Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Chamber Vacuum Sealers


Recommended Posts

Hello all. I'm a home cook looking to get into Sous Vide cooking. I'm getting ready to order some of the equipment and I have a question regarding chamber vacuum sealers.

I know that in MC's gear guide they recommend the VacMaster VP210C, while in his 2011 Gift Guide Scott recommended the VP112C. A week ago they were only about $75 difference in price, and since footprint isn't really an issue for me I was just going to get the VP210C. However, when I looked today, Amazon has the VP-112C on for only $646.30. That's starting to be a substantial amount of savings. Both seem to be well reviewed items and I'm relatively certain that I won't go wrong with either, but I was hoping that I could find someone here who has used both and get there advice. Is the 210C worth the extra $250?

Thanks in advance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually just bought a VP 112 last week but unfortunately haven't gotten the chance to use it. I actually plan on cooking and using it tonight for the first time. I actually got mine through Webstaurant.com which sells the VP112 for $589.00 plus shipping. I think when all was said and done it cost me right around $640. I can't actually attest to the quality yet, but all the reviews I had read were very positive and I believe it even has the same motor that the VP210 has. Plus I plan on actually moving mine from various places so the "portability" of it was important to me. I'll report back as to the quality, but it seems if price is an issue, the 112 can be had for much cheaper.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the tip. (Un)fortunately, I didn't take into account that Amazon might have a problem with international shipping - it won't even ship the 210 to Canada, and shipping on the 112 (along with import taxes etc) is close to 40% of the price. I haven't crunched out Webstaurant's price, but I imagine the shipping/import will be similar.

So far, it seems like I might just have to get the 112 from SousVideSupreme, which has slightly more reasonable rates (or possibly Webstaurant, depending on what the final price is.)

If anyone else out there knows of a reliable way to get an affordable chamber vacuum sealer in Canada, I'd appreciate you letting me know. My internet searches are not being productive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Luke, please report back on how you like the VP 112. I've been trying to talk myself into shelling out for a chamber sealer and had been looking at the 210, but the portability and price of the 112 might be enough to finally convince me to take the plunge. The two things I'm concerned about with the 112 are that the chamber could be too small and that the pressure isn't high enough to do things like compression. I'm eager to hear what you think.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been pretty busy lately and have really only gotten to use the 112 for one meal that I prepared this week. When it first came I had some trouble getting the chamber to pull a vacuum, but it turned out that the lid just needs a little pressure to get going and once it catches it is fine. On your concern on the chamber being too small versus the 210, I think that the chamber on the 112 actually has a little bit more vertical clearance than the 210 but a slightly smaller chamber width wise. I think it will be fine for my needs. As on the strength of the vacuum, I haven't gotten to experiment with it much but it is not really clear at what bar the chamber pressure is at. I think it will be strong enough to do some infusion stuff but maybe not compression... I will try to do some experiments this weekend and report back. Over all I think it is going to fit my needs just fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

JKessler said:

Luke, please report back on how you like the VP 112. I've been trying to talk myself into shelling out for a chamber sealer and had been looking at the 210, but the portability and price of the 112 might be enough to finally convince me to take the plunge. The two things I'm concerned about with the 112 are that the chamber could be too small and that the pressure isn't high enough to do things like compression. I'm eager to hear what you think.

Cost and footprint were a major issue for me, so I bought the VP112 late last year from Webstaurant like Luke. I've used it about 20 times. I haven't tried to do any compression techniques with it, so I can't address that, but I definitely don't have any complaints about the chamber size. It easily handles 10"x15" bags, which are the largest that will conveniently fit in most home sous vide setups, in my experience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all,

I am also looking for a new chamber vacuum sealer.

I am wondering if there is one where I can control the vacuuming also by setting a specific pressure instead of length of time of vaccuming.

I am assuming the Polyscience Chef Series or the MultiVac 250 can do it, but unfortunately I can not find any proper description on how they actually work.

Anybody any ideas? Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I own a Vp-112 unit and at the price point, I found it to be a serviceable unit. Another post referenced the inability to start the process until a little pressure is placed on the lid. I have experienced the same issue, so I would assume it is a design flaw. It has gotten better with use however, so it may just be the gasket needed to break in a little.

