Food Savers - questions

I don't have a lot of nitty gritty. I have the handheld sealer. It is small and probably not the best for larger saves. I got mine primarily to vac pack cookies and other foods to send to my sailor on his deployments. I got the actual sealer from Target for about $20. I use the zip and seal quart size and gallon baggies. I can find those very easy at Walmart. I have not used these to save freezer foods so I can't say much on that. Or for using leftovers.

I am sure others with much more user experience will hop in. Most like the larger "laminator" size.

I've had one for years - whichever model is available at Costco or BJs. I just use it for packing up meat in the freezer and it really works great for that. Just recently I made a burger I put in the freeze back in January and it didn't even taste like it had been frozen. I usually get the bags at Amazon because I can buy the rolls that I want instead of the variety packs at Costco or BJs plus it's a subscribe & save item so there's a little discount there. The machine is light and easy to move. I keep it in a closet because I only need it for about an hour after food shopping every other week or so.

Okay this is briliant! I don't like freezing soups in containers because of the freezer burn issue and its so hard to freeze liquid. I'm so doing this I have leftover soup in the fridge right now.

I have two. I have the big one but it's so bulky I hate hauling it out. I also have a smaller cheapie one I got off of Amazon thats smaller and easily stored in the cabinet where my storage containers are. Its so easy to grab and use and it works perfectly fine. Sometimes it doesn't seal right away and I have to do it again but it doesn't bother me to have to.

The thing for me is acessibility, if its easy to grab I'll use it.  Esp for things like a brick of cheese I got at Costco. I always take a while to use it up and vacum sealing it in pieces makes it last forever but if the sealer isn't handy to use real quick I just won't use it and the cheese winds up not getting sealed and going bad.

So if you are like me, you might want to consider that.  

I only buy my meat at Costco so I have to freeze a lot of it when I get home. If I bought a lot of meat all at once (ground beef, sirloin, pot roasts, pork tenderloins) then I'll haul out the big mamma. 

I get the knock off replacement bags off Amazon as well. Is it worth it? For us yes because I do buy our meats in bulk so it saves me investment. Oh, and I don't vaccum seal the ground beef because I just put that in quart sized Ziplock freezer bags. I press them flat and it fills up the bag so no need to vaccum seal. They also store better and thaw quicker that way.  

I'm on my second Foodsaver from Costco. The first one lasted about 15 years, and I'm about 5 years in to this one. I picked it because, well...Costco made the choice for me. I use it more than once a week.

I buy replacement bags on Amazon -- I pretty much only use the quart and gallon sized bags and I can buy a box of 50 pretty cheaply. No problems with them whatsoever.

I use it to divide meats from Costco, freeze prepared meals (I tend to batch cook a meal and freeze a few), excess produce from the farm stand at this time of year (I love to freeze fresh corn, roasted tomatoes, and pureed squash for winter), among other things.

Mine is a little bulky, but I store it in the island cabinet. If I had a choice, I'd prefer the smaller one that doesn't have roll storage in it, because I don't use the rolls.

Definitely worth the price to me.

Absolutely it is. I bought some SouperCubes after they were on Shark tank to freeze stuff in. But you could use anything...pop them out and ZAP

I order from the site when it's BOGO and it's the only place I have found the pint bags.

I love mine - got a Nesco after looking at a bunch of reviews and a video that compared them. Any bags or rolls can be used with any of them. I mostly use mine to freeze bread since we get about six loaves at a time, chicken that isn’t already in packaging that doesn’t let air in, ground turkey, sometimes stuff I cook.

If sealing ground turkey I usually stick it in the freezer in the original packaging for an hour+ so it’s a bit hard so juice doesn’t want to come out the top of the bag. Using the gentle cycle and sometimes manual also helps with that.

It’s a pretty simple type of machine so I bet most from good companies are fine.

Here’s the video, made by Lisa and Hannah, the Gearheads,
youtu.be/1d-0BFRUoko

Oh, it’s not too heavy, kept on a shelf that’s built into the kitchen counter on the side that’s for cookbooks or whatever. 

A neighbor has one of the hand-held ones that’s very small and likes it too, though she says she wants a full sized one. 

What are you planning to use it for and will that be a change in your current food storage/management pattern that isn't working now?

My parents used a food saver forever so when I was offered one I thought I would get great use out of it. It was one of the appliances I donated before a big move because it was used once in 6 years. 

FWIW, they would use it about once a month so it wasn't left out on the counter. They would spend an afternoon roasting and slicing beef, pork and chicken into meals sized packages for the freezer. It worked really well for them.

I have one, we have had it for 6 years.
Use it all the time.  I don't know what I did prior to having one!

Bags I get at Sam's or Walmart

I don't know the model, but it is nothing fancy.
It is not heavy, I do store it in the top cabinet on a high shelf so it is out of the way.

I got one years ago and love it.  I don't use it as much since it is just my youngest and myself home (DH travels) but it was great when we had five of us at home.

It was easy to use, supplies easy to get, not too heavy, store it, really never any problems.

Is there a trick to the cheese?  We buy the bricks at Costco or Sams and when we have sealed them the slices adhere to each other.  When we shredded it was just a big glob.  What are we doing wrong?

Oh I don't preslice the cheese. I take that block of Tillamook cheese and slice it into thirds and the vaccum seal the pieces. I leave one in a regluar ziplock back to eat now and the other two are sealed for later use. The cheeses that are vs last forever. 

  and no need to freeze, keeps in the fridge a super long time once you've sealed them.

Thanks all! Now I've bought super cubes and bag holder gizmos. You enablers!