# WOW! What A Vacuum Sealer!



## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

I've been vac sealing food for years, and fighting with cheap sealers for WAY too long. 

My 4th Food Saver has been nothing but a headache for the last 6 months or so. 

Last week I was trying to get a pig I butchered sealed up, and it was nothing but frustration, so I got on the web and started doing my research to find the best bang for the buck sealer, that I felt would be a long lasting piece of equipment.

Boy did I find it. I just got it today!!!!

I went with a Weston Pro 2300 sealer. OH YEAH is this thing a beast... It will seal 15" bags, and takes up half the counter. I'm good with that though, cause man oh man does it work... 

The very first thing that stood out to me after I pulled it from the box was the lid on it.. SWEET! At least a 1/2" chunk of Plexi or similar is used for the lid. You can actually see that your bag is inside the vac chamber when the lid is closed, and you can see if it's wrinkled or not. Fantastic idea to have a clear lid. And the vac chamber area is huge.. I'm guessing about 3" or so wide. Not like those little 3/8 chambers on store bought units that you fight to keep the opening of the bag in.

Also, the foam seals on the chamber are super wide, and are also pretty deep into the channel they sit in. They are easily replaceable, and are easy to find and order on the web, for not to much money. The kits for them also include the tape that covers the sealer bar.

Lemme tell you.. .this thing sucks!!!! I took a few things for testing to see how well it would crush it down... wow... Styrofoam is reduced big time.. an egg carton was down to the thickness of the two sides.. It also seems to seal very well even if you have moisture in the sealing area of the bag. You can hear it sizzle though. I selaed up a very overly ripe banana, and it's didn't deform it at all, but all the air was gone. You can also start the auto vac and seal process, and then push the manual seal button any time you want to stop the vac at the desired amount so that you don't crush delicate things, say like crackers or such.

I've been buying rolls of Vac-Fresh bags on Amazon for a while now, and they are fantastic bags, for a really great price.. I can get 100 feet of 11" bags for less than $25. They work perfectly with this sealer.

Yeah, this was a huge chunk to bite off financially, but after spending pretty much the same amount of money on a pile of junk sealers, this was worth the price. I wish I would have just bought one of these years ago.. .This will last the rest of my life.. 

I normally go through a couple hundred feet of bags a year sealing pig, deer and fresh veggies.. This should pay for itself before too long.. 

Here's a picture and a link to them... If you do a lot of vac sealing, I can not stress enough how worth while a purchase of one of these is.. You can get them cheaper on Amazon than on Weston's site.

The picture below shows a blue lid, but mine is pretty much clear, with just a bit of smokey tint to it.. 

http://www.westonsupply.com/Weston-Vacuum-Sealer-PRO-2300-Stainless-Steel-p/65-0201.htm


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## MattB4 (Jan 3, 2016)

Thanks for the review. When my present Vac sealer gives out I may just go to a better quality one the next time. Must admit I would hate to live without a vac sealer. I would have much more loss of frozen meats as a individual.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Yep....we went with one several years back, after buying a new FoodSaver to replace the previous FoodSaver (for the 3rd time), and it was trash right out of the box.

Everything you say is correct....it's a heck of a machine for the money. One thing you may run into....it sucks SO good that if you have any liquid in the bag, it sucks it up to the sealing area real quick, and you get a bad seal..or one that fails pretty quick in the freezer.

Two solutions: For 'juicy' meat, we wipe the inside sealing lip of the bag with a paper towel, then fold the paper towel and stick it in the bag with the meat. As the vacuum draws the liquid out of the meat, you can see it easily, and if there is enough vacuum in the bag to suit you, hit the "Manual Seal" button.

2nd, we've gotten to where we always double seal. Use the auto seal, then move the bag out 3/4" and hit the manual seal. We get almost no bag seal failures doing this.

Cheapest place I've found for bags is: http://www.vacmesh.com/Fast_Packs.html


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## MattB4 (Jan 3, 2016)

My solution for meat is to wrap it first in plastic wrap before placing it into a vac bag and sealing.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

Yes, I use a paper towel too at times, but I usually just try and catch it at the right moment to keep the moisture out of the sealing area.. I did see find one does seal a wet bag pretty good though.

I was looking at the prices of those bags Andy... Ouch.. 

Here's what I buy. Quite a bit cheaper, and very good performing bags.

http://www.amazon.com/Vac-Fresh-Emb..._UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=11Q2S58K1QVZSEGE8VBY


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

TnAndy said:


> Yep....we went with one several years back, after buying a new FoodSaver to replace the previous FoodSaver (for the 3rd time), and it was trash right out of the box.
> 
> Everything you say is correct....it's a heck of a machine for the money. One thing you may run into....it sucks SO good that if you have any liquid in the bag, it sucks it up to the sealing area real quick, and you get a bad seal..or one that fails pretty quick in the freezer.
> 
> ...


