Vacuum Sealers: Need Recommendations (Brand, External vs Chamber, Bags)...?

cayenne

cayenne

is one Smokin' Farker
Joined
Jun 12, 2004
Location
New Orleans
Hi all,
Ok, well, with my running meats through my offset...I'm running more and more into the need to be able to vac seal things to preserve them.

I'm doing a LOT of heavy brisket trimming, I'd like to be able to vac seal my fat and meat for later use in sausages and burgers.

And often I cook more than I can eat in a couple weeks...so, would be nice to be able to fully preserve them in the freezer...etc.

So, please, I'm looking for a primer on vacuum sealer units. I've never dealt with them before, so, please...use small words and talk sloooowly....
Haha.

I've just started doing research and I found out there's two types....external units and chamber units.

Chamber looks more $$....is it really worth is for the average home smoker? I don't hunt...

The only unit brand I was familiar with at start, was the FoodSaver, like they sell at Costco.
I've been watching YouTube reviews....seems units like Nesco and "Meat" (this is a brand?)...and a couple others are supposed to be somewhat superior.

Any recommendations and if so...why?

With regard to the bags. If you buy one brand sealer...are you stuck buying their brand of bags or are bags a 'universal' thing where any bag works in any sealer?

Are there various sizes in bags? It would seem one should go for the widest version....for the most flexibility...? But, are there narrow to wide variations in bags?

I've seen some parts talking about using these sealers with a tube attachment to vac seal containers, etc.

AGain, with the containers....are these brand specific, or will any container work with any sealer?

What are recommended as best containers?
What are recommended as best bags?

What's the best bang for buck? Is more $$ worth it on the units?

I've seen things allude to sealing liquids (soup) and moist things, like juicy brisket....what do you look for in a sealer with regard to these?

I think that's all the questions I've come up with so far...but, please if you have other suggestions on what to look at, please let me know.

Thank you in advance for any and ALL info here!!

cayenne
 
I've had the same foodsaver for more than 2 decades, still going strong, though I did have to change out the sealing foam recently. I don't know if the newer ones are the same quality anymore though.



As far as bags go there's basically two kinds. Ones with grooves (diamond pattern) in the bottom for use with the external vacuum sealers, and smooth bags for use in chamber vacuum sealers. They aren't interchangeable, however as long as you have the right style, brand shouldn't matter.



Mine has the attachment to seal jars, I've never used it once and frankly doesn't see the usefulness of it.



As far as width, get the widest you can. Mine is the standard 11" and I often wish it was wider. Large roasts can be hard to fit in there. You can use bags smaller than your machine width, but not larger. Honestly though I don't know if they make any larger than 11" wide.



Liquids can be a bit tricky, but they can be done. The problem is when it sucks liquid up to the portion where it tries to seal the bag, then it sometimes has problems making a clean seal and it'll leak (both contents out, and/or air in) but that can usually be mitigated by sealing it, then wiping the inside of the bag that hasn't been sealed yet, and doing a second seal on it. I find with wet things, it's often better not to pull a full vacuum and to seal it before it's all the way done sucking the air out.
 
I vacuum seal everything that I can in my chamber sealer, it removes the air much better than your typical external type sealer. If I dont use the chamber sealer, it's because it doesn't fit. I have a 16" wide MEAT brand external sealer that I use for bigger things. The 16" bar lets me vacuum seal whole briskets or other unusually large things.
 
When I was shopping for vac sealers I watched a lot of videos and read a ton. My thoughts process was " Buy once, cry once".
When I saw the price tag for the chamber vac that I wanted I thought that's crazy to spend that much for a vac sealer but after a few months I gave in and bought it. Best thousand bucks I've spent. There are less expensive chamber vacs available now but I would recommend getting chamber, the bags are also cheaper to buy in bulk than the external bags.
 
I've been jonesin' for a chamber sealer. I have a food saver from Costco that's going strong...so it'd purely be a nice to have rather than a necessity.
 
Which one?

KB BBQ said:
When I was shopping for vac sealers I watched a lot of videos and read a ton. My thoughts process was " Buy once, cry once".
When I saw the price tag for the chamber vac that I wanted I thought that's crazy to spend that much for a vac sealer but after a few months I gave in and bought it. Best thousand bucks I've spent. There are less expensive chamber vacs available now but I would recommend getting chamber, the bags are also cheaper to buy in bulk than the external bags.
Click to expand...
Which chamber vac did you end up getting? (Brand/Model).

