Customer Reviews

Tilia FoodSaver Professional II Vacuum Sealing Kit

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

All Tilia's products are overpriced, but I have not seen a better vacuum sealer on the market. My neighbor across the street bought a Rival, and after using that for a week and then trying mine, return the Rival and traded up to a Tilia. The product has a powerful vacuum and is well-designed. Tilia's profit-business model depends on you buying accessories and bags, and charging you a premium too. Well, the accessories are very well made, I'll say that. As far as the bags go, don't buy them, you are paying for convenience. Buy the rolls. Even better, buy the rolls made by Rival as they work just as well, are thicker, and much cheaper!

The FoodSaver Pro II does a wonderful, powerful, & amazingly easy job of vacuum sealing appropriate items. I have nothing but praise for its design & operation, and I am usually hyper-critical of home appliances. The bags are strong & durable, the vacuum containers come in a wide range of sizes, and one can also use inexpensive glass canning jars. People who criticize the need to pre-freeze some foods or wrap others before sealing them (having apparently been misled by a TV infomercial) are expecting the unreasonable. Bread, for example, is filled with air holes-that is what causes it to rise. If you vacuum-pack unfrozen bread, you'll end up with a cracker - but that's not the fault of the machine, it's an indication of its power! Most of the pre-freezing or wrapping requirements are either to prevent crushing or to prevent liquids (such as meat juices) being sucked into the machine, & all of them can be avoided by using vacuum containers instead of bags. Ditto for powdery (such as flour) or sharp items, although I've packed all kinds of grains directly in the bags with no punctures. Although the Tilia containers are initially expensive, (& only certain ones are freezer-safe), you can re-use them indefinitely. Mason jars are cheap and work well, although it's occasionally problematic to acheive a good seal, and, being glass, are more fragile. They are also much harder to open, and the metal lids can get damaged in the effort and then will no longer re-seal. (Of course, the lids are cheap to replace.) The Tilia supplies (bags & containers) are expensive & it's hard to find them discounted, although you can if you search hard enough. Overall, a superb product for those with real-world expectations.

This is my second Foodsaver Professional II. The first one was a model where you had to press down to do the sealing, so I decided to splurge and go for this newer one. I had the first one about five or six years, I've had this one since 1998. Thus I have quite a history with Tilia/Foodsaver. This is my favorite appliance, bar none, one that I cannot do without in my house.

I can't comment on the Rival sealer, but from what I've seen and read, this sealer is THE best, even though it's comparitively expensive. In the long run you will save hundreds of dollars in possibly spoiled food items. I believe it's worth the money. If you can buy the Rival bags or rolls and use them with this appliance, go for it. I always get the FoodSaver rolls by the carton and you get a discount that way.

I do wish to explain about the wide mouth jar sealer. Unless you follow Foodsaver's instructions you will probably not seal the jars properly. They are very specific about how to use Mason jars and tops. You must start with new, fresh jar tops, boil or soak in hot water for about five minutes to soften the rubber gasket, and let them dry. After many reuses, if the jar doesn't hold its vacuum, throw away the jar top and replace it with a new one. You can buy boxes of just the canning jar "dome lids" in any store's canning section, for very little money, like about $1.29 for a box of 12. I have literally dozens of varying sizes of wide mouth canning jars in my pantry, sealed using my Foodsaver Pro II, and if I follow their instructions the seals last forever. You can also buy these canning jars in sizes that range from one cup to two quarts. This is the best, money saving part about the Foodsaver -- reusing canning jars and lids over and over! Contrary to what has been written, they are easy to open -- take a spoon, pry under the edge, and you break the vacuum seal. I don't see what's so tough about that. If you've destroyed the canning lid in the process, you're not following the instructions. You need to go back and read.

Unless you need to save time and don't care about the cost, I don't believe the pre-cut bags are much of a bargain, since you can cut and seal your own sizes easily. The pre-cut bags are nice but a luxury for me. Here's something else I found out the hard way. I had some plastic rolls that were several years old and were losing their vacuum, which I couldn't figure out. When I called Foodsaver's help line, they said the rolls do deteriorate after that many years and will no longer be useful. So don't buy more than you can use within about two years. I also double seal the top edge of my bag, just as a precaution, easy to do because there's a "heat only" setting for the plastic bag sealing.