My understanding of compression (search compression on this site to see the watermelon chip demo) is that -.92 millibars of pressure is required to archive compression for most vegetables. The VP-112 has a gauge with max pressure listed -76 cmHg. Let me preface this by stating I'm a cook not an engineer but I believe my math is correct. -76 cmHg is equal to

-1.013250164 millibars of pressure at sea level. A vacuum of -.92 millibars is roughly -.69 cmHg. The VP-112 pulls that in about 30 seconds. The maximum pressure that I have been able to obtain on the unit is-73 cmHg which is -.9732 millibars of pressure.

I hope this help! I am pleased with the unit. I would like to have a digital control of pressure rather than time and a gauge but that's what you get when you buy the cheap one. I use a Koch machine at work so I have a realistic point of comparison. Cycle speed and pinpoint accuracy are the major differences.

Chamber size is sufficient for most tasks. Its not big enough to seal a whole tenderloin or a whole prime rib but not many units are. It is a powerful tool and used in conjunction with the entry level polyscience circulator you will achieve superior sous vide results.

I was at polyscience yesterday and had a chance to look at the chef series unit and it looks like a great machine but it's $3,500. For my buck in a home application I'd keep the cash and buy a host of other equipment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Picked up my VP-112 and played around with it over the weekend. As others have said, I need to push down on the lid (in my opinion, I have to push quite hard on it) in order to get it to seal.

I've ran some tests over the weekend, and the most that I've been able pull on it is -60 cmHg. Considering the air pressure around where I am is roughly 75 cmHg, that means that I'm only able to get about 80% vacuum. It hasn't affected anything so far, but it does bother me a bit.

All in all, though, I'm pretty satisfied with it. The chamber size is plenty big enough for my needs. I'm strictly an amateur cook, so I don't think that I need the fine control of some of the more expensive machines. I haven't had a problem with bags not sealing, or not removing enough air when I cook sous vide.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for comments,

unfortunately the VP-112 is too small as I have lots of veggies and meat to vacuum during the year.

Cooking is just a small part.

I still would prefer an option to use pressure instead of time for fragile items.

Will be at a big catering exhibition in Toulouse next week and will report back on findings

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Hi Salomon,

I don't know what your budget is, but check out Sammic chamber sealers. You can set them to seal based on vacuum pressure or time based. They also have some great options, including the ability to put special vacnorm trays under a vacuum with an external vacuum hose attachment. You are probably looking at $3k or more but I think they are the machines that fit your needs the best. We don't sell them, but our competitor, Vacupack does and the Thom (the owner) is definitely knowledgeable on the Sammic machines. 1-800-227-3769. I hope this helps,

thanks,

Doug

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Doug,

I had read good things about the service you gave at QualityMatters and I was thinking about buying from you soon but recommending a competitor for me is the best thing for me that a vendor to prove his integrity. I'll be ordering from you next time I go to the States. (Shipping to Canada is $10362.39 for a chamber vacuum!!!!!) Can you tell me the difference between the VP215 and VP215C?

Thank you

Louis-Frederic

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Louis-Fredric,

Thanks for the kind words. Our system definitely has issues calculating shipping to Canada. There is no difference between the two models. When Vacmaster released the machine the part number was VP215C but about a year later they dropped the C from the model number but we have so many people still searching for the original part number that we have to have it listed both ways. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks,

Doug

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Doug for the info,

I'll spend some time in May in the USA. I plan to order the VP215 and have it delivered to a US address. Once there I would like to test it. I suppose I'll need to put the oil in to test it and remove it to bring it back? They don't talk about removing oil to move the machine in the manual. I suppose that I can put the same oil in when back home? Do you have a recommendation about the thickness of the bags? And finally would a two weeks lead time be sufficient to order and be sure that I receive the stuff?

Sorry for all the questions ;-)

Louis-Frederic

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi again Louis-Frederic,

No problem. I'm glad to help. I take my VP215 to fish camp with the oil in it, but I make sure that the machine is going to stay upright during transport or it could get messy and contaminate the exhaust filter. If you did drain the oil out, you could definitely used the oil again. And two weeks should be more than enough unless it is out of stock, regardless of who you order it from. On the bag thickness, I personally use 4 mil bags for nearly everything. My family is not exactly gentle when moving things around in the freezer. 3 mil works well if it is handled with care. Also, for Sous Vide, most boilable bags are 3 mil thick and there is rarely a problem with them. I hope this helps.

Thanks,

Doug

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Doug...

I just got registered in this forum a few minutes ago and I'm dedicating my first post to congratulate you on your ethics, when you recommended your competitor you got my trust. I'm looking for a chamber vacuum sealer and I think that I already know where I'm buying. I'll take a look to your website and hopefully I'll be placing an order soon.

Best regards.

Luis

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...