First I have to say I just love vacuum sealing food. There are only two of us so when we buy meat I seal it in packages for one meal at a time. The booklet says meat will stay fresh that way for up to two years in the freezer. I bought a cheaper Seal-A-Meal from Walmart first to see if I would use it much. Well, I used it so much plastic parts started falling off so I moved up to a Food Saver V-3820. (38 not 28). It's big and fancy and has a hose to seal bowls that you can buy (one came with it). Personally, I liked my Seal-A-Meal better.

The bags take up much less room in the freezer.

You can freeze blueberries, etc., on a cookie sheet and then bag them.

Same with bread, cookies, etc. I made the mistake of trying to freeze banana bread without freezing it first and ended up with a ball of bread. Not pretty.

Any leftovers are great sealed and then POOF'd for a quick dinner. There are only two of us, but I always make a ton of soup just so I can bag it by portions big enough for the two of us for a meal. Nothing better than coming home on a cold day and having a warm bowl of homemade soup without any effort.

I think they were invented for small families who tend to have lots of leftovers. It's one of the appliances I would not want to give up EVER!

I have a slightly older FoodSaver brand and love it. Its simple to use and really helps in avoiding waste. By the way, the last time I used it was to seal up dried ingredients in one dish, one meal packages for my DH's hike on the Appalachian Trail. We even repackaged stuff that came in bigger packages. I do not use the pre-sized bags. Instead I use the continuous rolls so I can make the sizes I need.

Since all the Foodsaver brands work about the same, I think any of the models would be fine. There is a bit of a learning curve, but once you figure that out it's not a problem. I've had two quit on me and immediately went out to replace them. (I just wore them out I guess!) It's my most-used appliance next to the fridge/freezer and has saved me countless dollars because I no longer throw food out. (We use this at least 4-6 times a day; more if I'm putting away food for the freezer.) The V2840 models looks like the latest version that holds bags, cuts bags and includes a retractable hose for sealing lids onto canning jars, or using their cannisters. (Personally, I've not had good luck with the cannisters, so prefer wide-mouth canning jars.) It's also more vertical, taking less counter space. The biggest issue I think most people have who don't understand how much they'll be using it, is when they don't leave it out on their counter. Giving it prime counter space is key to getting the most out of a Foodsaver.

I recently pulled a skirt steak from 2007 out of the freezer that was sealed in a bag. It grilled tasting as fresh as if I'd just bought it.

Linda, you don't have one of these yet? I bet you'd love it...they are perfect for small households.

I also have the older model of the Food Saver white plastic version, (they now come in SS upright models). Can't say enough good things about it. We are a family of 4 and use it frequently. We buy in bulk and cut up our family size portions of meats vac, seal and into the freezer it goes. We freeze berries, veggies, meatballs, individually on cookie sheets and then vac into needed portions. We also place the sealed bags in simmering water and cook produce that way. Well worth the money. NancyLouise

Here's another believer! I think they are well worth the money - talking about the FoodSaver brand. I like to put pint canning jars in the large cannister and seal them for nuts and seeds. The cannister does the sealing then you take the sealed jar out of the cannister for pantry or freezer storage. For freezing meat for one person, I put the meat in a cheap sandwich bag and then seal in the FS bag. This way the FS bag is not contaminated with meat juices and can be reused.

The thing is: keep the FoodSaver unit out on a countertop where you will see it and use it! Stored in a closet is not going to help you all that much.

Teresa

Another FS aficianado here. When we remodeled the kitchen, we had an outlet installed behind a bottom cabinet wall and the food safer lives in the drawer - we just pull open the drawer, put the FS on the counter, and return it to the drawer, we don't have to plug/unplug it.

I wish the canisters were such POS, I found they cracked, each and every one.

I want to know if those of you who have "the real deal", not the cheap-o Ziploc version as I have owned, do you have any difficulty getting a good seal if there is liquid in the bag? The cheap one definitely can't seal when there is sauce/gravy with it.

I've had a Food Saver for about 8 years so I can't comment on newer models. All those fancy things like marinating bowls, cannisters, etc either came with it or I bought and then gave away.
But I love the Food Saver. We buy chicken, pork chops, steaks on sale and seal them individually, then I can thaw just what I need.
We buy ground beef on sale, brown it and seal in 1 lb packs to be pulled out for quick tacos, spaghetti, etc.
When I can find chuck roast on sale, I buy about 20 pounds and have the butcher grind it. Then I make hamburgers (using a 3" cookie cutter)and freeze individually.
Even our limited usage makes the initial investment well worth while.

