Equipment Expert's Guide to Vacuum Sealers 

I miss the old in-depth product showdown videos..

I purchased the Nesco sealer based on an earlier Test Kitchen review. I've had it for about 2 months now and I'm extremely happy with it's features and performance...no regrets on this purchase. I like that I can select single or double seals and also a pulse mode, I use that a lot. If you're sealing something solid like steaks or chicken then the auto mode makes it easy. I like to freeze my excess soup and the pulse mode makes that possible. I roll up a bit of paper towel and put it in the trough to collect any drips that may get sucked out then I use the pulse to apply just enough vacuum to get the soup to flow up to the heat seal bar and stop. I then do a manual double seal. Lay the pouch flat in the freezer until frozen and you end up with a nice "square of soup" about an inch or so thick. Because I have this new option I've been cooking in larger batches just so I will have leftovers to seal and freeze for when we want a quick, but home cooked meal. The controls on this machine are very intuitive and allow you to operate it in full manual or full auto.

One thing that was not mentioned in the video was that these can be used to reseal open packages of cereal or chips. I keep mine on the counter because I use it every day to reseal my breakfast cereal. I have 4 different cereals that I rotate among and they stay much fresher than if I used a binder clip.

I have this vacuum sealer, it was given to me as a gift a few years ago. It seals well 95% of the time, but we have had a few bags go bad or puncture. The auto-seal feature stopped working after a year, which is annoying, but all it means is that I have to hit the "seal" button instead of doing it on its own, so it still works fine. Other than that, my only real complaint is that if you are sealing a lot of things at once as I sometimes do, the heat sealer can overheat and the vacuum sealer will shut off automatically for awhile to prevent damage. Again, it's annoying, but still works.

My mom was the queen of the "as seen on TV" gadgets. She gave me one of these 25+ years ago. I used it, somewhat, until about 2015, when I started using it fairly often. I am retired now, so last year, I made the commitment to calculate just how much I was spending, saving, time, etc. It was roughly $25/month savings for my wife and I and takes about an hour a month. Not a huge savings, but it absolutely makes a difference in the quality, longevity of our frozen foods.

I've had a food saver for 25 years, excellent results. Won't change brands,ever!!

I have used a vacuum sealer since the early 1990s (with a few lapses). No more freezer burn! They are fantastic devices.

We bought the Zwilling Fresh & Save system last year and have been very happy with it. Only complaint is we froze some tomatoes from our garden that we intended to use to can sauce and after about 9 months they lost their vacuum seal in the deep freezer. Albeit probably due to rustling around in the freezer. Otherwise the glass containers have been so good for quick pickles, dips, pasta salads, egg salads, avocados, and other things that go brown quickly. The avocado saving has been worth it on its own because so many times we've bought an avocado, used half of it, and then saved the other half for the next day,.

I find my vacuum sealer works better when I pre-dampen the foam gaskets. Also, while vacuum process is active, I keep a keen eye on moisture movement within the bag. Once juices start moving toward the machine, I press the seal button. When those juices get past the heat bars, the seal always fails.

Title should be "Experts guide to Nesco Vacuum Sealer"

For around the $400 range you guys were talking about on the top end here, you can now get chamber vacuum sealers that allow you to seal wet stuff like soups and sauces. Anova sells one as does the Ninja brand. They allow you to use any kind of bag, so you don't need to buy the dedicated and more expensive perforated bags.

I’m so glad you did this, and I thought! I’ve been wondering whether I should buy a food saver or something else. This is amazing. OK it will actually save us room in the freezer because we don’t have to use containers.

I had one of the more expensive brands, it only lasted a year. I bought a $29 sealer from Aldi and it works good enough and most important is lasting.

Not just the freezer, prolongs the life of food in the fridge too. This is one of the most used appliances in our kitchen. No more freezer burn or spoiled food. Also great for marinades and sous vide cooking.

