Syzygies Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 Hi. Does anyone have a strong recommendation for a Foodsaver alternative? Our top-of-the-line Foodsaver is getting a bit beat. There's masking tape jammed into the "is the lid closed?" sensor to trick it into working. For actual boil in pouch, I always make two seals, as one can give; other brands are like "dental tape -vs- dental floss" and make an 1/8" wide seal one might trust. Requirements: Able to process 20-30 bags in a row without overheating and stopping. Able to handle liquids. Single seal won't give when used boil-in-pouch. ("Channel" bags ok, they're 20 cents each if bought from anyone besides FoodSaver.) Thanks, Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryan Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 FoodSaver alternatives? I now use: Reclosable "Presto" Freezer bags with Color Seal Double Zipper and a straw from Mc' Ds Stick 1/2 of the straw into the bag. Move straw to side of bag. On table press seal top of bag over to the straw. Make one good suck on straw, cover straw hole with tongue, and exhale,. Remove tongue from straw, and do one more good inhale through straw, while extracting straw (with teeth), and sealing bag. So far the bags have worked great with no freezer burn. 1 gal size= 15 per box with green double seal seams I pre-freeze then seal in the bags. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saucier Posted August 8, 2009 Report Share Posted August 8, 2009 Mini Pack MVS 31 I use the MVS 31 from this site... http://www.chambersealers.com/chamber-s ... ealers.php Pricey, but commercial quality, and with a chamber sealer, you don't need channel bags. Our most used size is 6x9 more or less, would have to go check exactly, but the bags are like 175 bucks for 3000. We go through lots of them. The great part of this machine, is you can really pull a heavy vacuum on them, and the lack of air prevents freezer burn for a long time.. We also use it for sous vide cooking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruzmisl Posted August 11, 2009 Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 I like expensive things but $2K for a vacuum sealer??? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conodo12 Posted August 12, 2009 Report Share Posted August 12, 2009 I love Cook_Shack's solution - that is classic!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwillads Posted August 13, 2009 Report Share Posted August 13, 2009 cabelas Cabelas has one for $450 that gets great reviews. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... ISO-8859-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primeats Posted August 13, 2009 Report Share Posted August 13, 2009 This sounds like a pretty nice unit. I started out with a Foodsaver in 1988, it lasted about 2 years. I really punished it though, eventually purchased a couple of commercial units one from Bizerba, and the other from Koch Supplies. The first one was really expensive, 3k, the other I happen to be at the right place at the right time, 1200 plus four boxes of 4mil thick vac pouches. I change oil in them every year and they have been working beautifully for about 20 years and 5 years respectively. My kids liked to watch water boil at room temp inside the chambers while it pulled down the vacuum. If this unit can use the pouches that go inside the chamber, or doesn't need the channels like the foodsaver bags I can recommend a supplier that will ship a box of 500. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saucier Posted August 14, 2009 Report Share Posted August 14, 2009 Mini Pack MVS 31 I use the MVS 31 from this site... http://www.chambersealers.com/chamber-s ... ealers.php Pricey, but commercial quality, and with a chamber sealer, you don't need channel bags. Our most used size is 6x9 more or less, would have to go check exactly, but the bags are like 175 bucks for 3000. We go through lots of them. The great part of this machine, is you can really pull a heavy vacuum on them, and the lack of air prevents freezer burn for a long time.. We also use it for sous vide cooking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syzygies Posted December 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2009 I'm back So we didn't buy anything then. Our two FoodSaver machines are in increasing need of service, and we're out of channel pint bags. Hard as it is to believe, the best price on OEM bags is from Foodsaver today (and other days when they have a promotion): 30% off 5 or more boxes, and 25% off / free shipping for entire order today with promo code 99FECCC. This gets the price close to bulk alternatives. I'm concerned about bulk third-party bags that go softer when boiled than an OEM bag, as this makes me worry about plasticizers getting into my food. So I'm reviewing the question before stocking up. The advice here is great for varied parties. We rely on a large chest freezer, we can afford the money and space to do better