I just got one and so far I'm kind of underwhelmed. All my beef already comes shrink wrapped/vacumn packed, so that's not an issue. I can't food saver any soft fruit without freezing it first, so it's twice as much time and freezer space for trays of berries, etc. and since I have a chest type freezer I'm balancing trays of sweet cherries, etc. on top of other foods.

the first one didn't work at all and I returned it. this one works, but it's still a PIA. Of course, I've only used it a couple of times and I don't have any of the containers, etc. yet. I haven't figured out how the heck to use it with canning jars.

Annie

I have the upright SS version of Food Saver and use it a lot. I use resealable FS bags for cheese and cold cuts but use the roll when I want to make a very large bag. As for liquid, there is a setting for moist food, and that seems to work well for me. If you are storing something that is all liquid, you can use a regular Ziplock bag and tilt it as you are closing it to get all the air out - that's what I do with stock. For salsa, I use a jar and the jar sealing attachment, which works with Ball type canning lids. The fresh salsa that I make will last at least three times as long this way, and so I can make larger batches.

I'm also very happy with how it keeps tortillas. I have to place paper between each tortilla before storing, however, or else they will stick together. Sliced cheese and some meats need that as well. When I make a large bag that I want to reseal, I have to make it quite a bit longer at first because I lose about 1-1/2" every time I open it. It does a good job with bacon also, but I have to use the moist food setting for that.

I very much recommend this product, if you want to store things for longer than normal.

Lars

I bought a FS about five or six years ago. I just about had to put all of my weight on the thing to make it seal so I have not been pleased. I don't know about the newer upright ones. I just learned other methods of keeping my food fresh longer and don't use the FS any more. If I had a large family or bought a half beef or pork at a time it might be different.

We bought the model Costco carried ....a s/s upright. We didn't care for it and wound up ordering the FoodSaver GameSaver Turbo Plus. It's been great.

I've owned 3 FoodSavers over 20+ years and wouldn't be without one.

1. It will serve you best if you can find a permanent place for it in your kitchen, rather than stored away someplace. I have a rolling cart with the FoodSaver on the top - ready-to-go. The canisters, rolls of bags, jar sealer, Universal Lids, assortment of canning jars, Sharpie for marking bags, etc. are all located on the cart in decorative baskets. I also have a pair of scissors on the cart for cutting off and opening bags.

2. When you seal canning jar lids (aka flats) on canning jars, the lids need to be pre-soaked in order to soften the sealing compound. How to: Bring water to boil, then turn off. Pre-soak lids 5-10 minutes. Dry and vacuum seal on jars. If you are careful when removing the lids (don't bend them), they CAN be reused.

3. I freeze soup, spaghetti sauce, Sloppy Joe mixture, and lots of other things in plastic containers. I freeze other liquids (broth, yogurt I use as a starter for new batches of homemade yogurt, fruit puree, etc.) in ice cube trays. As soon as these foods are frozen I pop the contents out of the plastic containers or ice cube trays. Stack the "cubes" and place like-kind things in one FoodSaver bag and seal shut. These foods will keep longer, no more frost in the containers, and you can free-up your plastic containers for other things.

You can also quick-freeze casseroles, pop them out of the baking dish, vacuum seal. When ready to use, place the frozen casserole into the baking dish when you are ready to thaw or reheat it.

4. I like to quick-freeze many things (berries, sliced onion/peppers mixture, cooked beans, etc.) in a single layer on a cookie sheet (I cover my cookie sheet with a Silpat so the foods don't stick and I roll the Silpat up and use it like a funnel to fill bags). When I fill FoodSaver bags, I keep the bag flat with the opening to the side, and fill the food in one single layer in the bag, then vacuum-seal shut. I "file" these bags in plastic baskets in my freezer. It's easy to flip through the vegetable basket and pull out what you need.

When you store foods in a single layer, open the bag, give the bag a tap and the mixture will break apart into user-friendly amounts. Take out what you need, then reseal the bag. Quick freezing things will keep them more-or-less separated.

5. Vacuum-seal chocolate chips in a jar or canister, rather than in a bag. The tight vacuum seal will fuse the chips together, while they will remain free-flowing in a jar. Lots of things will store better if they are free-flowing (ground coffee, marshmallows, chips, cookies, crackers, nuts, coconut....)

