Comments on: Foodsaver Vacuum Sealer: Which one to buy?

By: rex

rex — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 08:56:48 +0000

I recieved my first one has a gift, never really needed one, but now that I have one, i tried to vacuum everything i put in the freezer. I’ve tried steaks, ribs, fish fillet, and fish whole. So far, my only problem is with fish whole. After i finish vacuum, put in the freezer, only later to realize the bag has opened up again, sucking in air. After inspecting, the bag contained no holes, somehow, the seal always let up. I find this very frustrating, as I was expecting my fish to stay fresh, expensive lost.

By: Grace

Grace — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 22:47:58 +0000

While I can sympathize with the frustrations of those who use the FoodSaver for sealing plastic bags, I must weigh in on the subject and declare my enthusiasm for my FoodSaver. I’ve had my machine for several years now and wouldn’t be without it. I don’t use the bags, just the attachment for the mason jars. I try to avoid using plastic containers wherever possible, not so much for the off-gassing of the plastic–don’t even know if that applies to the FoodSaver bags and containers–but I’ve found the plastic bags can give a plastic-y taste to delicate dried foods such as bread crumbs. I use the FoodSaver almost daily, keep all my baking supplies, with the exception of flour which is too fine for the vacuum, in jars. Dry food will not go stale–nuts, coconut, corn meal, wheat germ, brown rice, crackers, to name just a few. I dehydrate fresh fruit in season–apples, strawberries, nectarines, tomatoes–which keep for a long time and won’t get crushed. Spices kept in the small jars keep forever (how often do you use fenogreek?), and now I have a large collection of them I might not otherwise have had, all ready wherever the cooking muse takes me.

As for the bags, I will use them for things in the freezer, but ZipLocks and a straw work well enough for me. I have had trouble with them keeping their seal.

About the jars. I did have trouble with the regular-mouth-jar attachment, but now use two lids while vacuuming, removing the top one after sealing. I also found some 2-quart mason jars which will hold a lot of stuff. One other advantage with the jar system is storage. I’ve found it far easier to keep cupboards organized with jars than the bags, which would slide off the shelf. If you can find square jars, even better.

Hey, Mr. FoodSaver Man, any chance of making a compact unit with just an outlet for the hose? I realize that you make a ton of money with the bags, but my twenty-something environmentally conscious nieces and nephews would never buy the bags, but would love the jar system. Oh. Any chance of making a GEM jar attachment? : ) There. That’s my two-cents worth.

By: Lane

Lane — Sun, 02 May 2010 17:54:25 +0000

Wendy, it sounds as if you might have the bag in to far. It sounds like your machine reached its max vac pressure and started the sealing process without actually sucking the bag (as the opening was not in the vacuum port tray). When you have to stop the sealing process I have found it is best to immediately open the unit to move the sealing strip away from the bag. And to open the bag in case it is almost hot enough to seal, and may, if allowed to remain against each other.

As to positive reviews, I am one of those guilty of not posting them. I have had 4 food savers and not a problem with any. All of my purchases after the original have been upgrades while passing my old ones on. I also use mine very, very much. Packaging my own meats, using it for cheeses, stoppers for cooking wine bottles, jar lid seal and using the various cannisters including for coffee beans. I have had a few of the cannisters fail (cracking) but have had no problem with any phase of customer service since day 1.
I would, and do, recommend the food saver product to anyone, as it is a money saving device if utilized properly!

By: Reed Walstad

Reed Walstad — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:46:55 +0000

Don’t buy the plastic containers, 1 1/2 2 1/2 qt ,after a few uses they crack at the bottom and leak , What a piece of Sh t ! And they don’t care according to Doug in custumer service , they got your money .

By: Wendy

Wendy — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 18:05:51 +0000

I came to this site because I was looking for some trouble-shooting tips. I just had 3 bags out of 15, so far, not vacuum the food. The vacuum activated (you can tell because of the very loud noise), but quit, and then sealed the bag even though I pressed and held the cancel button. I have used it about 4 times since purchase as I buy meat in large quantities and then freeze it. Does anyone have any suggestions about what I may be doing wrong? This is the 1st time this has happened.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 15:32:56 +0000

I have 2 different units for years and love them… Maybe people that have problems with them aren’t as smart as the machine itself!

By: Vicky

Vicky — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:07:53 +0000

I don’t believe that there is a lack of positive reviews. Quite frankly this product is garbage. Don’t buy one. Save your money and get a commercial one. Hopefully one that is not made in China. I have had 3 food savers. I don’t use them very often and I don’t use them very hard either. I have had one regular foodsaver that I bought at Sam’s that lasted the longest. Then when that died we bought the more expensive Gamesaver model. This lasted 13 months. We just got it replaced by the company with the same model and it has lasted me about 3 mos. I can say that with this latest one I think I may have sealed 4 dozen bags with it. I am very disappointed with these.

By: JOEL BAILEY

JOEL BAILEY — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 19:30:29 +0000

Just about every one of the cannisters cracked and are useless. The vacuum hose will not retract and virtually makes the entire unit useless. V3860. Recommend do not buy Foodsaver. Since purchased by Jarden, seems to have gone down.

By: Vicki L

Vicki L — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:07:06 +0000

I have now purchased three Foodsavers. Two model V2040. Neither one has worked. One never worked. The other does vacuum but will not seal. A very bad product. Not sure what to do now

By: custom woodwork

custom woodwork — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 03:01:12 +0000

It is true that sometimes one sided comments or reviews make a wrong impression of the product.There should be a logical and true review…so that the buyers can get a fair picture at large.