Bought mine a couple of months ago at Walmart. Finally opened it and tried to SEAL 2 different packages. It will NOT suck the air out! Ok, I am editing this comment. After re-watching this video, I realized it was a USER error...I was NOT putting the bag inside the drip tray. Works pretty good on ground chuck. Thanks for a very thorough video!!
Thank bud, I just bought this same sealer, and two rolls of extra bag material at Walmart just a few hours ago. I have not tried it yet, but I wanted to look at some video reviews to see how it worked. This is the 1st one I've owned.I think you did a really good job on this review. You answered many of my questions and gave a good overview of the product. I will be trying this tomorrow on some Trout I'll be catching. Can't wait to see how it performs. Thank you again. PS I subscribed and liked your video!
Thank you, I really appreciate it. Unfortunately after about a year and a half, mine went kaput. I'm not sure exactly what went wrong with it, but I did open it up and try to find the problem to no avail. It seems like way too short of a life span so I'm not sure why. My dad has one and uses his way more than I do and his is still trucking along fine.
Unfortunately I find that with alot of the "newer and improved" products we buy now. It's as though they are designed to fail as soon as the warranty is up. Sad, but true imo. God bless.
Thank you for doing this video! I am 56 years old and remember when my mom had bought one of these when I was a kid. They absolutely have been around a long time and I’m glad to see that they are still here. I’m super glad to see you do a vacuum seal on the bread. I have been going out of my brain trying to figure out how can I keep some bread in the house without it going bad. My children are grown and no longer living with me so it’s difficult to shop and not waste food. I am inspired… Thanks again!🙌 Oh yeah… Maybe you could try putting the soup in some sort of bowl and sealing it that way. I’m looking at someone else’s thumbnail where there is soup in a bowl and it looks like it’s sealed really well👍
That's a good idea about putting it in a container. I also found that freezing liquids first, then sealing, works great also. I've been using the sealer a good bit and as you mentioned, it helps a lot with avoiding waste all the while keeping things fresh.
Hello, by now you are now probably an expert at vacuum sealing making my comment unnecessary. First off, it is great that you did some preliminary testing, that is the best way to figure out the pros and cons of a channel vacuum sealer. I have an old Food Saver that I bought at Sam's Club years ago. It still works, but that is because I really only use it to repack meat, fish, and cheese. At most I"m using it every two weeks or so. Liquids don't work well in channel vacuum sealers. If you really need to vacuum pack them you can freeze them first, or (like you did) use a big bag and less liquid. Even if you don't completely remove all of the air your chicken will still last much longer when sealed, so don't worry too much unless you are planning on keeping it frozen for years. Just rotate out the chicken (first in/first out). I always use generic bags, they work well and are significantly less expensive. People always say that the rolls are cheaper, but I think they are roughly the same cost per foot as the bags. However, they may be less expensive overall since you can customize their size. For instance, a quart-sized bag is 8 x 12. Maybe you only need an 8 x 10 bag so over time a roll might save you a little money. However, I always buy the ready-made generic bags, they make my life just a tiny bit easier.
You really have to make sure the part of the bag that seals is dry. Chicken breasts are really juicy. If I get the sealing part of the bag wet I will take paper towels and wipe the inside surface. You can try folding the top part of the bag over on itself before you put the chicken in the bag. Once the chicken is in the bag unfold it and vacumm it. This helps keep the sealing surface dry.
Thank you for this video, it definitely was very helpful, esp. with the roll bags, i couldn't figure that out for nothing lol. I find that the smaller the customized bag is the less air has to be removed and you'll get that tighter fit like the bread, I haven't tried chicken, however, I did try cake i didn't want it so compacted, so I used a larger bag, the cake wasn't going to last that long any way lol and it worked for me, once again Thank You.
I mainly want to seal dry goods like rice, beans, pasta 🍝 oatmeal, cake 🍰 & pancake mixes. I will definitely be using gallon bags & no pint sizes. Is Seal-A-Meal good for dry goods?
@@AllAmericanMack I bought one & am very happy with the results. 🙂 My husband loves it & we're filled up at least one storage tote. So this has worked out well for us. 🌟⭐✨🌟✨
I’ve got the VP215 Absolutely never going back. But you get what you pay for. The bags used for it, will save you enough to pay for the VP215 Great show my friend Thank you
I don't have a Seal a Meal, but it looks like you release the pressure on the device either before the red light is on when it comes on, so maybe you need to keep the pressure with your hands on the lid?
