I finally had to give up on my old FoodSaver Professional model as the sealing strips were no longer functioning properly. I replaced it with another Food Saver from Costco, but the new one doesn't seem to have as powerful a vacuum as the older one. I am experiencing freezer burn on my vacuum packed filets and I'm not too pleased.

I have seen some more expensive commerical style units on the Cabela's website and I'm wondering if they are worth the money? Does anyone own a vacuum packer other than a Food Saver that they are particularly impressed with?

I own the BEST-VAC and vastly prefer it over one of the craptastic FoodSavers. No comparison. I'm really glad I didn't fall for the FoodSaver crap.

If I were doing a ton of packing all the time, I'd probably spend the bucks and upgrade to the MINI-VAC. As is, the BEST-VAC suites my needs just fine.

The BEST-VAC requires one of those fancy micro pouches, so that's probably a bit more on the expensive side than the cheaper stuff you can get for the FoodSavers.

Here's the web site where I bought it from:

http://www.dougcare.com/foodstorage/homeequip.htm

I've experienced a lot of freezer burn problems and have given up on the vacuum sealer. I have a Food Saver. Now, I freeze my fish in yogurt containers immersed in water with a light salt brine (1 tsp per quart of water).

Fish stays fresh for a long time that way. The last two years, I have had fish in the freezer for up to 6 months before we got through them. It all tasted great. Just don't add any salt when you cook it and you wouldn't even know...

I've got two foodsaver professional II and love them both.One is ten years old,I do my egg's in that one.The other is two years old and for fish & food only.The key is to not move them around in the freezer after you put them in there.Don't over stack and know where you put your coho versus kings and sea bass versus halibut.When doing fish or food I hit the over ride button and force out any left over air before sealing it up,for packing egg's I let it run it's course.Some times I put a little paper towel in the package before sealing it up to help get a better seal.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

I use a Food Saver for all my fish, deer, elk, duck, any meat we buy, catch or kill.

The trick I've found is that I wrap the meat in Reynolds Freezer Paper before bagging and sealing. It's got one side that's plastic coated and the other side is plain. I wrap the meat, write on the non-coated side what it is and the date, then vacuum seal. The paper keeps all of the moisture away from messing up the seal and really helps with burn. Since I've switched to doing this I have not had one bad seal or any burn of any kind. Seems like the vacuum works a lot better too, I think because there isn't any moisture messing with the seal.

Sounds like a lot of work but it's worth it and it really doesn't take that long. The paper is cheap. Get it right next to the aluminum foil in the grocery store. We took out a chunk of halibut from 6/04 (lost in the freezer vortex) and grilled it up a couple weeks ago and it was great.

Magic Vac Elite. Never had a problem with it.

They all suck.

I don't get it?

I have a Foodsaver and it has worked great for my infrequent use (approximately 2 -3 times per month.)

Does anybody vacuum seal crab? I have been unsuccessful so far sealing crab (cleaned and cooked but still in legs/claw/bodies form.) My problem has been that the sharp points on the legs or claws penetrate the plastic. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I've had a Foodsaver Professional II for about 5 years. It is ok but I would not buy another one. I like the looks of the one Parker has. It is cheaper than what I paid for my foodsaver. I like that it has a manual mode. Mind has a vaccum override but you have to hold it. That only leaves one hand to work out the air bubbles. I had the lower end foodsaver prior to the one I have now. No vacuum override and would not hold up to doing not stop sealing. Had problems getting it to suck the air out and tossed the lid across the room once.

I have a Deni Magic Vac Champion that Cabela's used to sell. It has a variable vacuum and a double pump system so there is never a need to push air out of the bag. I have used it several times a week for the past two years for fish, dried fruit, nuts, fresh fruit, crabmeat, and a real treat, waffles when you make more than you can eat. The fresh fruit, waffles, and crab meat has to be frozen before vacuum sealing. The vacuum is high enough to crush them if they are not frozen and it will suck all of the juice out of the crabmeat. It also will take a full 12-inch wide roll of bag material for those big fillets. Amazon has them for a good price.

We've got a VACUPACK we've been using the last couple of years. The thing that sold me was when they sprayed WD-40 on the inside of the bag and it still sealed up tight. Can use any brand bags with it also. I dump cured egges in bags, freeze them and then seal them. Keep forever!

I also have the foodsaver II and I am not impressed it seemed to work great at first now it's just ok I would take parkers advice and spend the money. But I will give mine another chance with some freezer paper as
kramer suggests, Thanks Kramer!

I bought a Food Saver Proffessional II in early May. So far no problems. I coat my fish pieces with water then freeze them on parchment paper over night, then I seal them. So far everything is coming out fresh. But, time will tell.

What I have found to work better that freezer paper, is ziplock freezer bags before sealing it up. Cost a little more but definately well worth it, then you dont have to do the papertowel trick that I used to do.

I go one step simpler than Mike@northbend. I'll start a bag, put the piece of fish in the bag (1 end unsealed) and into the freezer for about 2 hours. This gives the fish time to firm up yet, not completely freeze. I then pull out the bag and finish sealing.

This has done wonders for reducing freezer burn issues. First, the surface liquids are frozen so as not to interfere with the seal. Second, the fish, firm but not completely frozen, seems to work with the vacuum process better getting rid of more air pockets and allowing the bag to form tighter around the fish.

Simple and it works for me.

Thanks for the tips guys I'll try them both before I give up on this foodsaver II!

For serious vacuum packing look for a "chamber" machine...Like the one at this link

web page

I cannot post to this site the nature of the explicit acts I would have to perform on my wife every night for months in order to talk her into letting me buy an expensive chambered machine. The unit that Parker described seems like it might be worth a try. Thanks for all the responses.

If you are ever in the Seattle area, I'd be more than happy to haul the think in to work and let you doink around with it.