Food vacuum sealers: an updated look at devices in 2024

Over the past 10-15 years, household vacuum sealers have become a common kitchen appliance found in many households. This is due to several obvious reasons: the availability of a simple vacuum cleaner for a small amount and the wide range of its capabilities. It can be used to package food for long-term storage in both the refrigerator and freezer. In addition, the vacuum sealer allows you to cook dishes using the sous vide method, preserving the aroma, taste and nutritional properties of the ingredients in a vacuum bag at low temperatures.

Let's give a simple example: take a chicken breast and season it with spices.

Packed in a package:

Cook at 65 degrees and get the perfect result:

In a vacuum, the marinating process occurs faster, which allows you to quickly cook meat for barbecue or pickle vegetables. Additional packer accessories allow air to be evacuated from bottles, extending the shelf life of opened drinks, particularly low-alcohol drinks such as wines that can quickly go flat.

Vacuum bags can be used to safely store valuable items such as jewelry, coins, medals to prevent oxidation, as well as documents and money to avoid accidental moisture during travel. In addition, vacuum bags are suitable for storing matches, spices, and dry food mixtures, especially for lovers of outdoor activities.

While there hasn't been much innovation in vacuum sealers lately, some models may offer unexpected features. More expensive models usually have different operating modes and a more thoughtful design, which provides increased comfort when using the device.

Our goal is to once again review modern vacuum sealers, highlight their main features and help readers decide on the choice of the most suitable device. This time we want to focus less on specific models and rather focus on the key features to consider when choosing a bagger.

One of the most understandable parameters of vacuum sealers is the pump power, which determines the suction efficiency. The higher the power, the faster the device pumps air out of the container or bag, creating a stronger vacuum. It is important to understand that saving a few seconds is unlikely to make a significant difference. However, the level of absorption directly affects the quality of food packaging.

Increased pump power ensures longer storage of products in vacuum containers and faster marinating in vacuum bags. For the sous vide method, high power is not so critical, since it is only important to remove air and ensure the seal of the package. It should also be taken into account that when vacuuming soft products, too high a power can lead to their deformation. In such cases, a special gentle program may be useful.

Seam parameters can vary significantly depending on the vacuum sealer model. The easiest parameter to understand is the seam length, which determines what bag sizes can be used with the device.

However, more important for us is the thickness of the sealing zone (width) of the seam. The wider the sealed seam, the more securely the products are packed, and the less likely it is that the bag will unpack at the wrong time. Most vacuum sealers create a 3mm seam, which is usually more than enough for a secure seal. However, if you frequently handle wet foods or prefer extra durability, you may want a bagger with a wider seam, or better yet, one with double-seam capability.

If you already have a regular vacuum sealer, there is nothing stopping you from manually creating a double seal by resealing the edge of the bag after the initial seal. It will take a little longer, but the result will be no worse. The main thing is to ensure that no moisture gets into the sealing area.

There are no difficulties when vacuuming hard, bulk and other dry products, but soft and especially wet products require some experience from the user or the use of special programs.

The basic principle here is simple: when vacuum sealing soft foods, you should stop the process of pumping out the air before the bag compresses them too much and they lose their shape.

The same applies to vacuum sealing wet foods. It is necessary to avoid liquid getting into the sealing area or inside the device. However, vacuumizer manufacturers usually provide this possibility and install a special removable tray inside the device that collects the liquid. If liquid does get inside the device, the process of eliminating the error boils down to removing the tray, rinsing it under running water and installing it back. If there is no tray, you will have to wipe the insides of the vacuum cleaner using napkins, rags and other means.

So what is the point of having special programs for wet and soft foods? They are mainly aimed at automatically determining the moment when you need to stop pumping air in order to avoid unpleasant consequences. This is determined by the level of discharge in the vacuum chamber: when the device recognizes that the load on the pump has increased, it concludes that the air has already been removed from the bag and automatically stops pumping, starting the process of sealing the bag.

Another common mode is marinating. The vacuum cleaner turns on and off at short intervals, which allows you to marinate meat or vegetables even faster. The process of sucking the air out of the container and refilling it in a few minutes can compare to several hours of regular marinating.

The «repeat» button can be useful if you need to pack several identical portions of the product. After setting the desired mode manually, pressing the “repeat” button allows the vacuum sealer to repeat the user’s actions: pump out the air for the same time and seal the products.

Although special programs do not always work flawlessly, in most cases they perform their functions reliably. Therefore, when choosing a vacuum sealer, it is better to pay attention to models with additional programs, as they provide more options.

When we talk about vacuuming, we usually think of working with special bags that have a grooved surface for optimal air pumping results. Sometimes, instead of such bags, special rolls are used, from which a bag of the desired size can be made. Less common are smooth bags, which all models of packers cannot work with. However, smooth bags do not have any fundamental advantages.

In addition, for vacuuming, you can use bags with a built-in valve, for which a special hose is supplied for connection to the vacuumizer.

Bags with a built-in valve are designed to be reusable as they do not require sealing of the edges. After use, just wash the bag and it can be used again. However, such bags may not be suitable for the sous vide method, but for long-term storage they are quite suitable.

