Best Vacuum Sealer For Weed (2023 Updated)

I was wanting to try model VS=12 but they were sold out on Amazon and Walmart does not carry that model, so I decided to give this a try as it was the best price. We have a local Walmart and it is easy to return (90 days!) if you are not happy with it.

It is a fully manual sealer, which is what I like because you can place the seals as close or as far away from the edge as you wish, which saves A LOT of money because you can usually save an inch per bag by getting them close to the edge and likewise when you reuse bags.

Also, because it is manual, it is easy to make double or triple seals close together. There is CANCEL switch that you can press before it seals, which I like in case you do something wrong or change your mind for whatever reason.

Also an extended suction switch for, I guess, stronger suction, but I didn’t notice much difference. They is a vacuum hose port (no accessories included) which I haven’t used yet, but supposedly will take other brand accessories.

I have only had for a couple of days but so far it vacuums well, makes good seals and the price was right at under $58. 00. It also has a bage cutter, which I have not tried yet. The only possible downside I can see is that the cover much be fully engaged on both sides for it to work, and it does require a little muscle power to ensure that the edges click close.

I am also curious to know how the lid open buttons will hold up, but I do have the 90 day return privilege through Walmart, one of the MAIN reasons I like shopping online or in the store with them.

I purchased this vacuum sealer by Nesco over a year ago and am very pleased with it. I have only used the Nesco sealer bags as they are the correct thickness and have a special texture that helps with the vacuuming.

I believe other bags will work but since I haven’t had any issues I chose to repurchase the Nesco bags. One technique I realized that has helped me with sealing the bags, especially for breads and wet foods, is that I first vacuum a small amount of air out of the set bag, press cancel and then seal.

This allows you to make the vacuuming adjustable without flattening the food or causing any liquids to overflow. We just used our vacuum sealer to seal almost all of our food items for a weekend of boating.

No more ruined food! Even though the ice melted all the food items were protected. I made several portion sizes – family, 2 person and snack and opened them up with a handy gift wrap cutting tool I already had.

In addition to keeping the food fresh from the salt air and dry from the melted ice, vacuum bags also reduced the volume of your packed goods. I would also like to note that I tested 2 methods of freezing bread- one using a resealable plastic bag and one using a vacuum sealer bag.

After a few days I opened, smelled and tasted a slice of bread from each. The vacuum sealed bread tasted fine, while the other one smelled and tasted like freezer.

Haven’t had this very long, but very pleased with it so far. Big improvement over my previous Food Saver for about the same price. I like the firmness of the top when you snap it into place as well as the copper strip at the edge of the sealer.

It feels likes it grabs the bags tightly and stops bag slippage. The two-speed seal is excellent, particularly having the faster speed when I seal liquids. So far I like it.

There are cheaper sealers out there, but they have mixed reviews. The cheaper sealers on Amazon may have 5 star reviews but if you look closely it appears that the companies give some kind of perk for leaving a 5 star review.

This sealer is middle of the road pricing but I think it’s worth paying a little more to get this sealer. It got a great seal every time on chicken breasts, ground beef, short ribs, and pork chops. This has been perfect during the pandemic where sometimes you don’t always get the best selections.

It says it will keep meat fresh for up to two years but I would hope I would never have a piece of meat in the freezer that long! I recommend for really juicy meats like chicken to pat them down with a paper towel before sealing – the juice will ruin the seal and make a mess.

I also recommend buying a roll of bags with this sealer as it only comes with 10 and they go fast!.

My 15 year old vacuum sealer finally gave up and I needed one in a pinch. This one had very good marks for the price so I decided to go with it. It works well. I like that you press it down and it locks so you don’t have to hold the cover down like on my own one.

The only bad is that it doesn’t have a great duty cycle. I was packaging my processed deer and I had to pause several times and let the unit relax a bit. If you are just using it every now and then I’d say go for it.

If you need to use it a LOT over the course of a short period of time for a lot of back to back sealing then this machine will not keep up with that kind of use but for the average user I think it works just fine.

Does the trick for all my needs. It does a pretty good job of getting most if not all the air out most of the time. you can easily hit the manual suction button to give it some extra help before you seal it.

My only reasons for not giving this 5 stars are: 1. When it sucks up any juices from the bag (there’s always a little juice. ) it ends up going into the little suction area, which is annoying to clean because it’s awkward and narrow 2.

The distance from the suction area to the seal area is a little bit long so you waste a little bit of bag length each time. Overall I use this thing all the time and love it. I also like using it as a sealer only for things like potato chips that come in plastic bags.

it works great!.

I’ve had my Anova Precision sous vide for a couple years now and have been using the water displacement method to seal my bags. It works well, but it’s pretty difficult to get all the air out, there’s a risk of getting water in the bag and it’s recommended to use the more expensive freezer bags.

I’ve had a vacuum sealer on my wishlist for a number and decided to pull the trigger on the Anova Precision Sealer Pro. The biggest differences between the Pro and the Standard sealer is the double seal and the built-in roll storage and cutter.

For sous vide having the double seal alone is worth the extra price, especially if you’re doing longer or higher temperature cooks. The bag roll stores in the Pro so you don’t have to worry about storing the box or having your bags get dirty or dusty.

It’s very convenient having everything in one spot. Pull out the bag to the desired length and use the built-in cutter to easily get the perfectly sized bag. The Pro also features a wet mode if you want to use it for marinades.

It uses a lower power suction to keep from sucking any of the liquids into the sealer which I’d imagine would be a big mess to clean up. The added bonus of using a vacuum sealer for marinades is it will help the flavors of the marinade get into the meat faster.

My favorite feature of the Sealer Pro is the pulse function. This is perfect when you want to seal chips, crackers or bread but not worry about crushing them. You are in control of how much air gets sucked out of the bag.

No need to completely flatten your sandwich when you can remove just enough air and get a great seal. I’ll admit, I did empty our pantry and seal nearly every plastic bag that was in there. Needless to say, my wife has thrown a few eyerolls my direction as she discovers one more sealed bag of chips or drinking straws or cupcake liners or napkins.

wait until she sees what I did with her car keys.