than the straw and ziplock method. (A girlfriend once tried to convince me I didn't need to buy coffee filters, as paper towels worked just fine. At the time I looked at her like she was from Mars; I'm easier to get along with now. I still have friends that swear by Webers. Go figure.) However, we cannot afford the money or space for a chamber vacuum machine. In the tabletop "channel bag" vacuum sealer category, one can clearly do much better than FoodSaver for under $500 ** except ** for the moisture issue. Let's stipulate that moisture is bad. For varied use of a vacuum sealer, moisture is also inevitable, and one can learn to cope: Stop in time. Clean the bag past the first seal with a paper towel and seal again. Yada yada. FoodSaver realizes that their units will be used for moist applications, and design a drip tray to catch a modest amount of liquid before it fouls the vacuum pump. Many $500 units are designed for hunters, and will never be used with anything moister than meat, and despite their evident superiority with the basic vacuum and seal, do not have any provision to trap modest amounts of liquid. I try to avoid liquid getting into the machine, but it happens. I'd be an idiot to buy a car without an airbag, even though I try to avoid accidents. Please, no "Heloise tips" for working around a dumb design; for example, I know about freezing first, but I simply don't have the time. My question is this: Does anyone know of a better-than-Foodsaver tabletop "channel bag" vacuum sealer, with a provision for trapping liquid at least as well-designed as FoodSaver's solution? If so, please describe the solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 I tried to use that code this morning, and it said it was no longer valid I also noticed the prices for the 22 ct qt sized bags increased from 9.99 to 11.99. They were $9.99 when I took a look at the prices on my iphone at 6:30 am, but interestingly, it wouldnt let me add them to my cart. So i looked again when i was more awake, at 8:30 am on my laptop and they are up to $11.99 and now i of course there is no problem adding them to my cart. You cant get the bulk discount on the larger packs, either. The 44 count for 19.99 is not discounted for buying bulk...Funny, they want you to buy bulk but make sure its lots of smaller packages! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syzygies Posted December 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 Interesting. I knew this was a one-day sale, but not that it was to appease the faithful before a price rise. We rip through the pint bags; our chest freezer is dominated by partially dehydrated garden tomatoes, and tasty salty pig parts (pancetta, guanciale, prosciutto, double-smoked bacon, many kinds of chorizo) all in pint bags as an ingredient. For stock, we don't bother vacuum packing; we just use zip-locks. Oh yeah, and when our 16 year old dog is a fussy eater, she'll still eat KK pork shoulder, which we hoard in pint bags. Nice also for a quick pork sandwich. Nevertheless, we do use quart bags, but they were marked "out of stock" during the sale. Hmm. We ordered 20 boxes of 28 pint bags each for $126.07 delivered: 22.5 cents/bag. I'd like to audition cheaper bags but we're concerned that "softer when boiled" means more plasticizers on the loose. On the machine front, Calebas wrote me back: You are correct. It is not designed to handle moisture entering into the unit and it is also the finest vacuum sealer I personally have owned if decades. For a unit that can handle moisture, I was impressed by the VacMaster 130, e.g. at Kodiak Health. Alas, digging around the web for reviews, it would appear that quality control is spotty and customer service is downright hostile. I've had spectacular luck with FoodSaver customer service. After discussing the pros and cons of their past and current offerings over the phone, I ordered the Foodsaver Gamesaver Turbo Plus, their current top offering for our usage pattern. I got in on the 25% sale, thus beating third party pricing, and from Tilia I get a 30 day trial, they pay return shipping if I bail. Apparently some people get bum units here also, but at least I trust their customer service. While my 2006 FoodSaver V2440 in NY would appear to be designed by someone dumb as a stump (I knew there would be a pause between seals, but not that the vacuum would cut out before sealing), our 2004 FoodSaver Professional III gave us good use for the money. The new unit is apparently an upgraded Pro III, two pumps, wider sealing strip, finer controls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 The only vac sealers I've owned have been the Foodsaver pro 2 and about 3 years ago the pro 3. I do 25 bags in a row often enough and have never had any problem. Well, except the time the pro 2 went kaput...after about 7 years good use. I'm sure there are better ones, but this brand has always suited my needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffB