5 Best Vacuum Sealers for Home Use

Vacuum sealers are not exclusive to professional chefs anymore.  This appliance will help you to store ingredients and extend their shelf life. Besides being used to store food longer, they are also used commonly when cooking sous vide.

Besides the cooking advantages, this appliance also helps to reduce your ecological footprint, and control your food waste. A vacuum sealer will help to save money when buying food in bulk as you can prepare and freeze meals for later use, and you can learn how to practice sous vide cooking.

Our selection of Vacuum sealers

• Best Toyuugo vacuum sealer – Vacuum Sealer Machine, Full Automatic Food Sealer
• Most popular – NutriChef Vacuum Sealer, 12″, Silver 
• Best overall – Vacuum Sealer Machine By Mueller 
• Best sous vide – Anova Culinary ANVS01-US00 Anova Precision Vacuum Sealer
• Best handheld – FoodSaver 31161370 Cordless Food Vacuum Sealer, Handheld

How does a vacuum sealer work?

This appliance removes all the oxygen and air from the bag in which you place the food. The plastic is wrapped tightly around the ingredient after being sealed with heat and prevents air from ‘sneaking’ back into the bag. Sealing the ingredients tightly also helps to prevent moisture loss and freezer burn. 

Be aware that very delicate, soft ingredients might get squashed when extracting too much air from the bag. 

Shelf life of vacuum-sealed food

Although sealed food can be stored for a long time, we recommend keeping fresh fish or meat for no more than one week in the fridge and up to a maximum of six months in the freezer. Sealed vegetables will last up to two weeks in the refrigerator and up to two years in the freezer, but we like to rotate food in the freezer and in our household six months is the limit for all frozen food. 

Although dry products can be sealed and stored in the pantry for several years. Our recommendation is to store it no longer than one year.

What to consider before buying a vacuum sealer

Vacuum sealers are compact and can usually seal dry foods as well as liquids. There are however a few things to consider.

The model

There are handheld and countertop models on the market.  A handheld is perfect if you only use it sporadically, but a countertop version is more durable and performs overall better.

Bag storage

There are appliances that store bag rolls and there are others that work with bags. The rolls are always on hand in the machine and the machine cuts the bags to the length you need. If you opt for bags, you have two separate things to store and keep track of. Make sure you get boil-safe bags or rolls for sous vide cooking and remember that not all vacuum sealer bags are compatible with all machines, so double check the model’s specifications first.

Optional features

There are models with special features such as pulsing and sealing containers. These are usually more expensive. They might have more power and seal more bags at once while the smaller models need to cool after each use. 

Review of best vacuum sealers

Best Toyuugo vacuum sealer – Vacuum Sealer Machine, Full Automatic Food Sealer

Toyuugo is a brand that is becoming increasingly popular and that’s why we are happy to add it to our list. This automatic food sealer has a sleek design and is very easy to use. Although some of the Amazon reviews say the buttons are not always easy to read the 5 adjustable modes are dry, moist ,vac, external vac, and seal which all work well, but they it might be a little noisy. This machine comes with 10 vacuum sealer bags, 2 accessory ports to be used for sealing wide-mouth canning jars, such as jars, wine bottles, and a marinating canister for quickly marinating meats. We believe it is also a budget friendly choice considering all the different functions.

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Most popular – NutriChef Vacuum Sealer, 12″, Silver 

This is without doubt the most popular with over 12000 reviews. The control panel has soft touch digital buttons and is easy to operate. This model has two sealing modes for optimal sealing of dry food and moist preparations.

The Nutri Chef vacuum sealer package also includes a wine stopper cork, 5 medium vacuum bags (7.8” x 11.8”) and one extra-long vacuum bag roll (7.8” x 79.0”), both kinds being reusable and waterproof.

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Best overall – Vacuum Sealer Machine By Mueller 

85% of maximum satisfaction confirms the title of best overall. This countertop device is lightweight, compact and works fully automatic to seal dry and moist ingredients.

Its stain resistant housing will not absorb accidental spills, and it is really easy to wipe it clean.  This model is delivered along with a vacuum sealer and an air suction hose, 5 medium vacuum bags (7.8” x 11.8”) and one extra-long vacuum bag roll (7.8” x 79.0”), both kinds being reusable and waterproof. 

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Best sous vide – Anova Culinary ANVS01-US00 Anova Precision Vacuum Sealer 

This is the most compact out of all vacuum countertop models. The Anova brand is widely used by professional chefs and this model works perfectly with the Anova precision cooker which is the best way to ensure no air enters your bag during a sous vide cook, ensuring your food will stay fully submerged while cooking.

Separate air pulse and seal functions are easy to use and can be done with the press of a single button too, depending on your needs. This appliance comes with 10 sealer bags and a 100-day money back guarantee.

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Best handheld – FoodSaver 31161370 Cordless Food Vacuum Sealer, Handheld

This handheld sealer is cordless once charged. It is easy to use, compact and it works well although we recommend this model only for sporadic use. The docking station and seal zipper bags are delivered with the device.