This model is about 2 to 3 times larger than Anova’s model ANVS01-US00, which I purchased last December, and use all the time. Why is this model so much bigger and more expensive? This model has built in storage for 11-inch bag roll, built in cutter (which is a BIG time-saver), handle that opens/closes/locks using only 1 hand (another great addition and time saver), moist/dry vacuum options, external vacuum and last but not least – double heat seal (giving much better comfort level that food stays sealed).

Both models use same size bags. It is worth it(?) – I certainly think so and highly recommend. The added features are very welcome and as with the other model being able to store frozen items longer is great.

A vacuum sealer roll is included as is a clear 18. 9” external vacuum hose. To operate just plug it in, seal the end of the bag, unroll size of bag needed, cut using built in cutter (great to insure you have a straight cut), put food in the bag and set the open end into the vacuum area, close using the handle (one hand operation), press moist or dry option, then use vacuum and seal (automatically will vacuum out air and seal) or use pulse vacuum where you control amount of air removed and then seal manually.

Could not be easier. Having the moist option is supposed to allow for food that may have “juice” released when vacuuming or maybe doing a quick marinade. This option as well as the double seal seems to work well.

Sometimes I had issues with my prior single seal model. Seal around vacuum area is removable for cleaning or replacement. Indented vacuum area is easily wiped out. Power cord can be stored in cubby hole in bottom of vacuum.

I did not use the external vacuum option. Checked Anova website for accessories but didn’t see any. According to website has 5-year warranty The only quibbles are its size (14. 75 x 7 x 4. 3″ – but it does store the bag roll) and it seems somewhat loud when using vacuum function, when compared to my other model.

Also, replacement bags, to me, seem to be a tad expensive so make sure of bag size needed to prevent waste! Overall a great unit that I hope works as well long term as my prior model.

We has been doing more and more Sous Vide cooking, probably two to three times a week now. It’s really perfect for meat, not overcooking and leaving it moist and tender without brining. We had been using ziplock bags (the silicone bags are a colossal pain to clean), but never again.

Having to weight the bags down to keep the food item submerged was a challenge. The Anova Precision Sealer Pro makes Sous Vide very easy, as it is a storage sealer that has additional features specifically for Sous Vide and convenience.

There are separate settings for ‘Moist’ and ‘Dry’ preparations, food in a sauce or marinade doesn’t suck the wet ingredients out of the bag. There is a ‘Pulse’ setting, so more delicate items can be sealed without crushing them.

The sealer locks closed during the sealing operation, so you don’t have to stand there holding the lid down. There is a built-in bag cutter, so you get a nice straight cut and don’t have to go find a pair of scissors.

There is also an external port for vacuum ready sealing containers, which we haven’t tried. It seems to work fine with the bulk purchase sealer rolls, so you’re not locked into to any special refills.

As an example, we have cooked dry rub pork chops, chicken in marinade, and various vegetable all sealed with the Anova Precision Pro Sealer. It’s nice being able to seal ahead of time and let the rub or marinade do it’s work in the refrigerator without having to use a separate pan or plate.

It’s really nice being able to seal vegetables like asparagus without crushing them, using the ‘pulse’ option. Probably my only complaint is that the instructions are pretty skimpy, but the unit is pretty self-explanatory; all of the modes have separate buttons.

All in all we are very happy with the Anova Precision Sealer Pro. If you finding yourself doing Sous Vide cooking, I think you will be as well.

Like many of you, I’m not new to vacuum sealing. I’ve had a number of the most familiar brand over the years. I own two of them now and one of them was starting to show some wear and tear. And I’ve just starting experimenting with sous vide cooking.

Now sounded like a good time to search for a new vacuum sealer. Two or three of the Weston models looked good. I drove down to my local retailer and was shocked to find unmasked employees and customers in the store.

I turned around and walked out. While I wish to support my local retailers, I am more interesting in avoiding Covid-19 and continuing to live. I ordered the Weston PRO-300 vacuum sealer from Walton’s after a little internet research.

The sealer arrived amazing fast and was in new condition. The instruction manual is a bit confusing, but once you try the sealer, it is quite intuitive. Everything a win. FIVE STARS for the sealer and Walton’s excellent service.

After a fair amount of research, I settled on the Weston Pro 2100 as the right vacuum sealer for my intended uses. The extra $50 for the stainless steel version, or the $120 for the Pro 300 with the fancy control panel didn’t offer enough benefit for the investment.

I wanted great build quality, a big pump, a big power supply, good cooling fans, and a reputable company. This unit fit the bill perfectly. Everything Kitchens had the best price and did a great job getting the product quickly and well packaged.

I’ve used the Pro 2100 to seal about 100 bags of food ranging from full-sized beef ribs to spaghetti sauce. It works great. Spend some time on YouTube learning the tips and tricks of vacuum sealing.

I got so tired of Food Saver. Too much automation and useless features. The excessive amount of wasted bag material due to the machine needing extra inches inserted in order to activate. The finicky sensor.

The weak motor. The undersized sealing strip, which took too long to seal and too long to cool down. Yes, I stepped up to a simple, easy to use, hearty machine. It needs less bag to make a seal. It can handle 15″ wide bags.

There’s no guessing when inserting bags because of the see through lid. There’s powerful suction from the fan cooled motor. Food Saver users, step up to a well built tool and lose that plastic toy.

The FoodSaver VS2150 Vacuum Sealing System is a wonderful invention! This machine keeps food fresh 5 times longer, with no freezer burn than other storage bags, aluminum foil, etc. It’s easy and simple to use, and if you are like me, you buy in bulk, this machine will be your best friend.

This machine lets you choose what size bag you need. You aren’t forced into using pre-made bags. The built in roll storage & cutter bar lets you choose what size. The machine provides an airtight seal on food saver bags.

