Hand-held vacuum food saver

[Toliver]

If it helps any, the units we found at WalMart were lumped in with the plastic storage bag (Ziplocs, etc) section.

[llc45]

I love this little gadget - as soon as told my husband about it, he ran right out to Wal-mart to purchase it. We buy a lot of larger blocks of cheese from Costco - now I can keep them fresh for a lot longer. Just for this alone, it is worth it.

[lperry]

So??? How are the bags holding in the freezer? Great? Not so great?

[scubadoo97]

I'm going on over 3 weeks and I have a bag of green onions in the fridge that are showing little if any sign of deterioration. This was my test item to see how long they last. Normally they would have been toast in less than a week. The bags are holding their seal and vacuum. What I really love about this is that you can open and reseal with ease.

[Anna N]

Well I have to 'fess up - my first Handi-Vac died almost as soon as I began using it. I tried all the usual things, new batteries, cleaning the reservoir, etc. But nothing revived it. The motor ran fine but the ability to vacuum had gone.

A replacement unit is working just fine and I remain impressed with this gadget. It's hasn't been months yet but anything I have frozen remains tightly vacuum packed.

Like Scubadoo, the ability to open the bags, remove something, and then quickly reseal is the one feature that I like over the FoodSaver which is much more cumbersome to open and reseal.

[Toliver]

We froze some leftover turkey meat using the sealer. The bags are still airtight. So far, I share Anna N's enthusiasm over the little sealer that could.

[Special K]

[  Finally found it (At Fred Meyer in Ballard).quote]

[i spent an hour there and another 1/2 hr at the greenwood store; NO ONE has a clue what it is or where to look.]

I found it at the newer Fred's on 45th Street in Ballard. The H-V and the bags were with the regular sandwich bags, foil wrap, etc. I went back a few days later and bought a couple more.

I don't think Fred's is so bad. The only problem I have there is getting out, but lately I think there have been more open check-out lanes. But where else can you buy a turducken, a pair of jeans, a lamp, and a Christmas tree in one stop?

Anyway, I've been very happy with the product.

[lperry]

The issue that has kept me from getting a big sealer (I borrow my Mom's periodically), is the inability to open and quickly reseal the bags. Much of what I want to seal I freeze and use in little bits over time - nuts, curry leaves, cubes of herbs and lemon juice etc. The only thing that kept me from buying this little one was the worry that the bags wouldn't hold a seal. So now I have no excuse!

[natasha1270]

Was terribly excited when I saw these in the store a few weeks ago because I have been wanting a foodsaver for eons but storage space is too premium. So far I am not quite as excited as before.

About half of the time the bags seal like a champ but every single time I have tried to save half an onion (in at least 3 different quart bags) in the fridge. zip. total failure. Pancetta in the freezer. nope. raw chicken breast and pork shoulder (freezer) - yes. butter in the fridge. no. butter in the freezer - yes. cheese - none have maintained a seal for long so far. And so on... I tried to call the consumer line but they don't seem to have evening hours past 4:30p est if I recall. I want so much to like it but the results I'm getting so far are making it very hard to endorse. Glad to hear everyone else having such good luck with it.

Any ideas what I might be doing wrong? Now that I type it up, it seems anything with fat is not sealing so well.

N.

[Anna N]

Was terribly excited when I saw these in the store a few weeks ago because I have been wanting a foodsaver for eons but storage space is too premium. So far I am not quite as excited as before.

About half of the time the bags seal like a champ but every single time I have tried to save half an onion (in at least 3 different quart bags) in the fridge. zip. total failure. Pancetta in the freezer. nope. raw chicken breast and pork shoulder (freezer) - yes. butter in the fridge. no. butter in the freezer - yes. cheese - none have maintained a seal for long so far. And so on... I tried to call the consumer line but they don't seem to have evening hours past 4:30p est if I recall. I want so much to like it but the results I'm getting so far are making it very hard to endorse. Glad to hear everyone else having such good luck with it.

Any ideas what I might be doing wrong? Now that I type it up, it seems anything with fat is not sealing so well.

N.

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Do you make sure that at least part of whatever ingredient you are trying to seal is in the "quilted" portion of the bag?

[natasha1270]

I've really only been paying attention that things were below the fill line but just re-read the instructions and it does say that item should be touching the quilted area. Some of the items I have in the fridge that didn't maintain the seal have only a small portion in the quilting. I'll move them up and try to reseal. Thanks for the hint!

[chezcherie]

so, at risk of sounding completely odd, i use resealable bags for this sort of thing, seal them nearly completely, and insert a drinking straw into the small unsealed portion, and ....~inhale~suck the air out through the straw. then quickly remove the straw and seal the bag......yeah, i know...

but my question is: is this gadget better? thanks....i'll just go suck the air out of some brownies now...

[saucée]

so, at risk of sounding completely odd, i use resealable bags for this sort of thing, seal them nearly completely, and insert a drinking straw into the small unsealed portion, and ....~inhale~suck the air out through the straw. then quickly remove the straw and seal the bag......yeah, i know...

but my question is: is this gadget better? thanks....i'll just go suck the air out of some brownies now...

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I think it works really well. I have a foodsaver and I'm a bit over the top when it comes to vacuum sealing (and straining sauces). I'm really satified with the things I've tried to seal which are all small things I want to be able to reclose like cheese, cubes of stock, frozen bacon, leftover chicken offal for stock, etc. I like it a lot and have recommended it to a lot of people. For under $10 (I got mine at Target), its a really good product.