Let me give you a hint when you're putting your chicken breast in your bags don't put it all the way down in the bottom you need to keep your chicken breast right about the middle of your bag and just cut enough of your bag off for 1 chicken breast at a time and don't have a lot of excess bag. that is a lot of the problem with it not being able to suck all the air out. I think I would give this a try and see if it's any better I'm thinking you will see the difference just thought I would share.
Thanks for letting me know. I tried putting the chicken in the middle *and* using less bag, just a little bigger than the chicken.... and it worked! My logic was that if I put the chicken at the bottom, I thought it would be easier for the sealer to suck the air out.... shows what I know! Lol. Better placement and smaller bags has made a ton of difference. Thanks again!!
It's always going to be difficult trying to seal a liquid like soup. What you can do is fols a couple paper towels and put in the bag below the area that will be sealed. That way the liquid gets absorbed by the paper towels.
Excellent review. Thanks. I had a seal a meal 30yrs ago. It was perfect, just like the one you reviewed. My sister has some expensive model (Not Seal a Meal) and it sucks. Waaaaay to complicated.
Thank you. I agree that although the Seal a Meal is a cheaper and simpler machine, it's done everything I've wanted it to except for liquids which I would probably rarely need to vacuum seal.
Thanks for your video. I just got one too and am learning how to use it. I've seen other videos where people freeze liquid items before sealing. You did give me an idea for storing sugar. I am going to split up my bag, put the sugar in a brown paper bags and just seal the top of the storage bag rather than vacuum seal. Cheaper than mylar!
When storing liquids....I place the liquid in a REGULAR PLASTIC BAG, such the ones you get from the grocery store (the small plastic bags for produce... ie) and I fold the bag over the liquid facing the bottom of the SEALING BAG... that way the liquid will not be sucked into the vacuum chamber.... I have good rate of success with that... THNX
Cant blame it for the chicken tho, it was cornered and the squares where blocked off by the fluids. Those squares are so it can get the air out. Also, it does say in the manual of such machines that you should wipe dry your food if possible :p even tho I wouldn't do that.
excellent review i love it after watching the guy video beneath your video i decided to watch your video because he did not use his like the instructions said to... again thank you im headed to Walmart
The chicken noodle soup! While soup shouldn't be vacuum sealed due to the machine possibly sucking in liquid... I'm surprised that it wouldn't make a seal at all until the 3rd time. Good review, tho.
Probably too much liquid, don’t want to ruin machine. And I think the top of the bag needs to be dry. May have had soup on it from when you filled the bag. Happy sealing!
You may right about that. I've started freezing any liquids before sealing and that's working good. It does take a bit more time and effort but since I don't freeze many liquids, I'm ok with it. Thanks for watching!
That's crazy. My parents had this same sealer for way more years than I can remember, probably 20+. When it finally gave out, they bought another model right around the time I got this one. I use it a moderate amount but my dad vacuum seals a ton of stuff and we haven't had any issues with ours. I know things aren't built as well as they used to be but less than 3 months is completely unacceptable.
Might be a defective unit, I would try returning it for another if possible. Mine finally quit working about 2 months ago. I used it a fair amount but I don't think it lasted as long as it should have.
@@Fishing_with_Fish_King mine doesn’t work I tried and tried I finally ended up buying another brand buy the seal a meal was just too much work to get it to seal
1:05 Don’t know if you’re right about the #FoodSaver having canning/tinning capabilities. I had two of the $179 food saver machines don’t ask me why. As well, my mum has the food saver but she has the high high high high-end one so that thing is so convoluted frankly is a nightmare she’s had it for like probably a year and a half two years and she still doesn’t know how the hell to use it. I couldn’t even figure out how to use it and I have the lower and model it Lauren $179 plus tax for a basically a glorified heat ceiling thing that sucks arrows of bags please! AnyWho, yeah she has the one that’s like $400 or something like that and it’s so difficult to use even I couldn’t get to work and keep in mind we’re not idiots. She worked for the government for 35+ years and I’m sure I can federal government, she worked on Y2K. Oh yeah, she was working on IT putting it mildly; I’m talking boat, working management board, secretariat for the federal and then later on provincial government doing programming , etc. So trust me when I tell you she’s no dummy. Myself personally, I am into inventing things building things taught myself Linux mind you you never stop learning Linux so say I will always say I’m still in the process Learning Linux. As well a building and I am working on finding my first patent, so I’m not talking about a couple dummies who can’t figure out how to screw in a lightbulb or plug in a microwave. That’s how over-the-top convoluted unnecessarily so the top-of-the-line food saver is. So yeah, take this don’t buy the top line food saver. You don’t need it it’s not and you won’t be able to use it even if you do need it, so that was the point I need something that intense by another brand let’s see this one and thanks for the video brother appreciate
All Stores Please Lower the price of all Military and Local for all Brands of Seal -a -Meal Products and Accessories and Production Cost Now That's too much $$ The Whole World Now 🙏🙏🙏
Mine's a POS. It might work once every ten tries. A waste of money. The custom make bags are a nightmare. Trying to seal one side before puttinng food in? You had better have a TON of patience. It definitely doesn't work like this demo...at least mine doesn't. I gave up on the piece of junk...