It provides an option for sealing dry or moist goods. It has a built in bag alignment and a removable drip tray that is dish washer safe. It also has an accessory port that lets you use zipper bags, containers,and accessories with a handheld sealer & hose.

I highly recommend this product. It’s very easy to use, it’s handy, and practical. The only issue I have had is bags not sealing good on the moist mode. That could be something I’m doing wrong, and needs more investigation.

How did I ever live without one of these before? Always used freezer bags to store my food before and while they worked well, I was missing out on so much! This thing not only seals air tight, but also will vacuum all the air out! We have stored meats for the freezer, chips, pasta, and even granola bars! The machine is simple, place the plastic on the bar, close it and press a button.

It also comes with an attachment that works with Tupperware that is made specifically to be vacuum sealed. I dont own any of the Tupperware so I only use the bags, but no complaints here! By using this I noticed how much more stuff I can fit in my freezer and how it protects the food from being freezer burnt.

I also love that you can either buy already sized bags to go with this or a roll of the plastic to make your own any sized bags for the food. I personally choose the roll as it makes more sense for my needs! This is seriously my new favorite kitchen gadget that I own as I buy all my food in bulk!.

I love FoodSavers. I bought my first one 30 years ago, and this is my third. I still have my first and second ones, but they’re in storage and I didn’t want to wait to find them lol. The attached handheld accessory is new to me and really nice.

I have the mason jar accessories, and instead of using the old hose, I just press the handheld down on the top of the mason jar sealer. For me, the only thing I don’t care for is that you need two hands to open it – one to lift the lid until it clicks open and another to hold the unit down.

Not a deal breaker, but definitely not as easy as my older ones. That being said, I love buying things like cheese, popcorn kernels, sugar and flour (to name a few) and vacuum sealing them in smaller quantities.

It’s so great for freezing meat without worry of freezer burn. At the end of the summer, I buy several trays of meat and bags of frozen vegetables. I grill all the meat, place each piece in it’s own bag, and put them in the freezer upright still open.

I freeze over night, and the next day I dump frozen veggies in each one, and vacuum. Better than any frozen dinner you could buy, and you know what’s in it (and not in it, like thousands of mg of sodium).

It’s fantastic to snip off a corner and microwave it in February – makes everyone else at work jealous lol.

I liked the straightforward directions – in 3 different places too. Also the book gives a lot of helpful tips for vacuum sealing and storing different foods. Included were different sized sheets/ bags, so you could use the machine right away.

I might not use this everyday but it is a must for my home. It was extremely helpful the other day when I couldn’t find a small package of chicken leg quarters at the grocery store. I was able to package and freeze the remaining ones for the next time we need chicken.

I am new to the vacuum sealer world, so I can’t speak from a great amount of experience. What I can say is I reviewed a number of vacuum sealers and this one seemed to garner the best feedback for what I was looking for.

I needed to be able to seal dry and wet. The ability to attach a jar sealer made it more appealing. So far, I have done dry and wet and found it’s ability to handle wet was okay. Good thing it has a manual mode that allows me to control vacuum while watching the movement of liquid.

One thing I will say is the instructions were okay. I’ve seen better and much worse. Additionally, it took me a little work to make sure I was unpacking things right. There is a strip across the heating element that looks like tape; do NOT remove this.

Also, they say do not store it with the top clamped down. For this unit, it’s critical you read the instructions; do NOT wing it.

I have borrowed vacuum sealers from family to use in years past. I was never impressed. However, I recently found myself in need of a sealer and they had tossed their sealers. Like most people, I began to research and shop.

Cooks’ Illustrated had recommended this product but due to the cost, and my overall impressions of vacuum sealers, I continued my research on a competitor’s website where I found a vacuum sealer at half of the price of the Nesco.

It had great reviews that included easy to use and that the bags stayed sealed. So, I purchased. Thankfully, I had the ability to return it. I had four things to seal. The first two were great. The third one was reminding me of why I hated vacuum sealers.

The last item took at least four attempts and then, the seal was not what I consider complete since there was air in the bag. I returned that sealer and purchased the Nesco (which I should have done in the first place).

There is absolutely no comparison. I love the handle versus pushing down the sides of the sealer. I love the “countdown”. I love that I can double-seal an item without reopening the sealer and repositioning the bag.

There are features I look forward to using – marinating meats and sous vide cooking. Great machine!.

I’ve used a Foodsaver pro sealer for years and it worked well. There is much to like about the Nesco. The locking mechanism feels solid, the count down timer lets you know where it is in the cycle. I especially like the 3 levels of seal.

The highest level double seals the bag. I sealed some nuts and coffee beans as an experiment, and the bags have not leaked. 1 was double sealed (level 3) and one was single sealed (level 2). All holding vacuum after a couple weeks.

I have owned a Nesco food dehydrator for over 10 years. Very reliable. Hoping their sealer will last as long. My only minor complaint is that it takes longer to complete a sealing cycle than did my old Foodsaver.

I am pleased with the Walton’s store and the quick delivery on my VacMaster VP215! Did not know it was going to be arriving in a few days after order, it came out of Kansas City. It works great, still learning new things and ways to seal and preserve things.

The first thing was to add oil. I did it with out any problem. You will have to clean the machine before use but that is standard procedure for this item. The box was damaged when arrived but after a call and opening the box the VacMaster VP215 had no damage to it that we noticed.

The customer service at the store was very pleasant and was reassuring us that if we found an issue just contact them. I ordered extra bags, good things because I have almost used up what they gave me with the machine already.

Great way to save most everything that you can think of in freezer or storage. 1. Do not forget to cut open a already sealed package – you will have a mess to clean up in your machine. 2. Controls need to have a guide but document on paper what works for you and your machine for future reference.

3. Keep clean and sanitize it with various food going into the chamber. 4. You can never order enough bags. no reason to reuse them like other brands of seal machines. 5. Now I need a freeze dryer. I am looking forward to my summer garden and preserving the freshness for the years to come.

Thank you Walton’s – I will be doing more business with you again.

