VP230

Quick answer: Buy it now. I bought at least 5 foodsavers over the years and so I could have bought one of these and saved money and frustration. Foodsaver is a fine product for what it is, cheap solution to do better than a ziploc. First consider that this can do all the foods a foodsaver can, several things it can't and also can do it much much better. I've yet to taste something frozen in this to have that freezer taste where it happened all the time in the foodsaver. 1/3 to 1/5 of foodsaver seals are immediately flawed and have to be redone. After freezing you will find another 1/5 to 1/10 of the bags to lose seal with a foodsaver. With this, that becomes 0. I literally have only had 1 bag mess up and I was trying to make it fail by being so sloppy until it failed...100% my fault. Other than that one, 100% success.Everyone looks at the price point and cringe. I did too. Hindsight is 20/20, I was wrong. You want to calculate the frustration rate of sealing problems, the slowness of it, the loss of product that didn't freeze properly, etc. Once you do that there is no contest, this machine does what you need and is a pure pleasure to use. It is overkill for most home use because you won't hit it with enough to challenge it. Even in Alaska I figure it can keep up with 4 people doing meat processing and 1 bag person. It is big and heavy so you probably won't be moving this around a lot. I bought a stainless table with wheels just in case I want to move it but it stays in one place. Just plan around it.Some processing makes this absolutely necessary though. If you want to do liquids, you need it. If you plan to process any bulk foods, wild game & fish then you need it. I have not compared it to other chamber vacuum sealers to compare but I can say it has never failed, everyone that ever sees it says it is amazing. Just realize the upfront cost seems much worse than it really is. A good foodsaver is like $200, this unit was $1350 I think. Is it worth 6x as much? Absolutely. Math will tell you that you need to process 1000 bags to recoup the upfront cost but I say it is much lower, like 200 bags. Why? Because your time is money. Satisfaction is money. Foodsaver is a lot of frustration that isn't as obvious as just price alone for the bags (which is a big difference). The biggest thing is quality of the seal, longevity of the storage because of the seal and user satisfaction.

This beast does the job we expect from a vacuum sealer. It's very heavy so you're going to want a permanent place to put it. I've used it most often for sealing brisket marinated for corned beef, but also leg of lamb, beef tenderloin, beautiful thick ribeyes, etc. Haven't used it for soups but the way it handles corned beef I'm sure it would be fine.

Seems to work very well so far.

I have had several vacuum sealers, but this is the first chamber vacuum sealer I had have owned. Let me say yes it's expensive I consider it worth it. This chamber vac is so much better than my other sealers. I am completely satisfied.

LIKE: The craftsmanship of this sealer is excellent. It wasn’t just slapped together. Quality parts were installed in the interior, with every wire & tubing being well placed and secured. The exterior materials are of quality workmanship.DISLIKE: It was advertised (both by Vacmaster & Amazon websites) that a maintenance kit is included with this product. One of the deciding factors of purchasing this product was with this included kit.I was disappointed to find out that wouldn’t be receiving the double sided tape & sealer tape, as confirmed with me by the manufacturer. For those of you who’ve had to order parts know that in these days it’s a good practice to have spare parts on hand You will have to purchase these separately and at this time if you check the Vacmaster owners manual/website, there isn’t a part number available yet.The screw driver included is a flathead and all of the screws on the unit are Phillips head.The Allen wrench included is too big for the sealer wire retention screws.Also- You will only receive 1- filler plate. Not-filler plates as indicated in their advertisements and owner manual.Overall this unit is working flawlessly and seals my product with ease. I am very pleased with the Vacmaster 230.

Bought this thing because of its reputation for being market leader and dependable...However, I missed the point that the maximum seal time is 3 seconds. I intended to not only use it for standard vacuum sealing applications, but to also vacuum seal Mylar bags... 3 seconds in not sufficient to seal Mylar bags securely. It will sort of seal them, but then I have to take them to my manual sealer and reseal them to assure good long term storage for freeze dried products.Heck, the other machines on the market that are half the cost or less than the Vac Master, have seal times up to 9 seconds... If it wasn't past the return window for this machine, I'd return it!

I spent the extra money going for the Vacmaster VP230 because it uses an oil pump rather that an air pump. I like the increased, consistent vacuum pressure the oil pump provides. Started using as soon as I received it and discovered chamber vacuum sealing is the best way to preserve foods from game meat to leftovers for future use as well to vacuum sealing socks, clothing and material to make more space in my backpack!!In conjunction with a Sous Vide immersion cooker, I make the most spectacularly cooked meals that are really easy to prepare and come out as if you were in a Four Star restaurant. Can't say enough about the quality of the Vacmaster Brand.I was worried initially when I received the unit and the inner shipping box looked resealed, but realized that the machine needs to be tested prior to shipping when received from the factory to ensure it is fully functional. So well built, I can use my Vacmaster VP230 for many years and pass it on to my children, and they to their children with proper care and maintenance.

The media could not be loaded. A great unit pricier than some but a quality made unitWork great very easy to operateWeight is 68 poundsI would not have been happy with a cheaper unit