I just opened mine. Glad for this video! I was doing it wrong. Thank you for showing that I can use other brand bags.
Bought mine a couple of months ago at Walmart. Finally opened it and tried to SEAL 2 different packages. It will NOT suck the air out! Ok, I am editing this comment. After re-watching this video, I realized it was a USER error...I was NOT putting the bag inside the drip tray. Works pretty good on ground chuck. Thanks for a very thorough video!!
SAME!!!! I didn’t know it meant “In in”😂😂😂🤦🏽♀️🤷🏽♀️
To seal wet food you need to freeze it in a container before.
Thank bud, I just bought this same sealer, and two rolls of extra bag material at Walmart just a few hours ago. I have not tried it yet, but I wanted to look at some video reviews to see how it worked. This is the 1st one I've owned.I think you did a really good job on this review. You answered many of my questions and gave a good overview of the product. I will be trying this tomorrow on some Trout I'll be catching. Can't wait to see how it performs. Thank you again. PS I subscribed and liked your video!
Thank you, I really appreciate it. Unfortunately after about a year and a half, mine went kaput. I'm not sure exactly what went wrong with it, but I did open it up and try to find the problem to no avail. It seems like way too short of a life span so I'm not sure why. My dad has one and uses his way more than I do and his is still trucking along fine.
Unfortunately I find that with alot of the "newer and improved" products we buy now. It's as though they are designed to fail as soon as the warranty is up. Sad, but true imo. God bless.
Thank you for doing this video! I am 56 years old and remember when my mom had bought one of these when I was a kid. They absolutely have been around a long time and I’m glad to see that they are still here. I’m super glad to see you do a vacuum seal on the bread. I have been going out of my brain trying to figure out how can I keep some bread in the house without it going bad. My children are grown and no longer living with me so it’s difficult to shop and not waste food. I am inspired… Thanks again!🙌 Oh yeah… Maybe you could try putting the soup in some sort of bowl and sealing it that way. I’m looking at someone else’s thumbnail where there is soup in a bowl and it looks like it’s sealed really well👍
That's a good idea about putting it in a container. I also found that freezing liquids first, then sealing, works great also. I've been using the sealer a good bit and as you mentioned, it helps a lot with avoiding waste all the while keeping things fresh.
Thank you, I was not doing it right! Very good info.
Hello, by now you are now probably an expert at vacuum sealing making my comment unnecessary. First off, it is great that you did some preliminary testing, that is the best way to figure out the pros and cons of a channel vacuum sealer. I have an old Food Saver that I bought at Sam's Club years ago. It still works, but that is because I really only use it to repack meat, fish, and cheese. At most I"m using it every two weeks or so.
Liquids don't work well in channel vacuum sealers. If you really need to vacuum pack them you can freeze them first, or (like you did) use a big bag and less liquid.
Even if you don't completely remove all of the air your chicken will still last much longer when sealed, so don't worry too much unless you are planning on keeping it frozen for years. Just rotate out the chicken (first in/first out).
I always use generic bags, they work well and are significantly less expensive. People always say that the rolls are cheaper, but I think they are roughly the same cost per foot as the bags. However, they may be less expensive overall since you can customize their size. For instance, a quart-sized bag is 8 x 12. Maybe you only need an 8 x 10 bag so over time a roll might save you a little money. However, I always buy the ready-made generic bags, they make my life just a tiny bit easier.
More great information, thank you!
Thank you so much. You answered all my questions about this but no directions thanks again
You really have to make sure the part of the bag that seals is dry. Chicken breasts are really juicy. If I get the sealing part of the bag wet I will take paper towels and wipe the inside surface. You can try folding the top part of the bag over on itself before you put the chicken in the bag. Once the chicken is in the bag unfold it and vacumm it. This helps keep the sealing surface dry.
