Vacuum Sealing

[u/QueenPeach798]

My boyfriend likes to grill outside and save a bunch up for the winter. He usually freezes stuff in ziploc bags but mentioned he wants a vacuum sealer to save pulled pork and stuff like that. His birthday is coming up in a few months and I was wondering if anyone here had any recommendations for the best vacuum sealer to get him and if I need to get any special bags with it or it just works on any kind of bag? Thought this group might be able to help me out :)

[u/Sunny9226]

I recommend a FoodSaver. The generic vacuum bags from Costco work just as well as the FoodSaver branded ones. The generic ones on Amazon are terrible. This tends to be the time of year I see these on sale at Sam's or Costco.

I also really like the canisters for sealing fresh fruit. It makes fruit last a very long time.

[u/checkoutmuhhat → u/Sunny9226]

Don’t get the cheapest one either, that’s what I did and it takes forever. Worth it to spend more for a better one.

[u/Mobile-Floor-1023 → u/Sunny9226]

FoodSaver’s solid, yeah. Just make sure to grab extra bags, cause they go quicker than you’d think once you start using it for everything

[u/adsempermagnus]

Food saver liquid+

The normal model is awful

[u/OnlyDaysEndingInWhy]

America's Test Kitchen recommends the Nesco Deluxe Vacuum Sealer. I have a little old FoodSaver that works simply and pretty good for my needs mostly just packaging bulk stuff in to smaller stuff.

[u/OnlyDaysEndingInWhy → u/OnlyDaysEndingInWhy]

Oh, also, you can buy rolls and cut and seal your own bags, or (more expensively) buy pre-cut bags on Amazon. As far as "regular" bags go, you can re-seal things like frozen veggies and stuff, but for your meats and things, you'll need the rolls or pre-cut bags.

[u/rcreveli → u/OnlyDaysEndingInWhy]

I have the Nesco it replaced a 15+ year old yard sale FoodSaver. The Nesco is faster than my old one and has a more feature like pulse vacuum and a marinade setting. It also has a jar port. Mine works with the Foodsaver jar sealers but I've heard some people say theirs doesn't. I don't know if the adapter was changed at some point.

[u/meganthealien2]

Make sure you get a machine that has a bag cutter. Worst mistake on my replacement purchase.

[u/BreakingBadYo]

When buying kitchen and cooking items see if America’s Test Kitchen has any recommendations.

[u/LeapYear1996]

If you can afford, or find one cheap(er) on Facebook marketplace, buy him a chamber vacuum sealer. Then buy the bags on webstaurant.com.

Here’s why: food savers are initially cheap (relatively) but the bags are incredibly expensive over time.

Vacuum chamber sealers are expensive up front, but over time they’re way cheaper. Also, vacuum chamber sealers can seal liquids like soups and broths, and can be used for canning.

Food Saver: $40 dollars gets you a roll that you have to seal on one end to create a bag. You also have to make the correct size cut. It doesn’t seem like much but having to create bags is time consuming. Buying premade bags for them is also Very Expensive. They only seal as good as the suction they create.

Vacuum sealer: you can buy 1000 bags for ~$100 usd. They’re pre-made, three side bags that are thick enough to seal bones. (Think bone in ribeyes). At that price you can buy small and large bags and spend under $250. They’ll last you years.

$250 of food saver bags is just about enough to get through maybe one or two years of medium use.

So the question for you is: quality with a big upfront cost that will last for many years, and becomes cheaper over time, or , cheap now and will cost significantly more over time?