My interest in getting a vacuum sealer began with getting into sous vide cooking. Initially I planned to get an external vacuum sealer, quickly migrating from a FoodSaver product to either a Weston or VacMaster Pro 350.

I read the reviews and watched the videos on both the external and chamber vacuum sealers. It was hard to justify spending 3 times the price for a chamber sealer, but in the end it came down to the following: •Absolutely no problem with vacuum sealing products with liquids present•An oil lubricated vacuum pump over a dry one •Much less costly chamber vacuum sealer bags•It is very quiet•It is very durable; it is definitely commercial qualityI also considered the less costly VP 113s; however, it looks rather flimsy, has a dry vacuum pump, and is something I thought I would regret saving money on.

I was somewhat deterred by the reviews that state unless you are going to use it a great deal, get an external sealer. I doubt I will fall into the category of meeting the standard of using it a great deal, as I have only sealed 25 to 30 bags so far, but having bought it, I am glad I did and didn’t settle for an external sealer.

I am very impressed with it and can see we will use it much more than I had envisioned; however, that means it must be readily accessible in your kitchen, rather than out in the garage as some have it.

You need to have a dedicated space in your kitchen, just like your microwave. As others note, it isn’t easily portable at 84 lbs. Fortunately we have plenty of counter space, hence having it readily available was easy, though we set it on a lower height counter to accommodate the lid.

There are plenty of videos adequately showing how the unit works, so no need to add one. Probably the biggest thing to remember is that if you want to leave the sealer with the lid down you need to turn it off since it automatically begins the sealing process when the lid goes down.

One use I hadn’t expected was resealing jars like Cheez Whiz. Simply lay the jar in the sealer with the lid on a bit loose, set the sealing time to zero, and the jar is sealed as good as from the processing plant.

The same is true of products like sour cream or whipping cream whose shelf life can be extended by putting them in ½ height mason jars and vacuum sealing. The only problem I experienced, which I gather is not that unusual, is that the oil/gas separator was broken off in shipment.

It results from tipping the vacuum sealer on its side, perhaps accompanied by a jar. When the spring mounted vacuum pump tips, the oil/gas separator, which is mounted on top of the pump, hits the very sturdy hinge casting on the sealer and the connection to the vacuum pump breaks.

When I contacted VacMaster about the damage, the technical rep said it regularly happens and while they were initially going to forward me a replacement, since I bought the sealer from WebstaurantStore, they forwarded the claim to them.

WebstaurantStore contacted me immediately and shipped me a replacement oil/gas separator without any hassle and in record time. I had no difficulty dealing with them. The damage; however, is totally preventable if VacMaster made an extremely simple change in preparing the sealer for shipment.

The vacuum sealer itself is packed very well, as shown in various videos, with double boxes and the sealer unit set in foam supports. However, if VacMaster was to simply insert a block of solid foam between the vacuum pump and the side of the vacuum sealer case so that the vacuum pump could not tip during shipment, the problem would be entirely eliminated.

Alternatively, the vacuum pump could be secured for shipment with removable cable ties. The cost for either option would be minimal and easily covered by eliminating the cost of replacing oil/gas separators.

VacMaster warns against tipping the unit on its side, but the fact is, it is pretty much impossible, once these units are individually shipped, to control that from happening. The incremental cost to ship the sealer secured to a pallet so it can’t be tipped adds much more to the expense of shipping than the minimal cost of inserting a foam block or using cable ties.

It would require some planning since it would be easiest to do this at the factory, something done with a multitude of appliances and equipment. The foam block or cable ties would be easily removed by the purchaser when they take the back cover off to fill the pump with oil.

If VacMaster doesn’t do this at the factory, it would still be possible for firms like WebstaurantStore to do so. I had some reservations about buying the sealer from WebstaurantStore after reading some negative reviews regarding potential shipping damage and some purchaser’s difficulty in resolving damage issues.

In the end, because WebstaurantStore had the best price, and they had the sealer in stock, I purchased it from them. They shipped it immediately and I had no difficulties in dealing with them about the damage.

They treated me extremely well and without any hesitation or push-back. They promptly forwarded a replacement oil/gas separator without charge, which also meant sending it to Canada. I would not hesitate in dealing with WebstaurantStore in the future and highly recommend them and commend them for their service.

I just purchased this unit from the WebstaurantStore site. A lot of reviewers say their unit came broken due to shipping. This unit is heavy. The WebstaurantStore shipped it via FedEx and the unit arrived intact.

Putting the unit together was easy, I watched the video on the WebstaurantStore site so putting the oil in was easy. The unit does not take very much oil so the bottle that comes with it should last quite awhile.

When I opened up the back to put the oil in, there was some fuzzy dust in the back so I took my vacuum cleaner and sucked it out very carefully. There are also some tutorials online that are informative.

Once I got started sealing, I was really impressed. One of the tutorials online explained that it is important to fold the top of the bag over a little and put the hamburger or whatever you are putting into the bag initially into a glass or container of some kind so when you dump it into the bag from the glass, the bag remains clean in the sealing area of the bag.

I found that it worked well and if I got blood or meat on the seal area of the bag, I could wipe it down pretty well and the bags sealed well. The unit is not noisy and I really wish I would have purchased this unit last year but this thing is not cheap so I was reluctant to spend that much.

I decided to purchase the VP215 instead of the VacMaster VP210 Chamber Vacuum Sealer because of the oil in the pump. All of the other reviews say it lasts longer due to the oil pump, as long as you take care to change the oil.

The manufacturer recommends changing the oil after the first 25 hours then every 60 hours after that. So far so good.

I got my Maxvac 500 this past fall when the garden was still producing a lot. I started out running the LEM bags, freezing garden produce like frozen green beans and squash, but then moved on to another brand of bags off the internet.

For the note, I am comparing this to a foodsaver that I’ve used for the past 8 years. GENERAL: This is not a huge deal, but it’s got a 60Hz buzz going on. Sometimes I just tap it with my hand, other times I put something under one of the four legs and it goes away.