Thank you for this video, it definitely was very helpful, esp. with the roll bags, i couldn't figure that out for nothing lol. I find that the smaller the customized bag is the less air has to be removed and you'll get that tighter fit like the bread, I haven't tried chicken, however, I did try cake i didn't want it so compacted, so I used a larger bag, the cake wasn't going to last that long any way lol and it worked for me, once again Thank You.
I mainly want to seal dry goods like rice, beans, pasta 🍝 oatmeal, cake 🍰 & pancake mixes. I will definitely be using gallon bags & no pint sizes. Is Seal-A-Meal good for dry goods?
I've been completely happy with mine and it works great for dry foods.
@@AllAmericanMack I bought one & am very happy with the results. 🙂 My husband loves it & we're filled up at least one storage tote. So this has worked out well for us. 🌟⭐✨🌟✨
I’ve got the VP215
Absolutely never going back.
But you get what you pay for.
The bags used for it, will save you enough to pay for the VP215
Great show my friend
Thank you
Hey
What is the VP215
I just bought a seal a meal
And watching this video
Is it the same thing I just bought?
Model #?
I don't have a Seal a Meal, but it looks like you release the pressure on the device either before the red light is on when it comes on, so maybe you need to keep the pressure with your hands on the lid?
Let me give you a hint when you're putting your chicken breast in your bags don't put it all the way down in the bottom you need to keep your chicken breast right about the middle of your bag and just cut enough of your bag off for 1 chicken breast at a time and don't have a lot of excess bag. that is a lot of the problem with it not being able to suck all the air out.
I think I would give this a try and see if it's any better I'm thinking you will see the difference just thought I would share.
Thanks for letting me know. I tried putting the chicken in the middle *and* using less bag, just a little bigger than the chicken.... and it worked! My logic was that if I put the chicken at the bottom, I thought it would be easier for the sealer to suck the air out.... shows what I know! Lol. Better placement and smaller bags has made a ton of difference. Thanks again!!
@@AllAmericanMack I'm glad that it worked for you!
It's always going to be difficult trying to seal a liquid like soup. What you can do is fols a couple paper towels and put in the bag below the area that will be sealed. That way the liquid gets absorbed by the paper towels.
Great tip!!
Do a UA-cam search of seal a meal videos, there is one that has some guy demonstrating it.
Excellent review. Thanks.
I had a seal a meal 30yrs ago. It was perfect, just like the one you reviewed.
My sister has some expensive model (Not Seal a Meal) and it sucks. Waaaaay to complicated.
Thank you. I agree that although the Seal a Meal is a cheaper and simpler machine, it's done everything I've wanted it to except for liquids which I would probably rarely need to vacuum seal.
Thanks for your video. I just got one too and am learning how to use it. I've seen other videos where people freeze liquid items before sealing.
You did give me an idea for storing sugar. I am going to split up my bag, put the sugar in a brown paper bags and just seal the top of the storage bag rather than vacuum seal. Cheaper than mylar!
Those are some good ideas! I didn't think about freezing something before sealing it but I will definitely try that. 👍👍
Thanks how do use it if you want custom made or size plastic
I bought this a couple days ago and cannot get it to vaccum. It sealed fine. Going to try again today. Thx for the helpful video!
When using the roll, after you make the seal, do you put the other end in the drip try like you were doing?
Yes the other end goes in the drip tray just like the Seal -a - Meal brand bags.
@@AllAmericanMack ok thanks!
When storing liquids....I place the liquid in a REGULAR PLASTIC BAG, such the ones you get from the grocery store (the small plastic bags for produce... ie) and I fold the bag over the liquid facing the bottom of the SEALING BAG... that way the liquid will not be sucked into the vacuum chamber.... I have good rate of success with that...
THNX
Now that's a great idea!! Thanks!
Cant blame it for the chicken tho, it was cornered and the squares where blocked off by the fluids. Those squares are so it can get the air out.
Also, it does say in the manual of such machines that you should wipe dry your food if possible :p even tho I wouldn't do that.
excellent review i love it after watching the guy video beneath your video i decided to watch your video because he did not use his like the instructions said to... again thank you im headed to Walmart
The chicken noodle soup! While soup shouldn't be vacuum sealed due to the machine possibly sucking in liquid... I'm surprised that it wouldn't make a seal at all until the 3rd time. Good review, tho.
What about dry and moist modes? It's supposed to have those settings.
I don't think the model I have has those settings. I've seen another model that has the sealing hose and think that one has the different settings.
good review
easy to understand and helped make me understand how to use machine better. thanks
Probably too much liquid, don’t want to ruin machine. And I think the top of the bag needs to be dry. May have had soup on it from when you filled the bag. Happy sealing!