I don't care for their very expensive plastic cannisters -- neither the standard nor the decorator's version, and because I have a collection of both I'm experienced with their use. They tend to lose their seal, which is an unpleasant surprise when you go to your cupboard and check your flour, cereal, corn meal, etc. It's been an ongoing frustration -- you need to periodically soak the tops in very hot water, to keep the inside plastic ring somewhat softer and pliable. Too much trouble! I suggest you stick with either the plastic rolls to make any size bag you want (yes, you can put liquids, sauces, stews, and gravies in them), or best of all, use the different sized wide-mouth canning jars. They are cheap, they last forever, and the tops are much easier to deal with. I have never had one break on me -- remember, these are canning jars that were produced to sit in a boiling bath for 20-30 minutes.

I can't tell you how much money my Foodsavers have saved me over the years, by keeping foods from spoiling, especially items like flour, sugar, grains, cereals, and refrigerated foods. Right now I have a quart of homemade Thousand Island dressing in a sealed wide mouth jar -- I made it three months ago. It's still fresh and tasty.

You can seal soft items like breads, rolls, tortillas, pitas, etc., by watching the sealing bag and pressing the "ON/OFF" button before the item gets squished, although that would still leave air in it where the item could possibly get moldy. Alternately, you can freeze soft items first and then seal them.

You can also seal household items -- although I don't use it for that, I've tried sealing things like socks, sterling silver, toothbrushes, just for giggles. I guess if you're a camper this would come in quite handy. You can find more household item sealing hints like these on the Foodsaver website.

No matter where you purchase your Foodsaver Professional II, the Foodsaver website is excellent and has great tips as well as troubleshooting help, plus they are always offering bargains, closeouts, and other money saving offers. I have also called their toll free customer support several times in the past and they have without exception been patient, helpful, and have always answered my questions. That says a lot, since I only call when there's something wrong that I can't figure out myself.

Now here's the best part as far as durability. You can call Foodsaver and tell them you want a "tuneup" for your Foodsaver. After a few years the various gaskets, sealing mechanism, and vacuumer will just not work like they used to. Don't worry -- it takes years of heavy use to get to that point. Anyway, it cost me $50 (I used this service once on my previous model and once a couple of months ago on this model) but it is well worth it. Your Foodsaver will come back just like brand new, ready for many more years of faithful service. An added bonus is they include several money saving coupons (for bags, cannisters, other accessories) with the unit when they return it, so in theory you could save the $50 by using the coupons. Now what could be better than that?

I am disappointed with this unit. It has a tendency to over heat and shut off. My father-in-law owns the same unit and he has the same problem with his.

Ours just recently died after hardly using it over the past year. The main board went out, so the unit will not even turn on. It will cost $89 for the part plus $45 in labor and shipping fees. The service dealer said that this is a normal problem for the Professional II. We paid $289.93 for the unit.

That aside, the unit worked well to seal Alaskan wild game and fish. It is a plus to have the built in bag cutter and the sealing time adjustment switch. For the price paid and the amount used, it should have lasted longer.

I was a little leary of purchasing such an expensive piece of equipment, especially when there are less cheaper models available. However, I live in Denver, and after reading how many people had problems using the cheaper models above 5000 feet, I opted for the Professional II. I am very glad that I did. The ease of use is amazing, and the suction is so strong it's almost scary!! I sealed some shredded cheddar cheese in a bag, at which point it ceased to be shredded any longer. I have taken to sealing almost everything in mason jars, which are dirt cheap, and very easy to use with the jar sealer attachment. The simple fact that I can rip up several heads of lettuce, seal them in mason jars, and still have fresh lettuce two weeks later makes this purchase worth it. I tend to eat a lot of salads, and was very tired of either throwing out tons of food, or having to go to the store every other day to have fresh vegetables. This is no longer a problem. The use of the foodsaver is intuitive, and the one button operation couldn't be easier. One of these days I will probably watch the video that came with the machine, but so far I haven't, and still have had no problem using it. I highly recommend this machine.

