My vacuum sealer journey

[TwinStick]

Around 1990 I purchased my first vacuum sealer. It was purchased in W big box store mart. It lasted about 2 years & died. Didn't really like it and it wasted a lot of bag.

Next I purchased the biggest Professional sealer from Cabelas. It was awesome & lasted up until recently. I guess that's about 20-25 years, which is awesome. I replaced the seal tape & gaskets & it still doesn't work well at all.

Which brings me to today. I have been wanting a commercial grade chamber vacuum sealer for a long time but I simply can't afford the one I want. So I ended up buying the LEM MaxVac 1000. Will arrive in 10 days or so. Hopefully it is a big upgrade from what I had. Person I dealt with was so helpful, nice and polite & was able to answer every question I had before the order.

I will update this post after some use time with it.

Vacuum pump is still strong on the Cabelas machine but the seal bar had to be pressed 4x & still wouldn't seal good.

 

[TwinStick]

Well, that was fast. It arrived Saturday evening. Box was in perfect condition, surprisingly. Last thing I ordered, box was totally destroyed, in 2 pieces with about half a roll of packaging tape holding it together. I was amazed that everything was in there. Upon removal I saw that Teeter taped the small parts bags & ziptied them to the frame.



This one is 880 watts, vs the 225 watts of my old Cabelas Professional. Seal heat strip is much wider too, plus they include an extra heat seal strip & an extra heat tape strip to cover the heat seal strip. Roll holder/cutter is easily removed & has its own rubber non skid feet. Fan turns on when machine is turned on, which is probably why they claim "10 hours & 1000 seals, but the manual says wait 15-30 seconds between seals. Power cord is removable, for flush back countertop storage. Resetable circuit breaker.

 

[TwinStick]

So, this new sealer works awesome. So much faster than the old one, even when it was new. It sealed in 3 seconds or less once the sealing light comes on. I just did 8 bags, so that is 16 seals. Heat bar was not even hot to the touch afterwards. Fan seems to be continuous, which is fine by me. It's not loud at all.

Hope this helps some people who are just getting into vacuum sealing or people like me who wanted to up their game. I wish I would have known before spending $130 on the first one and $400 on the second one. Nothing worse than having to throw freezer burnt food away & literally seeing your money go in the garbage. I have a neighbor that tinker's like I used to, so he was happy to have my old Cabelas one, to see if he can fix the heat seal strip.

 

[BritKLR]

Interesting. I've always been curious about heat/vacuum sealers. Thanks!

 

[SBSYNCRO]

Very similar story here. Though I wasted more money on the FoodSaver units from Costco before getting serious. I'm hoping my 7-year old Cabela's Professional 15" stainless steel unit lasts until I can afford the Vacmaster VP215 I've been eyeing for 10+ years.... I will say that I have beat the hell out of the Cabela's unit, using it several times every year to process several hundred pounds of fish fillets in 100+º heat in Baja - one bag after another in "factory line" fashion (one guy gutting and gilling, one guy filleting, one guy rinsing and bagging, and the last guy vacuum sealing and placing into the freezer. Never overheated and hasn't failed me yet.

 

[concretejungle]

I've had pretty good luck with the foodSaver from Costco! Every once in a while I will get a bag that doesn't seal completely, but that is probably 10% of the time. Love having this thing though.

My last big trip that lasted about 3.5 weeks, I ran a fridge and then ran my other fridge in freezer mode. I prepared a bunch of food, put it into vacuum seal bags and froze it. I was able to toss that evening's dinner into the fridge so it slowly thawed out and was ready to be warmed up in the evening for an easy dinner.

 

[Ragman]

I use one quite often, not only for overlanding but bulk buys, breaking down larger cuts etc. I still use a GameSaver from FoodSaver that I have had for quite a while and, when I bought it, came with a lifetime warranty. I use it for smaller, quicker jobs as it is light and easy to maneuver. I also have a larger LEM that is able to do a lot more bags without having to take a cool down but I don't use it often as it is heavy to pull out for smaller stuff. The only thing I don't love about the LEM is that the seal tapes seem to get "kinks" in them and that impacts the seal and I find they need to be replaced pretty often, especially the lower one. Mine is an older model so might not be the same now but that thing is a workhorse.

 

[TwinStick]

So, the LEM MAX VAC 1000 is still working awesome. Also just picked up the 500 max vac for my mother. Haven't used it yet but will soon. I have to show her how. Now she will be able to make batches of food, portion it and freeze it. It will save her time and food in the long run.

 

[workerdrone]

I have something similar to it, it's great, definitely another level from the plasticky walmart sealers. You can dial in the suction and also the sealing times, nice wide seals, feels built to last forever.

If you think you're going to be doing a LOT of sealing or want to be able to seal liquids (soups, chili...) well, check out the chamber vacuum sealers.

They start at a few hundred dollars and are bigger/bulkier/heavier, but can use much cheaper bags (don't need the ribbed plastic version) so the more you seal, the more the price comes down I guess.