Foodsaver woes

[cal1956]

i bought a "Potane" food sealer from amazon and its been a real workhorse !!! seals great and it was about 1/2 the cost of a foodsaver , we buy the premade bags from amazon and they seem to work as well as any

 

[rc4u]

i have the fm 5460 and make bag after bag and seal bag after bag. i really like the marinade dish gets it done fast. i think ive had it when model came out. put thousands of feet thru it...... heck i looked for the 4835 like op had and cant find any info on it...

 

[Lonzinomaker]

I have a Weston 2300 that is great for larger items with the 15 in sealing bar. Does a great job with vacuum, never had a seal failure.
The sealer I use the most is a Lem MaxVac Chamber Vac (I paid $500 at Costco a few months ago). Sealing bar is only a 10 in, but you can buy bags by the 1000's very cheaply compared to the embossed bags the non-chamber sealers require. And it is rated for continuous use.

 

[Jon Strong]

I burned through 2 Foodsavers in about 5 years and went to a VacMaster Pro 350. All was well until after 2 years it wouldn't pull a vacuum past 18.
I'm using an off-brand Nesco that the Mrs. got me for Christmas now. I figure if I have to buy a new one every 2 yrs it may as well be a cheap one..
I used Foodsaver bags with the Foodsaver, Vacuum Sealers Unlimited with the VacMaster and am using Nesco rolls for the Nesco.
I've had failures with all 3 so I double seal everything now.

I know this is a 2.5 year old thread, but somebody else may wind up here as a result of searching, so...

I decided to get a vacuum sealer in 2018 to support my interest in sous vide cooking. I must have read a hundred reviews, looked at all the sealers I could find actually on display in stores, and wound up getting a VacMaster 350. It's heavy, but built like a tank and has been great for the past 5 years. Your comment about not being able to pull a vacuum past 18 resonates though. As long as I used the original VacMaster bags (I use a roll, and make my own bags from it), I had no trouble hitting a vacuum of 27 (which is what I have the machine set to). This past holiday season I was sealing a lot of different items, from chops to a 7 lb butterflied and tied leg of lamb, and I pulled out a 5 year old box of FoodSaver bags I bought back then thinking they might be convenient for smaller items. Well...with the FoodSaver bags I could NOT pull a vacuum past 18 - it would stop there every time, waiting for me to hit the Seal button. Also - with my seal time set to 2.5 seconds, it seems to be too long / hot for the FoodSaver bags - with me sometimes melting through the bag material.

I switched back to the VacMaster roll -- and instantly got back to pulling a 27 vacuum, and my seals at 2.5 seconds were perfect again.

Net: the bag material you use will make a serious difference in the vacuum you will be able to pull with your VacMaster, and will also have a serious affect on quality of the seal.