Customer Reviews

FoodSaver Smart Seal Vacuum Sealer V3825

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I bought this unit, and I am very satisfied with its performance. On the plus side, the unit works automatically and puts a very good seal on the package. It has more control over the vacuum, and the canister hose is now built into the unit. On the con side, the owners manual leaves much to be desired. I would recommend that you briefly read the quick start guide, then go right to the website and watch the videos. I could not get the sealer to work until I watched the video... then it was very easy, and it works great every time.

If your used to the old food saver vacuum units, then this one takes a bit getting used to, because its automatic. The bags feed in the side of the unit, but you have to learn how to feed in the bag! Once it's fed in the machine, then a clamp comes down automatically and does the vacuum or seal (depending on the setting you use), but you have to wait till it's completely done and stopped to remove the bag. If your a volume packager, this is NOT the unit for you, as it takes a bit longer than the older units and you will likely get fustrated. If your like me... and seal when I have leftovers, open cheese, or freezing... this works well, but it is not as fast as the older flip top sealers. I do like the bag holder features, as this has been an issue with me from the beginning.

After reading all the comments on the Internet, I was not sure if I should invest in this unit... but I decided to try it anyway, and am VERY HAPPY with the sealer. The negatives are running 50 /50 on the net, but most people complain about the bag feed. Look at the video, take some time to learn (15 minutes), and then it's easy. If you don't want to read directions and learn... then buy something else.

I just recently brought the FoodSaver 3825 and my major complaint about the unit is the difficulty in getting the bags to seal. It does work if you enter the bag into the slot just right but it used to be a step that didn't require any thougth or finagaling with the older lift-up units. And then once a bag has been used once, the attempt to reuse it with an open edge that is not as stiff as a new bag is even more difficult. I've had gallon bags that I could only use once because the unit would not recognize the cut edge.

Also, when using the unit to creat your own custom bags, the waste generated by the FoodSaver's limitation of making a sesl 1˝ to 2 inches from the edge, is a real waste of what are very expensive bags. I'm fortunate that I own a plastic sealer and I use that to seal the edges of my custom bags with an edge of only 1/4 to 3/8 inches. The savings in bags will pay for my sealer in a very short time.

The good thing that I can say about this unit is the vacuuming abitlity with canisters. I've had nothing but good results using this feature of the machine. It does a better and quicker job than my older FoodSaver. Others have complained about cracked canisters, but I never had a problem with that on my old machine. As for this unit it is still too soon to tell as I've only had it for a week.

Finally this unit is noisier than earlier versions I've had of the FoodSaver systems and I find that a little annoying. All in all I think I would have been better off with a less "advanced" unit and question whether this model is an "upgrade" at all.

I got this unit at [...], includes the marinate dish, 12 - quart size bags and a roll of bag material.

I've wanted a foodsaver for years but (1) didn't know a lot about them beyond the infomercials (2) didn't know anyone who had one (3) wasn't sure that it was a worthy investment. Things have changed! I've had a few people recommend them and it piqued my interest. We were at Costco and walked by and looked at the box and decided to get it on an inpulse (and it was $20 off). We also buy a lot in bulk and for 2 people, it's hard to go through EVERYTHING before it goes bad.

At first glance it doesn't look like anything spectacular. The box/packaging isn't all that appealing.
SETUP: The cardboard insert is VERY CONFUSING - it tells you to throw it out, but the picture on it makes you think you should throw out the plastic insert as well - I'm glad I didn't. That would have been BAD! STRONGLY recommend reading the instructions first so you know what buttons to push for what. I couldn't figure out why my bags weren't sealing, I had to push the Seal button twice so it would seal to make a bag instead of thinking it needs to vaccuum it out first. Figured that out when the machine spent 3 minutes whirring really loudly and my bag wasn't sealed.

Aesthetics. It stands upright so it takes up little to no space (NICE). We have ours on the counter and it's going to stay there. I like the chrome look, so far it's stayed clean. No fingerprints! It's also nice that it will hold a roll of bags on the inside. (I would recommend getting the bag holder accessory - $10 so you can store the quart size baggies). I would make your own quart size baggies vs. buying them, less expensive that way.

What I've used it for: At first I went a little seal happy and played with the machine. I got bulk size nuts and separated them into 4 packets. We sealed meats (we used to buy freezer ziplock bags but the meat always had freezer burn on them). I've resealed bags of chips (in their original packaging - it won't take the air out, but much easier than wrestling with the bag clips).

DOWNSIDE: You cannot vaccuum pack veggies unless you've blanched and froze them first! That seems like a pain because I like my veggies to be raw to cook. Also have to "pat down" the inside of the bag when sealing meats - the juices rise out of the bag which doesn't seal it properly (some of the juice got between the seal strip) and can damage the machine (figured that out from other users). Also if you're planning on freezing baby food, stock, anything wet, you have to first freeze it, then seal in their frozen state. Instructions recommended using ice cube trays.

