I burnt out my vacuum sealer last year processing my venison, made it nearly 10 years so I'm not too disappointed.

But now I'm looking for a new option. Obviously not looking for anything overly fancy just something that I can package about 30-50 packages in a single working cycle. And something I don't have to hold closed to make it work.

I got o e from Cabella's and it has lasted pretty good! I do a double seal.
Edit: Here is the sealer we got.
https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/cabelas-15-pro-series-dual-voltage-vacuum-sealer

My son got me a Foodsaver for Christmas and damn, I love that thing! I'm sealing **** all over the place.

Don't know if it would be industrial enough for what you are doing, but it works great.

Yep I've packaged quite a bit of meat, fish and peas.

I had a Food Saver and it never had great suction and the pump always sounded like it was dying. It took 4 o 5 years to die, but it did. I upgraded to a Nesco VS-12 a year ago and now I'm wishing I should have bought it from the get-go. Much tighter vacuum seal, dual heat strips, and it seems to get hotter to melt the plastic better. Just overall much nicer than my Food Saver. I'd recommend Nesco.

You didn't mention a budget but if you don't mind spending a little extra, you should look into chamber vacuum sealers. They will seal pretty much everything with little extra effort. Including liquids.

I have a chamber vac. bags are cheaper. but unit is much more expensive and takes up much more room.

Anyone have a chamber vac they want to part with?

We got a Cabelas cg 15 probably 12 years ago, still going strong. Wonderful thing is its size, will seal 15 inch bags instead of the smaller 13s. May replace the chamber seals, need to moisten them to seal as good as it used to, but it is a sealing son of a gun. Wife got me a Lem sealer for Xmas this year, used it a few times this weekfor some chuck roasts ( local store had a nice sale 3.99 lb) and it works very well also, although I'm not sure on the lock it has to hold it closed while sealing. But you said you were looking for that feature, sooo. 199.00 at Atwoods.

gumgardener said:

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You didn't mention a budget but if you don't mind spending a little extra, you should look into chamber vacuum sealers. They will seal pretty much everything with little extra effort. Including liquids.

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By not overly fancy I was referring to the chamber versions, I couldn't recall the name of them though, it was late.

I just don't have anywhere to keep something like that and don't feel like id use it enough to make economic sense

I just don't want something that I have to provide the pressure to create the seal...the first one my parents had back in the day you had to press down on two buttons to seal and when your doing 50 bags it gets down right painful.

Mine I really liked but it was a bit bulky and when it started smoking i figured probably wasn't the best to keep using in the house.

We recently replaced our old Food Saver (which I loathed) with a new, upgraded Food Saver. The new version is great, and you don't have to hold the bar down once you lock it and press vacuum/seal.

I got tired of replacing mine every few years, so I shelled out a bit more cash for one on the industrial level. I ended up getting a Weston Pro-2300 from amazon. The thing is a beast and works great.

However, it looks like inflation has bumped the cost a little.

My Foodsaver has a lock that has to be engaged before it will vac and seal. Going on 15 years with it now and it still works like a champ.

I've got a FoodSaver GameSaver Big Game for several years and has worked great for a couple elk, deer, and antelope...if it ever bites the dust I'll get w chamber vac but no complaints so far.

I have a vacmaster chamber vac. Hardly use it. But don't want to get rid of it.

Because one day, I will indeed kill a deer. One day.

Maybe you should start renting it out?

RushHour said:

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I had a Food Saver and it never had great suction and the pump always sounded like it was dying. It took 4 o 5 years to die, but it did. I upgraded to a Nesco VS-12 a year ago and now I'm wishing I should have bought it from the get-go. Much tighter vacuum seal, dual heat strips, and it seems to get hotter to melt the plastic better. Just overall much nicer than my Food Saver. I'd recommend Nesco.

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Maybe it was just a lemon, or possibly we have different models.

I've had no issues at all with suction or sealing. In fact, in some cases, I have to manually switch to sealing before the vacuum is finished because its just crushing ****

Lonestar_Ag09 said:

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I burnt out my vacuum sealer last year processing my venison, made it nearly 10 years so I'm not too disappointed.

But now I'm looking for a new option. Obviously not looking for anything overly fancy just something that I can package about 30-50 packages in a single working cycle. And something I don't have to hold closed to make it work.

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This is going to be your issue. Pretty sure most of the standard vacuum sealers on the market in the sub $200 range aren't going to do 30-50 packages in a cycle, assuming your talking about the overheating on a food saver and having to wait 10 minutes or whatever. If that isn't a big deal, and it's not for me (i just work in batches to give it time to cool) then I'm a +whatever for the $100ish foodsaver. Been using mine regularly for 8ish years. On top of things like venison we typically buy meat in bulk, for example tenderloins, portion out our filets and vacuum seal them. So gets a lot of use, smaller and larger jobs.

htxag09 said:

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Lonestar_Ag09 said:

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I burnt out my vacuum sealer last year processing my venison, made it nearly 10 years so I'm not too disappointed.

But now I'm looking for a new option. Obviously not looking for anything overly fancy just something that I can package about 30-50 packages in a single working cycle. And something I don't have to hold closed to make it work.

---

This is going to be your issue. Pretty sure most of the standard vacuum sealers on the market in the sub $200 range aren't going to do 30-50 packages in a cycle, assuming your talking about the overheating on a food saver and having to wait 10 minutes or whatever. If that isn't a big deal, and it's not for me (i just work in batches to give it time to cool) then I'm a +whatever for the $100ish foodsaver. Been using mine regularly for 8ish years. On top of things like venison we typically buy meat in bulk, for example tenderloins, portion out our filets and vacuum seal them. So gets a lot of use, smaller and larger jobs.

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The last food saver I had as I said lasted close to 10 years in this fashion, I dont do 50 packages back to back but they are usually all done in the same day with breaks taken in between to switch what stages im in, load more bags, and give the machine a break from time to time.

The machine I am replacing was in use and began having smoke come out of the housing in the back...I ran it outside just in case so if it caught fire I could use a water hose. The next day I plugged it back in and tried it and the smoke began again so it wasnt just an over heating issue, something went out in the motor was my assumption.

I bought this one about four years ago and have absolutely loved it. Zero issues other than losing the power cord once (it's a standard 3 prong, so I just stole a cord off of something else. Come to think of it, that might be my issue...)



Avid Armor A100

Maybe I missed a budget, but pricing can get pretty high. For several years (before I got big into hunting) I had a foodsaver for basic items and it worked fine. About 5 years ago I started using it more and it didn't work as well as I had hoped so I got a Weston Commercial Grade Sealer and it works great. I recently got more into sous vide cooking and canning pickles, okra, etc. as well as spice rubs and larger pieces of meat, and I got tired of getting the Weston out all the time, so I splurged on a Vacmaster Chamber Sealer. It's pretty expensive but it works incredibly well and I can seal up quite a few mason jars at a time without the whole boiling process so it's pretty convenient. It takes up quite a bit of counter space so I made a spot in my garage for both sealers and still use them both regularly. I'd recommend both of them, but really depends on what you're trying to do and what your budget is.