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Hand-held vacuum food saver

Anna N

By Anna N
in Kitchen Consumer

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Special K

Special K

Posted
Posted

There's a new rival food vacuum system being advertised on TV (Food Network, I think). It's called the Vacu-Seal™ Cordless Handheld Vacuum, and it's very similar to the Handi-Vac. The bags are a little different; they have a little valve that the vacuum sort of plugs into. They're also advertised as being dishwasher safe and reusable "over and over again." At $29.99 for the kit (the vacuum, 3 quart-sized bags, and six batteries) the system is quite a bit more expensive than the Handi-Vac, but it looks like the sealing mechanism *might* be a little more reliable.

That said, I found that when I changed the batteries, I no longer had the problem of the Handi-vac not starting to seal right away. I'm not planning to run out and buy the Vacu-Seal just yet.

Has anyone ever seen an ad for the Handi-Vac? I know I haven't, although I am seeing it in most of the grocery stores here now.

K

Joe Blowe

Joe Blowe

Posted
Posted
There's a new rival food vacuum system being advertised on TV (Food Network, I think).  It's called the Vacu-Seal™ Cordless Handheld Vacuum, and it's very similar to the Handi-Vac.  The bags are a little different; they have a little valve that the vacuum sort of plugs into.

Interesting product. I wonder if it's worth the extra money for that unit and reusable bags...

FWIW, I bought the Handi-Vac a few weeks ago and I think it's a great addition to my FoodSaver. I notice that it doesn't hold a good seal for more than a few days, but for something you access regularly, it's the tops!

Now that I see that Vacu-Seal, I wonder if you can skip buying the unit and use their bags with the FoodSaver accessory hose? May have to bite the bullet and buy a box :biggrin:

So we finish the eighteenth and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money. But when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness."

So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

Doodad

Doodad

Posted
Posted

Well I killed the first one already. Used weekly since before Christmas. Luckily, I have a second so I hope the other was just a dud. My Mom got one as well and hers is still chugging along fine.

  • 1 month later...
sygyzy

sygyzy

Posted
Posted

Has anyone checked on the long term use of these bags? I've had them for a few months and both kit bags cannot hold a vacumn. I cannot see any tears, nicks, or holes but they fail minutes after inflating. It's very frustrating.

Pierogi

Pierogi

Posted
Posted (edited)
Has anyone checked on the long term use of these bags? I've had them for a few months and both kit bags cannot hold a vacumn. I cannot see any tears, nicks, or holes but they fail minutes after inflating. It's very frustrating.

I've noticed this too. Even with the "refill" bags I've purchased, it seems to be rather hit & miss. I'm thinking their quality control on the bag manufacturing process may not be what it should be (hey...I'm a science geek and do quality assurance for a living, what can I say...?). Some work swell even two or three times reused. Some fail out of the box. It *is* annoying and I keep meaning to write to their customer relations folks, but well, life keeps getting in the way. The ones that do seal have held up for me for months. The ones that fail, fail within minutes, so I know pretty well immediately they're duds.

ETA--but I still think this product is the best thing to hit the market in about a millenium or so. I can't believe how many things I've saved with it since I bought the thing.

Edited by Pierogi (log)

--Roberta--

"Let's slip out of these wet clothes, and into a dry Martini" - Robert Benchley

Pierogi's eG Foodblog

My *outside* blog, "A Pound Of Yeast"

Toliver

Toliver

Posted
Posted
Has anyone checked on the long term use of these bags? I've had them for a few months and both kit bags cannot hold a vacumn. I cannot see any tears, nicks, or holes but they fail minutes after inflating. It's very frustrating.

I've noticed this too. Even with the "refill" bags I've purchased, it seems to be rather hit & miss. I'm thinking their quality control on the bag manufacturing process may not be what it should be (hey...I'm a science geek and do quality assurance for a living, what can I say...?). Some work swell even two or three times reused. Some fail out of the box. It *is* annoying and I keep meaning to write to their customer relations folks, but well, life keeps getting in the way. The ones that do seal have held up for me for months. The ones that fail, fail within minutes, so I know pretty well immediately they're duds.

ETA--but I still think this product is the best thing to hit the market in about a millenium or so. I can't believe how many things I've saved with it since I bought the thing.

I've also noticed this. I tried sealing a bag with cheese in it for what seemed like 15 minutes. In frustration, I took another bag out of the box, threw the cheese in and the sealing/vacuuming instantly worked. I could feel the suction on the sealer when pressed against my finger so I knew the machine was still working.

I will email the company about this. If they respond I will post it here.

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

sygyzy

sygyzy

Posted
Posted

I emailed them and they just said sorry but they sent me a coupon for some refills. I think that's nice but I think it's incredible that the failure rate is so high.

