Customer Reviews

FoodSaver T000-00341 GameSaver Pro Vacuum Packaging System

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've owned one of these for about five years now, and can offer an informed opinion:

PROS:

* It works-- it does what it is supposed to do.
* It has a storage area for rolls, enabling you to feed a roll directly out of the sealer.
* Built-in cutter makes it easy to cut bags.
* Three sealing settings, for precise control.

CONS:

* It takes up a lot of room on the counter or work surface.
* It is not a heavy-duty item by any stretch of the imagination.

When you are using the highest setting ("3") which I almost always do, after 10-15 bags are sealed it starts to over-heat. You'll know this is happening when it slows down and takes longer and longer to seal each bag. When this first happened, I called customer service but was told that this was normal, and I needed only to wait a few minutes for it to cool down, and then I could resume using it. This was true, and with experience I learned to break up large jobs into discrete operations. So instead of trying to seal 30-40 bags at once (as with butchering a deer), I'll do 10-12 at a time, do something else for a while, and then do 10-12 more. I can live with this, but it is an inconvenience nonetheless. This year it seemed to be dying, so I bought another one at BJ's, as a spare in case it died. Since it didn't die, I took the unopened one back for a refund. Next year, I will either do the same thing or just break down and buy another one. In most things, you get what you pay for, and I'm thinking that maybe I should spring for a more expensive one that is closer to being commercial-grade.

On balance, this is pretty good value for the money, but for large jobs, expect occasional delays as described above.

Word of advice: as a general rule, buy bags, not rolls. The only advantage of a roll is you can make the bag as long as you need to. But I've found that due to my imprecise measuring, I waste a lot of material, as the natural tendancy is to make the bag a little too long, "just in case." So, I end up with almost every bag being about 1-2 inches too long. Also, with bags, the sealer does twice as much work, as it has to seal both ends of the bag. Finally, with bags, every now and then you are going to lose concentration and select "seal only" which will result in the bag being sealed but the air not sucked out... then you have to replace that bag and use another one, thus resulting in even more wastage. Keep a roll or two on hand, for the odd cut of meat that won't fit into a bag, but bags otherwise.

My game saver pro will seal about one bag per hour. Let it rest and it may seal the next one. Called tilla and they said turn the seal over or wash in warm water and let dry, no luck. They say they are not concerned so I will buy a new gasket and if that doesn't work this will be my last Tilla (three so far). I only say this because I consider myself a light user, single and use it mainly for fish.

I purchased this to replace a 15 year old Food Saver without any bells and whistles. The previous one lasted over 15 years, this one less than 1 week. Less than a week from delivery this product completely died, wouldn't seal or vacuum and I'd used it less than 10 times in that week span. Also, the bags I had managed to vacuum seal did not keep their seal and had completely lost their vacuum in less than a month, a problem I never had with the previous model. Save your money and do an internet search for a better brand; it appears Food Saver quality has gone downhill dramatically in the last decade. Vacuum sealing is great - saves money and food if you can find a good brand.

This FoodSaver is just great! It works much better than previous models that we have owned in the FoodSaver line.