Weston 42 Count Gallon Size, 11" x 16" Vacuum Sealer Bags for Food, BPA-Free, for Meal Prep and Sous Vide, Microwave Safe (30-0108-W), Qty 11x16, Transparent

I bought this sealer in November 2016 after a very positive review on "a popular PBS American cooking show." ;-) Their comment was that this is a very serious and very powerful sealer. Indeed, it is both of those things. This sealer is well-made, and it is very powerful. Used correctly, it can really be helpful for sealing foods for storage in the freezer, in the refrigerator, or in the pantry. It seems to use Weston and FoodSaver bags equally well.That said, after about 18-24 months of use, I began noticing that it no longer drew air out from the bags very well. I see lots of other folks have had the same problem. The problem was intermittent: Early on when this started happening, when I first used the machine, it worked poorly and didn't "draw" at all; then after some attempts it would get better. But eventually the machine couldn't draw very well even after 10-15 minutes of attempts.At first I thought there were problems with the quality of the Weston bags (such as leaky edge seals), but that wasn't it. Upshot: This is a very powerful machine, and it does require a very, very good seal around the vacuum chamber. The foam gaskets (upper and lower) that seal the vacuum chamber DO smooth over and become less effective with time and use, and so they need to be replaced.Weston sells a kit for this, and it's also available other places as well (just beware and confirm whether the kit you're buying contains one set of seals or two for the price). After really being unhappy with the poor performance of my Weston sealer, I used this kit to replace the seals and the heater strip tape, and now my Weston sealer works like new once again.A clue that your machine needs new seals is that, after a sealing operation, you no longer hear the "PSSSSSSS" sound (or it's weak) of pressure being released before the loud beep. My machine had stopped making that sound, but it does once again now.While I wish that this periodic maintenance wasn't necessary (along with the cost, it takes maybe 20-30 minutes plus a steady hand to do the replacements) this machine is serious business and the seals probably work pretty hard.Here are some other things that I've found are helpful with this machine:1. Please read the manual thoroughly ... it has lots of important tips.2. Make sure that, when you're sealing the bottom of roll bags, the seam is clear with no ripples (hold it up to light to check). If you see any little ripples, do another seal just above/below the first one. Any ripples in the seam can eventually admit air (remember, this machine really makes a strong vacuum, so the heat seals need to be perfect to hold it).3. For meat that has juices, put it on a plate and put it in the freezer for 30-45 minutes before sealing. You don't want to freeze the meat, you more want to freeze those juices so that the sealing process works better (and is less likely to make a mess).4. Remember that some items (such as foods that are in opened plastic "shells") can have sharp edges that, when vacuum-sealed, can eventually cut a hole in the bag, losing the vacuum. Either be careful and use the Pulse method of sealing, so that the bag doesn't cling too firmly to things like sharp corners, or just remove those foods from the plastic shell.My Weston sealer still sounds quite good and works strongly, so I'm hoping for many more years of use, albeit with occasional replacement sets of seals.

Great for anyone who buys multi pack meats, it easy to pack and store for meals and prevents thawing and refreshing!! Great product!!

This has substantially better suction power than my old food saver. It’s kind of annoying that I have to tamp down the foam seal after almost every use because it pulls out a little. It’s really just a matter of taking my finger and tapping on it, but I’m not sure I’m supposed to have to do that. I will trade that for the substantially higher quality than my old vacuum sealers, any day though. I really like the fact that I can stop the suction partway, and seal the bag. This is helpful for fragile items but also for things with hard edges, that might otherwise puncture the bag. If I have something that’s particularly prone to puncturing a bag, and I want it fully sealed, I will either put wax paper around it or put it in a regular baggie that is not sealed, inside the bag. That is not a problem with the machine, it’s just an issue with all bags. I dehydrate meals for backpacking and dehydrated hamburger, rice, and other such things will create tiny holes in a bag if you don’t take steps to protect the bag. It can seal large bags. I had some food saver mason jar lid sealing attachments. It worked just fine using the food saver tubing. (These sealing machines don’t really work with mylar bags - most of these machines won’t. If you cut some very small pieces of a foodsaver bag and leave them just inside and extending out of the bag through the sealing line, It will suction out the bag really well. I just use a flat iron hair straightener to seal the bag then. My old food saver would not suction out the Mylar bag even with this trick. This machine sucks all the air out using this trick, which is really helpful storing meals.) It costs more than the machines you get at most grocery stores. I think if you seal a lot of meals, the extra money is worth it. The line in your bag that is sealed is wider than that of my old machine. It’s a thicker seal. Last, just a heads up, you REALLY have to push down to lock it to seal bags. Because I had read an earlier review before buying, I knew to expect this. The easiest way for me to lock the sealer is to lean on it with my elbow - first one side then the other. That aspect of it (plus having to push the foam liner at almost every use brought it to four stars for “ease of use.” These are very minor issues for me. I am a huge fan of this machine. I believe it will last substantially longer than my old vacuum sealer’s. It is very sturdily built. I really can’t say enough good things about it.

It is a great machine, good suction and seal.

This unit replaced 2 other brands i have owned in the past. I have sealed 1 bag and 1 jar ( the jar using attachments from previous brand) it worked great. I like the weight of the unit, it feels solid. I watch a RoseRed lady on youtube and she uses this unit and she recommends it. With the price drop it was no different then buying a Food Saver and this unit does not feel like its a throwaway. This unit does not store your bag rolls or have a built in cutter but thats not important. A solid built unit that does what it says is important. I dont believe I received a new unit. The seal tape on the element was partly removed and the cord was not done up properly. I decided to keep the unit regardless.

Build quality is great. Heavy, sturdy. Great power. Too much at times, have to use pulse option on alot of food types. Wish I'd just payed extra the 1st time instead of messing around with cheaper options before getting this one. Live and learn I guess

This machine does the trick! I have used it for food, survival gear, and long-term storage of medicine, supplements, etc. For a test, I stored my -40C down-filled sleeping bag with it. The vacuum reduced the size to a postage stamp, and then sealed it in a totally waterproof enclosure. That's not a practical use of the machine - if I am camping, it would be impossible to reduce the sleeping bag size so it would fit in the same space in the backpack. I just wanted to see how powerful the vacuum is.I store the meds with an oxygen absorber and a moisture absorber. I could bury these packages in the wet dirt and they would still be fresh one year from now! This is a preppers dream. I used the foodsaver bags. They work very well, and they are very reasonably priced.

I bought this unit after looking at a bunch of units on Amazon. I have never had luck with the food saver brands as I found they did not seal well especially when doing fresh meat. I was so excited to get this unit as I had a bunch of fresh cod to package and of course this unit did not seal the bags properly. When I looked at the seal strips on the bag, there was always a part of the bag that did not seal, most likely because of the moisture, this will not work for me as we buy our meat in bulk and also process our own chickens. I’m sure it would be fine if you were doing dry items but if you are doing wet items, I would not recommend at all. The only workaround would be to have it sealed multiple times to get a full seal but these units should only need once to make a full seal as that is their whole point.