You may right about that. I've started freezing any liquids before sealing and that's working good. It does take a bit more time and effort but since I don't freeze many liquids, I'm ok with it. Thanks for watching!
Bought two both have stopped sealing won’t even seal the end of the bag. Didn’t even have either three months each at most.
That's crazy. My parents had this same sealer for way more years than I can remember, probably 20+. When it finally gave out, they bought another model right around the time I got this one. I use it a moderate amount but my dad vacuum seals a ton of stuff and we haven't had any issues with ours. I know things aren't built as well as they used to be but less than 3 months is completely unacceptable.
Just bought one of these. Thanks for demo
When you do the liquid your freezer first you don’t want it frozen then you seal it it works easier that way go to one it’s what it does not seal
Whoa. That's really great.
Thank you for such a good review
Thank you. I appreciate you watching and taking the time to comment!!👍👍
higher end models seal better... this is the lowest end model... does the job... but the bigger models seal anything easy
The instructions say wet stuff let it partially freeze before you seal.
I did the chicken tenders
I think with the chicken, it might have been better to put it in the center of the bag instead of at the bottom. Maybe get more air out that way.
mine still never sucks the air despite me using it completely correctly and putting the top in the drip tray:(
Might be a defective unit, I would try returning it for another if possible. Mine finally quit working about 2 months ago. I used it a fair amount but I don't think it lasted as long as it should have.
Just got one and having so much trouble getting mine to even vacuum anything out 😡
Have you gotten it to work yet or are you thinking about returning it?
@@AllAmericanMack I am returning mine
Mine is the same. It's going out to the dumpster shortly
@@Fishing_with_Fish_King mine doesn’t work I tried and tried I finally ended up buying another brand buy the seal a meal was just too much work to get it to seal
My friend has one and she says to freeze meat before you seal.
1:05
Don’t know if you’re right about the #FoodSaver having canning/tinning capabilities. I had two of the $179 food saver machines don’t ask me why. As well, my mum has the food saver but she has the high high high high-end one so that thing is so convoluted frankly is a nightmare she’s had it for like probably a year and a half two years and she still doesn’t know how the hell to use it. I couldn’t even figure out how to use it and I have the lower and model it Lauren $179 plus tax for a basically a glorified heat ceiling thing that sucks arrows of bags please! AnyWho, yeah she has the one that’s like $400 or something like that and it’s so difficult to use even I couldn’t get to work and keep in mind we’re not idiots. She worked for the government for 35+ years and I’m sure I can federal government, she worked on Y2K. Oh yeah, she was working on IT putting it mildly; I’m talking boat, working management board, secretariat for the federal and then later on provincial government doing programming , etc. So trust me when I tell you she’s no dummy. Myself personally, I am into inventing things building things taught myself Linux mind you you never stop learning Linux so say I will always say I’m still in the process Learning Linux. As well a building and I am working on finding my first patent, so I’m not talking about a couple dummies who can’t figure out how to screw in a lightbulb or plug in a microwave. That’s how over-the-top convoluted unnecessarily so the top-of-the-line food saver is. So yeah, take this don’t buy the top line food saver. You don’t need it it’s not and you won’t be able to use it even if you do need it, so that was the point I need something that intense by another brand let’s see this one and thanks for the video brother appreciate
Need to freeze before sealing chicken or meat’s
You won’t see me but I’ll see you. Lol. I bought one on your review
Freeze the bag of soup before trying to vacuum seal it.
A lady helped me with her seal a meal and she said bring meat about inch from bottom of bag
you need to give it a chance to cool down read instructions
Why won’t mine work
I'm not sure. My first suggestion would be to make sure the opened end of the bag is placed properly into the vacuum/drip tray area.
Thought it was by rival
You should probably lay the meat flat before vacuuming.
All Stores Please Lower the price of all Military and Local for all Brands of Seal -a -Meal Products and Accessories and Production Cost Now That's too much $$ The Whole World Now 🙏🙏🙏
Mine's a POS. It might work once every ten tries. A waste of money. The custom make bags are a nightmare. Trying to seal one side before puttinng food in? You had better have a TON of patience. It definitely doesn't work like this demo...at least mine doesn't. I gave up on the piece of junk...
This vacuum is sh.. not working at all
This thing is a peice of junk. Does not work at all
Piece of junk. Mine stopped working after about 10 uses. Never did work well with the air suctioning.
Maybe you just got a bad one? Lots of people seem to like this one and mine has been working fine for a couple of years.
These stink