Vacuum Pack Recommedations

Araes

Well-Known Member
Looking for a long-lasting durable and decent vac pack. I'm NOT looking for a 'cheap and cheerful' / 'does the job' as i'd rather buy once properly.

Current suggestions include:




Views, suggestions, comments welcomed!
 
Multivac. Had one over 20 years. The savings are made every time you buy more bags, from £12 per thousand. The initial capital investment is amortised over time, yet the value of the machine (assuming care and very simple to do servicing is carried out regularly) makes for an item of high residual value. In all that time the machine has not once let me down.

Three to six times the productivity per cycle too, depending on the model you buy.
 
Multivac. Had one over 20 years. The savings are made every time you buy more bags, from £12 per thousand. The initial capital investment is amortised over time, yet the value of the machine (assuming care and very simple to do servicing is carried out regularly) makes for an item of high residual value. In all that time the machine has not once let me down.

Three to six times the productivity per cycle too, depending on the model you buy.
Do you have a link to where to buy the bags from?
 
Thanks, all. I was thinking around the 75ish pound mark for a vacuum packer. I'd love a chamber but just can't justify the price!
 
If you're not looking for a budget cheapie, I strongly recommend you have a look at some of the chamber sealer options? Far more versatile, and the bags are very cheap too
But a bit of a pain if you want to bag up something large like a whole haunch or a pair of full-length loin fillets, and then they won't fit in the chamber unless you're going to spend '000s on a really big chamber packer.
So in that respect less versatile, not more.
 
From the examples you’ve posted my vote would go for the FoodSaver, only because I used a FoodSaver Vac550 for years. It’s up in the garage still, and doubtless would do the job if asked. It was small enough that it could be thrown in the car when going on holiday, and over the years it handled plenty of salmon and trout, game birds and the occasional butchered deer.

When I started processing more venison I switched over to a bigger model, the Buffalo GF457, that I bought secondhand from a catering business near Heathrow. It is far more capable, and spares are still available if it needs a repair.

If you’re just doing the occasional animal then perhaps also look out for something secondhand, either on eBay or on Facebook Marketplace.
 
But a bit of a pain if you want to bag up something large like a whole haunch or a pair of full-length loin fillets, and then they won't fit in the chamber unless you're going to spend '000s on a really big chamber packer.
So in that respect less versatile, not more.
Very much not so. The beauty of them is you can vacuum liquids too. I keep a wee Andrew James foodsaver type purely to seal the open ends of made up bags. No reason why you couldn't have a smaller chamber packer, and a foodsaver one too. Best of both worlds.

I couldn't live without my big Henkelman these days, but I have to admit they're not exactly budget friendly, even secondhand

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Very much not so. The beauty of them is you can vacuum liquids too. I keep a wee Andrew James foodsaver type purely to seal the open ends of made up bags. No reason why you couldn't have a smaller chamber packer, and a foodsaver one too. Best of both worlds.

I couldn't live without my big Henkelman these days, but I have to admit they're not exactly budget friendly, even secondhand

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Will it handle a 300mm x 500mm bag?
My chamber machine won't, so that rules out whole haunches and whole loins.
Funny thing is, my old La.Va table top machine did everything I needed, but now I've "upgraded" to a chamber packer I actually need two machines in order to be able to cover all bases.

(Only reason for the upgrade was that the little La.Va machine was beginning to overheat if I was doing more than two or three deer in a session).
 
Will it handle a 300mm x 500mm bag?
My chamber machine won't, so that rules out whole haunches and whole loins.
Funny thing is, my old La.Va table top machine did everything I needed, but now I've "upgraded" to a chamber packer I actually need two machines in order to be able to cover all bases.
I never pack whole haunches. Mind you, I mostly shoot roe, so I'd probably fit about six in that chamber 🤭😆

I actually had two chamber packers. One for raw meat, and one for smoked sausage, etc. Now that I no longer sell I didn't need the second one so sold it on. Think the other one was from Sousvide Machines. It was only £160 or so. Good wee machine
 
My Multivac has a seal bar length of 485mm, a haunch is not a problem.

That said, they aren’t really available in the £75 -£100 bracket. From the Original post:

“Looking for a long-lasting durable and decent vac pack. I'm NOT looking for a 'cheap and cheerful' / 'does the job' as i'd rather buy once properly.”

Do you have a link to where to buy the bags from?
I do, but they aren’t suitable for use in non chamber type sealers.
 
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