Meat Slicer or Vac Sealer

[curious aardvark]

you probably just need to adjust the level of vacumn.
Chamber machines work by squeezing the bag itself to get the air out while the non-chamber type work by sucking the air out directly.

So a softer vacumn on a chamber machine wouls still get the air out of a bag and presumably there's an automatic cutout and seal when something other than air is squeezed out in a chamber machine.

But at that price, a few minor issues just aren't a problem.

[dsgarner06]

I have both and will say that I use the vacuum sealer everyday, and the meat slicer maybe once a month. I bought the Chef's Choice slicer since it was relatively inexpensive and it does a decent job for what I wanted. The serrated blade works fine and doesn't shred the meat/cheese in any way. I think that I paid about $75 for mine and for that money, you get a decent slicer that pays for itself fairly quickly. It isn't a Hobart by any means, but it won't cost you an arm and a leg.

Vacuum sealers are so practical. We use it with containers, along with bags. Containers allow us to extend the life of everyday things like vegetables in the fridge or chips/crackers/cereal that won't go stale quickly. For BBQ, bags are awesome as you can vacuum seal cooks and throw them into the freezer to pull out when you want some bbq, but don't have time to smoke anything. We divide up larger pieces of meat into smaller portions which works great for doing a meal for the family without having to reheat a big cut of meat. Pop a bag filled with pre-sliced brisket or pre-pulled pork right out of the freezer into boiling water and you'll have dynamite food in no time.

We have had several Foodsavers over the years, but I personally would not recommend them as they just don't last and are cheaply made. I finally got tired of replacing them and ended up going with a Vacmaster VP305, which is an awesome vacuum sealer for the money. It was a bit more expensive than the Foodsaver 3825, but definitely built better and made to last. Great suction, dual pump vacuum and easy to operate. Go with a Vacmaster and you can't go wrong.

[44 bbq]

I have both and will say that I use the vacuum sealer everyday, and the meat slicer maybe once a month. I bought the Chef's Choice slicer since it was relatively inexpensive and it does a decent job for what I wanted. The serrated blade works fine and doesn't shred the meat/cheese in any way. I think that I paid about $75 for mine and for that money, you get a decent slicer that pays for itself fairly quickly. It isn't a Hobart by any means, but it won't cost you an arm and a leg.

Vacuum sealers are so practical. We use it with containers, along with bags. Containers allow us to extend the life of everyday things like vegetables in the fridge or chips/crackers/cereal that won't go stale quickly. For BBQ, bags are awesome as you can vacuum seal cooks and throw them into the freezer to pull out when you want some bbq, but don't have time to smoke anything. We divide up larger pieces of meat into smaller portions which works great for doing a meal for the family without having to reheat a big cut of meat. Pop a bag filled with pre-sliced brisket or pre-pulled pork right out of the freezer into boiling water and you'll have dynamite food in no time.

We have had several Foodsavers over the years, but I personally would not recommend them as they just don't last and are cheaply made. I finally got tired of replacing them and ended up going with a Vacmaster VP305, which is an awesome vacuum sealer for the money. It was a bit more expensive than the Foodsaver 3825, but definitely built better and made to last. Great suction, dual pump vacuum and easy to operate. Go with a Vacmaster and you can't go wrong.

Thank you Deano. Great info.

[Lisa B]

Vacuum Sealing Discount for all Members

Hello everyone,

I hope that 2014 has gotten off to a good start for you and that the coming year is filled with great barbecue!

The January discount code expired, and I want to give all my Smoking Meat forum members the new discount code. The new code is valid through February 28, 2014.

Save 10% off all of your FoodSaver supplies and our VacMaster vacuum sealing residential equipment.

Just enter SM214 at checkout and the discount will automatically be applied.

We also carry chamber vacuum machines and supplies for the professional smoker!

[SQWIB]

Sealer.
Many good points out there.
I would be lost without my slicer
But I would die without my sealer.

[tenacious bee]

Well I learned a lot reading this thread. Mainly that the Waring Pro slicer the wife got me for christmas is not that desirable. It's done what I've asked of it so far but I can see that the size of the blade and a few other things will become a bottleneck as I start to get more into things.

[Ozric]

Hello everyone,

I hope that 2014 has gotten off to a good start for you and that the coming year is filled with great barbecue!

The January discount code expired, and I want to give all my Smoking Meat forum members the new discount code. The new code is valid through February 28, 2014.

Save 10% off all of your FoodSaver supplies and our VacMaster vacuum sealing residential equipment.

Just enter SM214 at checkout and the discount will automatically be applied.

We also carry chamber vacuum machines and supplies for the professional smoker!

Thanks, Lisa, for getting back to me promptly on my question!

With all of the negative reviews of my FS v3880 out there (I haven't had the problem of seals without a vacuum; yet), and with my increased use of and reliance upon it, I was getting a bit worried. So...

I just ordered a VacMaster Pro 305 and a bunch of sealable containers from Lisa. Can't wait. Awesome that I could use the discount code in addition to getting the online sale prices!

[dsgarner06]

I just ordered a VacMaster Pro 305 and a bunch of sealable containers from Lisa. Can't wait. Awesome that I could use the discount code in addition to getting the online sale prices!

I recently got my VP305 from Lisa and am extremely happy with it! You are going to love it! So much more suction power than the FS 38** and easy to use. Love having the extra discount as well!

[CoffeeCreek]

Now that I've converted my single tap to a three tap tower, I use my kegerator way more than the vacum sealer, I have a slicer but can't remember which cabinet it's in. Maybe because of the kegerator

[Ozric]

Now that I've converted my single tap to a three tap tower, I use my kegerator way more than the vacum sealer, I have a slicer but can't remember which cabinet it's in. Maybe because of the kegerator

A man has got to have his priorities. I'd say yours are spot on!

[curious aardvark]

One thing to bear in mind - Not all vacumn pouches are suitable for dropping into boiling water.

They're pretty much all suitable for a lower sous vide temp - usually around 65-75 c
But many are not suitable for boiling water.

Check before you use them for that

[HawgHeaven]

One thing to bear in mind - Not all vacumn pouches are suitable for dropping into boiling water.

They're pretty much all suitable for a lower sous vide temp - usually around 65-75 c
But many are not suitable for boiling water.

Check before you use them for that

The FoodSaver bags work great... been using them for years...