Trying out: I just purchased a set of canisters (recommended for storing items that are crushable, veggies, moist and use often items). I went to Bed Bath & Beyond and got the set for $16 ($20 with 20% off coupon). Looking forward to trying them out. Also looking to purchase the 6qt canisters for storing dog food and rice.

This all seems like a "lot of work" but in the end it's worth it. I defrosted a steak that I "foodsavered" and it was tender, juicy and amazing! I never knew that freezer burn could destroy the meat like that. It's definitely changing my outlook on the value of this little machine.

I'm also excited to use this machine now when we travel and pack our wet items and seal it. We use space bags for our clothes to conserve space, but this will help prevent spillage of shampoo, lotions etc.

We had the older Tilia model Foodsaver II for years and really like the performance of vacuum sealing food, especially for freezing without freezer burn and extending shelf life in a refrigerator. I also used it for waterproofing items for hiking. The Foodsaver II did the job -- simple to operate and reliably drew vacuum & sealed the bags. Yeah, on the downside I had to watch out when sealing juicy foods and occasionally wipe out the vacuum channel. But the unit was cheap to buy originally, easy to access for cleaning and, as said, worked reliably.

My wife saw the new model (V3825) at Costco for $150 and said she'd like it. So it was a Christmas present for her and the old Foodsaver II went to a friend. It proved to be a mistake trying to fix (upgrade) what wasn't broken.

There's good news and bad news on the Foodsaver model V3825.

BAD NEWS:

The new V3825 model is a pain in the butt to use, especially compared to the ease of use of the older flip-down-top model.

On the new V3825 model the "feed from the front" slot into which the edge of the roll/bag must be inserted **A LONG WAYS** for vacuum/sealing is barely wide enough to accommodate the double-thickness material. Once in there, the automatic mechanism to squeeze then seal the material operates very s-l-o-w-l-y, to say the least. Automating the squeeze function from the older model (push down the flip lid & press the lock buttons), is NOT an improvement. Besides being slower, the complexity of the added machinery says that there are more pieces to fail sometime down the road, which will incur repair/replacement cost.

I will admit that once the bag materials is in the slot, sealing the first end of an open tube of material (i.e. making a bag from a cut-off section of a roll of material) works well. Sealing a bag with food in it is more of a problem, as it was with the older model too.

That "LONG WAYS" brings up another shortcoming of the new model -- lack of economy from re-using bags. When the vacuum-seal bags get washed and re-used (one of the selling points of the system in both advertising and real-world use), the open top of the bag will curl down just a bit. With the old flip-down-top model, placing that slightly curled top of a reused bag into the vacuum channel was easy. With the new model, it is difficult (often impossible) to get the top of a previously used bag into the slot far enough (if at all) to trigger the squeeze-vacuum-seal cycle mechanism. Thus, many of the bags that could have been readily reused with the older model now must be trashed because they won't fit into the new machine's slot.

Even if the bag top (new or re-used) does insert far enough to trigger the mechanism, the wasted empty portion of bag material beyond the seal is HUGE (approx 1.5") compared to the Foodsaver II, which would seal the bag material leaving only about 0.25" wasted. If you think the 1.25" difference is a small nit to pick, multiply the additional wasted material (after-market sales for the mfr) times the hundreds or thousands of bags that you can pretty easily consume if you use the system much at all.

The V3825's adjustable vacuum settings for moist or delicate contents on the newer model may offer convenience over the older model's single full-bore vacuuming, but I don't find it all that useful. When I've tried to use the variable vacuum settings, the food still seems to get either crushed or over-vacuumed (juices drawn up into the sealing area of bag material which impairs a reliable & complete seal). Again, it seems the mfr added a feature that increased the cost but not the real-world utility of the unit.

Their on-machine roll storage compartment and two bag-cutters (one in roll storage compartment which does work well and a pop-out one at the base of the machine's outside case where it's too close to countertop to use conveniently, if at all) are just wasted space in my use of the machine.

GOOD NEWS

The added feature of the V3825 that I **DO** like a lot is the Pulse Vacuum feature. While the button is depressed, vacuum is drawn from the bag. When you've got as much vacuum as you want to draw on the contents, you let up on the button and press the SEAL button to lock that amount of vacuum in the bag. This eliminates the older Foodsaver II model's need to draw full vacuum (often way more vacuum than needed or desired) before it would trigger the sealing function.