  • 4 months later...
prasantrin

prasantrin

Posted
Posted

Is the Reynod's Handi-Vac still being made? I've been to Target. Wal-Mart, Lund's, Whole Foods, and a bunch of other supermarkets in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, and I've yet to find it. I'm leaving tomorrow morning, so it looks like I won't be getting one during this trip!

Kerry Beal

Kerry Beal

Posted
Posted
Is the Reynod's Handi-Vac still being made?  I've been to Target. Wal-Mart, Lund's, Whole Foods, and a bunch of other supermarkets in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, and I've yet to find it.  I'm leaving tomorrow morning, so it looks like I won't be getting one during this trip!

Look in the section with bags and foil etc. Saw them yesterday in Walmart and Target in Port Huron.

the Chocolate Doctor
www.thechocolatedoctor.ca

www.eztemper.com

 

Confectionary Course • Confectionary Course Q&A
eGullet foodblog 2006 • eGullet Foodblog 2012

Really Nice!

Really Nice!

Posted
Posted
I bought my hand my hand held vacuum gadget yesterday at Wal-Mart.

You lost me at Wal-Mart...

Drink!

I refuse to spend my life worrying about what I eat. There is no pleasure worth forgoing just for an extra three years in the geriatric ward. --John Mortimera

prasantrin

prasantrin

Posted
Posted

I'll see if we can pass by GF or another big Target or Wal-mart on the way home. I've been looking in the sandwich bag/plastic wrap section first, then trying the small applicance section, but no luck. I've even checked for price stickers on the shelf indicating they had some, and are just out of stock, but I haven't found any of those, either. Maybe the MSP area really likes their Handi-vacs, so they've cleaned them all out!

At least I know they're still out there!

Sam Iam

Sam Iam

Posted
Posted

Kroger here still had the Handi-Vac and refills last week. I just checked Amazon, and the starter kit was $20.50! :shock: However, prices on Amazon can change by the minute.

Carpe Carp: Seize that fish!

Toliver

Toliver

Posted
Posted

-sigh- I dropped mine and now it doesn't work. :sad: But I'm heading to Target this weekend where I will hopefully find a replacement.

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

onrushpam

onrushpam

Posted
Posted

I'm guessing they may have a supply problem on these...

I needed some replacement bags and couldn't find them for a couple of weeks. Then, they had the starter kits at Publix, but no replacement bags. They finally got restocked on everything last week.

SeaGal

SeaGal

Posted
Posted

I bought one about 2 weeks ago at the Fred Meyer on Lake City. Still about 10.00. Freddie's is a Kroger company, so maybe other Kroger stores will have them. (not that I'm a fan of Kroger's mind you, but I'd rather buy from them than WalMart)

Jan

Seattle, WA

"But there's tacos, Randy. You know how I feel about tacos. It's the only food shaped like a smile....A beef smile."

--Earl (Jason Lee), from "My Name is Earl", Episode: South of the Border Part Uno, Season 2

scubadoo97

scubadoo97

Posted
Posted

Since this thread is back up I thought I would post my results.

I just checked the upright freezer. I have some short ribs that were sealed over 10 months ago. They are still holding a seal. Chicken breasts and thighs are still doing well at over 2 months. No hint of freezer burn. Items look great.

I have had failures to be sure. I find the ones I use in the fridge for cheese seem to fail the most and I suspect the fact that they are opened and resealed may have something to do with the increased failure rate. Over all I'm not too unhappy as this is an inexpensive item and takes little draw space. They really need to work on their quality control

MGLloyd

MGLloyd

Posted
Posted

I was at a local Target today and saw a Ziploc hand vacuum pump and Ziploc vacuum bags. It was right next to the Reynolds Handi-Vac, but from eyeballing the bag boxes, it didn't look as if the Ziplock pump would work on the Reynolds bags and vice versa.

Regards,

Michael Lloyd

Mill Creek, Washington USA

prasantrin

prasantrin

Posted
Posted

Thanks, all!

I managed to swing by Target in Grand Forks and they still had quite a few of them. I picked up the Reynold's one, and one box of each of size of bags. They were cheaper than I had imagined (just over $6 for the machine, and under $3 for the bags). I'm thinking of vacuum sealing a sweet potato so I can smuggle it into Japan...

I, too, saw the Ziploc hand vacuum pump and was tempted to buy it instead of the Reynold's, but I wasn't sure how well it would work. It looks rather flimsy, but it's also about half the price of the Reynold's (and since it doesn't have a motor, it would probably be less likely to break down).

I'll see how this one works, and maybe I'll get the Ziploc next year!

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