I have the Nesco food sealer, the winner here. I love it. My advice is to read and follow the directions that come with it. There are several options when sealing and you'll want to be familiar with each one. One other use for the sealer is when traveling by plane you can seal liquids that you've packed and not have to worry about leakage

My MIL gave us a FoodSaver in 2004 as a wedding gift. We're still using it! You want to keep it clean and replace the gaskets regularly. Since I now buy meat in bulk and weigh it out myself to save money, this thing has been a beast in the kitchen.

I have the food saver and its a game changer when putting food in the freezer, my freezer is no longer grave yard of ice crusted food. Being able to SousVide foods its a great kitchen appliance!

One important point I didn't hear was rating how easy each unit was to clean - mainly the vacuum channel when sealing moist items in bags. This is especially important for sealing items such as raw chicken parts where some of the juice can leak out the end of the bag and into the channel before the heat strip forms an airtight seal. Some sealers have a removable drip tray inside the channel that can be easily removed and cleaned, while others are one-piece channels that you must be very diligent in cleaning inside the unit itself. Another item not mentioned that is handy is the locking lid feature, which is nice when sealing bags that have thick, irregularly shaped items inside. I have found that the shorter the bag you use, the more important the locking lid is.

I'm a hunter but I also process my own beef, so I use these a lot. I run at least 2 of these with a crew of 4 people to do an entire cow over a weekend. Also, they didn't mention the accessory port that can seal lots of other containers but especially mason jars. You can buy the specialized sealable jars, but a mason jar is glass and sturdy and cheap. They are best for things that will be crushed by atmospheric pressure.

i love watching your gadget reviews, I've never been disappointed with your advices

I purchased the Nesco because my previous unit had difficulty sealing the compostable bags. The best feature of the Nesco is that it forms a double seal however, I found the vacuum to be less than that of my old unit and one thing that was not tested here was vacuum storing of liquids like soup. I make lots of soups and store them in the freezer so I always have some handy for dinner. The problem with the Nesco is that you need three arms if you are sealing liquids, two to hold the liquid containing bag and the third to close the lid. Unlike the Foodsaver which simply allows one to put the unsealed end of the bag into the slot and automatically seals it, one has to lower and lock into place the Nesco. In addition, the Nesco doesn't have an attachment to seal reusable bags or the containers that require the same type accessory.

I've been using food saver for years. Vacuum sealed food that's already been cooked and frozen can be thawed by sticking the bag in a pot of boiling water and it tastes about as good as when it went in, even after a year or so of being frozen. They're WELL worth it if you make spaghetti sauce or rice and beans or soups or chili

I have the vac master pro 350 and highly recommend it. I was going through the plastic ones about once a year, but I have het the pro for 4 years now and it’s still going strong. It’s stainless steel, heave, and larger than the rest, but it lasts. If you only use them occasionally, the plastic ones are ok, but if you use them a lot, go with the vac master pro. Wish they had rated durability but I suspect the winner was chosen before the test started.

So the main criteria was ease of use? What about actual suction? I have a Nesco, which replaced a high-end FoodSaver in my kitchen. The FoodSaver was a pain to use, but when I used it to vacuum seal my meats, it got ALL the air bubbles out. The Nesco is really easy to use, but it leaves bubbles in the bags I seal meat in, which is not good because the meat gets freezer burn where those bubbles are. There just isn't enough suction. I'm now looking for one to replace the Nesco, and I'm sad to say this review wasn't much help.

I appreciate the reminder of a necessary kitchen tool I need and don’t yet have. On my list. Frozen crystals no more!

A HUGE THANK YOU JULIA....I do not have a vacuum sealer yet, so I decided to try your 'straw vacuum' technique and it worked. Until I purchase one, I'm going to do this and hope I don't pass out 🙂

Damn, I just bought a vacuum sealer about a month ago! Thankfully my research and decision wasn't too far off. I got a Nesco, but it's the cheaper VS-02 model. It doesn't have the same push-down lever to seal, but other than that, it seems about the same. It was $20 cheaper than the deluxe and seems to function the same with several of the same key-features, so I'm pretty happy with it.

