Vacuum Food Sealers.

[rocstar]

I know this is not a new topic by any means but in reading some of the past posts on vacuum sealers I still see some room for discussion. The Food Saver brand seems to come up a lot but they have several models out there. Is there any appreciable performance difference between the various models. I have a cheaper Seal-A-Meal but it just doesn't perform as well as I want it to, especially when you have to seal more than three packs or so. I would not recommend these cheaper units for the serious fisherman or game processor. I have heard the problems about over heating and I am also of the opinion you should prefreeze moist foods to assist with a better seal. I don't advocate vacuum sealing everything but they are the only way to go with fish, fresh vegetables and smoked meats.

Some units have readily available rebuild kits, not that I want to even think about that at this point but I am due for an upgrade without wanting to spend more than $300 or so. Am I kidding myself? I know Food Savers are very common but is there anyone out there that has first hand experience with several different manufacturers? And when you say yours works great, how long have you had it and how often do you use it? Sorry but looking for some expert witnesses out there!

[rocstar]

After hearing all the good comments on Food Saver, I looked into the Food Saver Silver and thought it might be worth a try. I went on the Food Saver HSOforum and was surprised at the number of negative reviews. I didn't expect that on their own HSOforum but I have to compliment them at even allowing them to be published.

[jmg]

I can only comment on the FoodSaver brand, since that is the only one we've had. Bought the GameSaver Deluxe model at the Big C store a few years ago and have been quite happy with it(probably a 4 out of 5). When one attempts to vac. seal items with a lot of moisture in them, there is a good chance of liquids getting into the sealing strip area and making it difficult to get a proper seal, thus the suggestions to partially freeze such items before vac. sealing. That does make a world of difference. That little inconvenience is forgotten when opening up items some months later that are super fresh and tasty. Overall, a good machine.