Food Savers Questions

[YYY]

Hi Everybody,

 

About a month or so ago, someone on this board or maybe another said that Tuesday Morning had Food Savers for $65. It’s my understanding that they usually sell for $150 to $200.

 

I recently found out that I will have a FEW extra bucks as of next week. I called Tuesday Morning to see if they still have any Food Savers. I was told they had them in 2 sizes, (small - $30 and large - $64). In addition, I was told they also have the Black and Decker brand on clearance for $8.99. I haven’t gone to see any of them because I like the idea of having the money in my hot little hands before I go shopping.

 

Now for my questions: (1) Is the Food Saver brand the same as the old Tilia brand? (2) Have any of you actually had any experience with the Food Savers brand? (3) How about the Black and Decker brand? (4) Which would you suggest? Why or Why Not? (5) I’ve heard of the more expensive Food Saver Brand – I’m assuming it’s the large one. But I’ve never heard of a small one. Anyone use one of these?

 

Thanks in advance for all comments, answers or suggestions

 

YYY

 

[Shawna]

Yes, I blieve FS is the old Tilia brand. I have a Foodsaver. The small one Tuesday Morning mentions is probably what I call the *try-it-out* version LOL! It sells for about 50 bucks everywhere else, and if I remember correctly, is only big enough to seal the small bags (small bags are basically as wide as a quart-sized freezer/storage bag at the grocery store....like the ziploc bags.) The bigger one will seal both size FS bags (Small bags are as described above...big bags are as wide as gallon size ziploc bags).

 

I am not sure about the B&D sealer...I do know the B&D sealer bags stink though. I got some at Wally World because they were cheaper, and they have an extra piece of plastci that runs along the side of the bag, making it pretty much impossible to wash and clean the bags to reuse them. The regular FS bags I have never had a problem with washing them to reuse.

 

Take a look too and see if the FS one has the hose attachment. It will dry seal jars (I use it to store things like beans, rice, spices, etc)...it will create a vaccuum seal on canning jars (not for canning, just for dry stuff and such...but very handy to have if you long-term store dry goods).

 

I would imagine that the 64.00 one is the type that sells for around 100.00-120.00 at other stores. Both are still a bargain!

 

Good luck...There's my 2 cents LOL!

Shawna

 

Wanted to add, alot of the more expensive FS ones are just because they have extra doodads on them. My MIL got one replaced and it is *hands-free*....you press the button and it sucks up the air without you holding the button down. It costs more than the original FS :-) If you need a hands-free one, great....but if you don't mind standing there for the 5 seconds it takes to suck the air outta the bag (literally that's about how long it takes!) then save your $$ on the things like that and go for the basic FS. JMHO :-)

[ArmyOfFive4God]

That would be me, the Tuesday Morning Shopper. The 64 dollar one I have is a v1085. I love it. FS IS still the tilia brand if I'm not mistaken as most bags and boxes and such say tilia food saver. They may have been bought out, though don't hold me to that. I've never researched it. I would avoid the B&D at all costs. B&D makes grand tools, but they should have stuck to tools. Granted I have a few appliances that are B&D, but they were bought out of necessity. Certain things you just need to spend a few pennies extra on. And that is my 2¢. Not that I think I answered any of your questions. Just had to own up to being the TM shopper, hehe!!!

 

ETA- mine was actually 64.99.

[Oldpine]

We (Snowmom and I) have a Food Saver, and this is our 2 one.

we use it to vac pac just about all our fresh meat. We find that we can keep it much longer (6 mo. to a year) with out freezer burn, also use it to make up bags of oatmeal when I take it to work sometimes other things too.

[YYY]

Shawna and Army of 5,

 

Thanks to both of you for your answers. I've been wanting a vacuum sealer for some time now. On Monday, I will have just enough to get the larger one.

 

Army of 5, thanks for the tip about Tuesday Morning. That information has been on my mind since you wrote about it. Now I can finally act on it. Yippee !!!

 

Shawna, thanks for your information. I will make sure to check for the hose attachment - I'd like that. And thank you for breaking down what the different sizes do.

 

A few more questions: (1) If it doesn't have the hose attachment, can I order it separately ... later? Where? (2) Where do you get the Food Saver bags? (3) Are there any bags that some of you like better than the Food Saver Bags? The frugal part of me likes to save money.

 

Thanks,

 

YYY

[YYY]

Oldpine,

 

Thanks for answering. I know exactly what you mean about meat that has freezer burn. I threw out 2 packages of TRIPLE wrapped meat last week.

