Reynolds Handi-Vac Vacuum Sealer

[Caslon]

Reynolds Handi-Vac revisited

I'm in the evaluation phase...with this reply post.

I had heard of this product for the last year or so, but had been using a FoodSaver.
I read all the reply posts here and shopped for one today. I found the simple starter Handi-Vac at one local Target store. Most were sold out. Wallmart in my area stopped selling them for some dumb reason.

First off, the price. There were basic units left on the shelf that have 3 qt. bags. One unit had a $3.00 instant rebate sticker on it. My total price
was $ 3.69. How could I pass that up? I bought some coppertop batteries for it.

Next stop was the supermarket where I bought a pack of chicken drumsticks and a pack of chicken thighs. Also some green onions.
While at the supermarket, I found the same unit "on sale" for $10.99.
One thing Target didn't have was extra bags. The supermarket did.
14 bags for $3.99. Not bad. I bought a pack. (I'll need to go online to order bigger bags).

I got home, carefully razored the package open and attached the reciept to it (in case I want to return it).

I looked at undoing the door to the battery compartment when my finger hit the units ON button. It started working...cheapie alkalines are included!

I semi froze the chicken as I do with FoodSaver, so the juices don't start coming out during the vacuum process. I placed 3 pieces of chicken in the qt. bag and sealed the bag and pressed the unit onto the seal circle.

Nothing happened. I then moved the swivel head of the unit around and found the sweet spot. Aha! You need to move the head of unit around untill you get some action. No wonder they put the head on a swivle.

Air got drawn out of the bag, and when the unit motor made a deeper sound, I stopped 3 seconds later. Repeated same with chicken legs.

I also Handi-Vac'ed some scallions to go in the veg compartment.
I plan to see how long they stay vacuumed. Non-blanced vegetables give off gases and are surely bound to not keep vacummed.

I've yet to try the gallon bags to freeze a roast. My current FoodSaver does it just fine. I always partially freeze roasts before FoodSaving.

Reynolds says "just bag the thawed meat, vacuum seal it and put it in the fridge. Hmmm, I may try that, but I have my doubts. Even FoodSaver says to partially freeze meats before vacume sealing.

Oh ya..lol what's it with some sites calling it "vacuum" , others "vacume."

I'll post my findings in a day or so...(actually, the chicken wasn't that frozen...I let it get really cold, but still pliable). We'll see

 

[Katie H]

Caslon, one of the things I do before I put foods into my Handi-Vac bags is to wrap them securely in plastic wrap. That may sound dumb, but I learned that if I do that, then I can remove them when they are frozen in order to thaw them without being in the Handi-Vac bag. I just put them into a normal zipperlock bag to thaw in the refrigerator. This way, no meat juices are left in the Handi-Vac bag and I can use the bag again, within reasonable safety. I always wash it out with hot soapy water anyway.

I KNOW the directions recommend tossing the bag if meats, etc. have been stored but, so far, none of the meat juices have leaked into the bags I have used. Just my experience/observation.

 

[Caslon]

Not a bad idea, if you can get the saran wrap to tightly seal odd shaped pieces of meat. Sometimes I can't.

Good tip tho. You also don't wash away the "oil" on the ziplock seal.

As for disgruntled feedback...it's mostly from owners who had a bad batch of bags. One Amazon feedback edited his bad review after Reynolds sent him a coupon for a free batch of new bags.

Anyways...lol..my vacuum (or vacume) packed stuff is freezing now. Hope the bags seals hold. As for the scallions in the veg drawer? I plan to use them in the next 2 weeks anyways.

 

[Corey123]

I just bought another one of these after the first one had stopped working properly. Hope that THIS one lasts longer.

Though I'm NOT going to use this as the primary vacuum bag sealer. The Foodsaver will be for packaging and sealing items for long-term storage in the freezer.

The Reynolds unit will used mainly for vacuum sealing cold cuts, cheese and other items stored in the fridge.

 

[pacanis]

I hope you have as good longtime luck with your new unit as I have had with my first.

 

[Corey123]

I hope you have as good longtime luck with your new unit as I have had with my first.

Thanx, but I'm not going to rely on this unit entirely. The Foodsaver will do the bulk of the vaccum sealing for long-term storage in the freezer.

That might be why the Reynolds thing had wimped out so prematurely.

 

[pacanis]

I also noticed a couple days ago that mine was not vacuuming down a bag. It was a bag a had reused several times. Turns out it was the bag.

 

[Corey123]

Could be, but I just don't have the confidense in this product that I once had when I tried it and liked it before.

I only bought a replacement because I still have lots of the bags, and it would be a shame to let food spoil in them when they can be vacuum sealed and air-tight.

 

[tdiprincess]

well. I know this is an older thread.. but.. our landlord got one and he loves it. I kept looking at it for the past week or so and decided to get one..
I ordered one off ebay, shipped and everything it came to 8 bucks.. I saved a couple dollars.. big whoop.. I almost didn't want to win so that I could have it now.. although I don't have anything that needs freezing LOL.. And while I was at Walmart I picked up some bags.. I'm going to be needing gallon size as I'll be making lots of spaghetti sauce (my parents are growing tomatoes...)
I am eagerly awaiting it though!!

 

[mcnerd]

You don't need to wait to freeze something to use the Handi-Vac bags. Just about everything loose in the pantry, refrigerator, garage, first-aid kit, and car are vacuum-sealed. Amazing the things you learn to use the bags for to protect and increase the storage life for.

