Vacuum Sealing Discussion: Food Saver, Reynolds, Etc.

[talk2ham.1]

Are they worth it? What brand machine is best? I don't want to invest in a vacuum sealing machine that is going to drain my budget just buying new bags. Whether or not this will end up being worth it might help me make up my mind as to what size chest freezer to get in the future too.

And, hey, if you know of a way to cheat the system and do your own vacuum sealing of freezer bags without a special machine, I'd love to hear about it.

[navybaby1113]

I just bought the new Ziploc Vacuum Sealer. It was on sale for $3.50 and I had a coupon for $2 off. Bags are pretty cheap too. I know they were cheaper than normal Ziploc bags. Ziploc recommends that you don't re-use the bags, but on their website they say the reason for that is so you don't cross-contaminate. I think you should be able to re-use the bags as long as you write what was in them, so that you don't put beef in a bag that used to have chicken in it.

[talk2ham.1]

Cool, thanks. We just got coupons for these in this week's Sunday paper too. I'll just watch for sales now. I didn't realize the vacuum bags were cheaper than the regular ones.

Repped ya!

[neverfullprice]

I love my Foodsaver. I was lucky and got it on clearance for $57 at Kohls (it was $139.99) I compared the prices of using the new handheld vac sealers and the foodsealer. I believe the foodsaver to be more cost effective over all. You can buy bags online for a good price but I have been lucky and found them marked down or at least on sale. I typically use any gift cards I get from Target purchases to buy the bags.
I do use the Reynolds vacuum sealer for some things - especially things that I will be using in the next day or two, but for meat I always use my foodsaver. It is great for soups and stews as well and one great benefit is that you can drop the bag of frozen food into a pot of boiling water and re-heat it. The first time I tried this was with some brisket my DH cooked two weeks prior. It was already sliced and before I sealed it I added a bit more of the bbq sauce. After cooking, it was just like it was on the first day; still moist and yummy.
I also have a jar sealer to use with caning jars. And you can seal non-canning jars - ones with the pop up center - using a canister. It was difficult to get the hang of it, but once I did I loved it.
I also use the "seal only" mode to reseal bags of chips and such. No more clips!

[brenda1313]

FOOD SAVER worth every penny.
yep bags are nice for the freezer, but what I love is sealing jars and tin cans to make them reuseable containers. You can also use them to reseal cereal, chip bags.

LOVE LOVE LOVE IT

[oceanbreeze]

i have the ziploc hand vac. the one you pump the air out of by hand. There are coupons for them and the bags out there too right now. it was worth it. totally worth it. keeps the meats from freezer burn and nice & fresh tasting.

mom has one of those food saver systems, and it works very well too, although the bags are omgosh $$$.

[Jasmin71]

I just went to Kmart and they had the Hand pump ziploc on sale ,bought that and couple things of bags , Ocean I am so glad you sue the same and it works lol....

eventuelly I would like to go to a Food saver but not right now ..

[kdphi_uh]

I have both the Reynolds Handivac and the foodsaver. I have to say the Foodsaver is WONDERFUL. I froze some meat over 2 months ago in both and the ones in the Reynolds bags turn a dark color. The ones in the Foodsaver stayed bright red. That's amazing!

[queenofthehivemomof5]

I am a Foodsaver fan myself. The price of the bags is worth it to me to be able to store meat and produce for YEARS vs months in a regular freezer bag.

I have a reynolds vacume and think it is pretty worthless as I can not get it to seal half the time. I have used it for leftovers stored in the fridge.

About once a year one of my stores here clearances the foodsave bags at about half off so I stockpile them at that time. And I try to use overage and OYNO catalina deals to bring the cost down.

[wavelizard]

Another Foodsaver lover here!! Although I primarily use the bags, you can certainly maximize your food storage with the various accesories. Things in the bags freeze beautifully; I even manage to fit casserole dishes (baked ziti, shepherds pie and those types of dishes) into them for days when I don't want to cook. I also use it to reseal chip and cereal bags (not sucking out the air, unless you want crumbs ) and that makes those items go a lot farther.

The unit is well worth the money; mine is between 6 or 7 years old ( I cannot remember when I purchased it) and I've never had a problem with it! You won't regret buying one!