 

Seems the Food Saver will save me money by letting me hang onto my meat.

 

Thanks,

 

YYY

[Cat]

I bought one of the "larger" ones at a local store on clearance last year. Less than $60.

 

 

I finally pulled it out to use it this summer when I got a good deal on steaks (we NEVER get steaks!! ). I didn't realize I needed to charge it up for 12 hours before using it! (Why, if I plan on using it only with electricity? )

 

 

But after figuring it out, it worked successfully, and I'm glad I have it.

 

 

Now I just have to learn more about using it to its best advantage!

 

 

[ArmyOfFive4God]

If it doesn't have the hose I don't *think* you can order one later. But I'm not 100%. I didn't do a whole bunch of research on them before I got mine. I just knew I wanted a FS brand and when I saw it, I knew it was the one. Mine has a hose and it attaches to a small pipe (of sorts & for lack of better words) which is part of the lid. I could be wrong. I really don't know too much about them except my own personal exp. You should be able to call the company and ask all your questions. Don't be shy, they have no clue who you are and I'm sure you'll NEVER encounter the sales rep again! LOL... 1-877-777-8042.

 

Oh and BTW, when I bought mine, it came with the hose, 3 canisters & a few pkgs & rolls of bags. It was more or less like buying the canisters & bags and getting the FS for free!!!

[BiscuitMaker]

YYY- I love my food saver, I seal everything--dog food-frozen food-meat-chicken- fish- berries-grains-beans-money and documents. Anything you want to keep dry. A lot of things in my BOBag.

A trick that I learned is to put a piece of wood in front of the FS to lift up the bag a little, it will help you work better.

Vacum a little and then smooth the bag out and then continue to vacum. I find that dog food is the hardest to seal it sometimes unseals and I think it cuts the bag sometimes.

Good luck

[YYY]

Hi Again Everybody,

 

I got my FoodSaver this evening. When I got to Tuesday Morning, they had 2 kinds, the 1080 and the 1075 (both had the same price - $64.99). I thought the 1075 looked nicer (so cute), but I got the 1080 because it had more accessories.

 

At first I thought I had a problem. It sealed within a couple of seconds but no air was “sucked out”. I tried 4 or 5 times, read the manual and watched the video. Still no sucking. It turned out that the frugal (cheap) side of me didn’t want to use one of the fancy bags for testing, so I was using just any plastic bags in the kitchen. However, when I used the FoodSaver bag, everything worked great.

 

More questions:

 

(1) Even with the lesson I learned about using non-vacuum seal bags, I still would like to know, does anyone have a suggestion about where I can get cheaper bags? Can I use other brands?

 

(2) While watching the instructional video that came with the FoodSaver, I saw the jar sealer that you can use to seal your mason jars using normal lids. This jar sealer was not included with the accessories. They are $8.99 for the regular mouth (http://foodsaver.com/ProductDetails.aspx?productid=1664 and $9.99 for the wide mouth (http://foodsaver.com/ProductDetails.aspx?productid=2496 . Have any of you used these? How did you like them? Does the wide mouth jar sealer work on both regular and wide mouth jars? Do I need one of each? Is there a way to seal mason jars without these sealers? Or should I just go ahead and spend the extra money.

 

(3) I’d like to have an extra hose. I don’t see just the hose on the FoodSaver site. It’s seems to be only combined with other accessories. Where can I get just the hose?

 

When I started this thread, I asked if FoodSaver is the same as the Tilia brand. If anyone else is interested, the answer is yes.

 

ArmyOf5, thanks again for the tip about Tuesday Morning. I’ve wanted one of these for a long time, but the price was never right before this.

 

And thanks Shawna, Oldpine, Cat, and BiscuitMaker for the tips and suggestions.

 

YYY

 

[ArmyOfFive4God]

YAY!!! So happy for you! You are so welcome. I can never keep a good thing bottled inside! Much nicer to share, LOL...

 

For some of your other post- mine didn't come with the mason jar piece either, but everyone on here really seems to like tham and I'll be getting one, one of these days. As for the hose, call the company. Ask about getting an extra!!!

 

Bags- BJ's carries a 6 pack for $40. And Walmart has a 2-pack of their brand for around 8. Never used anything but the FS ones, so someone else will have to tell you about those. I reacll someone mentioning the black and decker ones sucked though (the bags- I think B&D kitch. appl. suck! LOL)