Looking to get my dad a vac seal for sausage and hamburger. Can you get a good reliable one for $200 or less? If not, what is the price point for one that isn't going to drive you insane using.

Food Saver should have plenty of good options under $200.

Anova Precision Pro is $99

https://anovaculinary.com/products/anova-precision-vacuum-sealer-pro

No idea how good it is. I have one of their immersion circulators and it's great.

I have a food saver and it works well. I don't think I've ever done more than a 3 or 4 seals in a row. If you buy a sealer that's under $200 you're probably gonna need to seal in batches. Not sure exactly what that number is, but I'd probably do groups of 5 seals then a 5 minute break in between. You might be able yo do more in a row, but not sure how many before you risk damage to your vaacuum pump(or whatever its called that removes the air).

What a lot of people do is put everthing in bags then start sealing. If you fill 5 bags then seal them, then fill 5 bags and seal them you'll have some cool down time in between built in to the process.

RCR06 said:

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I have a food saver and it works well. I don't think I've ever done more than a 3 or 4 seals in a row. If you buy a sealer that's under $200 you're probably gonna need to seal in batches. Not sure exactly what that number is, but I'd probably do groups of 5 seals then a 5 minute break in between. You might be able yo do more in a row, but not sure how many before you risk damage to your vaacuum pump(or whatever its called that removes the air).

What a lot of people do is put everthing in bags then start sealing. If you fill 5 bags then seal them, then fill 5 bags and seal them you'll have some cool down time in between built in to the process.

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This is good advice.

Sorry to derail slightly, but what's a good higher end sealer?

Chamber vac sealer.

Anova and Meat Your Maker are the brands I know of that make them. I'm sure there are lots more options.

Vac Master chamber sealer. Have had one a few years now. Will never go back to Foodsaver type

We got a Cabelas cg 15 probably 15 years ago, cost close to 400. Does 3-4 deer every year plus whatever we get on sale, and wild pigs. hasn't missed a beat in all that time. Finally ordered a new set of sealing gaskets this year. one of the better investments we've made along with nail guns! Don't know if anyone else has had any experience with the Lem MaxVac 250, but my wife got me one for our anniversary last year, don't know why. Lighter than the other one, but after about 100 seals on and off, got it out one day, would not power on. Can't find any fuses or overload trip switches. Can't get a response from Lem either. Might steer clear of them.

Foodsaver brand is solid and I've had one for many years at the house. The Amazon basics vacuum sealer is really solid and I'll probably get one of those whenever my foodsaver gives up the ghost. All vac sealers will get annoying after a couple years but you can replace the foam gaskets to bring them back. Bags are expensive, but if you're not going to be sealing a bunch at once they're fine.

To those asking about a chamber sealer, the Vacmaster vp215 is the way to go unless you want to go even bigger. VP215 the smallest Vacmaster chamber sealer that has replaceable parts which is why I chose mine. There's a VP200 or something that is maintenance free but I figured if I'm dropping damn near $1000 it's worth having the ability to replace all the parts whenever they eventually fail instead of replacing the whole thing. I've had it for 7? years and it's a beast on our big process weekends where we're sealing upwards of 700 lbs of meat.

Vac Master. I have the VP215 but they make bigger and smaller ones. Use it all the time. It's expensive, but worth it if you make your own sausage, or buy lots of an item when on sale.

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/ary-vacmaster-vp215-chamber-vacuum-packaging-machine-with-10-1-4-seal-bar/120VMASVP215.html?gclid=CjwKCAiAkfucBhBBEiwAFjbkr2fFuzKHB1gTYxZtbxzQ3J5Nc-qc89BsgNsvhqxUbOsFyFa5CIn3MhoCHWwQAvD_BwE