FoodSaver V2840 Advanced Design

This is my first vacuum food saver and I'm delighted with it! I bought it a few months ago from Amazon. I tried to buy this at my local big chain stores but no one had this model, so I might have paid more, not sure. But had no choice.

It was easy to set up and use--even for a novice. I was sealing my first bag within minutes. I've made a few mistakes so here are some things you might want to know.
1) If you buy the rolls and make your own bags, don't cut where the cutter falls naturally--roll it back a little by hand to make a closer cut. That'll save you some money as you go, since cutting where if falls leaves a big wasted piece.
2) The machine defaults to the dry setting, but nearly everything I seal is moist, so I have to remember to manually change it.
3) When sealing moist foods, the vacuum may suck up some juices and even though it appears to be sealed, after putting it away I find it's sometimes lost the seal. The book says you can just take it out of the bag and seal it up again in a new bag, but that wastes a bag. What works well for me is when I'm sealing moist foods and concerned about the seal, I trim along the original seal I just did, stick it back in and just seal it again about an inch further down--without the vacuum. That way I have a bag that is sealed twice. If the first seal has moisture in it and doesn't hold, the second one probably will.
4) I don't have any of the fancy vacuum containers, but what I do instead with soups and other liquid-y things is freeze them first in Tupperware or something similar. As soon as they're frozen, I turn them upside down under hot water for a few seconds to get the soup to release from the container, then I quickly seal up the frozen block of soup and stick it back in the freezer. If you heat soups, etc. in the microwave, you can even freeze soup in the bowl you're going to use in the micro (don't fill the bowl more than 3/4 full) so that it'll be in the right shape. Just cut the bag, drop the frozen soup into the bowl and heat it up in the micro.
5) I really love the FoodSaver for dry stuff. I dry my own foods and also buy dried foods in bulk, then divide them into smaller portions and seal them. This is especially great for nuts which tend to go rancid really fast. I started buying them in bulk because my local grocery's nuts are always rancid, even when they're well within their expiration date. I recommend Sunny Land Farms--my family has been buying nuts in bulk from then for many years and they're simply the best. Plus they have free shipping. [...]
6) It's probably not cost-effective to use this for leftovers and things that you're only going to put in the freezer for a few days. I use mine for longer-term storage, like when I make a big batch of something and know that we may eat some later in the week but don't want to eat it again for awhile.
7) I freeze whole meals in one bag. I slice the meat and put it in, add the vegetables next, then potatoes, rice, or stuffing. I do it in that order so that the moisture runs through the rice or stuffing during the vacuuming process and not as much moisture gets sucked out, which interferes with the seal. These meals-in-a-bag are great for other family members to heat up when I'm not home to cook dinner.
Happy sealing!

Vacuum storage is great -- allows bulk purchases to be kept for extended periods. But don't try to sterilize all the parts of a canister. The container part can be safely cleaned in a dishwasher, as stated by the manufacturer. The maker also states that the lid must be hand-washed, but says nothing about the wash temperature. So when a refrigerated guacamole turned brown (for the first time), I knew the lid had become contaminated. I also knew that any temp under about 170F would not kill most bugs (like well-done hamburger). So I immersed the small caps from the inside of the lid in 180F water for 10 minutes. The caps distorted and were useless. The lids can still be used, but I can't rely on the safety of the container contents. Wonder how the maker sterilizes them.

I have been using Food saver/Tillia products for many years they are well made and have saved food and money; however, with each new model the distance between the ends of the bags you make and the sealing point get stretched out longer and longer. This machine (V2840) was the first I noticed this built in self serving, land fill generating and not to mention consumer pocket book wasting feature. On this model you (fortunately) can seal one end on the very end; the vacuum and seal end (unfortunately) is a different story; Food saver/Tillia has stretched the vacuum tray away from the sealing strip so every time you vacuum and seal you lose .8 inches as a wasted tail (the first noticeable sign of greed). The older machines are not like this; on obvious attempt at profit by forcing the consumer to waste product, create more landfill and the obvious; corporate profit by stealing from their clients!
Yesterday, I purchased the newest latest model, the Food saver (V3825) Warning! the 3840 3860 are the same at wasting material!, these models are really something, you simply push insert the end of the bag into the bag end opening, press SEAL or VACUUN AND SEAL and totally automatically does it all!; sitting down?, either setting you just lost 2 full inches of the bag that you just made; let's do the math; a standard 22 foot roll of bag material should make, let's say 30 bags; minus sixty, one inch wasted tails. So 5 feet or 25% of the 22 feet is Food saver's profit, our loss and a forced environmental misfortune, not to mention a blatant and inappropriate attempt at ripping of this planet. I don't know about you; but, I take exception to stealing. This machine is going back today! I will find an older model that gives one more control of the sealing, my pocketbook this planet :)

This product works exactly as promised. We buy in bulk and then repackage things in smaller units. This saves us money because things do not spoil. The machine is very easy to use. We shopped around a lot before we purchased our unit. Amazon had the best price.

If you are looking for a foodsaver with a nice design at a reasonable price, this is the one to buy. Do not go for anything older for a few dollars less. My first vacuum sealer was really cheap and of course couldn't do anything properly. I am glad for bying this one,it was a lesson not to compromise with junk for a better price..