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The FoodSaver Professional vacuum sealer is a semi-commercial model that comes in a smart black finish.

It’s an ideal choice of sealer if you are a busy housewife looking to do lots of sealing and also if you do a lot of food bulk buying to get great savings and need to get the food sealed and in the freezer as quickly as possible.

It’s also a good choice for preppers, hunters and fishermen, as it has been specially designed for performing large numbers of seals in one go without overheating.

This means that it makes short work of sealing up large quantities of fish or game at the end of your trips, so you can get your catch in the freezer faster and preserve that wonderful just caught taste faster.

Description

This model is an external type of vacuum sealer. It features manual operation instead of automatic which means that there’s less that can go wrong. It also has a built in bag cutter and roll holder.

The drip tray is an extra large version of the standard FoodSaver drip tray which gives you a clue as to the bulk sealing capability of this model.

The vacuum pump used on this model also seems to be stronger than other vacuum sealers in a similar price band.

The unit also comes in a rugged black finish with large easy to operate buttons.

Uses

The Professional is designed for sealing bags and can also use the rolls provided by FoodSaver.
The machine also has an accessory port where you can attach the accessory hose, which is supplied, and then use the machine in conjunction with a number of FoodSaver accessories making it even more versatile.

As stated above, this is marketed as a bulk sealing machine and the companies own literature says that it can perform 25 seals plus at a time without stopping. This makes it a great machine if you are a regular sealer and likes to get your food sealed up quickly and efficiently.

The vacuum on this machine can also be stopped at any time by simply pressing the seal button button and then the unit will seal the bag. This helps when sealing up easy to crush items.
It can seal up chip packets by just pressing the seal button on its own with no vacuum applied. The unit then just applies heat and seals without the vacuum applied that would crush the chips

Features

Controls

This unit is controlled by using large well-marked buttons. There are separate buttons for Seal Only, and Vacuum Plus Seal, and also an Easy Lock Latch for securing the bag while sealing takes place.

The steps for operating the unit to vacuum seal a bag are simple:

  1. Simply place your food items in the FoodSaver bag
  2. Place the open end of the bag in the sealing channel
  3. Close the Easy Lock Latch
  4. Press Vacuum/Seal button

To Make a bag from a roll:

  1. You first seal one edge of the bag
  2. Cut the bag of the roll to the desired length using the built in cutter
  3. Follow instructions above to vacuum seal items inside your newly-made bag

The outside of the unit and the buttons can be cleaned by wiping over with a damp cloth once you have finished sealing your bags.

Sealing Mechanism

The sealing strip formed by the Professional is twice as wide as the strip made by many other models of vacuum sealer. This means that the seal that is formed is less likely to fail over time ensuring that your food is sealed up safely for the long term.

Bag/Roll Cutter

The bag cutter is contained within the lid and makes it simple to cut bags to size for your own requirements. Using bags that you make yourself from the roll is a great way to save even more money as the rolls can work out considerably cheaper than the pre-made bags.

Drip Tray

This model features a special extra deep Removable Drip Tray that can be safely washed or cleaned using your dishwasher

Bags and Rolls

This sealer can use all of the standard range of FoodSaver bags including the Quart and Gallon sized bags. This model can also be used to make bags from the FoodSaver rolls in the 11” and 8” sizes.

Some other makes of bags can also be used with the Professional, notably the Weston brand and some bulk buy brands.

Note that the bags must be textured on one side to allow the vacuum to work properly and the machine cannot vacuum seal bags that are smooth on both sides.
You can however seal smooth Mylar chip bags with this model.

Storage Compartments

There is a storage compartment for rolls and bags so that you can neatly store your roll and/or bags out of site and there is an accessory storage compartment where you can store the accessory hose.

FoodSaver Professional with lid open
The rear of the unit also has a special compartment where the power cord is safely stored.

Power /Voltage

This appliance runs on a 120 volt supply only. It comes fitted with a 3 prong polarized plug where one prong is wider to prevent wrong insertion into the socket.

The power cord supplied is short so that there is insufficient cable for it to hang over the side of the kitchen counter and be pulled on by children. Also don’t forget that there is a storage compartment for the electrical lead when the unit is not being used.

Dimensions

The machine itself without the accompanying box measures approximately 21.5” long x 8.5”wide x 4” high

Place of Manufacture

The unit is made in China

Warranty

Foodsaver provide a 1 year limited warranty with this sealer.

Accessories

The FoodSaver Professional Vacuum Sealer comes complete with the following supplies:

  • 1 Roll 11″ x 20′ bagging material
  • 2 each 1-gallon bags
  • 3 each 1-quart bags

An accessory hose is also supplied with the unit. This makes the sealer much more versatile and means that you can use this particular model with the full range of FoodSaver accessories including jar sealers, fast marinating unit, bottle sealers and deli containers.

Pros

More rugged and durable than most other FoodSaver models – made with the Heavy Duty User in mind
Very large buttons – so easy to use
Designed to be able to vacuum seal up to 25 consecutive bags without overheating
Works in Seal only and also Vacuum Seal modes
Quieter than some of its competitors
Simple manual operation means that there is no automatic sensing to worry about
Comes complete with the accessory hose making this a much more versatile machine than some

Cons

For some reason the Professional is marketed as an outdoor unit but this is a bit misleading as there is no d/c power source or battery power supplied?

Consumer Ratings

The FoodSaver Professional got some great ratings scores across many retailers averaging about 4 to 4.5/5 which is pretty good for a vacuum sealer. It was notable that there were a lot more satisfied customers than with some comparable models.

Price

The price on this sealer varies considerably between vendors. At the time of writing I found it being sold at anything up to $189.99.

Amazon’s price at the time of writing was the best on offer with a huge discount being applied. Check here for today’s price.

Summary

All in all this is a pretty good unit especially if you have a lot of sealing to get done. The unit can perform a lot of sealing continuously before overheating saving you time and the operation is a simple manual type which means that the unit is less likely to suffer any failures in use.

This model is ideal for the bulk buyer, hunters, fishermen or preppers with a lot of sealing to get done.

The unit is however a bit expensive at its retail price compared with some other vacuum sealers so we suggest that to get the very best deal on this model that you investigate Today’s Price on Amazon >>