 

[Caslon]

The bags (both quart and gallon) are pretty **** inexpensive too.

I also own the much more expensive more powerfull "Foodsaver."

It's kinda funny to see how Foodsaver is scrambling out TV ads to
save it's product from oblivion.

FoodSaver:
1. lug out the heavy unit from the top shelf.
2.get out the roll of bags and the bag cutter device.
3.seal one end (my unit you have to wake the dead and run the unit
full blast just to freaking "seal" one end of the bag).
4.Wake the dead with the noise it makes to seal your food.
5.Rinse and Repeat everytime you want to open a bag for some cheese.

My god.

Reynolds so "owns" Foodsaver. Foodsaver is now running a pathetic TV ad campaign
to try and keep their product in front of the public.
FoodSaver WAS a good product. I didn't dig having to run the freaking unit to seal the bag end,
before I even began shrinkwrapping food. What idiot at FoodSaver thought up that for my model?

Bye Bye FoodSaver, you should at least have allowed me to seal one end of the bag without having to run your noisy unit full blast.

 

[pacanis]

And I'm pretty sure the name handi-vac wasn't just chosen out of the blue. For all the reasons you listed, Caslon, it's just so much handier to use than the FS. They knew who they were going after and how to beat them. Reynolds probably could have gotten away with a higher price on the unit.
Maybe they'll come out with a rechargeable unit that doubles as a flashlight, drain unclogger, aquarium cleaner....

 

[Caslon]

I hear there's a new Reynolds Handi-Vac that folds in two for easier storage in you kitchen drawer.
A 20 lb. unit vs. a foldable 14 0z. Handi-Vac unit.

 

[Bigjim68]

Why doesn't one of you engineers out there design a solar powered, stick it to the window, charger, for these batteries? Something like the solar powered trickle chargers for boat batteries? I take lots of pictures, 40 or 50 a week, in my business, and always have batteries charging. I will be glad to Beta test the device for you.

 

[GB]

The bags (both quart and gallon) are pretty **** inexpensive too.

I also own the much more expensive more powerfull "Foodsaver."

It's kinda funny to see how Foodsaver is scrambling out TV ads to
save it's product from oblivion.

FoodSaver:
1. lug out the heavy unit from the top shelf.
2.get out the roll of bags and the bag cutter device.
3.seal one end (my unit you have to wake the dead and run the unit
full blast just to freaking "seal" one end of the bag).
4.Wake the dead with the noise it makes to seal your food.
5.Rinse and Repeat everytime you want to open a bag for some cheese.

My god.

Reynolds so "owns" Foodsaver. Foodsaver is now running a pathetic TV ad campaign
to try and keep their product in front of the public.
FoodSaver WAS a good product. I didn't dig having to run the freaking unit to seal the bag end,
before I even began shrinkwrapping food. What idiot at FoodSaver thought up that for my model?

Bye Bye FoodSaver, you should at least have allowed me to seal one end of the bag without having to run your noisy unit full blast.

Wow you must have an ancient model Foodsaver. Mine is small. I leave it out on the counter all the time.
It has a built in cutter and bag storage. I do not have to run the unit to seal it. I just hit the seal button and it seals without running the vacuum. I also use the canisters so I don't have to bother with bags. My foodsaver rocks and do not think anything can even come close to touching it.

 

[GrillingFool]

I was at a friends house; he has a Handi-Vac. Using new bags, new batteries,
and the correct procedure as advised by Reynolds, we couldn't get a vacuum
on the bags to save our lives. Very strange.

 

[redgriller]

I’ve got a Handi-Vac and love it. I have seen problems with getting a good seal depending on how much you put in the bag and where you put it. I’ve noted that you need to keep the food far enough away from the vent hole so that the bag lies flat and you can press down with the pump on the vent. Also, it can help to keep the food in the middle of the bag. If you push it all the way to the bottom, then all the air comes out of the bag near the zipper lock and the bag collapses and seals. When this happens you can’t pull any more air out of the bottom of the bag and the corners retain air. By moving the food toward the middle you can get equal air removal and a good vacuum seal.

 

[Caslon]

I was at a friends house; he has a Handi-Vac. Using new bags, new batteries,
and the correct procedure as advised by Reynolds, we couldn't get a vacuum
on the bags to save our lives. Very strange.

Squeeze as much air outta the bag as possible. Seal it tight.
The suction unit has a swivel head, move it around, untill you see the bag being vaccummed.

 

[Adillo303]

I have a Handi Vac and a food saver (Note to GB - An old one). I bought my foodsaver a few years ago and it fell out of use. A bunch of time later I woke up and realized that I was messing up and loosing food because of it. Now, I use the foodsaver for things that will be frozen a while and "expensive" cuss of meat. Handi Vac is used for things that I will open and reclose, like hamburger. I grind my own (50 / 50 London Broil and chuck roast) I make tow laysers of four to a bag. Take out what I need and reclose and revacuum. Works well. I never even thought avout veggies and space saving (Another thanks to DC for expanding my horizons).

It is important to make sure that the corner, where you seal, can be flat, otherwisw it just will not work. So far as the rest of the bag, I don't see a difference.

My problem is marinadeing. ried it wuth Handi Vac, sucked the jucice where I didn't want it. Lost my directions for the foodsaver, however, I would expect the same results. Guidance there would be appreciated.

AC

 

[pacanis]

Aside from placing a paper towel in the bag when vaccuming something juicy, FS reccomends using their cannisters for marinating.

I use my two units like you AC, but if I had to do without one, it would be the FS..... and mine is a newer one.