Posted: 4/2/2026 11:31:11 AM EDT
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I'm tired of the food savers and half ass vacuum sealers. I'm planning to proceess 3 hogs and at least 60 meat birds through the summer and I need a sealer that is strong and no nonsense. The chamber sealers seem like the way to go, looking for feedback or suggestions. A slow weak sealer is big hold up to getting the job done. |
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Look at what a chamber vacuum sealer can do. Key Benefits
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Illegitimi Non Carborundum
DEXAI
DEXAI
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Vacmaster, buy once cry once! We raise & process our own beef. We cut up a minimum of 6 cows a year. Have used a Vacmaster VP540 for over 15 years without any issues. It has been pulling double duty the last few years. About 1/3 of our hamburgers have been getting made into patties & then vacuum packed. Make sure you change the oil as directed & the pump should run for ever. My personal machine is a VP321. I have had it for over 10 years with no issues. It gets used at least once a week for anything from left overs, buying pork or chicken, making bacons or sausage. |
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Originally Posted By CampFireChef: Vacmaster, buy once cry once! VacMaster is the most popular in my area. I (and probably 4 or 5 acquaintances) all have the VP215. For the annual family 4 or 5 hog butchering day, it runs all day and barely keeps up, which I'm fine with. It weighs 80 #'s, so it's not something you want to store in a cupboard, and get out when you feel like sealing up one little thing. I keep mine on a stainless rolling cart in a spare room in my basement, so I can easily roll it out any time I need it. When I bought mine, the next size up, the VP230 seemed to be well worth the small amount of extra money for the increased capacity, but I felt the tradeoffs for having an even bigger, heavier machine were not worth it. The 321 that CampFireChef has is a big bitch, but would likely run laps around my 215 on hog butchering day once a year (for me). The $1K or so I spent on my VP215 was money well spent. |
"When you need it and ain't got it, you're singin' a different tune..."
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If you search, there are several posts about vac sealers, specifically chamber vacs. I used an old school foodsaver for ever. Sealing deer, elk, everything under the sun. A couple years ago I finally got a chamber vac and DAMN I WISH I HAD DONE IT SOONER. If you semi-regularly vac seal, it is an absolute must. I have mine on a Harbor Freight tool cart with all the accessories. I can roll it out of the closet, do my thing and put it back. I have a Meat brand one with oil pump. Chamber Vac I have gone through hundreds of bags. The difference in seal quality and not having failed bags is crazy. Plus being able to seal liquids and not make an absolute mess is next level. |
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OP, this is what you seek: Avid Armor USV32  Have owned mine for 5 years, it never misses a beat. While maybe not quite "commercial butcher shop grade", it is way above homeowner grade - and way beyond most people's needs. I've used mine to process per year: 1-4 deer, 1-2 wild turkey, 200-300# homemade sausage, and whatever else from the grocery store needs vac sealed. On sale right now for $535. NO OIL TO CHANGE. Weighs about 30#. Adjustable parameters. Takes about 1 minute to seal a bag. Bags of up to approx. 1 gallon size fit in the chamber. Easy to find and easily swappable replacement parts if you ever need them. Echo the above posts, wish I'd bought this sooner. Do the math: 1000 Foodsaver bags gallon size @ $0.75 EA = $750 1000 vacuum pouches gallon size = $160 This thing pays for itself in the first 1k bags, after that it's gravy. I'm not associated with Avid Armor, nor do I get paid to review - just an overly satisfied customer of the USV32, can't sing its praises enough. Recommend the arfcom way: get 2 of these. |
| To add to my previous post, my local small time butcher uses a VP215 like mine, but admittedly, it would not cut it on a 40 hour/week butcher shop. I think the quality is there, but a legit butcher would need the faster production of one of the larger models. |
"When you need it and ain't got it, you're singin' a different tune..."
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Originally Posted By pite0007: OP, this is what you seek: Avid Armor USV32 https://avidarmor.com/cdn/shop/files/HeroImageUSV32__29435.1725634870.1280.1280.jpg?v=1748530133&width=990 Have owned mine for 5 years, it never misses a beat. While maybe not quite "commercial butcher shop grade", it is way above homeowner grade - and way beyond most people's needs. I've used mine to process per year: 1-4 deer, 1-2 wild turkey, 200-300# homemade sausage, and whatever else from the grocery store needs vac sealed. On sale right now for $535. NO OIL TO CHANGE. Weighs about 30#. Adjustable parameters. Takes about 1 minute to seal a bag. Bags of up to approx. 1 gallon size fit in the chamber. Easy to find and easily swappable replacement parts if you ever need them. Echo the above posts, wish I'd bought this sooner. Do the math: 1000 Foodsaver bags gallon size @ $0.75 EA = $750 1000 vacuum pouches gallon size = $160 This thing pays for itself in the first 1k bags, after that it's gravy. I'm not associated with Avid Armor, nor do I get paid to review - just an overly satisfied customer of the USV32, can't sing its praises enough. Recommend the arfcom way: get 2 of these. Can you do a 8-10 pound rib roast in it for sous vide? They can be pretty tall. From the pictures, I'm not sure it would fit. Thanks. @pite0007 |
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Originally Posted By SR712: Can you do a 8-10 pound rib roast in it for sous vide? They can be pretty tall. From the pictures, I'm not sure it would fit. Thanks. @pite0007 Only if the 8-10# rib roast is: Chamber Size: 11.5" W x 12" L x 3.5" H https://avidarmor.com/collections/chamber-vacuum-sealers/products/avid-armor-ultra-series-model-usv32-chamber-vacuum-sealer So, probably not. But, that's just another reason for the arfcom "get both" mentality: Simple answer is, keep another (cheapie?) standard foodsaver vac sealer - buy some big ole bags for it - think 2 or 4 gallon size, and as long as the bag top fits in the vac channel, the foodsaver should be able to seal any item of any size. This scenario would almost certainly work for your extra big rib roast, now with more molecules. |