Reynolds Handi-Vac Vacuum Sealer

[GB]

Check out Walmart and Target Jenny. I got that from this page.

Can you use canisters or just bags? I love my Foodsaver, but only use the bags about 5% of the time. I use canisters the other 95%.

[pacanis]

Yes. I read that Wally World and Target has them the cheapest, even from online sources.
The funny thing I saw on Amazon, is that they suggest puchasing this item along with Foodsaver bags (the roll). You would think they would offer more bags associated with this sealer since it only comes with three. Apparently people are buying the FS bags from them at the same time, so they think they go together. I'll bet a lot of people who own one have both.
One reviewer said the bags for the Reynolds vaccuum came out to 100-150% cheaper than the FS bags...

[Corey123]

Originally Posted by jennyema

Corey

People on Chowhound rave about this thing. But when I asked about it at my Stop and Shop they looked at me like I had 2 heads (i do, but they didn't have to stare ...)

Where have you seen them?

Sorry about that. I should have said exactly where. Seems as though most of the supermarket chains aren't hip to this revolutionary new gadget yet.

Try one of the Shaw's supermarkets. That's where I got mine from in my area, along with the bags. They're in the food wraps / food storage bags section.

Pacanis;

The FS bags themselves stay sealed. But for some unknown baffling reason (and still unexplainable), the bags just flat out lose their air-tight sealings and the food that you've packaged in them starts to move around inside the bag. As though you've sealed the bag but didn't vacuum seal it at all.

I made sure that they were very tight around the food before placing them in the freezer, but later on, the tightness is completely gone from the bag!

One answer could be that the heating strip may have started to fail prematurely.

When I had the Tilia 550, the vacuum seal worked, but the heat strip just wouldn't seal the bag. I only had that machine for three years, and even before that, I've had a hard time getting the thing to work properly, yet I did everything by the book.

Now, I suspect that the same thing is happening all over again with the Kenmore unit. So I think that the heat strip is the culprit. Either it just won't work, or the thing STARTS to seal the bags but doesn't complete the job, hence the bags working themselves loose and breaking the air-tight vacuum seal in the freezer.

Callisto in NC;

Yes. I listen mainly for the sound of the unit. It starts off with a slight labor,
then there is a sudden increase in the pitch of the motor. You will then see the bag begin to shrink and draw up around the food. Soon as I hear the motor begin to labor again, I release the on button.

Hey, I even went on a vacuum sealing spree just a while ago, sealing up frozen vaggies and even two larg muffins that were already frozen but not ruined yet. This little thing is amazing!

I went online to try to find it at Target, but all I got was the run-around.

ATTENTION, EVERYONE:

For those of you who don't already know, if you decide to get the machine, please use only the bags that are made for use with the machine.

Do NOT try to use Tilia, Kenmore, Glad, Ziplock nor the stores' own brand. They will not work. Hence the patent pending being filed to discourage companies from infringing on the copyright.

[jpmcgrew]

Ive seen them at Kmart

[jennyema]

Originally Posted by pacanis

Yes. I read that Wally World and Target has them the cheapest, even from online sources.

One reviewer said the bags for the Reynolds vaccuum came out to 100-150% cheaper than the FS bags...

I'll head over to Target or Shaws. The WalMart nearest to me (Weymouth) is about as well-kept at the Superdome during Hurricane Katrina, so I refuse to go there.

How can anything be 100%-150% cheaper?

[Callisto in NC]

Originally Posted by jennyema

I'll head over to Target or Shaws. The WalMart nearest to me (Weymouth) is about as well-kept at the Superdome during Hurricane Katrina, so I refuse to go there.

How can anything be 100%-150% cheaper?

If a foodsaver bag 50cents costs and the Reynolds bags cost 25cents each, the Reynolds bags would be 150% cheaper.

Corey123 ~ I was not specifically addressing you in regards to the sound. I was making a statement for the others.

I made sure that they were very tight around the food before placing them in the freezer, but later on, the tightness is completely gone from the bag!

This makes it sound like it's happening every time which is not my experience. It's happened a couple of times, but not every time.

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by Callisto in NC

If a foodsaver bag 50cents costs and the Reynolds bags cost 25cents each, the Reynolds bags would be 150% cheaper...

Actually, they would be 50% cheaper. 25 cents is 50% of 50 cents.

100% cheaper would be free. 150% cheaper would mean the store is giving you 25 cents per bag to take them.

[pacanis]

Originally Posted by jennyema

How can anything be 100%-150% cheaper?

If you read the reviews at Amazon you can see one reviewer's explaination.
I'm not sure how the numbers work exactly, my SBA advisor explained it to me about six years ago, but it has to do something with the difference between markup and margin I think. If I buy something for $1.00 and sell it for $1.50, I look at it as 50% markup, but really I'm selling it for 150% of its cost. Maybe that's how that reviewer was looking at it. Perhaps I should have said the FS bags were 100-150% more, rather than the Reynolds bags were 100-150-% cheaper....
Something like that

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by pacanis

If you read the reviews at Amazon you can see one reviewer's explaination.
I'm not sure how the numbers work exactly, my SBA advisor explained it to me about six years ago, but it has to do something with the difference between markup and margin I think. If I buy something for $1.00 and sell it for $1.50, I look at it as 50% markup, but really I'm selling it for 150% of its cost. Maybe that's how that reviewer was looking at it. Perhaps I should have said the FS bags were 100-150% more, rather than the Reynolds bags were 100-150-% cheaper....
Something like that

Right!

The FS bags are 50% more, making the total price of the FS bags 150% of the Reynolds bag price.

[Corey123]

Originally Posted by Callisto in NC

If a foodsaver bag 50cents costs and the Reynolds bags cost 25cents each, the Reynolds bags would be 150% cheaper.

Corey123 ~ I was not specifically addressing you in regards to the sound. I was making a statement for the others.


This makes it sound like it's happening every time which is not my experience. It's happened a couple of times, but not every time.

Sorry for the mix-up.

Yeah, it also started with me the same way though. Two or three times about every 3 or 4 packagings.

Then, as time went by, it became more and more frequent to the point where I just about had enough.

But I really like THIS machine! And I willingly paid only $10 for it (about the same cost for a blood glucose meter), so it's not like I had to spend a fortune for it I didn't mind it. At only a fraction of the cost of a big bulky machine, you'll get the same great results.

I quickly jumped at it because I needed a little bit of reputition from the Kenmore machine that also started giving me trouble. And the fact that bag after bag was losing its tightness around the food.

The only way that I leave meat in their store packages is if they are already
vacuum-sealed before they are bought.


Even though I'm pretty certain that it has never been kissed, I think that;
Anyone who gets this amazing little machine just might get the urge to do do once in a while, especially if they've experience what I've gone through with the large units! I think it's a godsend.