6. When you vacuum-seal fine granulated products such as flour, powdered milk, confectioners' sugar, or cornstarch, use canisters or glass canning jars. Cut a small circle out of a paper towel, or use a round flat coffee filter, exactly the size of the opening of the canister or glass jar. Fill the container, and tap it lightly on a softer surface, such as a dish towel placed on your counter, to settle the contents. Then place a paper towel circle on top of the contents to keep any fine particles from swirling up to the container rim and breaking the vacuum.

7. DO NOT pack flour tightly in a FoodSaver bag. There is enough moisture in flour to allow it to develop a mildew flavor when compressed in a bag. Keep the flour free-flowing in a jar or canister.

8. Make Gifts-in-a-Jar type mixes in quart canning jars and seal them shut with the Jar Sealer. The contents will keep "fresh" longer.

9. I use jars for storing home-dehydrated foods. For long-term storage, I use a canning jar and a jar lid. When these foods are moved from storage to pantry use, I'll replace the canning lid with a FoodSaver Universal Lid. These lids are easy to open and reseal. You can use Universal Lids on anything that has a smooth lip - such as a can of ground coffee.

10. If you store food that has a sharp bone, use a wad of plastic wrap to cover the bone so it doesn't penetrate through the bag.

11. Check all jars periodically to make sure the sealed lid hasn't failed. Once you have a lid sealed on a jar, you DO NOT need to use the ring.

12. Pre-freeze as many things as possible before vacuum-sealing. Pre-freezing will help to assure you avoid drawing in liquid into the vacuum.

13. You CAN partially vacuum a bag and then seal the bag, leaving air inside the bag. My SIL learned this process when she vacuum-sealed a loaf of banana bread into a pancake. She quickly learned to freeze the bread, THEN partially remove the air before vacuum-sealing it. Crunchy cookies are another item you don't want to completely vacuum or you'll end up with cookie "dust". I have several FoodSaver storage containers. You place things that would get smashed into the containers and then place the container in a bag and vacuum-seal.

14. I purchase pre-frozen grass-fed beef from a friend and I vacuum-seal all the packages into FoodSaver bags. Just remember, the FoodSaver is NOT designed for doing large amounts, so if you have a LOT of vacuum-sealing to do, be sure to do it in small batches, giving the machine a chance to cool off between batches of sealing.

-Grainlady

To reinforce what has already been said, it is one of the most used small appliances in my kitchen. I use the Ball jars with the jar sealing attachments. I use the hand held FS most often. I also use the punch a hole in the lid and electrical tape method.

A tip I learned from Peppi--when I use FS bags, I put the food in one of those plastic bags that you put veggies in at the grocery store then put the bagged food in a FS bag. This keeps the bag clean.

Yahoo has Food Saver Group that I signed up for. In the last year I have learned some tips from the group members.

In fact a vacuum sealer is not a vacuum sealer, it is just an air remover/sealer.

Water boils at room temperature and freezes under vacuum.

It is a very useful tool in the kitchen for preventing freezer burn of food.

In order not to have another appliance on the kitchen counter, and pay for those special bags, I have been using regular vegetable bags and a cordless vacuum cleaner to accomplish the same thing.

dcarch

Wow Grainlady. That's all I can say. You've done an amazing job. I am printing that out as a guide. I am another in a small households who like to make plenty of one dish, eat a portion and freeze the rest for other times (I can't eat leftovers for a week). Great tips, and I am in awe!

-Robin

I would not be without it. they are great for larger familys to buy in bulk and small ones to have ready meals after cooking a "batch". I sealed up pot roast, italian beef and veggie packs last night. I also seal all meats, evn the sealed ones from the butcher. The pack may look like it is vacuumed but most are just a heat seal. Frost will burn into those.

Yes, Annie, the prefreeze is increasing the amount of time but well worth it. Frosty items in a zip bag are nasty, and I can always find something to do while the items are pre-freezing. I come home from shopping, toss it in the freezer and vac-pack when I have time. Waiting a week won't hurt the item.

Why are you putting the fruit on trays? Toss in a bag, then just let them defrost a few minutes and bust them loose to FS bag them.

Thanks guys! I'll pass the word on....sounds like the food saver is the way to go...
Perhaps it should be called a negative air pressure sealer, but that sounds as pedantic as calling a sweeper a partial vacuum sweeper.
Are there different qualities to the bags available for them? I know ordinary plastic bags are more air permeable than, say for example those labeled "freezer bags" Are there "generic" bags for a food saver?
Linda C

Peppi, I tried that with strawberries. By the time they thawed enough to break them apart, they were too juicy to seal up, and if I just break the frozen berries into chunks with a meat mallet, the lumps and bumps keep them from stacking at all. Plus these were the berries that had already been frozen on a tray, sealed, came unsealed and got sealed again, so they were pretty mushed up. If I have to use a ziplock bag inside a foodsaver bag, I might as well go buy strawberries when I want them already frozen at the grocery store because I'm not saving either time or money.

