We have been FoodSaver users since they first came out when Tila announced the product in the late 1980s. We have gone through several machines, which usually fail when the sealing strip goes first. Seldom has the little dry vacuum pump been an issue. I used to repair the sealing strips when I could get the nichrome heating strips.
We have always washed and reused the composite mylar/nylon bags until they were too short to be of use or developed pinhole leaks. Only then were the bags thrown out. The bags are not recyclable in most recycle streams.
We have a collection of gadgets for the FoodSaver system including the wide and narrow mouth Mason jar sealers, any number of FoodSaver Lexan containers which can be evacuated with the accessory hose as well as the flat top can saver attachment.
But two years ago when the last FoodSaver unit died, I kept my vow to move to a chamber vacuum system and away from the FoodSaver external vacuum system.
What a difference! I bought an Avid Armor USV32 unit and a bunch of 3 mil mylar/nylon, non textured bags, 4x6, 8x10 and 11x13. The bags cost pennies cf. to FoodSaver, and the sealing properties are orders of magnitude better. Much lower vacuums; much improved seals. The USV32 does a double seal. The best part is that one can easily seal wet foods and liquids (providing that the liquids are at or near ambient.) I routinely seal up excess food such as soups and stews now in the chamber vacuum to freeze for later.
We will never go back to a FoodSaver.
Recently I bought a FoodSaver external hose with grommet for the USV32 to use a FoodSaver external device. But more importantly, at the same time I bought a JVR 3-gallon vacuum pot. What I really wanted was the grommet in the Avid Armor hose that adapts to a FoodSaver external accessory hose.
This 3-gallon pot allows one to vacuum seal up to 4 four quart Mason jars at one time.
One simply puts a normal metal lid on the Mason jar and loosely screws down the metal sealing ring. The ring is just to hold the metal lid in place. After the pot is evacuated, when air is let back in, the metal lid will seal and seal tight.
So for some fruits and other crushables that one wants to preserve, viz., whole fresh strawberries, avocados, salads, this is the cat’s meow.
And sometimes, it is just a lot more convenient to just open a Mason jar than to slice open a sealed bag. Preserving nuts, raw or roasted, and bacon grease against rancidity come to mind in this regard.
I have a lot more to say about this unit and what I would do differently if I were purchasing it today, and how I solved the kitchen storage issue as these units are big, bulky and won’t fit on a counter under cabinets.
If there is enough interest I will take a few pictures and post them with a reply.
@chienfou
If you want to try, order the hypercube version, the JVR Tesseract-3∞, which unfortunately is back ordered indefinitely.
They used to have plenty of them on the shelf, but they can’t figure out how to put a vacuum tight lid on it, you see. And now they can’t seem to find that shelf any more to boot.
@Jackinga We’ve used a Foodsaver for about 20 years, usually for buying bulk freezer food and breaking it down into more usable size packets; its been great. We don’t have room for a device the size of your Avid Armor USV32. I wouldn’t mind one, so maybe when we move (retirement) in the near future; having room near the kitchen for more small appliances is a goal.
But I also want a freeze drier at that point (actually I’ve been wanting one for years). The combination of
@duodec@Jackinga Thanks for the in depth explanation! I had never heard of the chamber vacuum system, it’s very cool but I don’t have that much space either. My food sealer gets used almost daily to seal plastic tubing to package my work products or reseal purchased items like saltines or noodles. Can the chamber one seal if the bulk of the plastic is outside the chamber and the edge laid across the sealing strip?
@callow@duodec Yes, most definitely. Say you have a bag of chips, which you wish to reseal. You would lay the chip bag so that the contents were outside of the chamber vac with the top of the bag under the lid and on the sealing strip.
Then one sets down the sealing time to about 3 or 4 seconds, and activates the “seal” button. (For the nylon/mylar bags, a seal time of 6-8 seconds is more normal)
In the USV32, the vacuum pump will run briefly pulling a moderate vacuum, but the chip bag with contents outside won’t be affected. It will then seal, with a much better seal than you can get with a FoodSaver.
There does not seem to be one on any of these sites at the moment.
Costco usually has a great deal on the bags
@DaveInSoCal the 'Zon sells 50ft rolls in assorted widths at great prices as well.
Yes I do.
Why do you ask?
