What's The Best Vacuum Food Saver?
 

10 years ago, I got a vacuum food saver from Costco in Anchorage.
It worked pretty well for salmon fillets, etc. for a while, then it didn't vacuum so well the last couple years. I gave it away last September, just before I moved here to NC.

Now that I'm getting into smoking and grilling, in a serious sense, what's the best vacuum food/meat saver I should buy?

Thanks for your help,

JP

The "BEST" can be a lot of things! It can also be quite expensive. Give us some parameters as to what you want it to do and how much $$$ you are willing to fork out. There are a lot of units out there that will work just great if you use them without exceeding their design specifications.

Blessings, :pray:
Omar

I used to have a FoodSaver 3880 suction vac sealer (what all of the inexpensive ones are), but gave that to a friend when I acquired a VacMaster Pro305 (also a suc-vac). I don't want to get into the downward trend of FS products (including their bags); you can Google that on your own. Suffice it to say that I'll never buy another FS product again. Ever.

That said, I also have a VacMaster VP112 chamber vac sealer on order. Why? I do a lot of sous vide cooking in addition to smoking/BBQing/grilling and I work with a lot of marinades and other flavoring liquids sealed in with the meat I'm going to sous vide before searing. Even the VM Pro305 will suck any liquid out of the bag; more even, since it's got a much stronger vacuum pump. Chamber vacs can vac-seal a bag of water. Another big plus is the cost of the bags. Chamber bags are about 3 cents/piece. Suction bags (with the textured lining) can be as much as twice that much.

My Pro305 will still get a lot of work, but the VP112 will be the workhorse.

The question I would ask is: will you be vac'ing anything with any liquid content?

If yes, a chamber vac sealer is the only way to go. I paid $539 for mine. It's big, but designed for home use and will fit under a cabinet. Go to YouTube and search on "VacMaster VP112" and "sous vide cooking". That will give you a really good idea of its capabilities.

If no, or you simply can't go 5 bills, I have to recommend a VacMaster suction vac sealer. I have done business with Lisa at the other end of that link. Excellent customer service. And prices, too. She sometimes shows up on Amazon, but I deal direct because she is such a pleasure to work with. Prices are the same, either way (not Prime).

One final consideration. How much bagging are you going to be doing? If regularly, or occasionally heavy, the chamber vac will eventually become less costly over time as you save money on bags. Check the cost for both.

Good luck!

I just put a weston pro 2300 through a major workload without failure this weekend. I didnt get an actual number but we vacuum sealed close to 100 seals after a big sausage making weekend. I kept expecting it to go crazy and shut down from heat but not a chance. The last bag we sealed was just as good as the first (if not better). Picked up a few tips and tricks as well with the pro. Understanding how the bags want to shrink/contract as the air is removed, and using the clear lid to maximize the bag space and get them to lay flat for a perfect seal. What ever you choose, Id just like to suggest you ditch Foodsaver brand bags and used the weston bags. much cheaper and the bags seem to be of much higher quality.

Agreed ... VacMaster Pro 305 is a great machine for home use. Far, far better than a FoodSaver.

That 305 looks pretty serious as well.

I'm not going to need a commercial grade machine, but would like a good quality home use sealer. I'm thinking of spending around $200.
I won't be sealing dozens of bags at a time, more like a couple smoked chickens or 5/6 bags of smoked pork at a time.
The Weston 2300 and high end chamber Vacmasters are a little too pricey for me, but the lower end models look pretty good.

JP

SOLD!!! Thanks for the link. I've been casually looking at chamber vacs and just the price kept me from seriously looking, but I'm the kind of guy that if I am willing to go 300 I'm willing to save to 500 for the feature I've been wanting.


That feature is ease of use. I won't let anyone near my current sealer because I'm afraid they either suck liquid up into the machine, ruin a seal, improperly seal a bag and toss it in the freezer or drop food that they are trying to hold outside of the machine due to limited counterspace. A chamber unit would take care of MOST of those.


Although I do have one question. Is the chamber big enough to hold a whole cooked pork butt?

I personally have a Foodsaver Gamesaver that I paid about $125 for and after learning how to use it, I have had great success with it. This last week I put up 40 bags of small breakfast link sausages, 8 links to a bag without a single failure. I used the foodsaver rolls to make my own bags, so there were 80 seals to do with 40 bags. I bought the rolls from Sam's and saved a good bit from what other outlets charge.

My next bulk roll purchase will be the Weston rolls as they are much cheaper and I read that they are as good or better than the Foodsaver brand rolls. For my use the Foodsaver has been an excellent product and I would not hesitate to buy it again.

Blessings, :pray:
Omar

I picked up the foodsaver 2860 (i think either that or the 2400 series) last spring, I use it mainly to save and freeze leftovers. I also wanted to use it to dry age meat using the UMI Dry Steak Bags. This was my first vacuum sealer unit and I was hesitant at first with how much I would use it so I wanted to keep the purchase round $200 or less. When doing multiple seals (using a roll) it would need some time to cool before moving on again. But this was after 6 seals or so in a row. It has a separate seal button to use when vacuum sealing liquids and soups, just wait till the vaccum starts pulling the liquids out and then hit the seal button. i also know there are after market bags you can use with it. I haven't yet. Without using another device like this I can't compare it very well but I find it to work fine for my needs.

The chamber size on the VP112 is 12" x 11 " x 5" (bags up to 12" x 14"). I think you'd want a little clearance with the lid closed, so that 5" height might be an issue. Of course, to get a deeper chamber would put you into a very large, several thousand dollar machine.

Note that the internals/mechanicals of the VP112 are IDENTICAL to all machines up to the VP210. The next one up, the VP215, has an oil-cooled pump.

The VP112 had been optimized for home use. It has a larger chamber than anything up to the VP320 (at $2,000). The one trade-off is counter space vs. height. Well, that and price. Plus, the VP112 has an accessory port. None of the others do. So, you can still use it with vac canisters for marinating and storing things, etc. Very handy.

Awesome! Sounds like it'll fit just fine after it's been smoked and a tiny smoosh before placing it into the chamber.

As in "angel's share?" Or "fry test?" :laugh:

I too have had a Weston 2300 for over two years. I seal 50 bags or more per month without any failure. Replacement parts are readily available to the consumer at a reasonable cost. In February 2014 I bought a rebuild kit for $30.00 and replaced the gaskets and heating bar because I didn't want to wait for a failure to replace them.

I recently started using Vac-Master bags for the Pro-260 and they work well. They are boil-in bags and dishwasher safe just like the Weston bags.

You get what you pay for...
 

I do a lot of fishing in the summer and fall and thus a lot of vacuum bagging. Maybe 100 to 200 bags in summer and fall and 5 or 10 a month the rest of the year. It's slow but seems to work. My first Food Saver lasted about 7 years before the vacuum gave out. I'm on my second unit for about 3 years now. For occasional use, they're great for the price point.