I've owned several FoodSaver sealers over the years and I find them very handy, but not very reliable. They last through a couple or maybe three hundred bags, then crap out. The seals are sometimes not reliable and every so often, I'll find a frozen bag filled with air--and frost. Today, I'm finishing pastrami in SV and I can detect that wonderful smell of Q wafting through the house. It appears that a (luckily very) small leak is at the top of the bag and, fortunately, the bag doesn't seem to have taken on any SV water, but still... I do try to double seal each end, but the top of today's bag was too short to allow a double there.
Given that we garden a lot and live far from Costco, a vacuum sealer is a must. Any recommendations for a more reliable sealer?
Sorry your having problems Willy I heaved used foodsavor for over 15 years and have only gone thru 3 one I gave away. I do think that every time they come out with new and improved it is more like cheaper and less quality. Good luck in finding one that suits your needs in a good price range
I use the Cabela's Pro Elite series. I have done several deer, turkey and ducks. Plus I've used it for various meat purchases and leftovers. I've got easily over 1,000 seals on this one and it's still working flawlessly. Here is a link to the one I use!
You can use whatever bags you'd like. It has a 12" sealing chamber, but most bags are 11". I do like the Cabela's branded bags because they are thicker than most bags. But generally I buy my bags on Amazon. I haven't seen them cheaper anywhere else. 2 50' rolls for $20.
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Hmmm, sorry to hear of your problems. I currently own a food saver that I am very happy with. I guess time will tell. I used to have another brand of vacuum sealer. I believe it was called "Seal-a-Meal." It was very good. I don't know if they are still made. Are you buying the cheaper food saver? I have the 4840 myself, and I am well over 500 seals with it, no problems. The only problem I had was self-induced. I let moisture get to the seal area while it was vacuuming.
I've bought from Costco every time. Current M/N is V3450. It has probably lasted at least as long as any previous model, but erratic sealing is still a problem.
I went through several of the toggle style sealers, and they all failed after not too many years. I then bought VacMaster's cheapest (~$500) chamber sealer and haven't looked back. The problem with the toggle sealers is getting moisture into them, and it's easier to do than anyone should want to deal with.
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Definitely recommend the VP215 - you can bag water with the thing, and it ALWAYS seals perfectly! While the machine is expensive ($650+), the bags are really cheap (like $30 or so for 1000 8x12 bags).
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Willy Toggle style is the design where the bag hangs outside the machine, and the machine sucks the air out of the bag, followed by a heat seal. Chamber style is the one where the bag goes inside a chamber in the machine, and the air is sucked out of the chamber followed by the heat seal. In the chamber style, as long as the edge is above the bag contents, the bag can contain liquids. With toggle style any liquid in the bag gets sucked into the guts of the machine and eventually destroys it. That's why togglers have an external port that you can attach a jar top to - allows you to vacuum seal jars with liquid in it. That works, but some of us are sloppy and screw up our togglers by walking the edge as far as bag content is concerned.
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If I'm going to do soups or something wet, I'll put it in the bag and then freeze (using a binder clip or some such to temporarily close it). Then I'll do the vacuum seal. This way I can do a liquid without the mess.
If it is a foodsaver brand you had go south, call customer service. Sure it may be out of warranty, but they might be able to hook you up with a discount or something. Could be either the gaskets or the heating element is going south, those can be replaced, I think.
If chamber vacs weren't so expensive (or big), I'd definitely go that route.
EdF The model I just bought from Costco has a dishwasher safe tray to catch juices that get sucked into the machine (https://www.costco.com/FoodSaver-FM5...100310211.html). I just got it a few weeks ago and it's the first one I've owned, so I'm not sure if other Foodsaver models have this feature. So far it seems to work pretty good. I've done marinated chicken a few times an the only place the juice gets sucked into is the tray. You can easily pop it out and throw in the dishwasher.
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