My almost 15yr old vacuum sealer went down on me. Time to upgrade. I’d like to keep the budget to $750 or less. I’ve been vac bagging mostly venison steaks, shanks and roasts and an annual batch of about 100lbs of bacon. I think I want a chamber sealer… but at that price point it seems iffy. Am I better off with a commercial vac bagger? What’re you guys running and what do you suggest?

I have a Vacmaster VP215. I've done over 4000 bags and am still very happy with it. A little over your budget but you can find them for under 900$. Well worth it if you use it a lot. The bags are much cheaper too.

I run VacMaster VP 230 chamber vac. I have no regrets switching over to a chamber machine, but in your case I am not sure if I would. It sounds like you just don't have the workload to make it worth it. Mine paid for itself in about 2 years in money saved on bags as the bags for the chamber machines is a fraction of the cost of the standard bags.

Pros of the chamber machine. Typically more reliable, cheap bags, handles liquid fine, I find it easier to use.

Cons of the chamber machine. Upfront cost of the machines, less portable, limits the size of bags more.

I have been using mine for about 5 years. Zero breakdowns. I package about 10 deer, 12 hogs and 2 beef per year plus various. Fish and vegetables. Probably have 30,000 seals on it.

Chamber machines are expensive, big, and heavy...but great if you use it enough....I had an old foodsaver that was great,..till it wasn't. Bought a cheap one off Amazon and that lasted almost 10 years, but alas, it to quit working.

Looked at new ones and the reviews were all the same, lousy...so I'm vacuum sealer free at the moment....For the amount I'd use it it doesn't pay for the chamber, but I'd like to get more than a few years out of a standard model.... Decisions, decisions....

In my opinion the is no such thing as a commercial vacuum sealer. They all suck.

Spend the money on a chamber sealer and never look back. Will pay for itself in a couple years in savings from bags alone.

I bought a Vevor DZ 260 C vacuum chamber. No issues with it. Right now you can get one on Ebay for $264 with coupon code, regular price is $330. It comes with some bags, extra heat seal. I figure for that price i can replace it 4 times for the price of the other ones. I wish I would have bought one of these years ago. I use Vacuum Sealers Unlimited for buying bags. They offer different mil thickness at great prices.

I'm packaging some bacon tonight and thought I would show a couple pics of my packaging setup. The VacMaster is on a rolling tool box, which allows me to easily move it around. And the drawers are used to orgaize all the packaging supplies within easy reach.

I have the Vevor brand too, very happy with it. Waiting on new bags to pack herring for this years bait. I have 23 trays filled about 10 per tray. Mine has a 12-1/2 inch sealing bar.



Bags are cheap, Amazon has all kinds of sizes but not as many thicknesses.

wws

Here’s another post (actually two with a link in the thread I’m posting). Happy trapping! ScottW

https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/8184263/re-vacuum-sealer#Post8184263

I have my original Nesco from way back. Still kickin