChef still operating without issues?
Thanks!

[Red Man]

GroceryBoy Mine still works just fine. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a high quality vac sealer, but I haven’t had any problems with it.

[GroceryBoy]

Redman Thanks! Going to order from Amazon today. They are down to $48. Don’t think I can go wrong if I get a few years out of it.

[barelfly]

I’ve had my Cabela’s brand for over a year now and it’s worked well. They have a few in your price range.

[jerrybell]

+1

[texastweeter]

I have a cheap ziplock brand one that has been used pretty heavily for 3 years and is going strong still.

[texastweeter]

Died this January after almost 4 years of heavy (at least weekly) use. Of course they don't make it anymore.

[MBMorgan]

My five year old Foodsaver is still going strong and with luck (knock on wood ... raps on head with knuckles) it will continue to do so. If it were to crap out, I’d be tempted to give the Anova a shot while looking for the ideal long term solution.

[fzxdoc]

I’m also looking for an inexpensive one for my daughter. Given the lack of reliability that I have experienced with the newer FoodSaver products, I’m looking at the Anova that MBMorgan is considering.

https://www.amazon.com/Anova-Culinary-ANVS01-US00-Precision-Storage/dp/B07X2LZ9XX/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=anova+vacuum+sealer&qid=1577887052&sprefix=anova+vac&sr=8-3

Kathryn

[jgreen]

I looked at the Anova as well, but ordered the Geryon that comes up on the same page. Not here yet but hope it works well.

[klflowers]

How did the vacuum sealer work out? Mine just died and I am looking to replace it

[phrogpilot73]

I've gone from cheap to super expensive, back to cheap, and finally got fed up with my food savers. I read lots and lots of reviews, watched tons of YouTube video reviews, and finally decided on this one: https://www.amazon.com/VS-12-Deluxe-...dp/B01KCK9W1K/ I've been very happy with it, normal/wet/double seal, normal & gentle vacuum, and pulse option.

[Bkhuna]

I looked at that Nesco but it's unavailable on Amazon and the manufacturers are out of stock. So I pulled the trigger and ordered a Weston Professional Advantage. I'm just fed up with the new Food Savers.

[rickgregory]

Thanks for the thoughts everyone. Part of my issue is that so many of these seem to have 10-15% 1 star reviews and I think that's just a combination of people not knowing how to use them ("They squish muffins!" was really one comment.... ) and that there are always some lemons in anything.

Now I just need to figure out if I want to do there stuff at ~$60-70 or move up to the $150 range. Wish I'd not missed the Anova sale when it was at $40 last week

PS: Ok, I need one ASAP and since I'm waiting on client checks (I freelance), I went with the Nesco VS-02, the baby brother of the one @phrogpilot73 has/ I'll report back in a week or two

[Bkhuna]

There is a consistent pattern in the 10% of one star ratings you see. Most of the time it appears to be operator error. When you look carefully, you realize that about 10% of the raters probably can't write their names in the dirt with the sharpened end of a stick.

[klflowers]

rickgregory how is it working out? My food saver just died and I am in the market

[rickgregory]

klflowers - ha, I just thought the other day that I should post an update...

Pros: It's great for occasional use. Good seal, reliable, has a holder compartment for rolls with an integrated cutter so it's easy to make bags to fit. Very reliable - I don't ever see if fail to seal. If I position the opening of the bag correctly, it works.

Cons? 1) it's pretty big. Bigger than my small Foodsaver. Most of the addition is the roll holding compartment though (see Pros below) 2) it's noisy, but eh. 3) like the food saver, you can't seal a lot of things back to back. After a couple of times, the sealing bar needs to cool or something. 4) There's no liquid mode to deal with things that are damp/wet. I don't care because aside from natural moisture on meat and the like, I don't seal things there are wet/add liquid to things I'm sealing.

Bottom line: If you need to seal a few things at once, it's great. If you were the kind of person to seal 20, 30 or more things at once, this would take more time because of the need for the sealing bar to cool periodically (every 4 seals or so). I don't know how it would do with consistent, high volume use either. But that's not my use case. I want to buy a few steaks or chicken breast or the like and seal them? For that, this is fine.

[Santamarina]

Thanks for the update. A vacuum sealer is still on my short list of needed kitchen items.

Been looking at these recently...

https://www.meatyourmaker.com/preserve/food-sealer/

[klflowers]

Thanks. I'll probably go with this one the price is in my wheelhouse

[SheilaAnn]

Wow, lots of food saver nay sayers! I am on my second one. FM3941. Working like a champ! Seal even held when I fixed my first pastrami at 195F for 4 hours (Anova Sous Vide). I agree with some of you here, that people are just not using the machine correctly (no matter the brand). I will say, though, that while this model has a "marinate" setting, it does not work well.

[DavidNorcross]

I highly recommend Avid Armor and they have introduced one under $100. I cannot speak for this model. However, I can vouch for their other products and their customer service is great.

https://avidarmor.com/products/vacuum-sealers/

[Texas Larry]

We have been using the Nesco VS-12 Deluxe, same asphrogpilot73. Not a heavy duty unit it meets our needs. We had a system glitch, still usable but the company is replacing it no questions asked.

[rickgregory]

One thing about the less expensive sealers - check to see how wide of an item you can seal. Not an issue for chops and the like but if you want to seal large pork belly etc, the width that some of these can deal with might be too narrow.

[SheilaAnn]

+1