Another Vacuum Sealer on test Vac Master Pro 130

[Bubba]

In a previous thread, the Weston Pro 2300 was introduced.
I am convinced the Weston is probably superior to my Vac Master Pro 130 shown below, that I recently bought, but cost did play a major role in deciding for the lower end Vacuum sealer. And the Vac Master Pro 130 is advertised as a "commercial" unit. Probably not really commercial, but I'm hoping for something hardier and not so easily prone to overheating (compared to the Food Saver).
More so in my case where I'm starting to build up more sophisticated equipment, and after totaling up some equipment costs I had to find a lower cost alternative for now. Down the road I will probably try the Weston.
I bought the Vac Master for +/- $ 180.00
My first Food Saver is still working, recent overheating problems after about 8 sealed packs have had me searching for a replacement though.

Some points to consider that are different between the Vac Master Pro 130 and a Food Saver:-
1) the Food Saver has the "seal" button where one can seal a cut off piece of roll first, then seal with the food inside on the other end. With the Vac Master one can do that as well, but the vacuum pump has to be started by pressing "start", the Pump engages, then one presses the "seal now" button, the pump keeps on running and the bag is sealed. No biggie for me, but I can't understand why the pump has to run for a "seal now".
2) The Vacuum Pump is noisier than the Vac Master, this does not bother me.
3) The Food Saver has a removable tray in the vacuum chamber that one can wipe clean if any liquid is vacuumed up the bag. The Vac Master has a solid tray.
4) A plus on the Vac Master is one can switch between "auto" and "manual" if one desires to increase the vacuum and / or sealing time.

Earlier this week I sealed 8 pieces of meat (both Chuck and Boston Butt), in total 8 bags.
I sealed the bag strips first, wrote notes on them, then vacuum sealed them. All 8 I did in less than 20 minutes and the sealing strip did not feel too hot.

Over the next few weeks I'll put the Vac Master through it's paces, lets see how it holds up.

And if anyone wants to ask more detailed info, please do so.

Here are some photos of the sealing I did earlier this week.

Chicken, Spinach and Feta sausage sealed


Lid open, showing the vacuum chamber


A piece of Chuck being vacuum sealed. The Sharpie is there to relate to actual size of the meat.


All 8 packets sealed in under 20 minutes.

[Chuckwagon]

Great info Bubba! Thanks.
I have had overheating problems with my FoodSaver also. The sealing strip even started to burn on the ends. I've put it through some hard use and may be expecting too much from it. I do find the razor-cutting feature pretty handy on the thing. I can't seem to spot one one your new machine. How do you cut the bags to length? Are the bags for the VacMaster as expensive as the FoodSaver in comparison?

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

[Bubba]

Hi Chuckwagon,

When I was shopping online, I saw the Vac Master bags (pre-cut) were about the same price as the Food Saver, I did not compare the rolls yet and assume they would be the same price.
Somewhere in the documentation it did state that one can use any brand of vacuum bag on the Vac Master. This is something I want to try out, finding a lower cost bag and see how the Vac Master seals with that.
Also, if one looks at the last photo (with the 8 portions of meat bagged), the top L.H. and bottom R.H. bags seem different to the Food Saver bags, those are the Vac Master free sample bags, they are somewhat softer than the Food Saver.
So my search for more economical bags will continue.

Your Food Saver must be the larger one since it has the cut-off blade feature, mine is the smaller model without cutting blade.
Up to now I have always cut the bags to desired length with sharp scissors, starting a cut and then "sliding" the scissors through. The cut line is not always perfectly straight, but since the Vac Master and my old Food Saver do not have the sensor in the back where the bag has to touch to activate vacuum sealing the sometimes uneven edge is not a problem. (I bought the larger Food Saver with cutting blade for someone else once, I presume yours works the same?)
Cutting with the scissors that always have a sharp edge in my home is easy, there are 3 people living in my home, Bubba, Ron and me , and the problem of other family members using the scissors for all sorts of applications that render them blunt does not occur here.

[Chuckwagon]

Ya know Bubba, that VacMaster is a good-lookin' machine isn't it? Modern looking with clean lines. And you're right about the stiff plastic on the bags for the FoodSaver. When they come coiled in a roll, they won't straighten out; it takes an extra pair of hands to hold the end straight in the vacuum tray. On the other hand, they do seem to hold up well in a freezer.

[Bubba]

Update:-

I used the VacMaster to pack the Boerewors I made yesterday, and after packing and sealing some 20 packs I am happy that this machine is probably better than the Food Saver.
Will post photos and recipe of Bubba's Boerewors later tonight.

[Bubba]

An update on this topic since I have used the VacMaster vacuum sealer for some time now and I thought the update may be handy for some of the other equipment topics being discussed at the moment.

The point is, this vacuum sealer is advertised as a "commercial" machine, however they define "commercial" remains a question.
If "commercial" means continued use for longer than a Foodsaver model would work then I would say the word should not apply to this machine. Because it has about the same working span of a Food Saver machine, it has to cool down much like the Food Saver.

It looses vacuum pulling ability and the sealing strip overheats until one lets it cool down.

Since this machine is more expensive than the Food Saver, in my opinion the Food Saver is a better buy.
The Food Saver is also more compact and not as noisy.
But I have the VacMaster now and will use it until it stops working