It's more than you want to spend but research the chamber style vac sealers
benefits in sealing liquids and cheap bags comparatively.   Vac master vp112 v vp112s 

I got mine at Costco in June for $60.  FM2100 model.  It works great and there's always Costco's return policy if anything goes on the fritz.  I buy the no name rolls of bag material off amazon.  About the same time I joined RD is when I picked this thing up, and no doubt the unit has easily paid for itself already.

I'd love a chamber sealer, but until then, I didn't see the benefit of stepping up to a higher $ model of foodsaver.

Food Saver is a good entry point. It's worked well for me storing homemade bacon and steaks.  There are higher end units. Been happy with my food saver.

Yeah, I know what you mean.   Costco had two models - one for $60 and one for about $160.  I can't really remember the differences, but I remember thinking that I wasn't sold on the additional value.

Westin makes one that's in between a food saver and a chamber sealer.  It's gotten really good reviews on Amazon and goes for about $380.

SciAggie said:

swordsmn said:

Bump to get a Texan some opinions...

Lol - thanks. You never know what folks are willing to talk about. 

That's funny - on this forum?  I haven't seen any limits yet.

SciAggie said:

@DMW I didn't want to get your ham thread off-topic; that's what prompted this thread. Would you mind elaborating some on why they all suck? I have zero experience with vacuum bagging. 

The comment was tongue in cheek, vacuum sealers suck the air out of the pack. I got mine on sale at Costco, have no opinions on one vs the other. However, from what I have read, if my Foodsaver ever dies, I'll spring for a chamber sealer. Which one? I have no idea.

Have your exact situation.   Foodsaver from Wally World has been flawless for our needs for going on 2 years. Anybody on the fence it's well worth it. I use it most for taking advantage of bulk meat prices then repacking into portions we use. 
I'm sure one can spend more but ours meets our needs. 

Chamber vacuum sealers are great but you have to use them a lot to justify that investment.  Try craigs list for a food saver, I have two that I only paid $20 for,  and got bags with them too.  Inexpensive way to get started and see if it works for you... you can always upgrade later. 

I have had Foodsavers since they first came out .Present model I have is V4880. I use it at least once a day .It has a small footprint on counter and when sealing does not waste a lot of bag at the end of bag and seal. That was a problem when they came out with auto machines and with V4800 series they corrected that . Being auto it can be a bit of a pain sometimes to get it to go into seal mode but I still really like it . You have to consider how you are going to use it,if you plan on packaging large amounts of meat at one time it could be a problem with the repetitive seal issue .It will shut down at some point to cool down and you have to wait for it to start again .Also if you want a chamber sealer you are limited by the size of the chamber as to how big a piece of meat you can seal .Chamber sealers are also LARGE and HEAVY .Search on chamber sealers and look at the specs ,you will be surprised at size and weight .You tube has some good videos .  Food saver has a nice marina tor   that you can get that works pretty well ,one drawback is that it is not real big but I always work something out .Just remember when you look at chamber sealers look at the dimensions of the chamber if you are going to buy .

I've had a vertical FoodSaver brand for years. It's black, don't know the model number. Only thing I use is the full width rolls. The smaller ones are mostly useless. It has a spot to connect a hose for vacuum containers, but I've never used one. Only part I don't like is that you have to put the end of the bag in just right for it to vacuum and seal the bag. I wish there was an override button to make it do it because sometimes at the end of the roll, the bag ends don't want to sit straight to hit the lever that activates the sealer.

I've had the foodsaver V3680 for about 5 years and would have the same comments already listed.  Love the pull out vac tube for the ziplock style bags and mason jars.  The first one took a crap after about a year and no prob on a replacement.  They actually ended up sending me two new ones by mistake and then said just keep both, SCORE.

I have a FoodSaver V2244 that I picked up on clearance from Cabela's a few years back.  I don't have one of the more expensive vac sealers to compare it to but for a home user who didn't have a vac sealer before this thing is really good.  I use it all the time for sealing cooked BBQ, raw steaks, hatch chilies, home made chicken stock, etc.  Two things to mention:

1.  You have to use the FoodSaver brand of bags.  The others don't work well.  They've got this special pattern on the inside that allow it to vacuum out the air better.  I can get them at Costco in bulk so it's not a huge deal to me.

2.  It doesn't freeze liquids very well.  If it's something really thick like spaghetti sauce it'll do it but something like chicken stock or gumbo I have to freeze it overnight in a Tupperware container first.  I run a little hot water on the outside to release it from the Tupperware and then bag it/vacuum seal it.

jtcBoynton said:

@jimithing     I freeze many things before sealing.  Liquid items, fruit, fish and most soft items should be frozen first and then vacuum sealed.  

Me too! Here's my little trick...I cut the bottom off a plastic glass which lets me pour a pint of soup in the bag in which I will seal first with a clamp, then freeze and then seal the next day. When freezing I lay and stack them flat so storage in the freezer will take up less space. Works for me and  this "glass" is probably 12 years old!