Nesco Deluxe Food VS-12 Vacuum Sealer, 130 Watts, Kit Bags & Viewing Lid, Compact, Silver

This is a top quality sealer that I use for bulk sealing of holiday foods that we cook so we can enjoy them on special occasions throughout the year.It actually is easier to use than the instructions indicate, so you are probably better off watching an online video so you can see what they are talking about, once you see the video then you will be expert.Essentially you will lay the vacuum bag inside the machine so that its opening is simply laying anywhere over the vacuum chamber (the empty well just past the heating element. Lower the lid and swing down the handle to lock it in place and press the Vac&Seal button twice (on mine I press it twice to get it going, I don't know if all models require than).You will see the numerical countdown start (9, 8, 7, 6, etc.) and you will hear the pump vacuum the air out, then it gets quiet as the sealing happens, just leave it alone until you see that it is finished.That is basically all you do. It's easier than it sounds.Tips:The vacuum chamber has two plastic protrusions over it, I suggest that you slip the end of the bag under the protrusions so that you ensure that the vacuum chamber will draw all the air out of the bag.The bag cutter simply cuts bags, if you use rolls then you can place the roll in the empty space inside the back of the device, it is for storage only, lift the cutter bar and slide the bag under it, pull out the amount of bag that you need (more is better) then lower the cutter bar onto the bag and slide the small cutter knob across the bag and it gets cut cleanly. Now you have a bag that needs to be sealed at one end, you will not use the roll anymore, hold the bag so one open end is in the vacuum chamber area below the two plastic protrusions, you will hold the rest of the bag outside the machine, close/lock the lid, then press the manual seal button.Now you have a bag that has one closed end, open the machine remove the bag, fill the bag with food (leave several inches so you can inter the bag into the machine, insert the bag so the opening is in the vacuum chamber area, place the open end below the two plastic protrusions, make sure that it is wrinkle free, close and lock the lid, press the Vac&Seal button twice and you will hear and see it vacuum the air out, wait until the sealing operation is finished then unlock and remove.Look to see that you actually sealed it and you are done.If you cut the bag too short then you might have to hold the food up in the air so the open part of the bag reaches all the way into the vacuum chamber, this is OK, just hold it evenly and keep it steady for the whole operation (this is why we cut the bags a little bit longer than needed.If you are using pre-made bags then obviously you don't cut them, just fill them and place them into the machine for sealing and press the Vac&Seal button.

Love it!! Wish I'd bought one sooner. For longer term storage in a freezer, it has to be vacuum sealed to prevent freezer burn. So easy to use, with clearly marked buttons. A lot quieter than the older FoodSaver I used to have. Bag roll storage with built in cutter is nice. Nice heavy handle and hooks to lock it down. This model was the America's Test Kitchen winner and I can see why! After-market bags work just fine with it, although the longer length rolls will not fit inside. I just keep the cardboard tubes for previous rolls and split the larger rolls to fit.Oh, and it is strong enough to crush a soda can!

Works great so far. Good suction and seals good

I had a Food Saver that was about 20 years old. While it still worked, it was starting to have issues. Did a lot of research and settled on this Nesco vacuum sealer. I put it right to work with about 50 bags of venison sausage, snack sticks, pulled pork, and ribs.It appears to be pretty heavy duty, but a little bulky compared to my FoodSaver. I like the stainless accent. It has great suction and the lid seal works well to prevent air from creeping back in, especially when using the pulse feature. After vacuuming and sealing you can hear air rush in when the lid releases. Love the fact it includes a pulse vacuum for when you are vacuum sealing liquids or softer items to prevent leakage or crushing. The double seal is the best feature. With my old FoodSaver I found myself sealing twice on each end to create a double seal to reduce chances of leakage, but with this one you just seal once to get the double seal. When reviewing various sealers I was a little concerned that the depth of the suction tray was too far back and would require using longer bags wasting roll material, however, the front edge is slanted so pictures are somewhat deceptive and it didn't take much extra length to reach. I often buy 50' bulk rolls that won't fit in the roll storage compartment (same thing with almost all sealers). However you can put the roll behind the sealer and feed it through the gap between the lid and under the cutter (saves from having to transfer material to another roll to make it smaller so it will fit).Now to things that weren't as good, although mostly minor: when you close and lock the lid there is a delay before you can push a button; it is fairly slow in making a seal; it includes 3 seal options, 2 of which are single and the last is double seal but each time you turn it on it defaults to a single seal and you have to push the button twice to select double seal (I suspect most will use the double seal so would be nice to have it as default); you have to push the buttons just right to get them to work, just because you hear the click doesn't mean it worked; the lift up cutter arm blends in making it hard to see when it is up and I often forget to put it back down when trying to close the lid; the drip tray isn't removable to wash but it is easily accessible to wipe out; while it came with a 8" and 11" bag roll, the 11" roll had wrinkles throughout the roll (would note with the double seal it didn't appear to cause issues). the sealer sits up a little higher which can require longer bags, but this can be remedied by putting something in front that is a similar height to lay the bag on; it doesn't have a cancel button in case there is an issue and you want to stop it; you have to wait a little while between each seal to allow the heat strip to cool off (others I've used you could do several seals before you had to let it cool off; I found that if I label each bag as it completes it was just enough delay to then seal another bag so I wasn't wasting time).While it could be improved I still believe it is a good sealer and would recommend it to others looking for a quality sealer with great suction and a true double seal.