I have bought from these folks several times and found them to be competitive on some items. Their name has changed and it appears they are not carrying as many products as before.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

That VacMaster was on my list too, and it was boiling down between the VacMaster and the Weston, and I ended up with the Weston, because too many people complained about a plastic pin on the VacMaster that would be broken when it arrived on their steps and it wouldn't run... 

I just felt if so many were have that pin brake before they could use it, then over all quality just wouldn't be what I was looking for.

The prices on their bags aren't too bad..


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## Citygeek (Mar 31, 2016)

simi-steading said:


> That VacMaster was on my list too, and it was boiling down between the VacMaster and the Weston, and I ended up with the Weston, because too many people complained about a plastic pin on the VacMaster that would be broken when it arrived on their steps and it wouldn't run...
> 
> I just felt if so many were have that pin brake before they could use it, then over all quality just wouldn't be what I was looking for.
> 
> The prices on their bags aren't too bad..


What plastic pin are you talking about?

I've had a vacmaster vp215 for 2-3 years and it's still running great. It's really worth the extra money to get a chamber sealer IMO. Wouldn't want to live without a sealer at this point. Regardless of the sealer you get, they save a ton of money over time.


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## Melesine (Jan 17, 2012)

Thanks for the review. We're still using the Foodsaver we bought about 7 years ago. No issues with it. I do like that the Weston will do 15 inch bags.


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## Murby (May 24, 2016)

I'm going to bet that the reason you're so happy with it is that you went from a consumer rated piece of junk to a full on commercial unit.. 

This doesn't apply to just vacuum sealers.. it applies to chainsaws, weed whips, tools, lawnmowers, and a host of other products that have both consumer and commercial uses.. 

I don't buy anything made for residential use anymore.. Everything I purchase will be a commercial rated unit that business or pro's use.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

po boy said:


> I have bought from these folks several times and found them to be competitive on some items. Their name has changed and it appears they are not carrying as many products as before.



Yep....that is a better price, but I think my source went up since I bought last from them. Thanks !


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

I was reading about this and found that it will not seal jars. That is a turn-off for me.


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## Starmie (Nov 21, 2016)

The weston is rather simple to use and I love the intuitive indicator LED lights. The only drawback of this packing machine is scarcity of additional features, like option to seal jar or bottles and relatively short warranty. I also have a Maxkon vacuum food sealer from Crazysales. It is clean and white with grey buttons, the capacity cord is stored towards the bottom of a machine with a secret little compartment, which is great as the cord is out of the way when stored.


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## gilberte (Sep 25, 2004)

I bought a Weston a few years ago after my second Foodsaver quit and they told me it couldn't be fixed. Had the Weston about six months and it stopped working. Found out I could buy a new Foodsaver for what they wanted to repair the Weston. Danged if you do and danged if you don't, they'll get you coming or going


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

gilberte said:


> I bought a Weston a few years ago after my second Foodsaver quit and they told me it couldn't be fixed. *Had the Weston about six months and it stopped working.* Found out I could buy a new Foodsaver for what they wanted to repair the Weston. Danged if you do and danged if you don't, they'll get you coming or going


They have a 2 year warranty....what were they charging you for ?

http://www.westonsupply.com/Weston-Vacuum-Sealer-PRO-2100-White-p/65-0101.htm

Bought mine in 2009, and been working fine since. You can buy all the parts from Weston to repair it yourself.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

motdaugrnds said:


> I was reading about this and found that it will not seal jars. That is a turn-off for me.


The Foodsaver jar sealer works on it.

Doesn't have a separate port for the Foodsaver jar sealer, but all you do is open the chamber sealer lid, plug one end of the hose into the port there and it works just fine.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Murby said:


> I'm going to bet that the reason you're so happy with it is that you went from a consumer rated piece of junk to a full on commercial unit..
> 
> This doesn't apply to just vacuum sealers.. it applies to chainsaws, weed whips, tools, lawnmowers, and a host of other products that have both consumer and commercial uses..
> 
> I don't buy anything made for residential use anymore.. Everything I purchase will be a commercial rated unit that business or pro's use.


Unfortunately, many businesses have caught on to that line of thinking and are branding their stuff as "Commercial" when it's really not. Why would any company feel the need to label their products as "Commercial Grade" (right on the package or the product itself) when it's not? Salesmanship, or Puffery.


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