It can get really annoying. I’m guessing its a loose wire or something, but I’m not sure. SEALING: With both brands of bags so far, I’ve consistently needed to seal them twice. as when I started out with the LEM bags, the first one didn’t always seal it well enough.

This is true whether I am making the first seal to close off the roll for the bottom of the bag as well as the vacuum and seal operation. It is especially true when I have a lot of liquid in the bags.

VACUUM: During the vacuum and seal operation, the vacuum works really fast. I suppose that’s good. but its kind of not, at least when I’m trying to squeeze all of the air out of the bags that is trapped in pockets between pieces of meat or something like that.

We can blame the bags if we want, since their not LEM. but I’m not sure if that’s 100% fair. I’ve done 4 deer this year and on numerous occasions I noticed more air in the bag than I was used to with the food saver.

which causes me to be at least a little more worried about freezer burn. Now for the category of “Things that would have been nice to include in the design that I didn’t realize weren’t there till after I started using it.

” On more delicate items, like bread or dehydrated burger (for taking backpacking for example), if you let it run the full cycle, you’ll end up with a hole in your bag and it will defeat the whole point.

It would have been really nice if this expensive machine had a normal and slow operating speed. I figured out I can push seal sooner while it’s pulling a vacuum, so while I’m sure I can play around with it and get it to work (i hope), it’s a little frustrating.

When you’re sealing the bag for the first time, it’s easy to lock the handle down, push the button and then forget about it. It would have been really nice if there was some type of sound it made when it was finished.

My old food saver would automatically clamp down on it, seal and then release it. I could hear when it was done. with this one, don’t get distracted! All said and done, I really wanted to like this a lot more than I do.

I’m really hoping it lasts me many years. If it doesn’t, I’ll have to say I regret this purchase. For the price, it’s too expensive to not last me the next 10-15 years. I guess I was just hoping that I’d be twice as happy with this vs.

the food sealer I had. It’s just not the case.

I have wanted to buy a GOOD vacuum sealer for about two years and finally settled on the LEM MaxVac 500 and I am glad I did. It is everything it says it will do. Fast, never overheats and strong seal.

In the house where it is warm it seals by itself. In my Shop where I process my meat at about 30 degrees it was not sealing like in the house. I went back to the manual and found that sometimes it may be necessary to apply a little pressure to the lid (foam seals are a little stiff at 30 degrees) and it solved the problem.

It sealed immediately with a little pressure. Have highly recommend it to several hunter friends.

Had a Foodsaver and I got tired of waiting for it to cool down when doing large sealing runs. First time using the 500 I sealed 87 bags and about 50 or so I double sealed as they had alot of liquid in them.

With that being said I did about 374 seals without it overheating or stopping. The 500 never stopped to cool down it just kept right on sealing. None of the bags leaked. I also like that I can get wider bags for use with the 500 that the Food Saver can not seal.

Great for a meat smoking enthusiast or someone who buys meat in bulk and breaks it down to meal sized portions. I should have bought this sooner.

I admit, I was more than a bit irked when I found out they have a smaller motor than I had seen in specs on a few other sites. I frankly would still prefer they kept it at 28 like it used to be. I was a bit unhappy that it does not have a timer for either suction or seal time.

especially for the price. However, after using it for several hours last night, I have to admit that none of the above seems to matter. I went through three or four Foodsavers over the years. This is NOT a Foodsaver! It is so beyond a Foodsaver in every way.

I even had the top of the line models. and they still sucked in just about every way, but the good way. The LEM 1000 is built like they used to build things when they gave a crap in quality and durability.

It is quieter when operating than my FS’s. It may not have a timer that I can adjust, but it does seem to need it. If I do have something that needs more time for suck or seal, then I can just do it manually.

I cut a bunch of bags and then proceeded to seal the ends to make bags one after another after another. It didn’t even flinch, where my FS’s would have needed some cool down time. Especially when I then filled them with various meats and such from a Costco trip I intentionally made just so I could put my LEM though its paces, and then vac and sealed the entire lot! My FS’s would have killed over a quarter of the way through.

It is so easy to use too. I figure with a 5 year warranty, it is hard to go wrong. In the rather near future, I’m going to look into LEM’s other products.

I will start by saying I have now processed two deer using the sealer and can confirm without a doubt it ran for over four hours without having to stop to cool down. This is why I paid the extra money and I expected no less.

If you are an avid hunter or fisherman and need a sealer that can handle extended use periods then I can say look no further. It did work well with the large number of competitor bags. But I will say I will likely be purchasing the LEM bag material in the future as it feels thicker and may resist punctures better in the freezer.

The unit is large, heavy, and requires a large work space. But once you get it setup and become familiar with its operation you can be very efficient in processing and sealing. Before I get into areas that could be improved let me say I did have some issues with the first unit I received.

But LEM customer support was VERY good to work with and actually ended up sending me a replacement unit and I returned the original on an RMA. I was VERY happy to see LEM stand behind there product. Now for areas that could be improved most of which are cosmetic and at least thus far have not affected the operational efficiency of the unit.

But they do detract from the appearance of a quality unit. 1. Control panel sticker on top of unit is not aligned. One side is 1/8 closer to front of unit than the other side. 2. Teflon tape covering sealer bar has wrinkles in it.

I can see where the wrinkle is in the seal on the bag material but thus far it has not caused any issues. 3. Bag cutter – the blade puts a crimp or slightly cuts the edge of the bag at an angle. This is likely due to the design of how the blade engages the material and how tight the rail holds the bag material.

The bag cutter and rail is made out of plastic and I can see wear on it just after few hours of use. I have experimented with different amounts of pressure applied in an effort to see how best to get the cutter to cut bags.

4. Bag holder – The holder/cutter is made out of plastic and slides down into a slot on the back of the unit. The design allows you to quickly attach/detach the holder to the main unit. But as mentioned the cutter could be better.

Additionally there are two plastic plates that sit loosely in molded slots. The plates can be dislodged and/or fallout very easily. 5. Sealer door – make no mistake everything (except bag holder) on this unit is heavy duty.

