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The VacMaster VP112c is a chamber type model of vacuum sealer. This is a semi-professional unit aimed squarely at the bulk home user or small commercial outlets. Its also great for Sous Vide preparation, Smokers, Hunters, Fishermen and Preppers.

In short its a great workhorse and can seal lots of bags before it overheats.

Vacuum Sealer Description

The internals of this sealer are the same as that of the commercial units sold by the same company. The VP112 though, is specifically built into a smaller chassis so that it will fit into a home sized kitchen. The unit has a wipe clean Stainless steel body.

With a chamber vacuum sealer of this type the food is placed inside an unsealed pouch. The pouch is then put inside the chamber of the machine and the air in the chamber is vacuumed out and the pouch sealed.

One huge advantage of this type of sealer over the more commonly available external sealers is that there is no problem with sealing up bags containing liquids. This is because the whole pouch or bag is inside the machine and therefore there is no seepage of liquids due to the difference in pressure between the inside and outside of the bag.

The vacuum chamber of the VacMaster VP112 is large enough to be able to seal most types of foods that you would be expected to find in a home environment. The vacuum pump used on this machine is an industrial strength model and the motor is fan-cooled preventing problems with overheating even if lots of seals are done one after the other.

An accessory port has also been provided so that an accessory hose can be connected.

Uses

So, just to recap, this type of vacuum sealer does not suck out the air from the front of the bag and this means that this type of sealer is ideal for applications where you need to vacuum seal liquids or wet foods.

This sealer can cope with the high demands of bulk buyers, hunters, fishermen and preppers as it is designed to cope with the most rigorous of sealing tasks. So you can bring home a large quantity of meat or fish and get it all sealed up and in the freezer in double quick time preserving the freshness and preventing it spoiling.

Preparation of filled pouches for Sous Vide cooking is another area in which this sealer excels. Such methods of cooking, carried out at lower temperatures than conventional cooking methods, preserve the flavor and texture of the food much better.

An accessory hose can also be used with the unit. Being able to fit an accessory hose, means that you can use the sealer with the many different accessories available from manufacturers like VacMaster or FoodSaver.

This makes the VP112 even more versatile so that you can seal up mason jars, canisters and even reseal wine bottles to preserve the flavour of the wine for longer. You can also use the VP112 to marinate foods and rapid pickle vegetables and fruits using a marinator attachment.

Bags and Rolls

The VacMaster VP112 uses vacuum chamber pouches for sealing. Conventional bags supplied for external vacuum sealers will not work with this unit. There are also no rolls that can be used.

Many different sized vacuum packaging pouches are supplied by VacMaster and these include sizes as follows; 6” x 10”, 8” x 10”, 8” x 12”, 10” x 13”, 10” x 15”, 12” x 14”, 6” x 8”, 2.5” x 10”, 7” x 9”, 6” x 12”, 8” x 12” to name a few of the large range available.

The pouches are also available in a range of different thicknesses depending upon what you are using them for, 3-Mil, 4 Mil and 5 Mil. They are made from a heavy duty poly/nylon type material that is BPA free. You can boil and microwave them and they will still stay sealed.

These pouches prevent freezer burn and stops food drying out. Dehydrated foods will also stay moisture free for longer. Another benefit of using pouches is that they are very much cheaper than external vacuum sealer bags, typically a 1/6 th of the price, which means big savings on bags especially if you are a bulk sealer.

To give some idea of the sizes to use, you would need a 6” x 8” pouch for ½ LB of meat and a 6” x 10” pouch for 1- 1¼ pound of meat.

Some users also report that they have also been able to get the VP112 to seal 1-Mil Mylar bags. But we think that you would be wise to reseal them again using an impulse sealer

Sealing Mechanism

The sealing mechanism consists of a 12” long, heavy duty metal sealing bar that is activated once the vacuum pump has operated for the pre-selected period of time. An easily replaced seal bar is also fitted.

When using narrow pouches it is possible to seal them 2 at a time provided that they can be fit together within the sealing bar length. This can help save time enormously not to mention the power savings that can be made when using the sealer in this way.

Bag/Roll Cutter

A cutter is not required since the chamber sealer is designed to only be used with chamber pouches. These are available in many different sizes so there will undoubtedly be some that will suit your purposes.

Controls

The controls are relatively simple. A vacuum dial gauge indicates the level of vacuum pressure inside the vacuum chamber. The settings of vacuum duration and sealing time are controlled using the control panel that you will find at the top of the machine.

Vacuum Time can be varied between 5 and 60 seconds depending upon the level of vacuum pressure required. The vacuum time has a default setting of 30 seconds and the unit reverts to this default setting if it’s powered off.

