Are the new FoodSavers crap? What model do you have and how does it perform?

[jeremyc50]

I am looking for a vacuum sealer and from all the reviews I have read the old FoodSavers were rock solid however the new ones seem to be crap. I found a Game Saver Turbo on Craiglist for $80. Its got to be about 4 years old but in great shape. Do I buy this and risk my $80 on a used model or risk $150-$300 on a newer model? I plan to use it at least once a day.

I figured if ANYONE knew about them it would be you guys. haha

 

[mballi3011]

Now the older food savers are really good cause I still have one for 3 years now. Now the new ones I have heard aren't built as well but my daughter has one and it works just fine for her. I have heard the newer models I think they are made by Twillie or something like that are really good thou. I don't know if I would buy that one off craig's list or not I would check on E-Bay just to checkout what you can get a different model or atleast the ball park in which the price should be. 

 

[rbranstner]

I have a new Food saver and I am not very happy with it at all. My wife picked it up for me around Xmas time and I thought it would be the cats meow but it isn't. I was hoping it would seal anything nice and tight but it doesn't all the time. Especially when I want to do bigger bags for marinating meat it won't seal worth a crap it leaves so much air in there. I really dislike the automatic lever that goes up and down to grab the bag for sealing.

I think this is the one i have. http://www.foodsaver.com/Product.aspx?id=c&cid=87&pid=7190

 

[shtrdave]

I have an old one also, it still works well after 8 years or so, don't use it everyday, to big and cumbersome. I bought this one

http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/...Automatic-Vacuum-Sealer-w-FlipUp-Design-Acces   Because it says it will do wet items, just got it and haven't had a chance to try it, reviews seemed good on it at QVC and I got it on sale.

 

[papad]

I got this one at Bass Pro Shops which they are showing for $139. Although, I got mine from a Bass Pro store and not from the internet site and I don't remember spending that much. Seems to me that I only paid $80 - $90 for mine. (But I don't want to say that you can go to a Bass Pro store and get that price.)

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/s...2_325000000_325011000?cmCat=CROSSSELL_PRODUCT

Looks very similar to the one in shtrdave's link, but mine doesn't flip up for storage. Been using it for six months now with zero problems. Works really good.

You can see the model # in my Signature below.

 

[solaryellow]

I have a 3845 (or 3485?) that I picked up from Sam's Club about a month and a half ago. It worked great at first but after a month the vacuum isn't working so great. Gonna take it back and exchange it. Hopefully mine is just a lemon.

 

[smokey paul]

I have bought 3 over the last 10 years... we bought ours for bulk meat from Costco trip to freeze and really like them.

The reason we have had 3 is the updates they come out with. We now have the one in shtrdave's link.

We like it more as the seal strip is bigger (one of the problems in older ones we had) and  it does do "wet" meat as in chicken but we also put a folded paper towel from side to side between the meat and the seal to hold back the "wet"

Most of the time because of the wider seal it seals ok even if we for get to add the paper towel.. we have had problem with the bags, new, that appear to have a hole or not seal factory end and leak. Making our own from the rolls work better but take longer than the made up ones.

 

[fftwarren]

idk, I have one now but I won't buy another. Im either going with the cabelas brand commercial or the weston commercial one. most of the time the foodsaver is fine for 2-3 seals but once it gets warmed up it goes to garbage. like when I kill a deer and go to package up the meat, it takes dang near as long to vacuum seal it as it did to cut it all up because it decides it doesn't want to suck hard so it may take 3-4 attempts to get a bag to seal up good

 

[scarbelly]

I have had my current model for over 10 years and love it - I always make really large bag 15-20 " long and doing that I can reuse them many times over. Just wash well, turn inside out and dry them. Saves lots of $$ this way 

 

[cheezeerider]

I got this one at Bass Pro Shops which they are showing for $139. Although, I got mine from a Bass Pro store and not from the internet site and I don't remember spending that much. Seems to me that I only paid $80 - $90 for mine. (But I don't want to say that you can go to a Bass Pro store and get that price.)

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/s...2_325000000_325011000?cmCat=CROSSSELL_PRODUCT

Looks very similar to the one in shtrdave's link, but mine doesn't flip up for storage. Been using it for six months now with zero problems. Works really good.

You can see the model # in my Signature below.

I have this same one for about 3 years now and the only problem I have is the lower heat sealing strip is "bunching up" causing a very small gap in the seal. I get around this by simply sealing once, move the bag over 1/4" and sealing again. I have also had no luck using generic bag either (it wont pull the air out of them for some reason). Food Saver bags work great.

 

[jeremyc50]

Alright I made a trip to Costco today and they had the V3825 for $159.99

It came with the marinating container and 20 quart size bags and a 11 ft roll. I liked this model because it has a "wet" option which is suppose to allow you to vacuum wet items without destroying the machine. We'll see. I used it to vacuum pack about 15 different things in a row last night at it has worked like a charm so far.  Time to fire up the smoker and make some jerky!

 

[warthog]

This is what you want.  Buy them used on E-Bay.  Lasts for years and all parts are replaceable. They were made in Italy.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Foodsaver-food-...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f00604018

http://cgi.ebay.com/Foodsaver-ORIGN...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item483a37d927

 

[eman]

We have the foodsaver model v3420 and it does ok. first one lasted 94 days before it quit pulling a vacum. wal mart was great as they exchanged it .

 this one is 15 months old and is starting to give me problems. Like FFT warren says after i seal 3 or 4 bags and it warms up it will not seal sometimes or it pulls the vacum halfway and then seals.

 i have found that i have to stop ,open the unit ,wipe down all the gaskets and points that touch the bag ,let it cool and then i can do 3 or 4 more b4 reapeating the process.

 Don't think i'll buy another food saver . if the only last a lil over a year at $149 i can by a commercial series  for what i'll buy 3 of these for.

 

[bob1961]

i have been thinking on getting one for when i do bulk meat buying and my deer processing....but just when i think i'll pull the trigger i don't....when ever i wrap any deer or any other meat i just use two layers of plastic wrap and get it as tight as possible on the meat, then use plain ol freezer plaper and clear packing tape from my tape gun....never have any issue's with freezer burn at all, even after a year in the freezer....my thought is when i wrap the meat in the two layers of plastic wrap i'm doing the same thing as a food saver vac machine....no extra cost of buying rolls of vac bags as i always have plastic wrap and butcher paper on hand....just my .02 on food savers v. butcher paper method that has been used years before the food saver ever came out.............bob

....

 

[jeremyc50]

Warthog where do you get replacements parts for those old FoodSavers? What is the longest you have had one last? Does it handle wet items any better?

 

[warthog]

Here is a link for replacement parts on these older style Food Savers: http://www.pmgquality.com/

They will last for years. This style handles wet items very well. The vacuum pumps on these units can suck in water with no issues.