# Vaccum sealers



## Dirt-Road-Poor (Feb 7, 2017)

Can anyone recommend a reliable vacuum sealing machine for around $150 or less ?


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

We use Seal A Meal for seafood and pecans. Get the best you can afford.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> We use Seal A Meal for seafood and pecans. *Get the best you can afford.*


That last part especially. We went thru several of the cheap ones....they'd just die, and are not repairable.....before we bit the bullet and bought a Weston 2300 @ $500. We use our heavily when putting up a beef or couple pigs or just fruit/vegetables from the garden. Working on 10 years now and never a problem.


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

Dirt-Road-Poor said:


> Can anyone recommend a reliable vacuum sealing machine for around $150 or less ?


This has a lifetime warranty and is $115

https://www.foodsaver.com/vacuum-se...od-preservation-system/GM710-000.html#start=2


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

We have the Food Saver.....had it for years. Works great


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

Check Costco for Food Saver deals - some with lots of bags. I've had mine that I bought there for years with no problems. Don"t buy one from Walmart.


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

I had had a Foodsaver for years and it has served me well. I haven't bought bags in years, but at that time these folks had good prices..


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## Wyobuckaroo (Dec 30, 2011)

Over a number of years we have accumulated several Food Saver units. Different sizes, ages. All from thrift stores but one was new at one time. We have had mostly good luck. Being used, we don't worry if one dies, we just discard it and move on. 

We also have had several Seal A Meal units that did not work well compared to the Food Saver brand. We don't bother to consider Seal A Meal machines at the thrift stores or garage sales. 

As well as sealing with bags, we do a lot of jar vacuum sealing. The large mouth size jar sealer seems to work easier than the standard lid size. 

I'm sure everyone will have different experiences.


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## weaselfire (Feb 7, 2018)

Dirt-Road-Poor said:


> Can anyone recommend a reliable vacuum sealing machine for around $150 or less ?


Garage sales. But you're in the range of decent ones already. Food Saver has top ones at that price and a no-frills Greyon could be third of that. What you pay most for are size and features, not quality or reliability. Unless you're running a professional kitchen, you don't need the Weston or similar.

Jeff


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## Bungiex88 (Jan 2, 2016)

Something you don’t want to cheap out on. I got one as a gift probably around $200. And it doesn’t do the job I want. When it breaks I’m prying the wallet open for a commercial one


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## weaselfire (Feb 7, 2018)

Bungiex88 said:


> And it doesn’t do the job I want.


That's not an issue of cost as much as an issue of expectations/needs. If there's a feature you want or need, you need to buy what has that feature. A lot has to do with why you're dealing too. There's a difference between sealing for freezing and sealing for sous vide.

Jeff


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## ydderf (Dec 15, 2018)

Check Amazon here in Canada the food saver V2244 is highly recommended and less than $100.00 with a starter kit.


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## bamabear44 (Jan 30, 2018)

Dirt-Road-Poor said:


> Can anyone recommend a reliable vacuum sealing machine for around $150 or less ?


spend your money on a food saver , I bought one on sale, and love it... the cheap ones are just that ,cheap, don't last...


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## solar (Feb 11, 2010)

Does anyone know of vacuum seal bags that do not have BPA?


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

solar said:


> Does anyone know of vacuum seal bags that do not have BPA?



Foodvacbags.com


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## StarSchoolFarm (Nov 29, 2013)

You get what you pay for…. Foodsavers work in a pinch. Had one killed after 9 months… I now have 2 VacMasters, a VP540 & a little VP120. Both get put through their paces every year. Normal maintenance and no problems what-so ever.


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## Lowe.Buuck (Jul 1, 2017)

I have four FoodSavers and a Cabelas Preservac. The only one that has had an issue was my V1205. I was not watching while I was vacuum sealing flour in half gallon jars. I sucked a bunch of flour in to the pump.

I took it apart and cleaned it out but it lost a little suction power. The pump in this model is entirely plastic. FoodSaver instructions tell you to wait 20 seconds between uses. This allows the motor and pump to cool down.

When I am doing jars that have a lot of air to remove, I am careful to let the unit cool even longer between uses.

I suspect the higher quality/price units have a motor and pump that can handle significantly more on-time. If I have a bunch to do, I use more units so I can keep working with out the wait.