I have used the Pulse Vacuum to good effect on finely shredded cheese for extended storage in the refrigerator. If you vacuum it too much, shredded cheese will compress into a more-or-less solid mass, thereby losing the advantage of buying pre-shredded cheese in the first place. With the Pulse Vacuum feature of the V3825 I can fine-tune the amount of vacuum in the bag just right -- enough to eliminate most of the air (keeping aerobic bacterial growth down) but not compressing the shreds of cheese into a solid wad of cheese. I have also found the Pulse Vacuum to be handy when packaging juicy foods like meat and delicate foods like baked goods.

While I don't yet use rigid containers (like the meat marinating tray or the round canisters) with the Foodsaver System, I do like the automatic roll-up vacuum hose storage (like an auto-retract electrical cord on a vacuum cleaner) on the V3825. I appreciate that the vacuum hose and canister connector aren't separate pieces to keep track of and likely get misplaced.

Compared to the Foodsaver II, the vacuum channel of the V3825 is more difficult to clean in the machine (much much narrower & tough to reach down inside of it). However, the plastic tray is easily removed for cleaning in the sink.

The vacuum channel of the older Foodsaver II was injection molded into the body of the unit. The Foodsaver II vacuum chamber was wider and I think shallower as well, which made wiping it out with a paper towel or dishcloth pretty easy. On the newer model's removable tray I worry that its electrical contacts & wires (for sensing if/when the tray gets too much liquid in it & setting off alarm circuitry) are susceptible to corrosion and/or damage in cleaning. Given the size/removability trade-offs of the two models, I think it's pretty much 50-50 one way or the other.

BOTTOM LINE:

While I do like vacuum sealers for their ability to protect food in storage, I can't recommend the V3825 due to its added cost, more complex machinery, difficult insertion, and unnecessary "features". My recommendation would be to buy a simpler, less-automated model. Especially if you can find a flip-down lid model that also has a Pulse Vacuum equivalent feature.

Beautiful, space saving design, but the execution is awful. Compared to prior clam-shell units, this model needlessly wastes 1 ˝" of material more per bag. Re-sealing used bags is also very difficult because you must feed the into a slot rather than laying it across a heating strip anc closing the lid. It's a shame because with a few design tweaks, this could be a great device. One can't help but wonder if this isn't an intentional ploy to increase roll usage. Before you buy this, do yourself a favor and compare the Amazon ratings of the old clam-shell units to the new upright ones.

One star rating means "I hate it". Here's why...
The bags stink. The rolls of bag material are cut-to-length by the operator. When you cut them the ends curl up in opposite directions which make it hard to feed them into the vacuum/seal area. Thinking of minimizing bag waste? Think again. Cut it too short and it won't suck the air out- even if there is plenty of material to cover the product. The machine will try to suck the air out even when the bag is not sealed. The machine is huge and the controls are not intuitive. It's not something attractive enough to keep on the counter all the time. The 50%-75% success rate doesn't justify the cost.

As with previous models this sealer works great but unlike the older models this one is automatic so you don't have to hold it down to start the seal. When you enter the bag to seal the end it wastes almost 2 inches because you have to push it so far into the machine then when you seal the product it wastes another almost 2 inches.

I've had this since last winter. When it decides to work, it's great. When it decides it isn't going to pump, it drives me crazy. It will usually work the first one or two times, then it won't vacuum out most or any of the air in the bag. You hit cancel quickly, or it'll seal without sucking out the air. The gaskets are kept spotless, the sealing area is very clean, I'm sealing something dry (like the smoked salmon I tried to seal today), and it stops working. ZipLock bags are cheaper, easier and less aggravating. Maybe mine is just a bad unit??? I don't know, as I will never buy another product from this company. I grow and smoke a lot of meats and veggies here, and if it worked, it would have been made food processing better. Oh well.

We purchased this almost three years ago at Costco. For two-and-a-half years it worked great. We buy a lot of bulk, and with just two of us it seemed to make sense so that stuff doesn't go bad before using it all up.

We noticed recently though that the vacuum doesn't suck all the air out anymore. We talked to Costco and they will take it back. Good thing.

I also noticed that some of my food in the freezer now has air pockets that weren't there before.

Worked good for a couple of years.

Very frustrating machine. I bought it from Costco about a year ago, and I think I'm going to try to take advantage of costco's very generous return policy. The first thing I noticed was that it was a royal pain in the butt to get the "automagic" sensor to admit there was a bag in there it could seal. I finally decided I don't vacu-pack often enough for this to matter. Well now it has started to not seal all the way. For the last 5 or 6 time I've used it (out of a total of 15 or 20 times tops over the last year), it won't seal at all, and almost immediately after its "done", all the air leaks back into the bag. I now have to seal 5 or 6 times just to get it to stop leaking, and even then I'm not sure its doing it.

It's also annoying how much bag it wastes when you make your own bag.