I have had a VacMaster VP215 for nearly 20 years and wouldn't trade it for the world. I have run well over 10,000 lbs of meat in it since I have had it. I have done 3 elk and 2 deer over 3 days with it. 1000 lbs of fish Tuna, salmon, rock cod, halibut, Abalone, stripers, trout, Kokanee and more. I have a commercial boat. Ducks, deer, geese, moose, elk, and a couple bison, not to mention my yearly whole beef. This unit will also do retort bags, I use them to can tuna and salmon, you seal the product in the bag and put the bags in the canner, no jars used. It's so much easier than using jars. and if you get a good unit like this one it has a continuous duty cycle, no more overheating units and waiting for it to cool down, you can seal nonstop. It's so fast that was worth the price right there. And the savings on bags paid for my unit within the first year and a half.