C
 
I'll once again toss out Avid Armor chamber vacs.... Love mine for everything - even making reusable ice bags. I'll drop a couple of those in the crawfish cooker to stop the cooking process. Afterwards I clean them up and refreeze for the next boil.
 
I have a foodsaver that I bought from Walmart years ago for probably $120. That works fine for my needs. I buy the roll bags that you cut to length in quart and gallon sizes from Amazon.
 
Vevor DZ 260S chamber vacuum. I had it for over 2 years and use it twice weekly. Works great. Comes with replacement heat strips but i have not needed to replace.


I use it a lot to marinate meats fast and quick pickle vegetables. ( you can pull vac for 99 seconds, but you can go longer if you hit stop right before the timer ends so you can pull vac even longer. I use my vac tumbler for longers vac marinating but that deserves a whole other thread. lol



Its on sale for $298. I payed $315 when i bought it. Its $340 now when not on sale. Take advantage now!



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Y47MKD8/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
 
Last edited:
Chamber...volume?

Itsdone said:
Vevor DZ 260S chamber vacuum. I had it for over 2 years and use it twice weekly. Works great. Comes with replacement heat strips but i have not needed to replace.


I use it a lot to marinate meats fast and quick pickle vegetables. ( you can pull vac for 99 seconds, but you can go longer if you hit stop right before the timer ends so you can pull vac even longer. I use my vac tumbler for longers vac marinating but that deserves a whole other thread. lol



Its on sale for $298. I payed $315 when i bought it. Its $340 now when not on sale. Take advantage now!



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Y47MKD8/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
Click to expand...


With the chamber vac units...what's the size limitations on those?
Example, down here where I live, quite often they'll have pork butts on sale, twin pack for like $0.99/lb.

I'll cut those open, usually cook one that week and freeze the other.

Can you vac seal a whole pork butt in a chamber vac unit? I get the feeling you can on the external ones, if you have a 16" wide opening and cut off a long enough bag....?

Just trying to figure out the edge use cases for either chamber vs external......

Thank you in advance!!!

cayenne
 
KB BBQ said:
VacMaster 215. Bought mine back in 2020 during Covid and paid $999.00, now the price is a bit lower. Link to Amazon.
Click to expand...

Wow.
That's a crazy jump pre-COVID.
amazon.png
 
We got either the cheapest or second cheapest Foodsaver as a wedding gift a little over 10 years ago and it is still working well for us. Probably put 25 'rolls' of bags through it in that period of time, maybe more.



I discovered chamber sealers some years later and am intrigued. But ours fits in the cupboard, and does a fine job. We go back and forth on the brand of bags, but usually go the Foodsaver ones as Sams has them cheap, and the Ziploc brand didn't keep the seal as well for me.
 
cayenne said:
Can you vac seal a whole pork butt in a chamber vac unit? I get the feeling you can on the external ones, if you have a 16" wide opening and cut off a long enough bag....?

Just trying to figure out the edge use cases for either chamber vs external......
Click to expand...

I doubt you can get a whole pork butt into anything other than a large commercial chamber vac. With that said, even an external vac 16" wide may not be big enough using some basic math. (32" circumference divided by pi = about 10" diameter bag) Perhaps for a small butt in the 6-7 lb. range.

Now..... with that new pit you have and knowing it takes just as much wood to smoke two butts vs. one butt you should cook both and then vac seal what you don't use. Here's where a chamber vac shines because I like to add a couple of ladles of de-fatted juices collected during the cook to each bag of pulled pork (about one pound pork per bag). The juices won't muck up your chamber vac like an external one can if not properly used.

External vac tip: When vac sealing moist food you can start the auto process and then hold down the seal button. Just as all that liquid heads to the seal bar simply let go of the seal button and you'll prevent sucking a lot of juices into you sealer. I know this works on my FoodSaver - others may need a trial run.
 
NickTheGreat said:
I discovered chamber sealers some years later and am intrigued. But ours fits in the cupboard, and does a fine job.
Click to expand...

My Avid Armor chamber vac fits in my cupboard and only weighs 30 pounds compared to some that push up to 3x that.

To the OP.... Get one of each as they each have their advantages. :thumb:
 
I have a auto food saver for about 8 years now, been a great unit and no hands needed to make it run, I process all of my deer and do 2-5 per year, then weekly it's no telling how many times it's been used. I would buy another if it dies, love to have a chamber sealer but probably take up too much room and the cost is way more than I need to spend on 1.
 
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