However, even «disposable» seal bags can be reused as long as they don't tear. To do this, just wash them thoroughly and resolder them. However, each time after sealing, the size of the bag will decrease by several centimeters.

Another option is to use special containers with a valve. This will also require a special hose with which the air from the container is evacuated. The containers are very convenient to use, especially due to the ease of cleaning — both manually and in the dishwasher. This avoids the need to purchase expensive bags and reduces your environmental impact. However, containers are not suitable for sous vide cooking.

It is impossible not to mention special vacuum stoppers, which are applicable to various types of bottles. Their use is simple: by removing air from the bottle, we extend the shelf life of the contents and prevent oxidation of alcoholic beverages.

These additional accessories, such as valve bags, containers and stoppers, can sometimes be included with the vacuum sealer. However, more often they will have to be purchased separately. The cost of such accessories can be quite high, especially for branded containers. It's also worth remembering that not all accessories may be compatible with your specific vacuum sealer, as there are no universal standards or compatibility.

Vacuum packers are divided into “vertical” and “horizontal”. If you plan to store the device in a drawer, then there is practically no difference between them. However, if you will always have it on your kitchen countertop, we recommend choosing vertical models. They take up less space and work just as efficiently.

By the way, inside the vacuum sealer there can be a container for storing bags or a roll of film, as well as a special knife for cutting them. In our opinion, it is quite convenient.

In addition to standard stationary vacuum sealers, there are compact, manual models. The simplest of them resembles a regular hand pump, like those used for bicycles. More advanced manual packers are equipped with a built-in battery, which allows them to be used in places where there is no access to electricity. Although portable packers cannot seal bags, as they require a valve, they provide the ability to quickly and easily pack food, for example, at the cottage or on a camping trip. The main thing is not to forget to take bags with a valve or a container with you so that you can use the packer in any convenient place where you can find the necessary products.

In recent years, battery-powered versions of stationary models of vacuum sealers with the ability to seal bags have appeared. These devices have all the functionality of conventional wired models. Although it may seem unusual to take them with you to the forest or fishing, if we are traveling by car, why not put the packer in the trunk? Suddenly the catch turns out to be rich...

A vacuum packer with built-in scales may not seem like a very good solution at first glance. However, if you need to pack several portions of food, accurately measuring their quantities, then this decision ceases to look strange.

Since we often pack food for long-term storage, having a scale will allow us to quickly measure the required weight for later portion use. This way we don't have to defrost the whole package when we only need a small part of the contents.

Chamber vacuum sealers are a separate type of device, characterized by its large size and relatively high price. The main advantage of such devices is that they do not remove air from the bag or container, but directly from the chamber in which the packaged product is placed. Thanks to this, they are able to effectively vacuum juicy products and even liquids. In addition, the use of chamber vacuum sealers provides increased comfort during operation of the device.

Finding chamber vacuum sealers in regular stores can be difficult, and you will most likely have to look for them specifically on the Internet. The price of such devices can also be quite high. Therefore, before making a purchasing decision, it is important to understand for what purpose you need this device and whether it is worth investing in it at all.

Like other kitchen appliances such as ovens and microwaves, vacuum sealers can be built-in. These models can be installed in a kitchen unit and integrated into the kitchen design, remaining invisible. If necessary, the device can be easily pulled out of the headset for use.

This is a convenient and practical solution, but it can be significantly more expensive than standard models. If the cost of a built-in microwave oven can differ by 2-3 times compared to a free-standing model, then the price of a built-in vacuum sealer can be 5-10 times higher.

Those who want to master “haute cuisine” can pay attention to individual devices that not only pack food in vacuum bags, but also cook them directly. For example, the SousVide Center SV1000 from Caso is a large unit that combines the functions of a vacuumizer and sous vide.

Despite the rarity of such solutions, for some it may be the most convenient option: having one food processor instead of two separate devices and a pan with a tight-fitting lid is not a bad idea. The main thing here is regular use. If you cook sous vide from time to time, then such a unit will only take up space on the kitchen countertop. However, if sous vide is part of your daily cooking practice, then the compact cube will find its place in any corner, making it easier to access the equipment and preventing it from constantly being removed and put away. And, of course, don’t forget to include a photo of a juicy sous vide steak, because this classic combination speaks for itself!

In recent years, developers and manufacturers of household vacuum sealers have invented almost everything they could, and are now trying to interest users with non-standard combinations of various functions, like in a game of solitaire. As a result, we see many types of devices that, in fact, differ only in external design and the presence or absence of already known capabilities.

Choosing a suitable vacuum cleaner becomes a simple task. Simply make a list of the functions you are interested in, and then check the most popular models for their availability.

The only significant innovation worth paying attention to is the emergence of full-fledged battery vacuum sealers with the ability to seal bags. Previously, only battery-powered models were available, which only worked with containers or bags equipped with special valves, which ultimately ended up being more expensive for the user.

These vacuum sealers significantly expand the possibilities of their use. Now we don't have to look for a free outlet in the kitchen, and we can even use them for unusual tasks, such as vacuum-sealing fish or meat in a hunting camp.