Chamber Vacuum Sealers

[gallion_t]

I al looking to make the jump to a chamber vacuum sealer from the old Food Saver I inherited from my grandparents ~20 years ago. I've been doing some research and I still really have no idea what I should look for. The two main areas of discussion I see popping up in reviews are:

Bag size - if it's under 12" people seem to complain. Is this really an issue? I've always used 11" bags and never felt like I needed something bigger.

Oil vs oil less pump - seems the higher end ones are the oiled pumps, but with that comes more maintenance.

I have been browsing a few different options that seem to regularly pop up on the best buy options or from brands I'm familiar with:

Avid Armor USV20 or 32 model. Just depends on how big you want to go.

LEM MaxVac Pro Chamber Vacuum Sealer - I have a LEM bigbite grinder that I love so that pushes this option up the list.

Meat! Your Maker Chamber Vacuum Sealer with oil less pump

Vacmaster - various sizes. Originally this was the direction I thought I was going to go, but after seeing the size of them I'm a bit hesitant. At 80lbs+ these are really bulky and I just don't think it would be easy

Walton's Compact Chamber Vac Sealer - no real input other than they're pretty big in the meat processing world.

If anyone has experience with any of these, another suggestion, or just features I should look for id very much appreciate it.

Thank you!

[Wolfdog2314]

I’ve got the MEAT chamber sealer with the oiled pump. Like u said some more maintenance but at the same time, from what I understand, this will last you a lifetime. I’m sure the oil-less pump would probably outlast you also, but this was the last sealer I wanted to buy for decades. I haven’t had a problem at all using the MEAT small and medium bags in the sealer. I haven’t done an oil chance yet but I think it will take minutes.

I’m sure any of the ones u have listed will do you fine. Major upgrade from the old food saver styles. I went through a few of these before upgrading to the chamber.

[CP]

I have the USV20.  Smaller chamber size is a plus IMHO.  I've never regretted the purchase nor wished for the ability to vac seal giant bags of food.

 

[gallion_t]

I have the USV20.  Smaller chamber size is a plus IMHO.  I've never regretted the purchase nor wished for the ability to vac seal giant bags of food.

Why do you feel it's better? Just less waste of a bag or smaller storage in the freezer? I don't really do big stuff so I'm leaning more towards convenience of storing the sealer and pulling it out.

[CP]

I have the USV20.  Smaller chamber size is a plus IMHO.  I've never regretted the purchase nor wished for the ability to vac seal giant bags of food.

Why do you feel it's better? Just less waste of a bag or smaller storage in the freezer? I don't really do big stuff so I'm leaning more towards convenience of storing the sealer and pulling it out.

Less air to remove, chamber empties faster, requires less power, therefore a smaller pump works fine.  Less stress on the pump, etc.

And yeah, I just put the unit on shelf between uses, very easy to store.

[3boys]

I have the LEM Maxvac.  Approaching 1,500 bags ran. Just did some pumpkin seeds last night.  Zero issues so far. 

[syoungs]

You'll want an oil pump for longevity.
I'm not familiar with the brands you posted, but I have one from Vevor and absolutely love it. my dad has the same one that's about a year older then mine and its awesome too.

[gallion_t]

You'll want an oil pump for longevity.
I'm not familiar with the brands you posted, but I have one from Vevor and absolutely love it. my dad has the same one that's about a year older then mine and its awesome too.

I've seen those Vevor brand also. Almost added one to the list.

[luvmystang67]

I have the vacmaster VP215 and love it.  I put it on a heavy-duty steel cart on wheels, and just wheel it in from the garage (or pantry) when its time to do some sealing.  I don't do super little things with it, but for bigger stuff this works well.

[Reidus]

I have the vacmaster VP215 and love it.  I put it on a heavy-duty steel cart on wheels, and just wheel it in from the garage (or pantry) when its time to do some sealing.  I don't do super little things with it, but for bigger stuff this works well.

 

Every part is replaceable on the vacmaster.

[Boss .300 winmag]

I bought the Max vac pro this summer, obviously not long term usage yet. But it meets our needs. Got it at Costco, if it breaks it goes back.👍

If you are going to seal noodles and crunchable stuff you have to turn down the settings.🤣

It comes with a guide telling you what type of stuff needs different settings.

It says you can put jars on their side in it, but it freaks me out thinking the jar will implode. I just bought the jars sealers on line, and love sealing dry goods in them.

[gallion_t]

Thanks again for the feedback.

It might help if I mention that I won't be doing huge quantities regularly. Other than processing a deer it will mostly be used for breaking down Costco/family packs of meat into two person servings. I also have a tendency to make a decent variety of sausages so packaging that up also. All of this is to say I'll probably only be at most a couple hundred bags a year.

[syoungs]

Thanks again for the feedback.

It might help if I mention that I won't be doing huge quantities regularly. Other than processing a deer it will mostly be used for breaking down Costco/family packs of meat into two person servings. I also have a tendency to make a decent variety of sausages so packaging that up also. All of this is to say I'll probably only be at most a couple hundred bags a year.

This is how I used mine. I have it on a kitchen cart so i can bring it out when I want to use it, and its not far from the main kitchen area to do small stuff.
I have started to use it for everything though lately. the bags are cheap when you buy em in bulk, and once you get the hang of adjusting the times per what your doing, you can package leftovers quickly and not worry about em at all. I even pack most my lunches for work with it.
The first time I did pizza with it, without adjusting the settings, it made a nice brick of pizza even when opened. little learning curve 

[steeleywhopper]

The wife bought us a Vacmaster VP215 last year and it's one of the best purchases we've made in a long time. I found a heavy duty cart on craigslist to put it on .
The only thing I'd do different is buy a bigger one so I could do multiple bags at once when doing fish or game, but that would come at a much steeper price.

[lewy]

We got the lem vac master pro on sale at Costco it’s been great. Only complaint is the wide bags they sell are a touch wide and occasionally don’t seal