I haven't had it long enough to collect the produce bags yet and I still haven't been able to make the !@#$% thing seal a canning jar.

So far it has certainly not earned any of my precious permanent counter space, although Dave has his eye on it for venison packaging come November.

Oh, and those three packages of canadian bacon? All unsealed. Sigh.

Annie

Maybe I am in the minority but I don't love mine. I spent most of my hard earned garage sale money on it about three years ago. It is (or was) the Costco version.

About the only thing I regularly use it for is to seal lettuce in the canisters. It does do a good job of keeping the lettuce fresh longer.

As far as meat, I have come to to the conclusion that there is very little difference in the taste/texture of meat that is sealed in a FS bag vs a ziploc bag. Especially if it is only in the freezer 2-3 months. Frankly, I wouldn't keep meat much longer than that because my freezer is not that big.

Another big turnoff for me is all the "pre-freezing" I have to do. So, if I make up hamburger patties, I have to pre-freeze them on a cookie sheet (isn't that just exposing them to air?) and then vacuum seal them. Same thing for any baked goods. Even freezing plain ground beef or a juicy steak -- you have to either pre-freeze or put a paper towel in the bag to soak up the "juice" -- or else risk breaking your machine.

I like to make muffins, banana bread and cookies and freeze them. How can I even do this with my FS without it crushing the daylights out of my baked goods?

Last year, online somewhere, I found a suggestion to elevate your foodsaver when dealing with foods with a high liquid content. I've found that it works very well. I have a vertical FS that I elevate 3 inches or so using a couple of cookbooks.

This past weekend we put 60 qts of butter beans and pink eyed peas in the freezer. My wife covers them with water and adds a couple of strips of bacon and cooks until tender. I make my bags and fold the edges over approximately 3 inches to create a cuff. After filling them with the peas/beans, I then add a ladle of the juice. I then unfold the cuffs which prevented the sealing edge from getting any of the food on the sealing area. When the bag is inserted into the FS, the clamps hold the bag in place and I allow the weight of the bag to pull the bag tight over the lip of the FS. The vacuum will pull the liquid up to the edge of the lip but very little makes it into the tray. I only had to empty the tray once while processing and then clean it when finished.

By doing it this way, I am able to have a nice flat bag that stacks easily. The consistant size and shape make freezer organization much easier.

I put my food on trays, so I can pre-freeze (about 30 minutes) and then seal. Having it dry out for a modest amount of time in the freezer is ideal for some things. I find meat doesn't oxidize and turn brown inside the bag if I freeze it first, whereas it does if I don't. I don't want a lot of freezing and thawing, and if you can pack the contents loosely without additional moisture, pouring out what you need is ideal, especially if it's things like sliced fruit or bacon slices.

stir fryi, I freeze muffins, cookies, sweet breads (sliced, not whole), etc. all the time. But you have to pre-freeze them. If that's a problem, I can see why this wouldn't suit you. I don't mind though, especially when I can pull something out months (and even years like that skirt steak) later and there's no issues with the food.

bamahostaman, that's a good tip about elevating your VS.

I just figure if I went to the trouble of making real food, and making it well, I want to save it so it will be eaten in its entirety. It's another process. Does it save time? No, not while I'm doing it. But it sure saves time when I don't have to cook again so soon, and the food tastes as fresh as when I made it.

I suspect those of you who don't love it, simply have a different method or means of food preservation. Certainly a different style of cooking. It's great for my particular lifestyle, because I don't always have the energy to cook when people are hungry; but I can always pull something out of the freezer that people are happy to eat!

No, Claire, I don't love it because I cannot get the damned thing to work more than half the time. It seals the bags, which then come unsealed in the freezer. Or it doesn't seal at all. Or it seals one out of 10. And I still can't figure out how to seal a canning jar, I've had 100% fail rate on that with both the old machine which malfunctioned and the new machine which is its replacement.

And, in spite of the advice to cut the bags bigger so I can reuse them, I haven't been able to reseal a single bag, no matter how many times I've tried.

And yes, it's the FoodSaver brand, not a cheap knock off. I was optimistic enough about the thing that I got a replacement when the first one didn't work, but I'm thinking I should have just gotten the money back.

Annie

Annie, if that was my experience, I'd feel the same way as you!