Sealing time can be varied between 3 and 9 seconds depending upon your requirements. Longer sealing times might be required for instance where thicker bags are used. The unit is set to a default sealing time of 5 seconds and if the machine is turned off it defaults back to this 5 second setting whatever changes might have been made by the user.

Drip Tray

There is no Drip Tray required due to the design of the machine. Any liquid spillages that occur inside the chamber are easy to clean off by using a damp cloth.

Storage Compartment

The VP112 doesn’t have any storage compartments for pouches.

Accessories

This model comes complete with a selection of around 30-40 pouches of various sizes to help you to decide the pouch sizes that you will need in the future for your requirements. This is a great help since its much better to actually physically try the pouches for volume by filling them. Trying them out in this way will prevent you buying the wrong sized pouches.

As already mentioned the pouches are manufactured from BPA free plastics which are much better for your health.

An accessory hose is also provided. Using a vacuum hose greatly increases the versatility of the unit allowing you to seal containers of all types with the right accessory add-ons such as, jars, Mason jars, bottles, marinating units and various canisters supplied by other manufacturers.

This will allow you to seal regular jars, wide-mouthed mason jars and also to marinate foods using the FoodSaver marinating attachment. Any other accessories that run off of an accessory hose can also be used.

Power /Voltage

The unit needs a 110 Volt supply at 60Hz and draws a current of 6 Amps. It uses 660 Watts of power during operation. A three prong NEMA 5-15P plug comes fitted and please note that you should always use a properly grounded plug with this unit.

Place of Manufacture

Manufactured in China

Warranty

ARY give a one year limited warranty with this machine

Maintenance and Repairs

You should keep the unit clean by regularly cleaning it with a damp cloth. It’s also ok to use a mild detergent.

Spare parts are easy to obtain VacMaster. It’s simple to replace the heat sealing bar, you just drop the new one in.

Dimensions

External dimensions of the unit are: 8.5” High x 16” Wide x 23.5” Deep. The inner vacuum sealing chamber dimensions are: 12” X 11” X 5” Deep.

IMPORTANT: You do need to leave at least 14” more clearance above the unit so that you can open the lid. The VP112 will therefore fit quite comfortably underneath most upper kitchen cabinets.

Pros

  • Can be used to vacuum seal liquids and moist foods unlike external vacuum sealers where you will have to freeze liquids and very wet foods before sealing
  • Meats and vegetables can be easily packed with marinade inside the packages saving you lots of time
  • Foods can be cooked while still sealed in the pouch. As the plastics used in the manufacture of the pouches are BPA free there are no harmful chemicals in contact with your food items
  • Higher levels of vacuum can be achieved thanks to the stronger pump resulting in a longer shelf life
  • Vacuum time can be adjusted which helps when packaging delicate foods that crush easily
  • It does not overheat in normal operation due to the cooling fan. This means you can work at a faster speed saving time
  • Pouches are really cheap compared to the bags and rolls used by external vacuum sealers. If you do lots of sealing then over time you will easily recoup the extra cost of the VP112 through the cheaper pouch costs
  • Accessory port
  • Simple to use

Cons

  • As this is a large heavy unit, it really needs a permanent home in your kitchen as you don’t want to be moving it around too often
  • Initial cost is high compared to an external vacuum sealer but as stated above, if you do a lot of sealing, it won’t be long before you recover the cost of the unit in pouch/bag savings alone

Consumer Ratings

Purchasers have given the VacMaster VP112 pretty high ratings at 4.5 to 5.0 out of five on several of the sites that we visited to check.

This is a piece of equipment that clearly has a lot of devoted fans. This is unusual for a vacuum sealer as many seem to get quite a poor review score due to being unreliable and having overheating issues.

Price

The price is listed at the manufacturer at an eye watering $699.00. But we have seen large discounts on this sealer down to a more manageable $550 at the time of writing.
Amazon were really low on price on the VP112. Check out the large discount here.

Review Summary

The VP112 is a really good chamber vacuum sealer. It’s a great machine for someone doing a lot of vacuum sealing and is suitable for a small shop or cooking business as it is a real workhorse.

This is also one of the best entry level machines for the aspiring Sous Vide cooking enthusiast as well as anyone that wants to seal liquids such as soups and stews. Also, don’t forget that the pouches are BPA free so there are no harmful chemicals to worry about if you want to pop a pouch straight from the freezer into a pan of boiling water to cook, which is another huge time saver for busy people.

The price looks high when compared to other vacuum sealers but if you are doing a lot of sealing you will soon find that the savings you make on the much cheaper pouches soon offsets the high initial costs. In fact the pouches are as much as 1/6th the price of bags from manufacturers such as FoodSaver.

If you add time savings due to the machine not having to rest to cool down all the time then we think that VacMaster and the manufacturer ARY have a winner on their hands.

We give the VP112 our highest recommendation.