There are now two vacuum sealers on the market, one by Ziplock and one by Reynolds. Has anyone used these?
Jeannie from Wbrg. PA
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I just bought the Ziplock brand because it was cheaper ($6.00 cheaper) and it does not require batteries. I tried when I got home & love it. Only a couple pumps & the air is gone. Try it, you won't be disappointed.
Bad News for Reynolds Vacuum Lovers. They have stopped making them. "We have made the difficult decision to discontinue manufacturing and distributing Reynolds® Handi-Vac® products. Reynolds was proud to have developed this breakthrough product for food storage but, regrettably, Handi-Vac is one of those great products that was unable to generate the consumer demand and profitability required to keep it in our product portfolio."
However I am using Ziplock and I am quite happy although you have to keep pumping to get all the air out of the hidden areas. But once It's properly sealed, pfft they can last for months.
I purchased both, only because Reynolds had discontinued manufacturing the battery operated one. The hand-operated Ziploc brand was awful. I make homemade pumpkin pies every year for Thanksgiving and rely on my vacuum bags to keep my pumpkin fresh for me. I used my last Reynolds bag in November of 2008 to seal up the remaining pumpkin I had left over. It is still in my freezer to this day, and is still "fresh." The pumpkin that I packaged up this past November (2009) in the Ziploc bags is already freezer burned. I have thrown 2 bags of the 3 I sealed out already because the pumpkin inside is freezer burnt.
All in all the Reynolds battery-operated out performed the Ziploc 10 to 1. It was probably one of the best ideas Reynolds could have come up with and now it seems like you can't get them anymore. Well, that has changed also. Debbie Meyer (of Debbie Meyer Green Bags and Containers) has joined with Reynolds and together they have re-launched the Reynolds battery-operated vacuum sealer with both the quart and gallon sized bags.
They can now both be purchased through www.HSN.com. I can't wait to stock up.
I have the Reynold's HandiVac, and I cannot begin to tell you how much I love it! I have a FoodSaver, which I use for big projects - buying in bulk and dividing meat, etc., but I can vac deli meat and cheese, and they LAST, and can easily be resealed. I also have a "soup bag" which I put small amounts of left over meat in one and chicken in another, and freeze which can be frozen and added to as I go.
I have the Reynolds Handi-vac and I love it! I do dry goods and then freeze them. Cuts down on freezer space. Pull out what you need and re-vacuum. I reuse the bags (except the ones from meat) and watch for coupons. The only problem I have found is you have to make sure the vacuum is properly positioned on the bag, which can sometimes be tricky if you've filled the bag too full. Other than that, it's great!
I also use Reynolds and I Love it! It is now just the 2 of us and when making spaghetti, you can save extra sauce you don't use. Leftovers, make aheads for holidays plus so much more. Its great for other things besides food but that is my main use because of the prices right now. You can't go wrong but you do have to position just right but easy to get the hang of it quickly.
There must be something wrong with my Reynolds pump or me. I cannot make it work. I have tried many different bags and it has not worked once. I think it is junk!!!!! Any ideas.
I bought the Ziplock brand, did not work , checked bags the next day, and all had some air in them? Don't believe I did anything wrong, filled bag below line, pumped air out, and placed in freezer.
Purchased the Reynolds battery operated vacuum sealer. Terrible on batteries. 70% of the bags do not seal AND develop air leaks. This product is a good concept, however the actual product is a total pile of junk. expensive bags that fail 70% of the time.
Tried both, I much prefer the Ziplock one with a simple pump. No batteries needed and good exercise.
One complaint on price Wal-Mart (within 3 weeks time,) raised their Ziploc beginner package price from $1.50 to $3.97!
In the newer Reynolds unit, (February 2009) the batteries seems to last long time.
The Ziploc is defintely the best! I have had both. The Reynolds after a couple of months quit sucking the air out as well. It got to be a real chore getting it to work. Plus I was forever replacing the batteries (luckily we use rechargeable so it didn't cost us, but it was a hassle).
The Ziploc is a simple pump, No batteries. Easy to take apart and clean when needed (which is seldom). Only takes a few pumps. Bags hold the air tight seal much better than Reynolds (altho the Ziploc pump will work on Reynolds bags too if you have some left over like I did).
Plus the Ziploc starter set and bags are much cheaper.
I use mine for everything. My trucker husband even has one in the truck and uses it to store his thiings in his cooler too!
I have the Reynolds pump and we love it. I have found that I can get the vacuum to work on almost any bag as long as there is just enough room to get the little area under the vacuum hole flat. The bag can be very full, but if I can get this little spot flat, I usually can get it pimped out. Usually I will hold the full back in 1 hand while leaving the corner of the bag to rest right over the edge of our kitchen counter. This worls best if the counter has a sqaured edge rather than a rounded edge, or you might try the edge of a table. Hold the bag at the same elevation of the table or counter and let the edge of the bag just rest on the surface so that you can get the pump to sit on it good and flat.
The Reynolds bags are getting hard to find around my house. Has anyone had any luck trying to get the Reynold vac. to work on the Ziplock bags?
I haven't had any success with them yet.
Jessicasdd I would just like to say thank you for your post about Reynolds and Debbie Meyers. It is true Debbied Meyer is now selling Reynolds vac sealing system. I am so happy Reynolds had a change of heart on there vac systems. I am a shift worker for more then 30 years and food has always be a issue with me. My wife bought one of those fancy food saver so we could pre-package my dinners for work. Do not waste you money on there high dollar equipment or there over priced bags. I saved the dish from the smart one frozen dinners. now when we have leftovers into the dish it goes, put press and seal over that and into a reynolds ziplock bag, vacuum it down and pop it into the freezer. I have 75 or so dinners in my freezer right now. oh by the way the bags are reuseable too, I get 3 or 4 uses on most of them.
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