Which foodsaver to get

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vilasman

Senior Cook
Joined
Sep 6, 2004
Messages
323
I was looking on amazon a few minutes ago and I am saying the foodsaver Vac 300 for $42, the V840 for $65, the 1205 for $65, the 845 for $60 and the 345 for $60. I realize these are the foodsavers with no bags or anything but which one should I get?
 
I am really leaning towards getting a V845 this thursday night or friday.
 
I was looking at these this past weekend and came away totally confused.

I visited three kitchen stores and a warehouse store. They all had different model numbers. Then I came home and looked at their website. There are 15 different models and THEY are all different from the ones I saw in the stores (with one exception) so comparison shopping is nearly impossible.

Much of the difference appears to be in the accessories included in the package.

I'm going to have to sit down and make a chart comparing the different features offered on the various models and decide from there.

Vilasman, there is a thread here that discusses the more desirable features. Do a search on foodsaver and check it out.
 
I got mine from Sam's Club (V2480) Item#770628. Admittedly, this a top-of-the-line job and its expensive at $118. However, it is a 'kit' and includes a jar sealer, three canisters, buncha bags,etc.
If you dont want to get that deep into it, try to find a model that includes these key features (key in my opinion, anyway)

1. one-touch (you dont hold the button during the whole process)
2. accessory hose (allows using canisters/mason jars/casserole-marinator)
3. vacuum only button (runs the pump w/o heating the sealer~ for canister operations)

The Sams unit has the following additional features which are all great, but not as essential:
4. seal-only button (lets you seal the bag w/o running the pump~great when making bags)
5. internal bag storage/dispensing
6. bag cutter
7. variable speed
8. variable vacuum level setting (dry food/ moist food)
9. manual overide on sealer (you can make it heat longer, say if the bag is wet and giving you trouble)
10. Cover lock (you don't have to hold the cover down while sealing as on the base models)
11. on-board hose storage.

Hope this helps,
Ricky
(nufsed)
 
a couple more: my local Tuesday Morning store has a bunch of the canisters for less than half price. I picked up a couple sizes and a marinator. I would suggest that everyone should check their local TM and BigLots, you never know!

In the other thread, Kitchen Elf was having trouble with the jar sealer. FYI: they make two sizes, a regular and a wide-mouth. My Sams unit came with the widemouth version and it definitely wont seal on a regular. The silly thing isn't labeled widemouth so you just have to compare.

Ricky
(nufsed)
 
Ricky here is a tip to seal the small mouth jars with the large mouth sealer. Put the small mouth jar with the lid in place inside a Foodsaver canister. Use the accessory hose to vacuum the air out of the canister. You can then open the canister and your small mouth jar will be sealed.

Vilasman, Ricky has listed out all the great features to look for. I think the one touch operation is a big plus. Some things take a while to vacuum and I would think it would stink to have to stand there holding the thing down the whole time.

I love that my unit has a built in bag storage and bag cutter. I find that a huge help.

I would never get one that did not have the accessory port. I use the canisters way more than the bags.
 
GB, Thanks! That's a great tip for the jars...why didn't I think o' that?!!
I totally agree about the accessory port...would not even consider one w/o it!

Ricky
(nufsed)
 
Ricky there is a group on the Yahoo boards for vacuum sealing (not jsut Foodsaver, but 95% of the messages there are about Tillia Foodsavers). I highly recommend that anyone who is considering buying one or anyone who already owns one check out the messages there. Start with post #1 and work your way forward. There is a ton of great info, tips, tricks, troubleshooting, etc. there.
 
GB said:
Ricky here is a tip to seal the small mouth jars with the large mouth sealer. Put the small mouth jar with the lid in place inside a Foodsaver canister. Use the accessory hose to vacuum the air out of the canister. You can then open the canister and your small mouth jar will be sealed.

Vilasman, Ricky has listed out all the great features to look for. I think the one touch operation is a big plus. Some things take a while to vacuum and I would think it would stink to have to stand there holding the thing down the whole time.

I love that my unit has a built in bag storage and bag cutter. I find that a huge help.

I would never get one that did not have the accessory port. I use the canisters way more than the bags.

I have to hold mine down during the vaccumm and sealing process.. you should see my biceps!!! :LOL:
 
Mine is a Kenmore, which works quite well.

Just make sure that you use the bags only once, or they will not seal properly and with come loose in the freezer.

I DID own the Tilia Food Saver 550, which only worked for a few years. The
heater strip which seals the bags had stopped working, so I threw it out and got the Kenmore unit!


~Corey123.
 
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