[Rover]

Was terribly excited when I saw these in the store a few weeks ago because I have been wanting a foodsaver for eons but storage space is too premium. So far I am not quite as excited as before.

About half of the time the bags seal like a champ but every single time I have tried to save half an onion (in at least 3 different quart bags) in the fridge. zip. total failure. Pancetta in the freezer. nope. raw chicken breast and pork shoulder (freezer) - yes. butter in the fridge. no. butter in the freezer - yes. cheese - none have maintained a seal for long so far. And so on... I tried to call the consumer line but they don't seem to have evening hours past 4:30p est if I recall. I want so much to like it but the results I'm getting so far are making it very hard to endorse. Glad to hear everyone else having such good luck with it.

Any ideas what I might be doing wrong? Now that I type it up, it seems anything with fat is not sealing so well.

N.

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Anna, from where did you purchase your vacuum sealer? I'm in Vancouver and it seems there's no source here. I have a couple of contacts in the Toronto area and I wondered where you were able to obtain yours.

Thanks

Rover

Edited November 30, 2007 by Rover (log)

[Anna N]

Anna, from where did you purchase your vacuum sealer?  I'm in Vancouver and it seems there's no source here.  I have a couple of contacts in the Toronto area and I wondered where you were able to obtain yours.

Thanks

Rover

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Rover,

I have yet to see them in a Canadian store either! I'm lucky to have a friend who does a far amount of cross-border shopping so mine came from the USA. I hope they show up here soon or else obtaining more bags will be problematic!

Edited to add: The device is being advertised on Canadian TV stations so I am certain it is either here somewhere or will soon be readily available.

Edited November 30, 2007 by Anna N (log)

[Toliver]

As for sources, do you have WalMarts up there (in Canada)? In the US, I've found them at most of the WalMarts I've visited (they're in the food storage bag section).

That they're being advertised on Canadian TV means someone will be selling them soon.

Reynold's Handi-Vac website

You can always contact Reynolds to find a source (on the website above, there's a "contact us" link on the drop-down menu under "The Basics").

[Special K]

so, at risk of sounding completely odd, i use resealable bags for this sort of thing, seal them nearly completely, and insert a drinking straw into the small unsealed portion, and ....~inhale~suck the air out through the straw. then quickly remove the straw and seal the bag......yeah, i know...

but my question is: is this gadget better? thanks....i'll just go suck the air out of some brownies now...

←

Yeah, I already had a live-in Handi-Vac at home (my husband), but honestly, this does a better job of really, really sucking ALL the air out of the bag.

He still gets to do the brownies, though!

K

[Anna N]

As for sources, do you have WalMarts up there (in Canada)? In the US, I've found them at most of the WalMarts I've visited (they're in the food storage bag section).

That they're being advertised on Canadian TV means someone will be selling them soon. 

Reynold's Handi-Vac website

You can always contact Reynolds to find a source (on the website above, there's a "contact us" link on the drop-down menu under "The Basics").

←

Yeah well... I emailed them first thing this morning about Canadian sources and am still waiting for a response!

[lperry]

$8.99 at Target. I love it! I've already made an amazing amount of space in the freezer from transferring things from plastic containers to these little bags. A wonderful gadget!

[sygyzy]

Speaking of handheld sealers, another one to check out is the Frisper Freshkeeper.

Link

[Anna N]

Speaking of handheld sealers, another one to check out is the Frisper Freshkeeper.

Link

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WOW - that's a pretty pricey one!

[Rover]

I've become shameless in soliciting all friends, colleagues, acquaintances and the relatives and friends thereof to acquire the Vacuum Food Saver on my behalf as they cross the border on frivolous Xmas shopping trips.

Generally, I'm sensing a lack of priority and urgency as they seem primarily to be obsessed with gifts, glamour and glitter ... go figure!

Given the number of people I've tasked with this, it's just possible that I'll end up with 5 or 6 of the darned things. That would make me happy ... the thrill of the hunt!

Rover

[Anna N]

I've become shameless in soliciting all friends, colleagues, acquaintances and the relatives and friends thereof to acquire the Vacuum Food Saver on my behalf as they cross the border on frivolous Xmas shopping trips.

Generally, I'm sensing a lack of priority and urgency as they seem primarily to be obsessed with gifts, glamour and glitter ... go figure! 

Given the number of people I've tasked with this, it's just possible that I'll end up with 5 or 6 of the darned things.  That would make me happy ... the thrill of the hunt!

Rover

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Hey, they make terrific stocking-stuffers!

[Pierogi]

I scored one last week at the local super-mega-mart grocery store (Albertsons to be exact). It was under 10 bucks.

Currently have 3/4 of an onion in the produce drawer, 1 garlic sausage in the meat drawer (both in the fridge) and some frozen egg rolls in the freezer as my "field trials" of how the thing works.

I'm especially interested in the stuff in the fridge........if it can extend the life of produce and cheese I'm sold.

One other tip I found to pull the vacuum quicker is not to push down too hard on the pump tip. When you place it very lightly over the seal spot, it works much more quickly.

So far, I'm impressed for the price. To be continued...........

[sygyzy]

Picked one up today while shopping at Vons. $9.99 like everyone else. I also picked up a Foodsaver on the day after Black Friday. I want to vacuum seal everything but I just thought of something. These things were made primarily to prevent freezer burn. Don't many produce, meats, and cheeses need to "breathe" while in the fridge? Would it actually be worse to vacuum seal your carrots (just an example) in the fridge?