We have been FoodSaver users since they first came out when Tila announced the product in the late 1980s. We have gone through several machines, which usually fail when the sealing strip goes first. Seldom has the little dry vacuum pump been an issue. I used to repair the sealing strips when I could get the nichrome heating strips.
We have always washed and reused the composite mylar/nylon bags until they were too short to be of use or developed pinhole leaks. Only then were the bags thrown out. The bags are not recyclable in most recycle streams.
We have a collection of gadgets for the FoodSaver system including the wide and narrow mouth Mason jar sealers, any number of FoodSaver Lexan containers which can be evacuated with the accessory hose as well as the flat top can saver attachment.
But two years ago when the last FoodSaver unit died, I kept my vow to move to a chamber vacuum system and away from the FoodSaver external vacuum system.
What a difference! I bought an Avid Armor USV32 unit and a bunch of 3 mil mylar/nylon, non textured bags, 4x6, 8x10 and 11x13. The bags cost pennies cf. to FoodSaver, and the sealing properties are orders of magnitude better. Much lower vacuums; much improved seals. The USV32 does a double seal. The best part is that one can easily seal wet foods and liquids (providing that the liquids are at or near ambient.) I routinely seal up excess food such as soups and stews now in the chamber vacuum to freeze for later.
We will never go back to a FoodSaver.
Recently I bought a FoodSaver external hose with grommet for the USV32 to use a FoodSaver external device. But more importantly, at the same time I bought a JVR 3-gallon vacuum pot. What I really wanted was the grommet in the Avid Armor hose that adapts to a FoodSaver external accessory hose.
This 3-gallon pot allows one to vacuum seal up to 4 four quart Mason jars at one time.
One simply puts a normal metal lid on the Mason jar and loosely screws down the metal sealing ring. The ring is just to hold the metal lid in place. After the pot is evacuated, when air is let back in, the metal lid will seal and seal tight.
So for some fruits and other crushables that one wants to preserve, viz., whole fresh strawberries, avocados, salads, this is the cat’s meow.
And sometimes, it is just a lot more convenient to just open a Mason jar than to slice open a sealed bag. Preserving nuts, raw or roasted, and bacon grease against rancidity come to mind in this regard.
I have a lot more to say about this unit and what I would do differently if I were purchasing it today, and how I solved the kitchen storage issue as these units are big, bulky and won’t fit on a counter under cabinets.
If there is enough interest I will take a few pictures and post them with a reply.
@Jackinga
What kind of dark magic allows you to put 4 gallons of stuff in a three gallon pot???
@chienfou LOL, you made me laugh. The last time I went to school four quarts made a gallon.
Now to get 4 gallons of shit in a 3 gallon pot, well you have to order the hypercube version, which unfortunately is back ordered indefinitely.
@chienfou
If you want to try, order the hypercube version, the JVR Tesseract-3∞, which unfortunately is back ordered indefinitely.
They used to have plenty of them on the shelf, but they can’t figure out how to put a vacuum tight lid on it, you see. And now they can’t seem to find that shelf any more to boot.
@Jackinga We’ve used a Foodsaver for about 20 years, usually for buying bulk freezer food and breaking it down into more usable size packets; its been great. We don’t have room for a device the size of your Avid Armor USV32. I wouldn’t mind one, so maybe when we move (retirement) in the near future; having room near the kitchen for more small appliances is a goal.
But I also want a freeze drier at that point (actually I’ve been wanting one for years). The combination of
@duodec @Jackinga Thanks for the in depth explanation! I had never heard of the chamber vacuum system, it’s very cool but I don’t have that much space either. My food sealer gets used almost daily to seal plastic tubing to package my work products or reseal purchased items like saltines or noodles. Can the chamber one seal if the bulk of the plastic is outside the chamber and the edge laid across the sealing strip?
@callow @duodec Yes, most definitely. Say you have a bag of chips, which you wish to reseal. You would lay the chip bag so that the contents were outside of the chamber vac with the top of the bag under the lid and on the sealing strip.
Then one sets down the sealing time to about 3 or 4 seconds, and activates the “seal” button. (For the nylon/mylar bags, a seal time of 6-8 seconds is more normal)
In the USV32, the vacuum pump will run briefly pulling a moderate vacuum, but the chip bag with contents outside won’t be affected. It will then seal, with a much better seal than you can get with a FoodSaver.