As such, the sealing door is not exception. The door has not tension or spring but stands straight up by itself when open. However, when you are trying to create the first seal to create a new bag it is very easy to start to close the door and if you don’t have a good grip on it will drop down very quickly and hard.

Creating the first seal when creating a new back takes some practice especially since the cutter can wrinkle the edge of the bag. You must hold the material over the sealer plate but NOT in the vacuum chamber, ensure it is straight, close the door with the other hand, apply slight pressure on the door top, and then press the seal button on the top.

Again I do highly recommend the sealer simply because it has proven it can run for extended periods without having to stop to cool down. The areas I mention above are minor and mostly did not affect effectiveness of the unit but if addressed I would have given the unit 5 stars instead of 4.

Let me begin by saying, I AM THRILLED with my new USV32 chamber sealer! I placed my order on a Monday afternoon and my sealer was delivered with FREE SHIPPING on Friday morning at 9:58am. I could not have asked for better service.

I am essentially winding down from nearly 30 years of professional cooking as a small events caterer, and only took up sous vide cooking not quite 4 years ago — too bad for me, because I really enjoy it, along with my pellet smoker, often combining the two methods for exceptional results.

On top of the beautifully packaged and wrapped machine was a QC card with the test date and name of the employee who checked the machine to be sure “It sucks!” by vacuum packing an “avocado. ” Unboxing was a breeze (with minimal packaging waste) and within 15 minutes of delivery, I had vacuum packed several skirt steaks and a dozen Italian sausages for sous vide cooking on Mother’s Day using the included bags.

Just to test the functionality, I sealed a couple of bags of water and froze them as reusable ice packs. unlike my Foodsaver, I will have ZERO trouble vacuum packing soups, stews, and chilis for the freezer.

(I’m not getting rid of the Foodsaver, because I will need it for ribs and briskets that won’t fit a 13″ chamber. I also use the Foodsaver for sealing canisters — the one feature the USV32 lacks compared to the USV20.

) You do need to momentarily press down on the lid to assure the vacuum after starting a cycle — something that will become second nature with more frequent use. Some have indicated that the machine is loud during the vacuum process, but I don’t find it all that unusual — certainly on par with my Foodsaver, and actually quieter near the end of the cycle.

I am most impressed with the dual sealing wires — something once seen only on the highest of the high end commercial chamber vacuum sealers, and rarely seen on any of the no-name imports. Before I purchased the USV32, I spent several hours over a few days trying to decide which chamber vacuum sealer to purchase — watching numerous videos on Youtube and paying attention to the complaints people had, such as “They don’t tell you that you need to buy oil for the vacuum pump,” or, “I don’t think I like this: Be careful not to cause wires to burn” (user manual instructions), and having to “drain and refill the vacuum pump oil every six months or so.

” The USV machines use oilless vacuum pumps which should last years without any maintenance. After sealing the first few bags, however, I did have to go back to the Youtube videos because the sealer releases some vacuum at about 2 seconds left in the vacuum cycle, and I thought that might be a defect, but all videos show this to be a natural function, so my fears were instantly relieved — it’s not something anyone remarked about in their videos, and it is not mentioned in any of the documentation.

The machine itself is fairly large, but my kitchen is outfitted with custom cabinets and countertops which are 30″ deep (6″ deeper than common base cabinets) to match the depth of my commercial range and refrigerator and freezer.

Because my ceiling height is 10 feet, my wall cabinets are taller and also placed with the bottoms about 6″ higher than those in most homes. and I must have known that I would one day own a USV32, because the open lid clears the bottom of my wall cabinet by about 1/2″.

an absolutely perfect fit! Today (5/10/2021), I used the marinate function to prepare some chicken milanesas by coating them with my homemade chimichurri to compare the results against our usual pounding of chopped fresh parsley and garlic.

Perhaps owing some to the olive oil in the chimichurri, they were much more intensely flavored and moist after frying. There is no way I could ever have achieved the same results with my Foodsaver. There are plenty of Asian import chamber vacuum sealers that cost up to a couple of hundred dollars less, but unless you know the language, you probably can’t read the labels on the buttons.

And they require substantially more maintenance. Additionally, many have the sealing bar at the rear of the chamber, which I view as inconvenient. So if you’re on the fence trying to decide, as I was, which chamber vacuum sealer to purchase, you won’t be disappointed with the USV32 — it is a quality machine built work and built to last,.

2 weeks ago I received the Ultra Series USV32 Chamber Vacuum Sealer System and then ran the calibration cycles to get it ready to use. Than I noticed the lid seal was deformed at the back so I tried to press it back into shape with out being able to because of the material it is made of it had taken a “set” and woul not go back to its proper shape, this was causing a slight Vac leak so the cycle time was increased, although it would eventually pull a vacuum and seal the bag.

I replaced with the spare gasket included and the cycle time reduced and it works perfectly now. VERY happy with this unit and highly recommend it. This thing works every bit as good as the much higher priced others for about half the cost and the build quality if first rate.

As is the customer service, I contacted Avid Armor by email and received a very quick response offering a replacement gasket for the deformed original. This is a great company that stands fully behind their products.

Having used the foodsaver type of vacuum sealers for many years I can that this does a better job of removing air from sealing solid food products and now I can preserve the chili and soups in the freezer which I was never able to do with the non chamber type I have been using.

I bought this to replace a failing VacMaster VP112. I bought the VP112 about 5 years ago, refurbished. I quickly learned the value of a chamber vacuum. I’ve had a few different Food Savers, but chamber vacuum’s are a world apart.

Last year the lid started cracking and now the vacuum pump is leaking. Time for a something new. I wanted something I could use for retort canning with a fairly large chamber. The only “Home” options that support Retort/Mylar bags are the Samic and VacUPack, both over $1k.

I found in the manual for the USV32, and reviews, on how well this does with the mylar bags, at about 1/2 the price of the others, so I thought I would give it a shot. Very pleased. I was surprised it came with an extra bar and gasket.

