Food Vaccum...question?

[SizzlininIN]

PAbaker......I think it was you who told me all about the food vaccum. I'd printed off the information you gave me but can't seem to locate it now.

I'm wanting to put this on my Christmas wish list but need to know which one I should ask for in your opinion. You knew an awful lot about the appliance so I wanted to ask your opinion. Or if anyone else out there cares to share their opinion.

My goal is finding a really nice one that doesn't cost an arm and a leg

 

[GB]

I have the Tillia Food Saver Professional II and couldn't be happier with it. I have been on the Yahoo groups for vacuum packing and it gave me tons of info. One thing that I learned there is that the Tillia brand is pretty much the only one worth the money. The rest do not work well and with vacuum packing it either works or it does not.

Check out the group here http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FoodSaver/

Start at the first post and work your way forward. All of your questions will be answered.

One thing that I think is important is to get a unit that has an accessory port. This lets you use foodsaver canisters as well as regular mason jars to seal things. Without this you are stuck just using the bags which can be expensive. The canisters are expensive too, but they are reusable.

The professional II model that I have has a number of features that I really like. One is that to turn it on I just push a button. I can then walk away and it will turn off on its own when it is done. Some of the other models require you to hold the lid down then whole time it is running. For small things this is no big deal, but for larger jobs I would find that to be a pain in the @$$. Another feature I like on the pro II is that it has a built in bag cutter and bag storage. One of the draw backs though it that it is pretty big. I think you can find other models that have these same features, but takes up less space on the counter.

Well I could go on and on about this thing. I use it every day and it is one of those things that I do not know how I lived without it. If you have any other questions I would be more than happy to answer them. Check out the Yahoo group though. There is so much specific info there that you would not believe it.

 

[pst1can]

GB....your advice on Tillia is bang on!!! I have sold many different brands and that is the only one that is worth anyones time. Pst 8)

 

[SizzlininIN]

Hey GB....I think you may have actually been the one to have helped me in the past

 

[Michael in FtW]

Well - at least I did something right ... didn't have enough justification for the Pro II to dig any deeper in my pockets and just got the Vac 360. I also don't have the counter space to leave it out, and while having to hold the button down till it is done, and having to wait 20-30 secs between sealings is a bit of a bother ... I'm in no hurry. But, at least it sounds like I got the right brand!

But - I have two questions (GB or PST1CAN):

(1) The other night I was watching a demonstration of the Rival food vac on HSN and they demonstrated resealing chip bags. Humm ... it's just a heat sealer ... the Tillia should be able to do that, too. Anyone ever try it? Will it work?

(2) The instructions say not to try to make edge seals because they will not allow a complete vac seal. That doesn't compute to me ... since if you make your own bags and seal the top and bottom and get a complete seal, why wouldn't it work if you cut a bag in half and sealed the edge?

 

[GB]

Yes you can use the Tillia to seal chip bags as long as they are the mylar type of bag and as long as your sealer has the button that lets you seal without vacuuming. some have that feature and others do not.

I have never used it to make edge seals, but a lot of people on the Yahoo group have done that with success.

SizzlininIN, I am sure you will be happy with whichever model you get. It really is a great product! I got mine on eBay. I bought it new and in the box. I paid less than half price for it. I would not have paid full price as it is very expensive. I think it still would have ended up saving me money in the long run, but I didn't have $300+ to shell out. Let us know what you end up getting and how you like it

 

[pst1can]

Michael...you can use your sealer for edge seals on a chip bag. We have in the past sold a Salto bag sealer meant for that exact task...they were about $10US...the only thing is that you can not reseal where it has been sealed before...that means if you are resealing a chip bag the seal must be below the original seal or you must trim off the original seam. The other thing is these sealers were very compact and meant to be "dragged" alone the edge to reseal the bag where as the tillia product is a stationery procedure, it is because of this they may say it will not do the task. If the bag is wider than the width you would not get an "air tight" seal. You can use you sealer to reseal coconut, brown sugar etc. etc.
Pst 8)