I've had the nesco for about a year and I've enjoyed it but I do have one complaint. The tray where the edge of the bag goes isn't removable. This isn't an issue for fairly dry stuff, but moist things where some juices escape from the bag make it a bit of a pain to clean. While my food saver was not nearly as good of an overall machine as this one, that one feature was a big plus for it.

Congrats creating an informative video strictly for the Nesco vacuum sealer. It was helpful for viewers not to be distracted by the irrelevant features of the other brands. After all who needs to be bothered with a fair comparison, right? That said I use a Foodsaver FM2100 vacuum sealer. It has a storage compartment with a cutter for creating custom bags from a roll. The door handle has 3 positions: lock when sealing, unlock, and storage which secures the door but doesn't compress the seal. It has 3 modes of operation: seal which will activate the heat bar without a vacuum being pulled so a bag can be created, moist for vacuum sealing wet food, and dry for everything else. It also has an accessory port for sealing Mason jars and using proprietary sealable containers. With a full roll in the storage compartment it weighs under 6 lbs and has a small footprint which means it doesn't take up a lot of counter or storage space. I have been using a vacuum sealer for years and my first one was a simple sealer with no roll storage. It lasted about a decade before I replaced it with the FM2100. I had the Foodsaver FM2100 for about 3 months and was quite happy with it until the heat bar failed. I contacted the company and they replaced it overnight without charge. This unit cost $140 at WalWart and, imo, has already paid for itself by allowing me to pack and preserve our favorite produce when on sale or in season. What's even nicer about their bags is that veggies like asparagus or corn on the cob can be steamed in the bag in the microwave once you break the seal and add a little water.

I have that Nesco sealer. Purchased it to replace my FoodSaver after almost 12 years of regular use. WOULD NOT BUY AGAIN. Besides the fact that after about a year it's finicky, the nonstick heatseal sticker (the orange bar) is wrinkled and peeling and it occasionally leaks and loses suction, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO CLEAN. The old FoodSaver had a removable trough to catch any moisture that makes it through (the Nesco has a 'moist" mode so they are obviously aware of that) but the "trough" in the Nesco is not removable and impossible to really clean. I sealed some frozen shrimp a couple of months ago and even after multiple cleanings with various (gentle) disinfectant cleaners it still stinks when in use. I generally trust ATK reviews but they obviously did not simulate normal use and missed the mark on this one.

Nesco doesn't have a removable cleaning tray -- juices can tend to get sucked up into the machine if you aren't careful and give it inches of extra bag beyond the food item. Just use a folded paper towel as a little absorbent pad to soak up juices -- placed in the bag nearer to the edge that will get sealed. The paper towel doesn't need to touch the food at all, and-- there's no problem with it in the sealed bag.

I bought a chamber vacuum sealer about 10 years ago. It is way better than the types shown in this video. It uses lower priced bags, you can do liquids without having to pre-freeze the liquid. Yes, it costs more, but it gives a better seal, the bags are way cheaper. It is larger. It is better.

I also use mine to seal plastic bags, bags of frozen vegetables, bags of pasta, bags of coconut, etc. When I want to use what's inside, I cut the seal, take out how much I need, and reseal it. I do the same thing with my preformed burgers; each time I take out two burgers, I re-vacuum seal the package and put it back in the freezer. This is the only way I can make family-size packages work by portioning them out, bagging, and vacuum sealing. The best!

Watching the coffee sealing you could see the grounds being sucked up toward the vacuum source. This is why when dealing with fine-grains and powders such as flour you would be advised to put it in a paper sack first or in the case of jarring/vac-packing, place a coffee filter over the top of your intended product. Otherwise it will suck up into the works and clog your machine. It is my understanding that once done, it is no easy task to get the clogging undone.

A Vacuum sealer has been a gamechanger, and I got my, now discontinued, FoodSaver for abooouth... $110. It's easy to store everything economically in my freezer, including stocks, soups and broths, and having a vacuum sealer is a step closer to sous vide, which is great for hands-off cooking

I have a FoodSaver, May hubby found a roast that was 7 years old and it was just as good as when we put it in there .