I love the heavy duty glass lid, much easier to clean than the VP112. I’ve not tried the mylar bags yet, but the canning season is just around the corner, so I’m anxious to try. The only things I miss about the VP112 is the size of the chamber.

It would support 12×14 bags and had a faster pump, but this supports 11×13 and is much quieter. Doesn’t shake the floor like the VP112.

I love the Avid Armor Vacuum Sealer Model A420, it’s so quiet, my other (to remain nameless) sounded like a 747 taking off on my countertop. This is a beautiful, sleek stainless and black machine with a great visual LED display screen.

The screen displays the sealing process, and you see the amount of vacuum pressure as displayed on the vacuum gauge. It’s a great machine. No learning curve, just read the instructions and start sealing.

I am asking myself why did I wait so long to purchase???? Oh, don’t forget to purchase the Avid Armor bags, the Combo (50 pints, 50 quarts and 50 Gallons) is a great starter package.

I spent HOURS researching vacuum sealers & kept coming back to the avid armor. I had several questions so I called the company & left a message I got a call back first thing the next morning. The representative was polite professional & very knowledgeable about the product & able to answer all my questions.

I placed my order & recieved my machine 2 days later. We were putting up homemade smoked stuffed sausage the next day. The instructions were simple & complete! We had no problems sealing 60# of sausage & I LOVE MY NEW SEALER!!! I have gone thru 3 FoodSaver’s & this new sealer is so advanced from them I will be recommending it to all my friends who process their own meats!.

I purchased my avid armor A420 several weeks ago, I did not want to rush a review without really seeing if it would meet my expectations. the first step I consulted Avid armor and asked a lot of question’s it was very pleasant to actually speak to a person and they were knowledgeable about the product.

the young man did not get agitated and took as long as needed to answer my dumb questions. He made the sale, now product review. I have used all features, Pulse, Seal, Auto Vac, Gentle, Normal, you get it.

! word sums it up Flawless and Easy to use. So easy “A Cave man can do it” little humor there if you remember the old Geico Commercials. Serious note. I bought the Vac bags and the canisters. I do not think you will be disappointed with this product.

It runs quiet. Seals quickly. Honestly its Idiot proof. The bonus is its American Made and I am happy to support an American Product. I would add photos but I am having operator difficulties, my own fault.

I’m a Hunter and fisherman this will not disappoint you!.

Had to have my old sealer replaced under warranty as the unit would not seal after vac. WAs sent gm2160 unit, worked great for the first several weeks, and only sealing about 15 bags during this time.

and now it will not finish sealing after the vacuum is done, and no it is not the gaskets. the machine just keeps running, it would burn up if i would let it. And yes I let it set for 20 minutes or better, even though I only sealed 6 bag of meat.

and then it still wouldnt work correctly, dont know if it does, i stopped using it and sent an email for support and no response 02/17/22. This seems to be a reoccuring theme with food saver and their machines, whats worse is they think your a tech and can diagnose the machine.

LOL.

The Wingman Plus vacuum sealer is ideal for small manufacturers, volume home cooks and anyone looking to seal in same day freshness of food or other perishables quickly and easily. I purchased small pre-made bags for sealing and have been able to seal two bags up at a time.

It is a workhorse and a time saver. You won’t regret purchasing this machine. I have used the foodsaver brand for many years and they were awesome. This one is no different. It works as promised. I would recommend this product to everyone.

This unit we bought second hand it’s a Food Saver / Game Saver / Wingman and I know it’s not under warranty. It doesn’t look like it was used much. The vacuum/seal does not work, it vacuums but doesn’t seal automatically.

I noticed that someone else had the same problem in the reviews and was wondering if there was a part that needed replacement. Any help would be much appreciated. We own an older food saver vacuum seal unit that works great and we were looking for a second one so we can prepare food for the freezer faster.

Thank you Tom.

I have been wanting a vacuum sealer for a long time and was very excited about my new purchase. I even bought the next level up from what I had planned to purchase. unfortunately, this product does not work properly.

After multiple tries, the vacuum function either didn’t vacuum, or vacuum partially (maybe 30%) and then shut off as if it was complete. Of the reviews on this site, only those provided as part of a promotion were favorable.

Those not part of the promotion experienced the same thing I did – it doesn’t actually vacuum well, if at all. The actual construction makes no sense as to how it would actually perform properly, so it is no surprise that it doesn’t work well.

Two additional design issues, the roller just sits in the storage area and there is nothing to stabilize it so it can move slightly from side to side. It’s also very loud. I would not recommend this product at all.

So very disappointing.

I understand that part of being a responsible adult is preparing and consuming healthy food. That doesn’t mean I have to like it, though. My FoodSaver makes this chore a little less awful. As a plant-based eater, my meals require an inordinate amount of cutting and chopping.

Lots of utensils and tools get dirty in the process of preparing a dish. What the FoodSaver does, besides seal and keep safe my food, is allow me to cut almost in half the time I spend in the kitchen.

Every time I make a dish now, I double or triple the recipe. The extra portions ho straight to the FoodSaver to be used when I just don’t feel like getting in the kitchen. This also means I’m a lot less likely to resort to unhealthy takeout or junk food.

I always have delicious food on hand – chili, burgers, meat loaves, lasagna, desserts – you name it. It’s giving me back a little of my sanity and saving me money, too!.

This FoodSaver VS2130 Vacuum Sealing System has been a huge plus in my home. The vacuum is compact, not bulky which makes a great fit for any kitchen countertop. This vacuum comes equipped with a built-in bag alignment tool that lets you align your vacuum bags to make sure they are sealed properly.

The built-in cutter makes bagging your food even easier and allows you to have basically custom-sized bags. It is compatible with other FoodSaver bags. Overall, this FoodSaver VS2130 Vacuum Sealing System is definitely a must-have in every household.

I love mine and I am sure you will love yours. High quality, great value, and a great addition to your kitchen tools. Highly recommend.

