Anyone have a good link and/or experience with a food saver or the like? I found a black n decker at walmart today,nice unit ,(I think)for 59.00. anyone have a better deal on a better unit? thanks in advance,john

John
I've got a Food Saver VAC 820 I bought at Walmart A couple of years ago. They have since come out with better models. I use mine a lot and I would suggest one that has a well to put the roll in as you pull it out. Also it needs a built in roll cutter IMHO. Regardless they are invaluable if you smoke ahead.
BG

I have had a Tilia Foodsaver for 4 years or so that I bought on ebay from a gal in Florida. Great piece of equipment. I buy Fontanella cheese in 10 pound wheels, cut it up and vacuum pack and freeze it, now I freeze pulled pork in the bags. Great item!

I have the Foodsaver that is sold at Costco.. kind of a big kit. I like it.. but there are some times when there are poor seals.. probably due to my errors in keeping the sealing surfaces clean after putting food in it.

I found another more commercial type vacuum sealer but lost the link to it.. If I find it, I'll relay it to you. It is a stainless steel one that is made in Italy and there is an outfit in Sacramento that handles refurbished ones for about $170 or so.. It really looked good to me.

Just found it.. here is the link...

http://www.vacuum-sealer-bags.com/vacuum_sealers.htm

Do a Cookshack search for food sealers. There has been a lot of talk regarding these things in the, seems a major consideration is the cost of bags.

I use and love my Tilia Foodsaver. LJ is right bags are costly, but you can wash and reuse them. They say not to reuse them when meat has been stored in them, and I dont if it was raw meat being packaged, but for cooked Q and the like I will reuse. Just be thorough in the washing.
I have the model V845, it has the roll holder and bag cutter that BikerGar mentioned. It cost $129.99

I use the midlevel Foodsaver and it does great.

Be sure to get one that has the port and hose to seal bottles,jars,canisters.

The midlevel also has the manual switch,which gives more versatility.

Here is another unit that showed recently.

Several cooks,including our teammate, have bought them.

http://www.vacuum-sealer-bags.com/index.htm

quote:

Originally posted by Smokenque:
[QB] I have the Foodsaver that is sold at Costco.. kind of a big kit. I like it.. but there are some times when there are poor seals.. probably due to my errors in keeping the sealing surfaces clean after putting food in it.

I roll the top of the bag down into a cuff while I am filling the bags, that keeps it clean and gives you a good seal everytime.

[/QUOTE]I roll the top of the bag down into a cuff while I am filling the bags, that keeps it clean and gives you a good seal everytime. [/QB][/QUOTE]

Great idea, Thanks.

BG

I've been using the Black & Decker from Wal-Mart for a couple years. No problems, great unit but I can't compare it to other food savers because it's the only one I've ever used.

QUOTE]I roll the top of the bag down into a cuff while I am filling the bags, that keeps it clean and gives you a good seal everytime. [/QB][/QUOTE]

What a great idea. Why didn't I think of that!?

My Foodsaver does not have a well, but I picked up a "roll holder" at Wal-Mart. You put in the roll of plastic, pull out how much you want, and it has a blade to cut it nice and straight.

Donna

I have both a Foodsaver and a Simbo sealers. They use different bags but their principals & operations are basically the same. The Simbo seems to seal bags better first try whereas the FS I was resealing bags often. But the FS has a tube attachment that lets me vacuum seal mason jars. I also have the attachment for doing quick meat marinades. Do a search for more info on bag costs and locations to get them.

Bob

A friend of mine highly recommends the VacUpack sealer as shown here on EBay. Anybody out there familiar with this unit and, if so, any comments?

Thank guys and gals!

I have a Tilia Food Saver 1075 that was received as a gift. Overall the unit works great. The few times I have had a package that didn't seal well is because I had allowed a crumb or something to get in the way of the seal strip or a wrinkle occured during the sealing process.

Today we are vacuum sealing asparagus which we got on sale for $.99/lb. We bought 12 lbs., parboiled it and are putting it in 1/2lb packages and into the freezer. We do this all year on what ever comes in season and goes on sale. Also pulled pork, brisket etc. which I smoke.

Don't know how I managed to get along without one.