I bought all of them at the thrift store and don't have $25 in all 5 of them.

My one complaint with FoodSavers is the amount of bag you waste. If they would move the heat strip and the vacuum trough closer to the front edge of the machine, you could save a lot of inches of each roll. My observation is the fancier models that store the bag roll inside the unit tend to have the vacuum trough further away from the edge of the case and thus waste more bag. I have units where the edge of the trough is 1-1/4" back and units where the trough is 2" back from the edge. There are units where the trough is even further back. 

Just something to note when comparing units. I suspect they make more money on selling bags than sealers...


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## Oxankle (Jun 20, 2003)

I had a vac sealer that I bought at Aldi's for $35. It worked great. Daughter had a food saver, never used it, so took mine and gave me hers. I can see tht the food saver is heavier, has more features, will vacuum jars where mine would not, but it does the same job. I've paid $25 for a 50 foot roll of bags in a box that cut to length, and I've paid $20 for two 50 foot rolls of the same materiel, no box. The food saver cuts to the length desired. There is a learning curve.

In times past the wife and I have put up chopped bell pepper in zip lock bags, pressed down like books. The same process in a vac bag takes half the space. Pork in a zip lock will go rancid in a year. I'm told that it will last three in vac bags???? Is this true?

Solar: All the sources I've checked say their bags are BPA free.


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## StarSchoolFarm (Nov 29, 2013)

I’ve used every “residential” vac sealer available. Finally bought a VacMaster VP540 3 years ago. Haven’t had an issue in that same amount of time.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Al


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

I'm interested in purchasing a vacuum sealer; yet over at FoodSaver site I'm finding so many negative reviews. 

Sure cannot afford the professional machines even though I process a lot of meat (3 freezers now full and mostly due to water content had to put in ziplock bags to keep freezer burn down). Saw this thread and started checking out what I read here.

Not sure where to go from here...Yes watched the video about best sealers...not that helpful


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## robin416 (Dec 29, 2019)

I've had mine for more than ten years. It's sad to see that the quality appears to have declined a lot.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Found Weston puts out a couple of vacuum sealers that sound reasonable. Anyone with experience in using these?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Weston-...ERCH=REC-_-pipsem-_-304208072-_-304208076-_-N

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Weston-...-pip_alternatives-_-304208076-_-304208072-_-N


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Found Weston puts out a couple of vacuum sealers that sound reasonable. Anyone with experience in using these?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Weston-...ERCH=REC-_-pipsem-_-304208072-_-304208076-_-N

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Weston-...-pip_alternatives-_-304208076-_-304208072-_-N


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

sorry for the duplicate posts...

Been contemplating the purchase of a "Weston Pro-100 Stainless Steel Vacuum Sealer" (model #65-0601-W); and during the research about this machine discovered there were no (none! nada!) parts listed for it nor a maintenance kit at the Weston dealer's site. I wrote them asking about this; yet have not received a reply as yet. (Was wanting to at least purchase an extra sealer at the same time as purchasing the machine.) Weston representative did say this model was not being discontinued!

Their Customer Service Dept did tell me this specific machine was...WAS...compatible with the "foodsaver wide-mouth jar sealer" as the sealer apparently has a port on the side for it. Home Depot sells this vacuum sealer for $100 less than Weston sells it. 

Sure would appreciate some information as to what you've experienced with such a machine. Don't want to throw away that much money, i.e. little over $300 (including extra 100' roll of 11" bags to cut to length).


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Well I went ahead and ordered this "Weston Pro-100 Stainless Steel Vacuum Sealer" (model #65-0601-W) along with an extra roll of the same sized bags. The sealer arrived just a few days later packaged real well with a "clear" instruction booklet. The roll of bags came with it but did not have any instructions for its use.

We both read the instruction booklet and David set the sealer up for use. So far we have "re-packaged" an entire freezer (small chest type) full of items with it and, allowing for "our" learning curve, it has been working beautifully. There is little noise and little juice left in the holding tray; so guess we're doing ok with it. Apparently a big plus is the fact we can adjust the waste of bag by simply not pushing it up all the way to seal. Only wasted part so far is about an inch past the seal! 