You guys are always the very very BEST!!! KC

I have pretty much the same model, sold under the brand name 'Caso'. Great little machine, does a lot of things perfectly. Only two slight issues that you did not cover: cleaning when used for wet foods and the ability to seal bags with aluminium.

Gotta throw in one of those chamber vacuum sealers. Things are crazy. Can vacuum seal soup!

Thank you! Now do chamber vacuum sealers for the home. Please!

I have a rechargeable handheld vacuum which works with special bags that have a built-in valve. It takes up much lessless space

I wish they had talked about ease of cleaning. Whenever you vacuum seal something that has any kind of liquid in it, it tends to get sucked up into the machine.

I need one of these!!

I'm a fanatic about these and love my Nesco after 3 years or so of use. Foodsaver and a couple of others I've owned were just terrible.

I don't have the winner here but I do have one. I can say I'm happy I made the purchase.

I use a 20+ year old vacuum sealer for bags of coffee, chicken, etc. One trick I do is to put a small slit in the coffee bag, allowing the sealer to remove the air inside the bag, resulting in one solid brick.

Would have been nice to hear a comparison with the water displacement method.

What are your thoughts on the Zwilling Fresh & Save system?

Did you test the food savers and that's the one I've seen the most? How did it compared to the others?

I use canning jars and FS cannisters as well.

NO mention of the ANOVA sealer?!?!?!?!? It's a beautiful bit of kit. I take mine out of the box, make my bag from the roll then put my product in then and seal. If it's something really soft I'll freeze it for a few then vac/seal it. I think it was $55 a few years ago.

trust me you need one of these, even the cheap one is really useful and will save you a lot of money

Can you review the new anova chamber vacuum sealer

You can save a lot of money on bags by using an oversized bag by just cutting the top off and resealing it an inch shorter at a time

Not gonna lie...I use Julia's method with the zip top bag and a straw. Will be watching for a deal on the Nesco sealer going forward.

I would like to see a full chamber vacuum sealer that can use less expensive bags. Also mylar bags that can be used as canned bags.

I wish these reviews actually showed the testing content instead of just their final selection.

I bought that model and love it! Very easy to use and I save a ton of money now that I buy in bulk. Plus the bags I buy can be used in sous vide.

Just feels like a promotion video for the web page with the full review to be read.

Does ATK have any plans to test chamber vacuum sealers?

ive never tried this but i heard a good way to seal freezer bags is to slowly submerge them in water, the water pressure pushes all the air out

This sounds like a great appliance for bulk meat purchase. However, are there any sealers that are compatible with regular freezer bags that are less expensive? Thank you. Be well.

How long does the Nesco take to seal the bag? In some other videos I watched, the Anova ANVS01-US00 took 23 seconds for the sealing step, which seemed like it'd be annoyingly slow, to me.

Does the Nesco come with a hose attachment? Are FoodSaver hose attachments compatible? Where can I get the hose attachments that are compatible with the Nesco? Thanks!

It's too bad they didn't include any of the inexpensive chamber style vacuum sealers.... Extremely curious about those

You can also test Oxygen introduction by using mushed avocado

My Nesco failed a week after the warranty expired. My old seal a meal was a bit fussy but lasted 8 years.

Can the excess portion above the seal be used? If not, it seems wasteful. It takes a pretty big drawer to store that thing and in an apartment galley kitchen, there isn't that much drawer space. How much to the bags cost when it's time to get new ones?

Is a cryovac the same as a vacuum sealed? Any advice is much appreciated

Will this unit work on mylar bags??

Does the pulse give it a seal without taking air out? I would like to seal powder supplements in travel size single serve packs. I do not need the air to be removed (despite that removing air would not affect my use. Personal preference.)

Can you do a review of chamber sealers??

do any of these have a hose port (for sealing mason jars) like the old food saver had?

I use mine all the time to reseal bags, frozen vegetables, potato chips, sugar, even an Amazon puffy mailing bag I was returning an item in.

