Do You Have & Use A Food Saver Vacuum Device

[catapault]

Hauled my elderly Food Saver out of the basement. Have not used it in like forever. It must be angry at being ignored because while it makes noise it doesn't heat the sealing strip.

I'm not eager to spend $100 or more for a new one. After all, I've been managing just fine without it. But as I was packing six one-pound boxes of butter in individual storage bags, then packing them three at a time in gallon size freezer bags to put in the freezer - wouldn't it be better / quicker / easier with a Food Saver?

So getting to the nitty-gritty - Do you have a Food Saver device? If yes, what brand / model? Do you use it regularly? For what? Inquiring mind(s) want to know. TIA

 

[BlackCatOp]

Not sure model, but I use mine when prepping my freezer meals. I cook my main meal courses once every 6 months or so and freeze meals in individual servings. Works great for a single person as I get 6-8 servings per recipe. The food saver protects against that dreaded freezer burn and keeps my meals tasting fresh.

While not a perfect system (I find it messy while bagging the meals and using genuine bags is expensive) it does provide a convenient way to store frozen food.

 

[jcat]

We've got a Krups that must be >20 years old. Our last cat ate 1/2 dry food, so I used the food saver to break down big bags of dry cat food. We still use it to freeze vegetables and fruit from our garden, but not generally leftovers.

 

[Winchester]

I have no idea what the brand is right off-hand, but we do have one. We used to use it all the time and then fell out of the habit. I was just talking to Rick yesterday about getting ours back out. We had come home from getting groceries and we had eight pounds of ground beef (80/20 on sale at a very good price) and were using regular plastic wrap to wrap the meat in, followed by putting the wrapped packages in two huge Lock'n Lock containers. Yeah, it can be a bit of a hassle to use it when you're wrapping large amount of something, but vacuumed-stored meats do last longer.

I'm going to dig it out of the cabinet above the fridge and start using it again. Where I'm going to put it is another story....we simply have no counter space anymore,

 

[susanm9006]

For me I couldn’t get by without my vacuum sealer. I have been using one for maybe thirty years (I am in my third actual sealer). I use mine a couple times a month to vacuum seal meats and other things. I buy family packs of things like steaks when they are in sale and then cut them down into single serving pieces and vacuum seal. Same with chicken breasts and other meats. Because I cook for one everything is frozen in single servings. I also cut up frozen pizza’s because I can never eat a whole pizza and vacuum seal them.

One nice thing about things being vacuum sealed is that you can set your bag to thaw in a pan of water and it will thaw quickly without leaking or getting soggy. Ziplock also makes a vacuum sealer and sells their own brand of bags. They are a little cheaper and better quality than Food Saver bags.

 

[furmonster mom]

I am on my second Foodsaver machine. I prefer the Gamesaver model which is a bit less automated than the upright models. The flip up top allows me to create bags of various sizes, so I don't waste as much of the bag material.

I use my Foodsaver for my raw food portioning, so it gets pulled out every couple months when I'm making batches of pet food.
The other nice thing about the Gamesaver is that I can store it on edge in my cabinet. It's also lighter than the other models, so it's easier to pull out and put away.

My last one, the heat strip died. We actually tried to repair it, but to no avail.
Some people have reported problems with the vacuum, after a lot of use, but I've found that just replacing the spongy gaskets can help.

 

[susanm9006]

I am on my second Foodsaver machine. I prefer the Gamesaver model which is a bit less automated than the upright models. The flip up top allows me to create bags of various sizes, so I don't waste as much of the bag material.

I use my Foodsaver for my raw food portioning, so it gets pulled out every couple months when I'm making batches of pet food.
The other nice thing about the Gamesaver is that I can store it on edge in my cabinet. It's also lighter than the other models, so it's easier to pull out and put away.

My last one, the heat strip died. We actually tried to repair it, but to no avail.
Some people have reported problems with the vacuum, after a lot of use, but I've found that just replacing the spongy gaskets can help.

Not sure which model I have right now but their smallest, lightest and probably cheapest. Fits nicely in a cabinet. I pretty much only use the premade bags.