FM5200

This is my second FoodSaver. I purchased my first one from BJ's and used it for 5-6 years before it stopped vacuuming properly, hence the second one. This one functions quite well. It also came with two attachments, one for the FS marinating containers and one for mason/ball jars. It vacuums well and seals tightly. Not long ago, I pulled a strip steak from the freezer, still tightly sealed, no frostbite, looked as good as when I first put it in the freezer in 2019; it was delicious! There was no degradation in the least. Also, if you freeze your vacuum-sealed veggies, or leftovers, etc., you can just pop the still sealed bags into a pot of boiling water, or the microwave, to defrost & reheat them, so it saves on washing another pot, and you can pour your hot food directly into your serving bowls. Easy-peasy. It's great for singles, e.g. if I make a tray of lasagna, I have my one portion and cut up the rest into serving size pieces and vacuum seal them for future meals. When I do this, however, I place the cut portions on a tray and freeze them overnight, then when I vacuum-seal them the next day, they retain their shape. I do this when I cut up onions, peppers, etc. so they stay separate and I can take out what I need and reseal the bag. For these, I use the zipper bag. I highly recommend this product if you want convenience and save money on not having freezer-burned foods.

Absolutely love this. Use it all the time. I also bought the jars sealers to go with the accessory port. Works great.

This is my first vacuum sealer ever. I just got done vacuum sealing the meat from two deer including ground, meat sliced for jerky, tenderloins, etc. I learned a lot through this process. My meat was frozen and already in individual meat Styrofoam packing with plastic wrap from the processor. I learned that it is probably best to poke holes in the plastic wrap where there are pockets of air so that the Food Saver can suck the air out of those places, as well. When packaging two separate pounds of ground venison together in one vacuum sealed bag from a roll, there were a couple times where it would not stop vacuuming, so I had to hit the seal button and it stopped vacuuming and then sealed the bag. I believe a little bit of the vacuum pressure in the bag was released before it sealed when I did this...I will eat that meat first. It may have helped slightly lifting the bag of two packs of meat well it vacuumed and sealed as it had a tendency to rest on the vacuum seal activation bar. That is probably because I did not leave enough slack in the top of the bag before I cut it. (I am still learning using this system) The accessory tool was simple and very convenient to use with the “suction bags.” just be sure the bag is on a flat surface and you are not trying to hold the bag while vacuuming with the accessory tool...lesson learned. Even though this is my first vacuum sealer, I would highly recommend it as it is so easy to use. It is apparent where the company made tweaks to make the buttons from the original versions making this one even more convenient and simple to use. by the way, I certainly read many reviews on this machine and saw where people complained about needing to people to run it. I have to disagree as I was able to seal several pounds of meat by myself with no problem. You just have to have the machine on a flat surface with a little bit of work space on each side for your product and workspace in the front to pull out, cut, and fill the bag before sealing.

First of all, this is a terrific solution to frozen food storage. We have had this device for a year; and, after getting through the learning curve, admittedly with only intermittent use due to frustration, we have finally gotten to a routine that works. Any buyer will have to deal with the reality that it is a design compromise, combining unrelated tasks of bag sizing and cutting, portion allocation, and sealing in the manufacturer's marketing plan. Perhaps this is elementary and tolerable to you, but you should walk in with eyes open. I will leave description of the device to others, and begin with the instructions, which are sunny, enthusiastic, and in many ways incomplete and wrong. The process to use the machine must must be learned with hands-on experience. Both hands, this is NOT device that allows for multi-taskng. There are several tricks to making the device work. This is how we NOW do it, not the way the instructions suggest: 1. Plug in the machine on a counter space that will give you enough space to pull bags from the front bottom slot of the device, and to use a support to hold the food in the bag when using the vacuum sealer, and something to hold and transport the cache of sealed food. I use a thick book (in my case, Jacques Pepin's "New Complete Techniques," which is about 3" thick). This is crucial, because the way the device is designed so that, if you follow Foodsaver's instructions, after you cut and fill the bag, unless it is hugely over-sized, you must hold the bag so that it does not slip out of the sealing slot when you try to press the seal bar, which can only be done with both hands for some reason.. The method suggested by Foodsaver wastes a lot of bag, and you will go through a lot of plastic to store a relatively limited amount of food, unless you take some prudent steps to save time and money. Put a roll of the bag you want to use into the bin from either side. It is helpful to unlock the cutter bar at the bottom right, pull the cutter assembly toward the front, and feed the roll to the white line that is usually hidden from view during use. Turn on the machine, power by pressing the button at the top left, re-lock the cutter bar, and press "seal" at the top. Sometimes this is not necessary, especially if you have used the machine before and the same roll remains. One of the nice things about this machine is that its designers "tried" to make it user friendly, and in this instance, the device seals the end of the roll when you go through the process of sealing a bag. Helpful, but not really intuitive to a user. 2. Drape a towel or plastic wrap over the book or support, to prevent food juices, and there will be some no matter how careful you are, on your hands, on the bag, and ultimately on the machine. 3. Prepare, wash, and cut up the food you want to freeze/store into portions you like. 4. Unlock the cutter bar at the bottom right, and pull a bag to the desired size, re-lock the bar, and run the slider to the opposite side to cut off the bag. You will only learn the sizing with repeated use. Again, at first you will use a lot of plastic, not including mistakes and discards, of which you will have a few. Get over it. 5. Put the food in a bag. Insert the unsealed end of the bag in the sealer slot (above the cutter bar insert). If you follow my advice and SUPPORT THE FOOD IN THE BAG WITH SOMETHING ABOUT 3" THICK, you will not need to hold the bag. Insert the bag just far enough to see it through the clear plastic window at the top; if you can see about 1/4" that is enough. If you put it in crooked, or too far, the device will not seal properly. 6. At the top of the machine, there is a button that selects "dry" or "moist" foods, which seems to have no utility. Each time you use the sealer, it defaults back to "dry." Perhaps I am anal, but I try to put it on the right setting before sealing, but it never seems to make any difference in the resulting sealed bag. 7. With BOTH HANDS (if you follow my advice about a support for the bag of food, this will be a snap), grasp the sides of the device, hooking your fingers around the edges, and press BOTH SIDES of the seal bar with your thumbs. If you do not support the food bag, you will fumble, repeatedly, and not be able to satisfy the machine's inner demons to get it to vacuum and then seal the bag. Last, there is a lot of waste of bags when you first start. There will be less as you become experienced, but there still will be a lot, and I think this is by design.. The machines are not cheap, and it is not inconceivable that the manufacturers sought to increase potential profits in maximizing consumables, which you conveniently buy from Foodsaver. Like office printers, broadband, and a million other things, without the consumables, it is pointless to buy the product. The cash, it flows. And, you might try other vendor's bags, which might be cheaper, but the lure to buy bags intended for the machine might be irresistible. It is capitalism, after all.

Love our vacuum sealer

Works very well.

Me agrada la forma en la que trabaja, práctica y fácil de manejar.

Ecellent appliance

Muy buen producto. Ayuda a conservar los alimentos para congelarlos sin problema y maximiza su fecha de caducidad. Aparte es muy fácil de usar

Me gusto mucho lo práctico y fácil de usar, es la primera vez que tengo una empacadora de vacio y la verdad hasta ahorita valió mucho la pena la compra.