Does the Nesco have an accessory port to be able to use the vacuum sealing jar attachments to do jars? That's important.

First, I'm kind of surprised sous vide wasn't brought up... either way, what about vacuum chambers? I'm in the market for something I can make quick pickles, and vacuum seal with.

Boy, I'd NEVER suck the air off a contained raw steak!

What about making bags from rolls of plastic? Mine does that and I can customize the bag sizes. I had a problem with it because I needed to clean the sealing surfaces due to sealing in wet foods but that is all the problems I've had. What are the operating costs? Bags can be expensive.

Wow Julia i haven't seen you for ages!!! You look beautiful. We love you. ❤️

How long will a Food Saver bag retain it's vacuum seal if left untouched, stored in plastic tub?

Avidarmor is a USA company, very good chamber and vacumm sealers, check them out

America loves you !!.... I have watched a very long time . Stay there !!!

Nesco has more than one deluxe sealer. What is the exact model that was used?

How did the other models fare?

One thing that I would like answered is how do they perform with liquid? There's a new infomercial for a vacuseal that claims great liquid performance.

Wait, so which one removed the most air? Was it also the Nesco or another one?

so, how much waste of the bagging material was required by the machine? The one selected, is the handle in the way of the product being sealed?

Can you do this including chamber sealers? These just run to expensive on the consumables and there are no biodegradable bags available.

I have a Food Saver for the last 25 years & love it! Saved my venison and elk meat from freezer burn after hunting.

any reusable options?

Are the sealed bags truly waterproof? For example, suppose I store some food in a vacuum sealed bag and put it in a cooler. The cooler's ice melts and now the bag of food is completely submerged in ice water. Will it stay dry and fresh? I know this might seem like a silly question but I have found that plastic doesn't do a good job when submerged, the food just gets icky. Glass on the other hand works great but is relatively heavy and large. I regularly go on trips for a week or two and I pack my cooler when i leave and everything has to last the whole trip. This is a lot trickier then you would think. Nothing really lasts or stays fresh in plastic under cooler conditions. I have even stopped using plastic to store things in my fridge and using glass instead makes everything last 2 to 3 times longer. It's really amazing. Have you guys done any research into this? Maybe I am nuts but I don't use plastic to store most things in anymore and my kitchen seems better for it.

The fact that the vacuum sealer tray is not removable is a deal breaker for me. All 3 of my food savers have a removable tray and easy to clean.

Does the Nesco gone with a vacuum to seal jars?

Not even mentioning a chambered design?

I would like to have seen how the rest of the sealers did.

I have had a Food Saver brand for years, more than five but I can't remember how long. It is still going strong but I had to replace a seal. There are better vacuum sealers but they cost hundreds of dollars more. The bags for those are far cheaper but unless you seal dozens of bags a month you will never amortize the cost. You cannot seal liquids in these, moist yes but not liquid ie soup.

An issue I have with vacuum sealer is their tendency to pull liquid as well as air. The bags seem to seal ok, but then I have the hassle of cleaning liquid that entered the machine was pretty nasty.

I want one! :)

THIS was the video that convinced me to buy the VS-12. You let me down. Not that it doesn't seem to vacuum and seal well, but you missed that the canister accessory has been discontinued and NO ONE sells one for this machine. If I want to use that functionality, and I do, I will have to spend money on a FoodSaver accessory and hope that I can modify it to work. Not ideal.

It seems like they didn't test the most common issue: they quickly stop working. Another video on vacuum chamber sealers might be interesting. They're expensive but they don't require special bags and on first impression seem easier to use. But they've a hidden issue with bags not jars. The bagged vacuum depends on the amount of air in the bag prior to vacuuming. Unlike the models you're showing in this video: chamber vacuum sealers do not collapse the bags prior to sealing. They do suck out most of the air: but after sealing, when the bag does collapse, that same amount of air is now potentially in a much smaller volume which increases the pressure. Measure it and be concerned. Make sure you collapse your bags prior to vacuuming.