My husband is a truck driver and takes all his food with him. So we’ve been using a small version of seal a meal for a while. They don’t always seal well. This sealer on the other hand is awesome. You can control how much vacuum to use and it seals tightly.

We love it!!.

Forget the food saver machines and their expensive rolls and bags. Buy one of these and you can easily pack by yourself using very inexpensive bags. Moisture is not an issue. I sealed a bag of water to show a skeptical friend.

I gave it a 4 star rating. The only reason for it a little slow when vacuum a whole beef. Other that that it works great, no issue with it sealing never had to reseal a bag. Easy to operate.

I’ve had my vacuum sealer for about 2 12 years. Coincidentally, I bought it shortly before the Pandemic with no clue that the world was about to shut down! What a blessing, because I stocked piled and vacuum-sealed SO much meat fish.

It worked wonderfully then, and I still use it regularly.

I really like this sealer. I had a food saver and switched to this Weston. It is much easier to use. Would definately get this again

Wish I hadn’t purchased it…quit reliably vacuuming and sealing after a month. Sad!

I absolutely love this NutriFresh vacuum sealer! It’s fun and exciting to use as well. The process can be quite confusing at first especially for someone who has never used one. There are precut, bottom sealed bags and a roll of large and small bags that are not precut.

The inside of the unit has a place to store the rolls as well as a tool to cut them to the size you need. I love that you can store the bags inside! It is so much easier to find them and also is way more convenient since the bags are already right there inside.

You have to cut and seal the end of a bag from the roll before placing any food inside. With the roll bags you have total control over the length of the bag because you decide where to cut it. Once you have the bag placement in the little ditch (easiest way to describe it) it works very well at vacuum sealing.

The machine is quite loud but it’s easy to get use to. There is a feature to lock the lid down which keeps the bag inside the unit. It’s much easier sealing food without having to hold the bag as well.

The only thing I didn’t care for is the date stamper. It’s wonderful that I can add a date and have it on the bag without having to write it but it’s very difficult to see. It’s imbedded into the bag and it’s small.

Half the time I wasn’t cutting the bag correctly enough where the date needed to be to be seen in the colored area of the bag. Or felt like my bag was too long and being wasteful just so I’d have the date space in the correct spot inside the machine just so I could better read it.

It also was put on the back of the bag accidentally. I’ll probably stick to writing the dates because it’s far more legible. This machine also includes a hose to vacuum seal liquids. This food sealer is wonderful to have in my house.

I love vacuum sealing all my frozen food and placing it in my deep freezer. I feel like it’s more organized and nicer looking! Very pleased.

Okay so I wasn’t sure if how well I would use this product but let me tell you this vacuum sealer is a game changer! I literally don’t know how I’v went so long without one. I’v bought fresh fruit and vacuum sealed them in the perfect quantity for smoothies.

It’s nice to just toss in the freezer and grab as I need them. Seems to save space too. I usually by family packs of meat because it sometimes seems to be cheaper. I have vacuum sealed enough for a few dinners or lunches and it really has seem to keep well in the freezer.

I’v also like how easy to keep clean this is! Honestly if you have been thinking about adding one of these to your kitchen, I totally recommend it!.

Read every review about this vacuum sealer before purchasing and was SO excited to have a working vacuum sealer (after researching about 20 different brands/options). We tried about 10 times to seal 2lb portions of beef with several different bags and it would not seal.

We even tried pressing the seal button again and there were still pockets where air was getting in. As soon as we would set it down on the counter the seal would break. so frustrating! We will be returning as soon as possible and digging out our food saver vacuum sealer.

Very disappointed as this was a Christmas gift.

This thing works great. The reason why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because of the lid. With continued use, the lid wouldn’t release on its own after sealing. The instructions say that if it’s not closed properly then it won’t release.

This happened continuously even though I would make sure it was closed. It’s not really that big of a deal to manually release the lid, I just think things should work the way they are supposed to. Other than that it is great.

I butchered a steer and sealed the whole thing. I highly recommend this sealer.

My vacuum packer died an early death — cheap plastic construction so that the vacuum pump screws just broke out of their mountings. Doing my research, the Weston line looked good. I was not disappointed.

It works great, is built solidly, and comes with complete diagram and parts list — it’s made to last and be repairable. The level of suction is much better than the usual brand sold at discount stores everywhere.

My venison will be well packaged for years to come.

Great sealer. Needed to bump up the sealing time one notch to 3. Bags were loosing seal after about 20 min. Good seal now. Had to call for support for this one. After about 20 bags, the lid would not release.

Found out it was my fault. Instead of closing the lid with 2 HANDS, I got in a hurry and was closing the lid with one hand right in the middle. Won’t work. You need both hands to close lid even on both sides, my bad ! Also might want to put a board in front of sealer to raise the bag up a little bit.

Great sealer, Terry.

The sealer works very well. I got it to replace a Foodsaver that died after 8 years. This item had a very high rating so I chose this one. It doesn’t take up a lot of counter space. Seals quickly and very well.

The only disappointing thing with this sealer is that there is no storage for the roll. It has to sit on the counter behind the unit. But I may just be spoiled by the fact that my previous sealer held the roll.

I would highly recommend this unit.

This is my first vacuum sealer. Due to corona virus I bought few items and planning to buy more chicken as well as for camping. After lot of review I ordered this online. This is really great and very easy.

I already used the free bags and started using the roll. Beside that I sealed everything else for the experiment. Anything plastic. Only thing I couldn’t seal was the packaged foods made of cheapest plastics.

So far this product is really great and doing as I expected from other reviews and actually exceeded my expectation.

What a piece of junk! I had never used a vacuum sealer before, so I didn’t know exactly how to do it. The instructions are horrible! Anyway, after much messing around with it, I finally figured how it was SUPPOSED to work, but it didn’t.

It would seal, but not vacuum seal. I ended up boxing it up and returning it. Purchased a Food Saver and it works beautifully. Spare yourself the anguish!.