Posted December 16, 2009 Report Share Posted December 16, 2009 I have a Foodsaver (Vac 1200) and it seems to work fine. My only issues are that it is insanely loud and also can't seal without activating the pump. Do higher end Foodsaver units have be same issues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conodo12 Posted December 16, 2009 Report Share Posted December 16, 2009 I have a Foodsaver (Vac 1200) and it seems to work fine. My only issues are that it is insanely loud and also can't seal without activating the pump. Do higher end Foodsaver units have be same issues? I don't know if I would call it higer end but we have a V2490 from Costco and it does seal without activating the pump. We use it to seal our chips and cereal fairly regularly... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryan Posted December 16, 2009 Report Share Posted December 16, 2009 Best price I found: http://www.webstaurantstore.com/ary-vac ... SVP10.html Short flic demo http://kodiakhealth.com/catalog/product ... ts_id/2562 What say you to this? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syzygies Posted December 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2009 ...also can't seal without activating the pump. Do higher end Foodsaver units have be same issues? Yikes! That's a third level of degeneracy I didn't know existed. Both of my units have manual seal. That's a feature they track on their web site, and essential for me: For simmer-in-pouch or odd shapes, a single seal is far enough from 100% reliable that I want a second seal, perhaps after cleaning the bag if the first seal was through traces of liquid. So I use manual seal frequently. I also use it to convince the unit to move on, when I think the vacuum stage is done but it doesn't. My lesser unit turns off the vacuum as it starts the seal. As the foam gets older (can be replaced), if I don't wet the foam before use, air gets into the bag. This isn't a documented feature variation; one has to ask explicitly if the vacuum pump continues to operate while the unit seals. Best price I found: ... What say you to this? Yes, surely I'd prefer a chamber unit, except it's still 3x more expensive and 3x larger. I'm not quite at the lifetime break even point taking into account the savings for bags. What's frustrating about the channel bag units is that they're great when they work well, why isn't this all of the time!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffB Posted December 16, 2009 Report Share Posted December 16, 2009 Both of my units have manual seal. That's a feature they track on their web site, and essential for me: For simmer-in-pouch or odd shapes, a single seal is far enough from 100% reliable that I want a second seal, perhaps after cleaning the bag if the first seal was through traces of liquid. So I use manual seal frequently. I also use it to convince the unit to move on, when I think the vacuum stage is done but it doesn't. My lesser unit turns off the vacuum as it starts the seal. As the foam gets older (can be replaced), if I don't wet the foam before use, air gets into the bag. This isn't a documented feature variation; one has to ask explicitly if the vacuum pump continues to operate while the unit seals. Ah, maybe I am mixing my terms and confusing things. The pump on my unit continues to run during the sealing process (at a slightly reduced rate). I can see how this would be good, but it has always bugged me. If the pump weren't so loud then I wouldn't mind but given the noise I usually just want the thing to shutup and finish. I also have an "Instant Seal" button that can be thought of as a manual seal but the only way to use it is to first activate the pump and then press the button to start the seal. I would rather have a seal option that doesn't require the pump to activate at all. Too bad they don't list noise levels on the feature list for each unit. I assume they could but are too embarrassed to do so Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted December 16, 2009 Report Share Posted December 16, 2009 What have you guys been using, bags or rolls? Since i missed out on Szyzgies bargain, anyone know of any great deals on the bags? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted December 16, 2009 Report Share Posted December 16, 2009 ...I would rather have a seal option that doesn't require the pump to activate at all. Too bad they don't list noise levels on the feature list for each unit. I assume they could but are too embarrassed to do so Jeff, yes, the pro models and probably some of the other models can seal without the pump...very handy for the cereal and chip bags. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syzygies Posted December 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 Since i missed out on Szyzgies bargain Today's email offers 15% off and free shipping (not 25% off, but better than nothing). Promo Code: Z9FEAAA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
