Indispensable for Volume Meal Prep
Though I am a home-user, I made the leap to this FANTASTIC
piece of commercial equipment, after having burned through a
handful of consumer-grade (not vacmaster) units. This
machine doesn't overheat, meaning you can seal as
many portions as you care to in one sitting, it's
quiet, the bags are SO much less expensive and have better
quality control (e.g. Aren't subject to roll
creases). I'll cook big a couple times a week, then
seal extra portions for leftovers and lunches. Indispensable
for this function. Truly a joy to use!
WOW - VP215
VP215 is still going strong. I bought this unit in the fall
of 2014 and use at home, but we are hard prosumers. We own
our own heritage hog farm (www.baconacresfarm.com) and cure
all of our own bacon, ham, sausage, jerky and hundreds of
other items. I purchased 8,000 bags when I bought the
machine and have already used half of them. My assessment?
wow!!!! It does everything they say it does. Much easier
than the previous Food Saver. And less expensive – at 1,700
bags, I broke even on the purchase, as Food Saver bags are
MUCH more expensive. I change he oil a couple of times a
year and just change my first seal tape on the bar. I kind
of wish I’d purchased a larger one, but it is fine for now.
Don't waste your time on other vacuum sealers. Get
the VP215.
I had initially purchased what is considered by many to be
the entry level of chamber sealers, the VP112S. While it did
get the job done for a while, it was very slow and noisy.
The raising and lowering of the lid must also be done with
kid gloves as it is EXTREMELY wobbly on those 2 hinges.
After about 9 months of use, it stopped achieving a good
vacuum on about half of my bags. I called ARY and after a
new shipment of bags (at no charge to me) we determined that
it was definitely a machine malfunction vs faulty bags. At
my request to pay the difference in cost, I asked to upgrade
to the VP215 and there was no hesitation by customer service
at all to satisfy me. The VP215 is faster and much more
quiet. With less than a $200 difference in price between the
VP112S and the VP215, if you're in the market for a
chamber sealer, go with the VP215.
VacMaster VP215 Chamber Vacuum Sealer
My interest in getting a chamber vacuum sealer began with
getting into sous vide cooking. Initially I planned to get
an external vacuum sealer, quickly migrating from a
FoodSaver product to either a Weston or VacMaster PRO350. I
read the reviews and watched the videos on both the external
and chamber vacuum sealers. It was hard to justify spending
3 times the price for a chamber sealer, but in the end it
came down to the following: • Absolutely no problem with
vacuum sealing products with liquids present • An oil
lubricated vacuum pump over a dry one • Much less costly
chamber vacuum sealer bags • It is very quiet • It is very
durable; it is definitely commercial quality I also
considered the less costly VP 113s; however, it looks rather
flimsy, has a dry vacuum pump, and is something I thought I
would regret saving money on. I was somewhat deterred by the
reviews that state unless you are going to use it a great
deal, get an external sealer. I doubt I will fall into the
category of meeting the standard of using it a great deal,
as I have only sealed 25 to 30 bags so far, but having
bought it, I am glad I did and didn’t settle for an external
sealer. I am very impressed with it and can see we will use
it much more than I had envisioned; however, that means it
must be readily accessible in your kitchen, rather than out
in the garage as some have it. You need to have a dedicated
space in your kitchen, just like your microwave. As others
note, it isn’t easily portable at 84 lbs. Fortunately we
have plenty of counter space, hence having it readily
available was easy, though we set it on a lower height
counter to accommodate the lid. There are plenty of videos
adequately showing how the unit works, so no need to add
one. Probably the biggest thing to remember is that if you
want to leave the sealer with the lid down you need to turn
it off since it automatically begins the sealing process
when the lid goes down. One use I hadn’t expected was
resealing jars like Cheez Whiz. Simply lay the jar in the
sealer with the lid on a bit loose, set the sealing time to
zero, and the jar is sealed as good as from the processing
plant. The same is true of products like sour cream or
whipping cream whose shelf life can be extended by putting
them in ½ height mason jars and vacuum sealing. The only
problem I experienced, which I gather is not that unusual,
is that the oil/gas separator was broken off in shipment. It
results from tipping the vacuum sealer on its side, perhaps
accompanied by a jar. When the spring mounted vacuum pump
tips, the oil/gas separator, which is mounted on top of the
pump, hits the very sturdy hinge casting on the sealer and
the connection to the vacuum pump breaks. When I contacted
VacMaster about the damage, the technical rep said it
regularly happens and while they were initially going to
forward me a replacement, since I bought the sealer from
WebstaurantStore, they forwarded the claim to them.
