OT - vac sealer

chard

I am in the market and have done a search on here, which was helpful.  Leaning towards the vacmaster VP215 chamber sealer and wondering if anyone has any good or bad (leaving out the price tag) experiences to share.  Is it overkill/am I better off with the pro 350?  I am thinking the chamber sealer would open up some opportunities for marinades and soups, and I would hope last longer than the food saver machines I have been using (and replacing).  Thanks.   

ColtsFan

I have the Pro 350 and it's a beast compared to the foodsavers that I had. 110% satisfied with my decision 

Carolina Q

@Photo Egg

Photo Egg

I wanted ability to use wide bags and chose VacMaster Pro 380. No regret.

BGEChicago

@chard I have both the VP 350 and VP215.... The reason is when I seal bigger items like a pork belly it's impossible to do in the VP215.... Not trying to get you to spend all of your money both both is the perfect set up imho

mahenryak

+1 on what @BGEChicago said.  I have a similar setup except that my traditional sealer is a cheaper food saver model since I don't do too many over-sized meats.

RLS

@chard For my needs the VP350 is perfect. A step-up in build and material (and price) from a Foodsaver, but worth it for my needs. I seal food 2-3 times a month, at those times it may be 8-10 bags. One thing to consider is store room, my VP350 fits in the pantry, flipped on its back on the shelf. At 20 lbs. it is not too bad to haul in and out. The VP215 looks like its weight is 80lbs which for our set-up would require its own cart and I have no floor space for that. Sorry I could speak to the VP215 directly but I give the VP350 a yes vote. Hope this helps..

Rick

chard

Thanks for all of the feedback.  Went ahead and ordered the VP215 and will likely add a 350 down the road.  I have a spot for the 215 and got the blessing from the wife so I pounced.     

YukonRon

If you are egging a vac sealer is a must. With it just being my wife and I we are limited for space and we generally do not have much need for very large vacuum sealing components.
For us the el cheapo Costco Food Saver has been great for what we need.
We use it for leftovers, self butchering steaks, chops, chicken, and fish. Couple times per year we will use it to make bourbon slushies.
I would like to take the step up one day, but when 90% of your food can be cooked on a mMx these days with the children gone....at least we know it is great for the slushies.

lkapigian

BGEChicago said:

@chard I have both the VP 350 and VP215.... The reason is when I seal bigger items like a pork belly it's impossible to do in the VP215.... Not trying to get you to spend all of your money both both is the perfect set up imho

@BGEChicago - will this work on the VP215 ?

westernbbq

LEM MaxVac 1000

Bulletproof reliability

jeponline

YukonRon said:

If you are egging a vac sealer is a must. With it just being my wife and I we are limited for space and we generally do not have much need for very large vacuum sealing components.
For us the el cheapo Costco Food Saver has been great for what we need.
We use it for leftovers, self butchering steaks, chops, chicken, and fish. Couple times per year we will use it to make bourbon slushies.
I would like to take the step up one day, but when 90% of your food can be cooked on a mMx these days with the children gone....at least we know it is great for the slushies.

How does one make a bourbon slushie?

Canugghead

lkapigian said:

@BGEChicago - will this work on the VP215 ?

I figured it should work as long as the bag has air channels and the width is within 10.5" (width of vp215 sealing bar). Went ahead and tested it anyway and can confirm it works. Like the video says it's not as tight as chamber sealing since it's now operationg in foodsaver mode which also means you can't vac seal liquid.

lkapigian

Canugghead said:

lkapigian said:

@BGEChicago - will this work on the VP215 ?

I figured it should work as long as the bag has air channels and the width is within 10.5" (width of vp215 sealing bar). Went ahead and tested it anyway and can confirm it works. Like the video says it's not as tight as chamber sealing since it's now operationg in foodsaver mode which also means you can't vac seal liquid.

Thanks for confirming @Canugghead least we know it can be used for things that wont fit inside 

Canugghead

@lkapigian thanks to you for the 'nudge', always wanted to test this but procrastinated 

mahenryak

Yes.  Thank you @Canugghead .  Very good to know.

Canugghead

I should add... for oversized items I still prefer to use my old foodsaver. Two reasons:
1) sealing bar wider than vp215's
2) no need to elevate the item to vp215's height

BGEChicago

@lkapigian You guys find a hack for anything! I had to laugh when I saw this....  I don't know if @chard needs to use accessories like this one I use all the time

but I can confirm the VP215 does not have a port but the Pro350 does... I hated to have to buy 2 sealers but I use the container all the time to do a quick marinade. 

Thanks,
Greg

Canugghead

@BGEChicago Greg, this is how I marinade with vp215...



Same technique can be used to infuse fruit with alcohol, make quick pickle, etc. 

It's much 'stronger' than foodsaver marinator box.  How do I know? I discovered the marinator box works in the chamber too, no need for port and hose.  Trouble is, I went overboard (should have stopped manually sooner) and the pressure cracked the box 

BGEChicago

I've said it a million times... I learn something new every time I log on here... Thanks @Canugghead

YukonRon

jeponline said:

YukonRon said:

If you are egging a vac sealer is a must. With it just being my wife and I we are limited for space and we generally do not have much need for very large vacuum sealing components.
For us the el cheapo Costco Food Saver has been great for what we need.
We use it for leftovers, self butchering steaks, chops, chicken, and fish. Couple times per year we will use it to make bourbon slushies.
I would like to take the step up one day, but when 90% of your food can be cooked on a mMx these days with the children gone....at least we know it is great for the slushies.

How does one make a bourbon slushie?

The recipe is in this forum somewhere. I will look it up and send it to you. My Beautiful Wife got it at church.

Canugghead

edit: for short term storage of or marinating smaller items, I use 'free' plastic bags ( @Little Steven 's favourite) used for packaging milk here.

from an old post:

Just realised I can do this! Make sure you watch the gauge and don't let the needle go down more than 50%, if you don't want to crumple it    Even at 50% I could see the lid dip when the vacuum was released, scary! 

mahenryak

^Interesting Stuff^ 

BGEChicago

I have been thinking about what you posted today... It makes perfect sense, on my Pro using a container I can only pull to 17-18 hg even on the highest setting, but on the VP215 I can easily pull 29hg...

caliking

YukonRon said:

If you are egging a vac sealer is a must. With it just being my wife and I we are limited for space and we generally do not have much need for very large vacuum sealing components.
For us the el cheapo Costco Food Saver has been great for what we need.
We use it for leftovers, self butchering steaks, chops, chicken, and fish. Couple times per year we will use it to make bourbon slushies.
I would like to take the step up one day, but when 90% of your food can be cooked on a mMx these days with the children gone....at least we know it is great for the slushies.

Whatever you do, please don’t get the VP215 if it means SMALLER bags of slushies. I don’t think I could deal with that.