Also ordered the FoodSaver wide-mouth jar sealer; yet it arrived without any hose to attach it to the Weston. I called FoodSaver and got the information the company had closed its doors out of concern for its employees due to this new virus; however I could still purchase from their website. David found a "standard" hose he liked that would attach a wide-mouth; so we ordered that; and it should be arriving by the end of the week. (Not sure yet what I will put in the jars but will probably be some type of dried foods. Sure would be nice to find some jars I could use for this that are "colored" and not clear!)


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## Wyobuckaroo (Dec 30, 2011)

Does anyone know of vacuum seal bags that do not have BPA?
+++++++
Don't know a BPA from a CIA from a CBC or anything else.. 
Doesn't matter as the Food Saver bags work well with our Food Saver machines and have been totally dependable.. 
My 5 cents of experience and opinion..


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Wouldn't you know it!!! This machine worked beautifully and as I went to put it away the rod that holds the roll of bags onto the machine slipped out of the roll and fell behind the refrigerator. The frig is too heavy for either of us to move even together; so that rod needs to be replaced. Been looking for one that will work with an 11"x 50' roll of bags but have not had any luck. Even called Weston by whom the machine was manufactured and was told their customer service had been closed due to the virus. Email them and was given the item number so as to purchase this rod but was told it was not available on the internet, i.e. it had to be ordered via phone and their phone orders dept will not be available for awhile due to the virus.

Does anyone know where I might find a rod that will hold these rolled bags that might fit this machine?


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## weaselfire (Feb 7, 2018)

Not sure l know of any vacuum sealer bags that have BPA. Or any other food bags for that matter.

Jeff


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## solar (Feb 11, 2010)

weaselfire said:


> Not sure l know of any vacuum sealer bags that have BPA. Or any other food bags for that matter.
> 
> Jeff


If a vac bag or canning lid is not labeled "BPA free", it most likely has it. If the same are not labeled "Made in USA", then it probably is not.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

For those of you wanting bags without BPA here is a link.

https://foodvacbags.com/products/11-x-50-foodvacbags-4-mil-vacuum-sealer-rolls


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## 400578 (May 4, 2020)

motdaugrnds said:


> Wouldn't you know it!!! This machine worked beautifully and as I went to put it away the rod that holds the roll of bags onto the machine slipped out of the roll and fell behind the refrigerator. The frig is too heavy for either of us to move even together; so that rod needs to be replaced. Been looking for one that will work with an 11"x 50' roll of bags but have not had any luck. Even called Weston by whom the machine was manufactured and was told their customer service had been closed due to the virus. Email them and was given the item number so as to purchase this rod but was told it was not available on the internet, i.e. it had to be ordered via phone and their phone orders dept will not be available for awhile due to the virus.
> 
> Does anyone know where I might find a rod that will hold these rolled bags that might fit this machine?


Can't you just get a 1/4" or 3/16" rod and cut to length till you can order the stainless steel one? Lowe's/homeless depot/ACE should all have it. Now that I think of it even a hard wood dowel should work ok


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

.... well duh! Why on earth didn't I think of that! Thanks Hunter...


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## ThatDanMoore (May 15, 2020)

We have the food sealer. Have had it for years and have had mainly good results. My wife bought some not so trust worthy bags which caused a few headaches along the way.

My brother gave me the vac seal attachment for canning but I have never been able to bring myself to try it.


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## kotori (Nov 15, 2014)

Well, here is the one I got : https://www.amazon.com/GERYON-Vacuu...child=1&keywords=geryon&qid=1589559194&sr=8-4
$51, I've only used it once, doing about 12 seals back to back. it never heated up, only mistake was human error (too juicy but I didn't use a papertowel)

Will it stand the test of time? I don't know. I'd never used one before and we weren't sure we'd use it enough to warrant an expensive model. if it dies, then we'll get a 'good' one. if it lives, it lives. if we never use it again, well at least we're only out $51. I did look at some other name brand machines, but the amazon reviews were all over the place. this one has 1,700 revies and a 4.5 star average, enough for me to give it a chance. I'll keep track of number of uses and how many back to back seals I do and report back in a year or if it dies. it does require textured bags/rolls, which may limit options and I'll keep track of how much i spent on those as well.


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