WebstaurantStore contacted me immediately and shipped me a
replacement oil/gas separator without any hassle and in
record time. I had no difficulty dealing with them. The
damage; however, is totally preventable if VacMaster made an
extremely simple change in preparing the sealer for
shipment. The vacuum sealer itself is packed very well, as
shown in various videos, with double boxes and the sealer
unit set in foam supports. However, if VacMaster was to
simply insert a block of solid foam between the vacuum pump
and the side of the vacuum sealer case so that the vacuum
pump could not tip during shipment, the problem would be
entirely eliminated. Alternatively, the vacuum pump could be
secured for shipment with removable cable ties. The cost for
either option would be minimal and easily covered by
eliminating the cost of replacing oil/gas separators.
VacMaster warns against tipping the unit on its side, but
the fact is, it is pretty much impossible, once these units
are individually shipped, to control that from happening.
The incremental cost to ship the sealer secured to a pallet
so it can’t be tipped adds much more to the expense of
shipping than the minimal cost of inserting a foam block or
using cable ties. It would require some planning since it
would be easiest to do this at the factory, something done
with a multitude of appliances and equipment. The foam block
or cable ties would be easily removed by the purchaser when
they take the back cover off to fill the pump with oil. If
VacMaster doesn’t do this at the factory, it would still be
possible for firms like WebstaurantStore to do so. I had
some reservations about buying the sealer from
WebstaurantStore after reading some negative reviews
regarding potential shipping damage and some purchaser’s
difficulty in resolving damage issues. In the end, because
WebstaurantStore had the best price, and they had the sealer
in stock, I purchased it from them. They shipped it
immediately and I had no difficulties in dealing with them
about the damage. They treated me extremely well and without
any hesitation or push-back. They promptly forwarded a
replacement oil/gas separator without charge, which also
meant sending it to Canada. I would not hesitate in dealing
with WebstaurantStore in the future and highly recommend
them and commend them for their service.
VP-215
So far I have been very happy with my VP-215. It is very
easy to use. The set-up (adding of oil) was as simple as the
video shows. I have not had the machine long enough to judge
the durability/life span of the machine yet but it seems to
be solidly built and well designed. I would not question the
durability at all if not for other less than positive
reviews. It is always possible to get damage in shipping
although it came very well packaged. It works great with the
provided bags and also with the 1/2 gallon mylar bags I have
used. The mylar bags used the same seal time setting as is
recommended for the vacmaster bags which is a bonus in my
book. To this date I am quite pleased with my purchase.
Awesome machine, but beware of halogen lights.
It's built like a tank, and it does an awesome job.
Leaves ordinary vacuum sealers in the dust. But, it turns
out that the lid is plastic, and if it happens to be left in
the up position when you have under-cabinet halogen lights,
it will melt - we have a little crater about 2/3 of the way
through the lid. There was no warning about this in the
manual. Not covered under warranty; replacement lid is over
$200. We're going to try to fix it with epoxy and
keep our fingers crossed. Would be 5 stars except for the
lid problem & lack of warning.
Vacmaster 215
Great machine. Would recommend to everyone.
Vacmaster 215
Have had this machine since last spring. I have sealed mylar
bags, canning jars, Foodsaver bags, and vacuum chamber bags.
Works great every time. Would recommend to everyone.
Buy this sealer.
Get one of these sealers. It works very well. I've
sealed wet and dry foods and it does a very good job.
VP215
Awesome machine!! Have been using for a year now. Fantastic.
Used it for breaking down bulk foods, sous vide and
marinating meats. Love the fact you can seal liquids. After
going thru multiple suck type vacumm sealers, can't
believe I wasted money on those previous purchases!