I've been a BIG foodsaver user for many years. Yes it has it's limitations, but it helps when buying in bulk. I purchased my first foodsaver many, many years ago after seeing the TV commerical for it. I was extremely happy with it and couldn't tell people just how happy I was with it. I used it for years and years. Finally the motor started to slow down and the suction power failed. So I got a new one. A no-brainer I thought.

I was really disappointed with this one. It didn't have the same suction power that my older version had and there was a wrinkle on the sealing tape. That wrinkle soon because bigger and bigger and then became a hole in the seal which let air in. Finally after a year and a 1/2 of sealing it twice on each side I called for support. I was told it would be $50 and if they couldn't fix it immediately would send me a new one. As it turns out, I was without one for over two months and I got a refurbished one back. This one isn't any better than the one I returned. It also has wrinkles in the sealing tape and this one has less power in the motor. I'm very disappointed in their products now. I'll call again to see what they'll do for me, but I don't expect to get anything better.

I guess it's a hit a miss with this machine. If it works great at first, than it'll work great for a long time. But if it doesn't than you got a lemon and don't expect to get anything better from their support.

I'm in the process of researching a better machine from another company. Hopefully I can find what I had with my original FoodSave from the '90s.

I saw the infomercials on television and after reading online reviews, I took the plunge and bought this model. I couldn't be more pleased! Bags are easy to make and sealing is a one-step snap! I like to buy meat on sale in large quantities and this model has never let me down - it seals bag after bag with precision and ease. The video is excellent - very straight forward, easy to understand but without being long winded. It's been worth every penny!

This product is durable and useful in everyday kitchen upkeep. We are able to seal and store foods that we bought in bulk like powdered milk and flour and baking mix. Rice and Grits and other things that get buggy. We store all kinds of dinners and meats in the freezer. Grilled meat keeps it's off-the-grill flavor if we seal it soon after grilling and warmed up slowly, it's not tough either. It really does keep cheese nice, and sometimes we cut the bags really small and store personal portions of deli-meats for lunchbox sandwiches on little notice. I got tired of throwing out deli meat because it didn't get eaten in time. Now I can store it indefinitely in the freezer, warm it up slowly and have a sandwich for emergency lunchbox. I'm pretty lazy and don't like to do things that take up a lot of time or make a big mess. I keep this sealer on the countertop with empty bags nearby and use it almost daily. It's cool and I wish I could give one to both our parents. After two years, it has earned its price many times over in saved cheese and meat alone. Now I want to get the accessories and expand my savings. My only gripe is that the accessories and the sealer are a little more expensive than the cost of manufacture would warrant.

I just bought the Foodsaver 550. I have only used it a couple of times so far. While it's true that the infomercial doesn't tell you about the need to freeze some items and blanching vegetables before you seal them, I wasn't disappointed by finding this out. My goal was to save food for a longer period of time. I am single and often throw food out -even food I've had in the freezeer. I get too ambitious at the grocery store and often can eat what I end up buying. The person that sent their machine back to the company because they didn't know about having to freeze/blanch items must have been hoping that the foodsaver would save them time. I see it not as a time saving device. It is a time gaining device. In the long run this WILL save me time and money. I can spend a weekend making a couple of things like stew or lasagne or whatever. If I take a little time to package them in individual portions I will have great and quick lunches or dinners. I'm optimistic about this product and hope that it turns out to be worth it. I have to say that I am dissapointed in the price of the accesories. I'd buy all of the accesories if I could afford them. As it is, I am only going to buy the inexpensive set of canisters. One more thing... I wish that Tilia would give more cooking tips. The video that came with the product was helpful (like freezing the soup in a bowl lined with some plastic wrap then sealing the frozen bowl shaped soup). I want more and more tips like this.

which I bought several years ago. I bought two for gifts. I have saved the price of the foodsaver in cheese saved. It is an appliance I will replace if it wears out. I use all sizes of wide mouth mason jars, half-pint, pint, quart and half-gallon, although I found that non-canning jars such as mayonnaise would not work. I rarely reuse the bag material if I have stored raw meat or vegetables. Normally if I am sealing cheeses, flours, or other foodstuffs that are going to be opened regularly I will cut the bag large enough to allow for the sealed part to be cut off and then resealed. This takes about an inch each time it's opened. It is on my countertop all of the time and it is used daily and usually more than once.
[...] it saves food and is safer than zip bags.
One can't go wrong.